Marc Ecko Having A Ball After Landing Prized Barry Bonds Item

[Elano]

Marc Ecko with Barry Bonds' 756th home-run ball

After hearing enough of his friends' bickering over baseball slugger Barry Bonds and the legitimacy of his recently accomplished home-run record, hip-hop-fashion mogul Marc Ecko decided to put his money where his mouth was.

Ecko paid $752,467 in the Sotheby's/SCP bidding war for Bonds' 756th home-run ball and was rewarded on Saturday when he won the auction. But instead of keeping the prize all for himself, Ecko decided to let fans determine its fate. He has set up a Web site, Vote756.com, where fans can vote on three different possible outcomes for the ball: Send it to Cooperstown with or without an asterisk — to signify the controversy that has accompanied Bonds' home-run record — or launch it into space. The voting began Monday (September 17) and will last for one week.

On Monday — after reasserting on "The Today Show" how committed he was to obtaining the ball — he recalled to MTV News what spurred him to pursue the item. "I was at a dinner and everyone was worked up; someone to the right of me was like, 'It's real, it's legitimate,' on the left of me someone was saying, 'No way, it's tainted, it needs a footnote,'" Ecko recalled. "And someone across from me just rolled their eyes. Maybe I had too much wine that night, but I put my hand down and I was like, 'I'm going to get that ball.' "

Ecko, who collects other popular-culture items as well, including "Star Wars" memorabilia and art, said he purchased the Bonds ball so he could have a collective experience with the public. He repeatedly said he wanted to democratize the process by which the fate of the ball will be decided. According to Ecko, he's giving the system a kick in the ass.

"If you follow the news, it's about a system that fosters, encourages and always rewards players, in the constituency in the system, by any means," he said. "And we kind of high-five each other because it's entertainment. We just play ostrich.

"I've cheated in life, I've done stupid stuff. But the systems need to be put on check and put on blast. And this is a lighthearted way to ... bring that back up. ... I'm not a judge and jury — [the Bonds controversy is] not about me. I have an opinion, you have an opinion. It's fun. I'm having fun. Hopefully, overall, people will have an opinion."

Ecko was adamant about his decision, and satisfied, but he did admit he was a bit surprised when he discovered he was the winner.

"When I found out I won, I pretty much said, 'Oh sh--, this is real now,' " he said, laughing. "I was at dinner with my wife. And it was like, 'It's on, I guess I'm working tomorrow.' But I was committed.

"I've been given this platform with the blessing of success. I'm passionate about what I do, and being able to stand for something is cool. And at the end of the day, that's why I wake up and do what I do."

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

LOL...is he thinking of having an asterisk imprinted on the actual ball?

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Barry Bonds: Mark Ecko, man who bought record-breaking home run ball, is an 'idiot'
 
September 19, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Barry Bonds said the man who bought his 756th home run ball and announced plans to let the public decide its fate is an "idiot."

Fashion designer Marc Ecko had the winning bid Saturday in the online auction for the ball that Bonds hit last month to break Hank Aaron's record of 755 home runs. The final selling price was $752,467, well above most predictions.
 
Ecko, 35, has set up a Web site that lets visitors vote on three options for the ball: give it to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, brand it with an asterisk before sending it to Cooperstown or blast it into space on a rocket ship.

The asterisk would suggest that Bonds' record is tainted by alleged steroid use. The Giants slugger has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.

"All of those options don't weigh anything," Bonds told the San Francisco Chronicle on Tuesday night in Phoenix. "In baseball, that number (756) stands."

Bonds said Ecko could have found a better way to spend three-quarters of a million dollars.

"He's stupid. He's an idiot," Bonds said. "He spent $750,000 on the ball and that's what he's doing with it? What he's doing is stupid."

Ecko did not directly respond to Bonds' comments Wednesday, but said in a statement he would make Bonds a custom T-shirt that says, "Marc Ecko paid $752,467 for my ball, and all I got was this 'stupid' T-shirt."'

Ecko plans to announce what he will do with No. 756 after voting ends Sept. 25.

Ben Padnos, the California entrepreneur who submitted the $186,750 winning bid on Bonds' record-tying 755th home run ball, said Tuesday he also plans to have the public vote on what to do with it.

On the Net:

Vote 755, http://www.endthedebate.com

Vote 756, http://www.vote756.com

Vote 756, http://www.vote756.com
 

[Lunatic]

LOL that's jokes...good job Ecko

[WC Iz Active]

LOL that's jokes...good job Ecko

your almost as big of a tool as this Ecko homo is

[herpes]

LOL that's jokes...good job Ecko

your almost as big of a tool as this Ecko homo is

yet no on is a bigger tool or homo then you

[Lunatic]

LOL that's jokes...good job Ecko

your almost as big of a tool as this Ecko homo is

because i find this shit funny??

+1 tommy fits

[SP0RTY]

i think its a cool idea...i think it shuld be put in space or have ecko tag on it  obviously barry got it illegitametly but alotta other players also probably did

[WC Iz Active]

^^^alot of other players probably did? HAHAHAHA do your research!  Pretty much everyone did and its rare when players only used during 15% of their career like Bonds, most players juiced there whole careers.  I have researched baseball and steroids like no one here can imagine, I know all there is to know, the whole game was flooded with drug use from the mid 90's till now,   all evidence points to Bonds from 1999-2004, meaning he has 15 clean years to his name, he is easily one of the best ever.

[WC Iz Active]

Bonds was the best player of the 90's and he didnt start using peformance enhancing drugs until 1999,

Bonds = one of the 3 greatest players ever

[WC Iz Active]

Bonds won his 3rd MVP award in  1993, no one has more than 3 MVP'S,  Bonds has 7

[7even]

Spice1 is bukkaked with Bonds endless steroid cum on a daily... there is no other explanation. Props to Ecko, fuck Bonds. He should have bought the damn ball himself if he doesn't want a white man to have it. Fag.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Spice, I can't believe you once said I take things too far with defending Kobe...LOL.

[WC Iz Active]

Spice, I can't believe you once said I take things too far with defending Kobe...LOL.

I never once said that homie.  and 7even read what I wrote,  it aint nutridin, its fact's

[Fuck Your Existence]

Spice1 is bukkaked with Bonds endless steroid cum on a daily... there is no other explanation. Props to Ecko, fuck Bonds. He should have bought the damn ball himself if he doesn't want a white man to have it. Fag.

lol