This month my feature was going to be about acquiring autographs via email. However, the article I wrote is being considered for publication and since the company I submitted the article to only allows "original" articles, this also means that I can't publish it even on my own web site. I will keep you posted on whether the article gets published. I can then either give you the link so you can read it as well or post the article on my site.
The six weeks that separated the last game of the Triple A baseball season and the first NBA exhibition were actually good for me this year. Last year, I had a sense of longing for the upcoming NBA season but this year the downtime allowed me to catch up on some things…including this web site. Though it is still a work of progress, I appreciate all the compliments and the constructive criticism.
I briefly autographed two NBA teams during the exhibition season: Cleveland and Philadelphia. Cleveland was pretty cool with everyone signing that I asked. Trajan Langdon, who didn’t travel with the team to Salt Lake City last year, signed three cards for me. That was a cool addition as my wife has converted me into a Blue Devils fan. Other players such as Robert Traylor, Chris Gatling. Wesley Person, and Matt Harpring also stopped to sign.
Philly was also pretty cool. Mo Cheeks signed three cards for me and Coach Brown was very personable when I asked him about the status of their point guard/two guard situation with Speedy Claxton out for the year. He expressed his concern and he said that they weren’t sure what they were going to do…they might trade for someone or wait for the final cuts of all the other teams. Right now, it looks like Aaron McKie and Eric Snow will again get a lot of playing time at the guard positions and of course the gangsta’ Iverson will get plenty of minutes. Iverson was a punk again, refusing to sign, and was the last player to get on the bus for practice. Players such as Jumaine Jones, Aaron McKie, Todd MacCulloch, Eric Snow, and Nazr Mohammed all stopped to sign at least one item.
Then, October 31st marked the beginning of the NBA season with the lowly Clippers visiting Salt Lake City. The Clippers were great about signing. The greatest thrill wasn't getting signatures from the players but rather from their assistant coach, Dennis Johnson. I grew up in the Seattle area when "D.J." and the Sonics won the Championship back in 1979. I asked Dennis if he would sign a Basketball Digest from that year and he said "Sure." While he was signing, I told him how I grew up watching him and Gus Willilams and what a treat it was to finally meet him in person. He thanked me for my comments and I asked him if he'd sign one other item for me. Under the Digest was a Sporting News Yearbook with him on it (the yearbook to start the 1980-81 season). He took even more time on that Yearbook and signed both his Seattle number and his Boston number as well. Definitely an item for my Sonics collection!
The players were great about signing, if you had anything for them. This team has a load of rookies, many of which have very few cards or photos available on the market. In fact, for the first time in many years, I didn't have items for most of the roster. I hate that feeling! However, Darius Miles, their talented rookie, signed three items for me. While Darius signed, Lamar Odom snuck past us autographers. Luckily, I got Odom as he went to the game that evening as he was leaving in the hotel shuttle. It was dumb luck that I got him to sign as he went out a different door and I was on my way to my car to put another quarter in the parking meter. It's nice to have some luck every once in a while.
Other signers included Tyrone Nesby, who signed three cards, and Corey Magette who also signed three cards for me. Other players like Brian Skinner (who I think is a great up and coming player...reminds me of a motivated Vin Baker) signed a few cards as well. Olowakandi was again a jerk about signing but did sign one each for the three of us waiting. Other notables included Derek Strong (who signed probably the nicest autograph for me since his days in Boston) and the little point guard Earl Boykins.
Though the Clips probably won't do much on the court (they have 5 guys who can't even buy beer yet), their signing habits off the court are definitely to be commended.
‘Til Next Time,
The Autographer
