On August 7, Barry Bonds - one of the most universally reviled professional athletes of our time - topped Hank Aaron's 33-year-old home-run record. For months or even years now, Bonds' breaking of this milestone has been a foregone conclusion, and even the mercenary angle surrounding the record-breaking ball was being discussed long before that fateful crack of the bat.

From the second Bonds' 756th home-run ball touched the ever-so-lucky palms of Queens, New York resident Matt Murphy, the debate began over what the ball would be worth. Many have pointed out that the truly valuable ball will be the last home run Bonds hits, as it will effectively represent the new record (until someone mercifully shatters that). Last month, our own Tom Barlow assigned a price tag of $0. But fashion mogul Marc Ecko shelled out $752,467 for the 5 ounces of cork and rubber, and it seems as though he may have dropped more than three-quarters of a million dollars out of spite alone.

While most sports collectors would encase the storied ball in plastic or save it for shipping to Cooperstown, Ecko is taking a democratic approach to his next move. Ecko has set up a website with three options: