Your Black Friday Special

by Jeff Laboon

Let the holiday season begin. Today is the famous-or, more likely, infamous-"Black Friday," which marks the start of holiday shopping. Need a gift for the sports fan in the family or want to reward yourself after a day of fighting housewives in malls and department stores? This Thanksgiving, EP gives you five gifts for the sports fan.

For the video game lover NBA Jam, XBOX360 & PS3, $60/Wii, $50
Originally set for a Nintento Wii release and offered as part of a package deal with NBA Elite on XBOX and PS3, NBA Jam will be available on all three major video game consoles this holiday season. NBA Elite, however, will be noticeably absent from holiday wish lists. The EA Sports will not release its latest installment of its pro-basketball franchise because it sucks (OK, EP is paraphrasing, but how bad is a video game when a company announces that it will not be released after it is completed for fear of taking a huge financial loss?).


For the student of the game The Games that Changed the Game by Ron Jaworski, $15 online
Yep, Jaworski has a book coming out this holiday season. The Philadelphia Eagle's quarterback turned ESPN analyst looks at some of the classic NFL games that shaped professional football as we know it today. You will be able to get lost in the X's and O's of the games and relive some of the classic moments in NFL history. If that weren't enough, Steve Sabol writes the forward. If you have ever seen a production by NFL Films, you know Sabol's iconic voice. That's reason enough to pick this book up.


For the history nut who's too lazy to read Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns, $63 online
This 11 disc-yes, 11 discs-set documents the history of America's pastime. Relive some of baseball greatest moments and witness the mythical plays of the sport's past.


For the collector Mellon Arena memorabilia, auction
Checkout this website. The Consol Energy Center replaced the iconic Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh this season. With the arena on its final days, the grand auction has started. Bid on various items from the arena-some really cool like locker room signs and others really pointless like turnstiles.


For the business owner Stake in LA Football/Stake in the Jacksonville Jaguars
Attendance is down in Jacksonville and Los Angeles continues to position itself for an NFL franchise. The NFL says it does not want to expand, which means that some team needs to move if LA hopes to have a team someday.


For the guy who still dreams of winning the World Series despite going undrafted for the 10th year in a row Ted Wilks 1946 World Series Ring, auction
Where else but eBay? You can own the World Series ring of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Ted Wilks for the small price of $25,000 (the price is rising, though). Wilks was 59-30 in his career and won two World Series titles with the Cardinals.


For the Favre fan Wrangler jeans, $30
Real. Comfortable. Jeans. We can make a trite joke about Favre and his croc shots to a Jets employee, but we'd rather stick with a jeans-related joke. I mean, look how much fun these guys are having.