Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction February 2025
The second time the worldwide spectacle had been hosted by the Upstate New York village, with the first occasion occurring in 1932, the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York are best remembered for the Miracle on Ice, in which a team of mostly college kids representing the United States of America in ice hockey, defeated the the heavily favored Soviet professionals on their way to a gold medal on home soil. Offered here, with everything hailing from the personal collection of legendary journalist Frank Brown, we present this collection of memorabilia pertaining to the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. Paced by a group of fifteen (15) tickets for various hockey contests played on the dates of February 12th and 18th, none of the games are from games that featured the United States of America and all remain complete with their stub attached while remaining in overall good condition or better for their age, showing some evidence of edge/corner plus handling wear. Additionally, a pair of tickets from figure skating events on February 17th is also included, in the same condition state as their hockey counterparts. Also including Brown's various press credentials and press box pass for all the events hosted at the Olympic Center throughout the duration of the games, all are contained on a simple metal chain and two (2) of the passes sport head shot photos of Brown as well as his nationality and affiliation. A photo of Brown taken during the game wearing the included passes is also present. With the rest of the lot including items such as a journalist access pass to the speed skating oval, a pair of post cards, a set of Olympic media guides for sports such as hockey (signed on the inside by American coach Herb Brooks with a beautiful blue ink signature), biathlon (x2), luge/bobsled, skiing, figure skating, speed skating and the Games as a whole from the United States perspective, all are in overall excellent condition with only light handling wear evident and are housed in their original United States Olympic Committee Communications Division envelope that is heavily tattered. Additionally, a USAHA fact/media book is also included in the group and in a similar condition as all the others mentioned. For the last few items, including a souvenir USA Hockey gold medal winners puck that shows heavy wear to the printed logo, Brown's note book featuring notes and quotes about all the events he covered and a photo display of various Olympic memorabilia acquired by Brown during his legendary career and lastly, his personal Olympia typewriter that is housed in its original case (which shows some wear) and is covered in various stickers from teams of leagues such as the NHL, WHA, NASL, WFL, MLB and more such as the Baseball Hall of Fame, Calgary Stampede and Peter Puck while labels reading "Frank Brown - A.P. Sports - N.Y. N.Y. 10020" are affixed to the front by the handle.
Publishing his first paid hockey article in a New York Rangers game program in 1970 that earned him a total of fifty ($50) dollars, from there, Frank Brown began his career as a journalist for The Associated Press, typically covering the Montreal Canadiens. Under the leadership of Stan Fischler, Brown stated he learned the "courage of my convictions" after being handed Gordie Howe's phone number. Moving on to the New York Daily News in 1980, where he would remain until 1998, when he joined the National Hockey League as a communication executive, a position he would hold with the league until his retirement in 2018. He was awarded the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award by the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019.
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