"..it is interesting to note that the high bidder on the item would actually have still purchased it with MEARS "unable to authenticate" letter as he indicated it would not be unusual for a college jersey to have a name change. This didn't bother the bidder."

i'm assuming the bidder indicated this without being told that UNC's equipment manager stated shirts weren't recycled and that jordan has his shooting shirt? when bidders lack crucial information, they're hardly able to make an informed decision. i'm unsure what doug is trying to point out here; that the bidder was ill-informed or that he almost managed to sell the shirt. had the bidder gone through with the purchase, this would all be a bigger mess and there'd be one unhappy bidder so why is doug painting a positive light around the fact that he almost sold it to an ill-informed bidder?

would it have bothered the bidder to see a comparison of the stains on the mastro shirt and on jim reed's shirt thereby showing them to be the same shirt? why not give them all of the evidence, not just half, and then see if they're still interested?

"The primary issue for this shirt was the fact that the #2 on the jersey appears to have been altered."

what about the fact that..you know..the shirt is a perfect match for jim reed's ranzino smith shirt? is that an issue? after all, the number change could theoretically be explained using the same logic as the name change: it wouldn't be unusual for a college jersey. on the other hand, how could you possibly explain the identical stains? alterations aren't always detectable. if the alterations on this job wouldn't have been detectable, the stains alone would've proven the case.

anyway, aside from missing the biggest piece to this puzzle, kudos to doug allen for his otherwise superb investigative work and for jumping into action once the daily news and fbi picked up the story. kudos also to lampson for not noticing any alterations on an $11,000 piece when apparently both his employer and his competitor did. as always, nice to see lou taking his job seriously.

time for me to sit back and enjoy the hilarity of watching doug and troy hit each other with giant foam mallets.

rudy.