Since about December Jill and I started to do quite a bit of in person autographing at various signings and sporting events. I've always collected sports memorabilia, but a lot of my collection was from purchases on eBay, at card shows, and a few things from signings. Once I started getting more autographs in person, it kind of became an obsession. Over the last few months I've gone to many Warriors games, a few Kings games, a Tim Lincecum signing, a CC Sabathia signing, and an event preceding Giants fan fest in San Jose where about half of the Giants team was there.
For me, I don't really get the autographs because of what they're worth (although it's nice to know that if I ever need money I have things of value). It's fun for me not only because I get to meet and sometimes shake hands with some of my favorite athletes, but it's the challenge of getting the autographs. If every player's autograph was obtainable all the time at any time, I don't think getting autographs would be as enjoyable. There are plenty of disappointments when players blow you off or when players lie to you (Andray Blatche), but when players take the time to sign your item and maybe even have a short conversation with you, it makes it all worthwhile. For every moment like when Danny Granger looked at my 8x10 and ignored it there is the excitement of when I got J-Rich to sign my 16x20 or when I got to shake Dwight Howard's hand. It doesn't matter if I get blown off or have an unexpected success, there are stories and memories from each experience, and doing it with Jill just makes it that much better.
Some of the notable autographs I have gotten include: Tim Lincecum, CC Sabathia, Brian Wilson, Barry Zito, Dwight Howard, Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green, Brandon Roy, Kevin Durant, Amare Stoudemire, Kevin Martin, pretty much the entire Warriors team, and my boy J-Rich.
(Tim Lincecum signing at Lefty's Sports Cards)
(Tim Lincecum at Britannia Arms)
(CC Sabathia at Vallejo Toyota - check out the beer belly behind CC)
Junior Griffey
The latest news about Ken Griffey Jr. is that a deal is imminent. It has been reported that he is going to sign a contract in the next day or so, but whether it is with the Seattle Mariners or Atlanta Braves is still unknown.
Here is my take on it. Griffey has been on 3 teams, and worn 4 different numbers. If he were to sign with the Braves then that would be 4 different teams and a possibility of a 5th number. For one of the best players of this generation, possibly THE best after the A-Fraud news, he has already been on enough teams. People respect guys like Cal Ripken Jr (even though I think he's overrated) and Tony Gwynn because they played for one team their entire career. By going from team to team to close out a career, it dilutes his accomplishments and in my opinion, ruins his legacy.
If he were to sign with Seattle it would be a great way to close out his Hall of Fame career. If he were to sign with Atlanta, he'll be like Patrick Ewing or any other athlete that didn't retire with the team in which they were great. He should retire with the team that he was drafted by, where he became one of the league's top players, where he became a part of pop culture, where he won an MVP, 10 Gold Gloves, and was named to the All-Century Team. Go out wearing the 2-4, Junior.
7 Months
I just realized that it's been about 7 months since my last entry. I don't really know why it has been such a long time since I last wrote because I used to have a lot of fun doing this once in a while. Maybe it's because the Warriors have been horrible and I haven't had anything to say. I don't know. I've just been reading other people's blogs and it made me feel like writing something again.
According to the page hit counter on this, there have been about 15,000 hits, which is crazy to me. I guess it helps a lot when you Google something like "Monta Ellis signing" this is the first thing that comes up.
Anyways, if I get on a roll, maybe I'll start punching (word to Chris Brown) these entries out like I used to.
