Uniform Research Entrepreneur Scott Sillcox Of Heritage Sports Art Is A Living Example Of The 10,000 Hour Rule

Social commentator Malcom Gladwell writes that the key to success in almost any field is practicing a specific task for at least 10,000 hours. Entrepreneur-researcher Scott Sillcox spent 15 years proving Gladwell right as he researched NFL, MLB, NHL and NCAA football uniforms, creating a treasure trove of more than 1500 hand-painted watercolor paintings of football, baseball and hockey uniforms. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) October 05, 2010 - Toronto, Ontario - Scott Sillcox is one of those entrepreneurs who comes up with an idea and doesn't just talk about it, he makes it happen. When he learned that the Montreal Forum was going to be torn down in 1996, leaving Maple Leaf Gardens as the last remaining arena of the "Original Six" NHL teams, he got to work honoring the great arenas of hockey with the best selling poster "The Original Six", a poster that sold well over 350,000 copies. Since that eureka moment almost fifteen years ago, Sillcox has spent many thousands of hours researching the history and evolution of stadiums, ballparks and arenas and especially uniforms of teams from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NCAA college football and CFL.

In his 2008 book "The Outliers: The Story of Success", writer Malcolm Gladwell, the great social commentator and chronicler of modern trends, writes about the 10,000 hour rule, suggesting that the key to success in almost any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for at least 10,000 hours. Sillcox spent that amount of time, and more, in the field of uniform history and would agree with Gladwell's assertion.

Scott Sillcox was President and Owner of Toronto based Maple Leaf Productions from 1993 to 2009 and during that time researched, designed and manufactured a family of products that celebrated the evolution of team uniforms. At the core of this entire project are the images of the uniforms themselves - hand-painted, original watercolor paintings on archival paper. These images were then used to create posters, framed prints, clocks, fridge magnets, playing cards, mousepads, collector plates, and many other products - each of which celebrated the history of a particular team's uniform. In all, well more than 1500 uniforms were painted, creating what is believed to be the world's largest collection of sports-themed art. And as of today, these pieces of original art are being made available for sale.

"I spent so much time researching sports uniforms" says Sillcox, "that I'm sure my friends were afraid to invite me to dinner for fear I would regale them with stories of the crest on the 1933 Pittsburgh Steelers jersey or the 1960 Denver Broncos socks. By the way, do you have time for a story about the players' strike because of the tassels on the 1930's Black Hawks jersey?"

Over a period of almost 15 years, Sillcox researched and gathered vast amounts of source material which he then provided to a small team of highly skilled artists. In turn, the artists took the research and created highly detailed watercolor paintings based on the research material. Sillcox is a meticulous record keeper, and he has research files for every single season of every NFL, MLB and NHL team and many NCAA football teams. In all, Sillcox has more than 10,000 file folders full of newspaper clippings, photographs, photocopies, trading cards, media guides and much more.

The research allowed Sillcox to create what is most likely the largest collection of sports art in the world, and now almost all of this remarkable original artwork is being offered for sale. Each of the more than 1500 pieces can be purchased in one of three formats:
1. The raw, unframed artwork
2. A "Classic" framed version (add $75 to the price of the unframed art)
3. A "Deluxe" framed version (add $100 to the price of the unframed art)
Prices range from $350 up to $1000 per piece (US$) with the vast majority of pieces starting at the $350 price. These prices include UPS delivery in North America.

These pieces would make an ideal gift for any sports fan - anniversary gift, retirement gift, major birthday gift, graduation gift, wedding gift. Or a sports fan could buy it as a gift to themselves because they want to own a piece of history that celebrates their team and their fandom. This art is unique and one-of-a-kind, and unlike a good deal of sports art, it is very tasteful.

In making the original art available for sale for the first time, Sillcox realizes that there are going to be a lot of disappointed fans. "Take the Boston Red Sox for instance," Sillcox explains. "We know that there are at least ten million people who are proud to identify themselves as Red Sox fans, yet we only have 18 pieces of original art. So if you would like to buy the 1902 Boston Americans (now Red Sox) uniform artwork - the Broncos first season - or the Red Sox 2004 World Series winning uniform artwork, you have to move quickly because once that one original piece of art sells, that's it - there are no more. We are only going to be able to please 18 Red Sox fans and I'm afraid we are going to disappoint thousands."

To view and/or purchase any of the more than 1500 pieces of original art being offered for sale, please visit the website devoted to the sale of this artwork: www.heritagesportsart.com . This site allows fans to search by team name, or city, or even championship winning teams. Or fans could visit Sillcox' "Heritage Sports Art" YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/user/ssillcox or simply search YouTube for their favorite team and add the words "uniform art". These videos explain in depth what is being offered for sale and viewers can get a great sense of the original artwork. Or fans could read Sillcox' uniform and stadium history blog at http://blog.heritagesportsart.com where they can learn more about a particular team's uniform and stadium history.

About Heritage Sports Art:

Heritage Sports Art is devoted to the sale of original sports-themed artwork of NFL, MLB, NHL, CFL and NCAA football uniforms and stadiums/ballparks/arenas. For more information about Heritage Sports Art or its President Scott Sillcox, please contact Scott Sillcox directly at 416-315-4736 or scott ( @ ) heritagesportsart dot com dot

Scott Sillcox
President
Heritage Sports Art
7 Dawson Crescent
Aurora, Ontario, Canada L4G 4T5
Ph: 416-315-4736
Email: scott ( @ ) heritagesportsart dot com
Web: www.heritagesportsart.com
Blog: http://blog.heritagesportsart.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/ssillcox

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