Dallas Blog

Apparently, somebody at Dallas City Hall is cleaning out the prize closet to make a few extra dollars during the budget crunch.

Every so often, just for grins, I check out the auctions at Lone Star Online, which the city of Dallas, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, the Dallas Independent School District and other municipalities use to move surplus merch. Only, turns out the city of Dallas isn't offloading flat-tire forklifts or Reunion Arena seats this go-round; quite the opposite. Matter of fact, in the latest surplus-property auction, which kicked off Thursday, the city's clearly going out of the sports collectibles business -- just in time to cover the $190-million budget shortfall.

Dunno why there are two Kurt Warner items up for bid (a signed jersey and an autographed helmet from his Ram-tough days in St. Louis). But the other three items have decidedly Dallas connections: a framed print of Mickey Mantle, signed by the New York Yankee legend and former Watson Circle resident; a framed cover of Life magazine featuring Roger Staubach and Tom Landry (whose autographs are included); and a Dallas Stars jersey signed by the 1999 squad, which only last week celebrated the 10th anniversary of sipping from the Stanley Cup. Fourteen bids later, and the jersey's still only up to $110 -- hell of a deal. But the price is sure to skyrocket, as bidding is open till July 6 -- which is just as well, considering Dallas can use every last penny it can find right about now.