Friday, June 29, 2012

Photo Issue

So as I was uploading my last entry, I  got a message that said I had reached my photo storage limit, so I went on a photo deleting spree, only to read a minute later that those deleted photos would not show up in the entries anymore. I have way too many entries to read through myself, but if you find yourself in my archives and see missing photos, please let me know.

Thank you! 

Pawtucket Vs. Charlotte 6/28/12

I decided to do pre game today as I had some Charlotte cards left over as well as a Mark Prior Sports Illustrated to get done.

The first player I got was Che-Hsuan Lin. He only does one, but my buddy got one done for me as well:

Scott Podsednik started his rehab from Boston today, and I was able to get him going in. He didn't say a word, but at least he did it:

Will Inman was nice as always, and signed a page for me:
I said,"Just whatever you have time for Will."
And he said,"No you're good."

Nice guy!

I also got Alex Wilson to sign 3 cards, he is no dupes, so as long as they are different you are good.


I also continued chipping away at my Mike Rivera cards:
I added 3 more guys to my team ball.

Juan Carlos Linares:
Lars Anderson, and new comer Zack Stewart:

There was nobody from Charlotte that I needed off the first bus, and I ended up leaving before the second bus, because I had been there for hours and I had stuff to do at home.

I was able to get coaches Joel  Skinner and Richard Dotson however:

The highlight of my day was getting Mark Prior to sign my SI. This was the 5th different SI I have gotten signed this month!

I never saw Daniel Bard come in, but overall it was a successful day, especially getting my SI signed.

Total Autographs for 2012:489

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Under Construction

Hey everyone, I decided that it is time for a cleaner look to the background on the blog, so things are a little jumbled right now, it should look good when done though!

Pawtucket Vs. Charlotte 6/26/12

Once again, I got to the stadium and it started lighting raining soon after. The wind was crazy, I had never seen it so bad over there. Luckily I was able to get a good amount of stuff inside despite these conditions.

The first player I got was Jason Repko. For some reason the PawSox were hitting when I went in, probably because they had lost 8 in a row. Anyway, I threw my team ball  down to him. He is #20 on it, and #104 on my all time Red Sox list:

I then went over to the Charlotte side, and hung my book and clipboard. It was lightly raining at this point, so I could only put down my book when a player was right there, I got Jhan Martinez after he was done throwing:
He did all 9, so I was happy about that.

I was also able to get Charlie Leesman on the 2 cards I had brought:
The two other cards were part of what I got from Justin Greene post game, I put them in the same scan to save time.

On my clipboard I got:
Anthony Carter
Hector Gimenez
Leyson Septino
Post game was good, except for this group of annoying kids who were calling players random names,including calling Daniel Bard Lars, asking if Jose came out after they got him at his car. They would also ask random employees to sign, it was just super annoying but hey what can you do...

I got Justin Greene to sign 11 cards, 2 were pictured above:
For the PawSox I got Ciriaco and Mike Rivera, others signed but I didn't need them. Iglesias wouldn't do it for me at his car after doing it for other people:
Finally, i got Bob Tewksbury again, I keep forgetting to bring cards of him:

Total Autographs for 2012:467

Saturday, June 23, 2012

PawSox Legends Night 6/22/12

This was an interesting night from the start, because a few minutes after I got to the stadium, it started to absolutely pour.

I did get this on my way up the stairs though:
That was legendary New England sports writer, Bob Ryan, he is retiring after the olympics, so I was happy to see him. He was in town for the unveiling of Ben Mondor's statue.

When I got into the actual seating area, I saw Ryan Lavarnway just outside the dugout, and I figured this would be my chance if I were going to get him this year.

For those who are new readers, Ryan has changed for the worse this year. Last year he was incredibly nice, and humble. Now he is the polar opposite.:
Then a little bit later, I went to get a spot in line for the signing.

I got Rico Petrocelli to sign this bat that I've had for a while:
I got Lou Merloni to sign a ball for my collection, I already had Rico on a ball from 5 or 6 years ago.

I really miss hearing Lou on WEEI's " The Big Show", but greatly enjoy his new program "Mut and Merloni".


The game went 13 innings and ended after 12 so I called it a night.

Total Autographs for 2012:438

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

2012 Travelers Celebrity Pro-Am

I woke up at 4 a.m. this morning to go to the event I had been waiting for over the last few months. I had never gone to a golf tournament, but I wanted to give it a try since I am a golf fan, and there were some interesting celebrities to graph as well.

I decided that in this entry, I will not go in order of when I got guys, but just go from the bad stuff to the great stuff.

For players that I did not have a photo for, I just used the autograph cards I had. I got an assortment of guys on those, most notably:

Hunter Mahan:
Lucas Glover:
2010 Open Champion, Louis Oosthuizen:
I got a lot of programs signed, they were free, and a nice item to get done.

Uconn Men's Associate H.C. George Blainey and Women's Associate H.C. Chris Dailey:

Bo Van Pelt, Fredrik Jacobson:

Rory Sabbatini:
2011 PGA Champion, Keegan Bradley, very nice guy:
2009 PGA Champion, Y.E. Yang:
ESPN Legend, Chris Berman:
And now for the nicest items, the photos!

"The Voice" season 1 winner, and CT native, Javier Colon:


Once again, Keegan Bradley:
He never looked up so it was incredibly easy to dip:

Padraig Harrington:
I went for the dip and he wouldn't do it.

Hunter Mahan again:


WWE Legend, Booker T!

Booker was probably one of the nicest people there, he really liked the photo.

2X Grammy Winner, Michael Bolton. His manager kept telling him to stop, but he signed for like 10 people when I got him, I wish I got him on something nicer but I just planned to get him last night:
Louis Oosthuizen:
Basketball Hall of Famer, and Uconn coaching legend, Geno Auriemma, his counterpart Calhoun dropped out of the tournament so he was a no show. I got him to add the HOF inscription on the first one:

Sunday's U.S. Open Champion, Webb Simpson:

And now for the best stuff. I had jussst missed Doug Flutie when he was coming out and leaving practice, but I was able to get him during the round:
Flutie was really, really great today about signing, I was worried that I just was unlucky, but I was glad that I was able to land him coming off the green on 9.

Two words... Bubba Watson. To say that EVERYBODY wanted him at the tournament would be a drastic understatement. He had said early in the day, that he would sign off of the last hole, and he was not lying. Hundreds of people pushed to get him(I had gotten a great spot against the rail, about 45 minutes before he would be leaving. He skipped around A lot, but did sign a lot, and when he came over to me I was so happy:


To give you a sense of how crazy it was, I couldn't move at all for 10 minutes after I got him
I was interviewed by NBCCT and was on the 11 a.m. news, so that was cool.

In other news, Bill Murray made a complete ass out of himself towards people.

I did get very close to Ray Allen, but he didn't sign yet this week, he's tough as it is, never mind with the injury.

Total Autographs at the Event:43
Total Autographs for 2012:434

Monday, June 18, 2012

Aaron Hernandez and Niko Koutouvides @ Mohegan Sun 6/16/12

On Saturday I went over to Mohegan Sun again to meet CT natives Aaron Hernandez and Niko Koutouvides. I was excited to meet Hernandez, because even though I am a Jets fan, he is my favorite Patriots player.

I got to the casino around 11:45 for the 2:00 signing, and was about 40 people back.

It was really loose security, and they signed whatever you had. I forgot my nice Hernandez 8x10 at home, but luckily I had another photo in my bag.

The only bad thing about these casino signings is the countless clueless/drunk/stupid people who walk up to people in line asking,"Who are all these people waiting for?" Especially when there are signs and ads on videoboards.


I got Niko on the giveaway photo:
Both guys were really nice, I wish I had brought my best photo, but no big deal.

I'm doing the Travelers all day Wednesday, see you there!

Total Autographs for 2012:391