[travrosty]

Rich, you ask other people for their thoughts, but don't give yours? Why not?

Here is mine, He is trying to help recover stolen items and keep the pressure on TPA's who are in a desperate race to authenticate everything under the sun, as well as the lax internal controls at some of these auction houses which lets some of these items slip through unabated.

Some people don't want to know. They just want to be told that everything is kosher, nothing from the NYPL or the Baseball HOF was ever stolen, Halper was too trusting and never tried to deceive anybody, and that autograph you buy in a fancy slab, "encapsulated for unquestioned authenticity" as auction houses like to call it - is never a laser copy, or a wife signed autograph, or a stamp.

I guess Hauls of Shame isn't for them and they can pop in Field of Dreams or The Natural and take themselves to a world where all Wagner cards are untrimmed, and pristine. We've all been there, it's called dreaming, but sometimes we need a splash of cold water to wake up. If Hauls of Shame had no merit and the articles weren't true, no one would read it. But they do, and that's not a coincidence.

So the people who don't like the articles for whatever reason, personal or business, naturally go after the author, like attacking the author somehow negates the articles.

It doesn't matter who writes the articles, if you don't like them, you don't like them. If Vince Lombardi had wrote the articles, they would find something on him, don't worry. He would be guilty of something in short order in order to try to marginalize and discredit what he is saying. I don't compare anyone to Lombardi, just saying no one, no matter their pedigree, up, down or sideways, could write articles that expose some of this stuff that Hauls of Shame exposes without taking strafe fire from people who don't like it or have a vested interest in things staying the same. Then all of the sudden the author is a target.

I'd be a target if I was the author, they would dissect my entire life if that's what it took. But some of these same people have no problem believing some anonymous "White Betsy" who won't even reveal who they are and believe what anyway? - since I can find any names in the articles, which just lets peoples imaginations run rampant with speculation. That is irresponsible, not Hauls of Shame.

I have read everything about Nash that is out there, so there are no surprises anyone can throw at me to change my mind that his website is set up to expose and try to clean up what is an otherwise authentication error-ridden and stolen property-ridden hobby at this point in time until real reforms and investigations by authorities take place to right the ship.

If people point to Nash and say whatever they want - fine, but remember, if Nash took the exact opposite view he would be a swell guy to those same people he is now looked at as the guy who shot Santa Claus.