GB Autographs is a blog written by one 'grapher from New England that shares stories about meeting athletes,celebrities, and politicians through the point of view of a collector.
I had nothing to do on my Friday night, so I thought it would be cool to graph one of the funniest actors from my childhood, Kyle Massey. Kyle hasn't done much since his shows on Disney, but he was recently on "Dancing With the Stars", with professional dancer, Lacey Schwimmer.
I had to work until 7:30, and the signing was at 8. I got there at about 8:10, and the security guy at the back of the line wouldn't let me in, which was ridiculous because there was hardly anyone(maybe 30 people) in front of me. I decided I would try for them when they got up, but after taking a short walk I noticed that the same security guy was letting people in line. I was pretty livid, but I just got in line and didn't cause a scene.
Both Kyle and Lacey were VERY personable, Kyle seemed to like the old pictures.
Mohegan Sun had a signing event today, and I have grown to really like these. I am a huge SURVIVOR fan, so this was kind of cool for me, this is kind of one of those graphing adventures that people will only appreciate if they enjoy the show.
Ethan was supposed to be there with his girlfriend Jenna, who also has won SURVIVOR, but she ended up not being able to make it.
From what I understand, Ethan is going through his second bout of cancer. After winning SURVIVOR, he went and started a soccer school overseas, and has done a lot to combat the aids epidemic.
Ethan was really nice, he seemed to like the photos I brought. There were not really many people at this event, compared to other Mohegan Sun events.
Between my dad and I, we got 9 items signed. For some reason he asked me if I wanted mine personalized, but didn't give my dad the option.
Like last year, I decided to make a post of my top autographs from the year. Originally I wanted to do a top 10, but even that was too hard to narrow down names to. Anyways, without further adieu, here we go!
#12 National Baseball Hall of Famer, Ryne Sandberg Ryne Sandberg
This one is very interesting because last year, Ryne was my #1! I had a great year though and some guys weren't even on the list that would have been my #1 last year.
I had no struggles with Ryne like I did last year, and it was just a really fun season of graphing him.
Baseball Hall of Famers are fun to get, because their Hall of Fame is by far the most exclusive.
This was a pretty tough, but fun one to get. ESPN was in town for the Syracuse game, so that meant Dickie V, one of the most famous sports personalities would be coming through. After the game I saw him leave and had to sprint to the back of the arena where his car was waiting. He kept saying things in his famous Dickie V voice such as, "It's freezing out here, are you guys crazayyyy?" It was truly a great experience.
He smudged my photo really badly, but the experience was something I will never forget.
I was able to get the Grammy Winning singer at the Traveler's Pro Am this year. He was actually very nice, but his agent/publicist type person kept trying to get him to stop signing. I think if he didn't have her there he would have signed for anyone. I was lucky enough to get the last one before he stopped.
I was unprepared for him, so I only got him on this terrible item, but still cool nonetheless.
Well this one sure was an adventure, it is safe to say that this was my toughest baseball autograph to get this season. Anybody who follows baseball knows hoe Jose is, and he certainly isn't the most pleasant guy to encounter.
Jose has also appeared on the "Celebrity Apprentice", and written a couple of books.
Jose played for a portion of 2012 in Worcester which is an independent league team. To put in a little age perspective, he is almost 30 years older than Bryce Harper.
Elizabeth rose to fame this summer, when she won a silver medal at the Olympics. She is from New England, more specifically Rhode Island. I love U.S. Swimming in the Olympics, so this was a cool autograph for me.
7) Paul Molitor Paul Molitor
This was a fairly easy graph, given that Molitor is a Hall of Famer. Baseball Hall of Famers are probably my favorite graphs to get, and Molitor was a great addition to that list. I got him after a rain out, outside of the clubhouse in New Britain where he was working for a few days. He works in the Twins organization, and often travels to their farm teams.
This was another Travelers Championship graph, and by far my hardest one there. There were hundreds of people trying to get him off the 9th hole, and I was in a prime spot on the barrier. After getting him, I couldn't move for a number of minutes, that's how many people were pushing.
Laura came to my University to give a lecture about her time being held captive in North Korea. It was a very emotional presentation, and this was one of my all time favorite graphs because her story is so amazing. She was the first female I ever got an autograph as well.
4) Dan Rather Dan Rather
This was another lecture at my university, and such a wonderful experience. Mr. Rather is one of the greatest reporters ever, and he was such a nice man. Dan has had a role in reporting many of the world's most significant events over many decades.
3) Donald Glover Donald Glover
This was a crazy night, but in the end it was worth it. Donald was very nice, especially for the amount of people that ended up waiting for him. I have heard that since I met him, he has become much less accommodating, which is unfortunate, but makes my success even crazier.
Donald is on the tv show Community, has had a comedy special on Comedy Central, and has started a successful rap career.
2) Kenan Thompson Kenan Thompson
This one was so fun. Kenan is probably the most recognizable person I have ever gotten. Kenan rose to fame on his show Kenan and Kel back in the day, along with tons of movies. He has been on Saturday Night Live for over 10 years, becoming one of the longest tenured members ever.
It is clear why Ray is number 1. Not only is he my favorite basketball player ever, but he is the 3 point king, and won a championship with my Celtics. This was another VERY tough graph, and Ray is known as one of the worst signers in sports.
Yesterday was the annual PawSox Christmas party, and for once they had a good player there, in Ryan Lavarnway.
It was a terrible set up this year, because they decided to have multiple sessions with each player moving them around to different areas, I guess it broke up the people, but it was still kind of annoying.
Nonetheless, I did fine.
Catching prospect, Ryan Lavarnway:
2 Baseballs, 1 Photo, 1 Card:
Outfielder, Jeremy Hazelbaker(He has shortened his autograph A LOT):
And finally, Tony Thomas:
Tony is also the other autograph with Hazelbaker's. I also got another paper signed by him that is not pictured.
My second night of basketball in a row was very good. Harvard was in town, which meant that I could target head coach(and former Duke player), Tommy Amaker.
Tommy was very nice, and signed for my dad and I:
As the game was ending, I was able to sneak down to where Jim Calhoun was sitting, and I got him on a really nice 8x10. It was raining outside afterwards so I'm glad that I was able to get this:
I also got Shabazz Napier again after the game. He has really changed... He even thanked us for coming to the game.
The last player I got was DeAndre Daniels, who had his best game ever by far:
A nice surprise was seeing former Husky, Kevin Freeman inside after the game:
Last night wasn't really a graphing night for me, in Providence, however I came away with a few items. I mainly went to this game because I have a ticket package, and this was included with the Syracuse game, among other good ones.
The game itself was very entertaining the first half, with the teams going shot for shot. Providence pulled away in the second half however
I mainly wanted to get Kris Dunn's autograph again, and I got 3 photos.
He along with Ricky Ledo, signed the cover of my program, which apparently had to be prepped, so I will get it redone next time:
The last guy I got was Lee Goldsborough. he is a cool kid, he likes to talk about soccer teams from his native England.
This was the first time I thought I was going to fail in a very long time.
I had learned when I graphed Uconn's fall concert, that they tend to bring their acts in super early, but I decided to try for Kenan before his show anyway. I waited probably 45 minutes, but to no avail. I then went and sat in my car to warm up during the show, and went back out 10 minutes before it ended.
I should add that during this entire trip, it was snowing.
After the show, more and more people kept coming to the back, which always drops the chances of an auto quite a bit.
There was no event security, but Kenan's bodyguard was getting really angry, and tried to get everyone to leave. He tried telling us another spot to wait, but I obviously called his bull$h!t and stayed in my perfect spot.
He then targeted me, and got really rude. I actually just kept quiet, which I think angered him even more because he kept trying to get a reaction out of me. I'm used to this now, so it didn't bother me and I waited another 35 minutes or so.
I heard the other people saying, "This kid knows what he's doing, let's stay here." I was annoyed, but they had just as much of a right to be there as me, even though they all only wanted photos, which to me is very annoying.
Kenan then came out with his bodyguard, and to my astonishment, his bodyguard told him, "Hook this kid up."
It was still snowing, and I feared that the auto would smudge, but Kenan said, "Let me do this quick so it doesn't smudge." He was truly very nice.
Afterwards, he took a group shot with everyone there.
I went to Uconn again today for some rare Sunday winter graphing.
After the game, I waited for Jim Calhoun, so I could finish up the last 11x14 I had. He took a long time to come out this time, but as always he was very nice.
Next, I was able to get Omar Calhoun again, he is a nice kid.
Finally, I got Shabazz Napier. Luckily for me, he was with his family again.
