UCONN First Night + Ray Allen! 10/17/14

It is my senior year of college, and even though I live in Connecticut I had never been able to make it to First Night, the fantastic annual event that UCONN(and most colleges), hold to commemorate the start of basketball practice, and a new season. Luckily for me, I now have a job that never requires me to work weekends, so I could finally make it to the event.

There is usually a strong alumni presence, but the timing this year didn't work very well with the NBA schedule, which is heading towards the end of the preseason. Ray Allen of course, still hasn't signed anywhere, and he lives in Connecticut so I expected him to be there. Other than him, there were just the familiar faces such as Donny Marshall and Charles Okwandu.

First Night also represents the only time in the season in which both the mens' and womens' teams are together at once. There was an autograph session before the event, which was good, except for the fact that they don't allow outside items. Ryan Boatright hooked me up though, and was super nice as he always has been. Head Coach Kevin Ollie also hooked me up with one of my own items. I had the feeling that the athletic department was definitely breathing down the players' necks this year, because Boatright looked around 3-4 times to make sure nobody saw him signing my item.

I got Ryan on a magazine, and will add Ladontae Henton on it as well later this season:

Here is the Kevin Ollie 8x10 that he signed for me. As you can see, the markers that the school provided were absolutely terrible:

Finally, here is the huge poster signed by both full teams:

After the event I went outside to try and meet my favorite basketball player ever, Ray Allen. For those of you who don't know, Ray is one of the toughest athletes to meet in any sport, and he just NEVER signs. I was lucky enough to have gotten a beautiful autograph from him at the Calhoun charity basketball game 2 years ago, and I was shocked.

I was even more shocked last night.

I was in the spot I needed to be in, and the door opened and I saw Ray saying bye to people in the doorway, but then he walked back inside, and I thought that he had maybe chosen to use a different exit. After waiting for a while longer, I had not lost hope because I figured there was a strong chance he was just talking to people because he doesn't get to come around a lot. Anyways, after a while longer he walked out. Nobody there even tried for an autograph, because by his demeanor, he clearly was not going to stop. Myself and two other people wanted pictures with him, and as I approached him he said he would, but I had to walk with him. I couldn't believe I was meeting him for the second time because of how impossible he is. He never stopped walking so the photo isn't perfect, but it is FANTASTIC given the circumstances.

Ray is just one of those people that I get excited about having a chance to meet because doing so brings back so many childhood memories. Not only is he the best basketball player ever from UCONN, the NBA 3-point king, and a major piece of the only Celtics Championship I have ever seen, but he is my favorite player ever in the basketball world, and at the end of a day, interacting with him means a lot to me. 

I left last night VERY happy.

Before Ray had come out, I also got a picture with Sam Cassell Jr. who will hopefully be a big addition to this year's team.