Many members have asked me how CSAC came about, so here is the story:

In the early 1990's, I began collecting sports autographs and building a collection by attending every appearance I could find. The problem was finding out about them. Some would be announced on the radio, some in the paper, and back then, the internet was just getting going, so there was nothing to find there. I was a regular at some of the early sports stores holding autograph sessions like AU Sports. I logged long hours in line and tested the patience of my girlfriend at the time, who, to her credit, accompanied me many times. After a couple of years, I was getting tired and began to think...why isn't there a listing of appearances to make it easier to find them? Well, the fact was, there wasn't one. I started looking around at the hundreds of collectors in every line I found myself in, and began to hatch the idea for CSAC. In the Fall of 1993, I put together my first listing and offered it for free to anyone interested. It would be sent through the mail every two weeks and updates would be delivered by phone or fax. I ran the service this way for about a year and gathered a small but loyal following. It was then that the idea to move the service to the internet became a reality. I had been working in the Securities industry for years and had taught myself how to work a computer and it was now time to learn how to adapt my idea to the web. I quickly learned some html and having always been interested in graphics, advertising/publishing, and mass media in general, I put all of it together and built the first generation of CSAC on the web. It was initially hosted on the AOL servers (being one of only 2 or 3 internet hosts at that time) and the service remained free. I began to market the service heavily and I gained many more followers. In the late '90's due to my heavy workload at my job, I decided to shut down CSAC and it remained that way until 2002. In late 2001, I suffered an illness that kept me out of work for 5 weeks. At the same time, the company I worked for was being bought out and I began to realize that my job may be in jeopardy in a few years. It was this series of events that prodded me to revive the CSAC service and to take it to the next level. In 2002, the service was re-launched, still free but with added features and now accepting advertising. This step helped CSAC move from a personal home page to a legitimate business. It also was the beginning of some great relationships with area stores that continues still to this day. Many stores that advertised with us then continue to advertise with us today. By late 2003, CSAC had held the first of many athlete signings. In April of 2004, CSAC was granted a business license by the state of Illinois. In 2005, due to the many features we had added to the service, I decided to take the difficult step of charging for the information we provide and become a membership based service. I tried to soften the blow by adding free autographs at our events and free signed 8x10's to our new members. Jumping ahead to present day, CSAC is enjoying record visits and our service is well known among all collectors and being discovered by more each day. We remain committed to bringing our customers the best service possible. Thanks for your support over the years!