Top 50 Interactions of 2014

Another great year is in the books, which means it is time for the 4th annual GB Autographs Best of the Year Countdown!

In my opinion, I think this may be the strongest year overall for the blog ever, which is saying a lot because 2013 was amazing.

I can't wait to hear all of your feedback, and while I have stepped back a little since starting my new job/life happened, I really appreciate you all still coming back to read time and time again.

Previous Countdowns:

2013

2012

2011

As always, this list is highly subjective, and is based on 2014 relevance of the person,quality of the person in their area of work, my liking of them, and my experience with them.

Rank|Name|Job|Place I Met Them

50. Manny Delcarmen,2007 World Series Champion w/ Red Sox, Pawtucket,RI

49. Steve Lyons, Former Red Sox/Current Analyst, Pawtucket,RI

48. Henry Owens, Red Sox Top Pitching Prospect, New Britain,CT

47.Officer Steve Horgan, 2013 World Series Icon, Pawtucket,RI

46. Luke Hancock, 2013 NCAA Final Four MVP, Storrs,CT

45. Montrezl Harrell, Star Louisville Player, Storrs,CT

44. Nick Ahmed, Arizona Diamondbacks, Wethersfield,CT

43. Evan Turner, Boston Celtics, Uncasville,CT

42.Boston Rob Mariano, SURVIVOR Redemption Island Winner,Uncasville,CT

41.Rick Reilly, Journalist,West Hartford,CT

40.Brandon Workman,Boston Red Sox, Pawtucket,RI

39.Sean Rodriguez, Tampa Bay Rays, Boston,MA

38.Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox, New Britain,CT

37.Grant Balfour, Tampa Bay Rays,Boston,MA

36.Maurice Clarett, Former All-American Running Back,Willimantic,CT

35.Munenori Kawasaki,Toronto Blue Jays, Pawtucket,RI

34.Bryce Cotton, Former Providence Friar, Providence,RI

33.Kevvin Ollie, Former NBA Player/Current UCONN Head Coach, Storrs,CT

32.Ricky Moore, Former UCONN Basketball Star, Storrs,CT

31. Tom Higgenson,Plain White T's, Wallingford,CT

30.Brandon Bass,Boston Celtics,Uncasville,CT

29.Kelly Olynyk,Boston Celtics,Uncasville,CT

28.Jeff Green,Boston Celtics,Uncasville,CT

27.Chris Webby,Rap Artist,Meriden,CT/Providence,RI

26. George Springer, Houston Astros Star, Wethersfield,CT/Providence,RI

25.Ron Washington,Former Texas Rangers Manager,Boston,MA

24.Ryan Boatright, UCONN Basketball Star,Storrs,CT

23. Photo With Daniel Nava, Boston Red Sox, Pawtucket,RI

22.Brock Holt, Boston Red Sox, Pawtucket,RI

21. Shabazz Napier,Miami Heat,Storrs,CT

20.Jared Sullinger,Boston Celtics,Uncasville,CT

19.Avery Bradley,Boston Celtics,Uncasville,CT

18.Jim Calhoun,Naismith Hall of Famer/Former UCONN Head Coach,Storrs,CT

17.Nick Cannon,TV Star(Wild 'n Out,America's Got Talent),Uncasville,CT

16. Photo With Jeff and Matt Hardy, Former WWE Stars, Waterbury,CT

15. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Former WWE Star, Waterbury,CT

14. Dick Vitale, Naismith Hall of Famer/ESPN Analyst, Storrs,CT

13. Rick Pitino, Naismith Hall of Famer/Louisville Head Coach, Storrs,CT

12. Photo With Matt Nathanson, Musician,Wallingford,CT

11.Walt Frazier,Naismith Hall of Famer,Uncasville,CT

10.Cedric the Entertainer,Actor/Comedian,Pawtucket,RI

9.Chris Tucker,Actor,Pawtucket,RI

8.Alex Morgan, United States Soccer Star, Hartford,CT

7. Photo With Ray Allen, NBA Legend & 3 point King, Storrs,CT

6.Madeleine Albright, Former Secretary of State, Willimantic,CT

5. Photo With Boyd Tinsley,Dave Matthews Band,Hartford,CT

-A member of one of my favorite bands of all time, Boyd has been in the spotlight for around 2 decades now, and when I met him was one of the most caring/appreciative musicians I have ever met.

4. Yu Darvish,Texas Rangers Star, Boston,MA

-My first big success in Boston. I am one of the biggest Red Sox fans out there, but I had never really made it up to many games until last year. Meeting Yu after batting practice certainly made me see the potential of 'graphing in Boston, and 2014 was just the tip of the iceberg.

3. Shane Victorino, 2013 Red Sox Hero, Pawtucket,RI

This was probably my most shocking success ever. Shane is notoriously known as one of the meanest guys in all of sports, but luck, and knowing where to be made for an early season success I will never forget.

2.Chris Christie,Governor of New Jersey,Groton,CT/Windsor Locks,CT

-I had been wanting to start getting more political autographs, and the way I succeeded  with Chris Christie over two weeks in late October/early November made a strong case for me continuing as the 2016 election looms.

Let's hope CC runs a successful campaign in 2016!

1.Chris Daughtry,Daughtry,Wallingford,CT

I went into this night with the hopes of just having a good time at my favorite band's concert, and I left well after midnight having met one of the people who has been high on my list to meet for the longest time. I have been following Chris closely literally since the airing of his American Idol audition, and now 4 albums later, I am still a huge fan. This encounter meant so much to me, both as a fan and musician.

Chris Webby Round II 11/7/14

You may recall that a few weeks back, I met my favorite rapper, Chris Webby, who just happens to be from Connecticut. A few days later, my roommate and I drove over to Providence for his show, and hoped to meet him afterwards.

As I said last time, Webby is about as nice as they come. He's a very chill human being, especially considering that he's really making it big now. His album sales have been very impressive, and from his posts on social media one can see that he loves interacting with his fans.

After the show, we headed out back, and it was really cold. I'm talking ~25 degrees. I can recall that my thumb cracked and was bleeding at one point, so yeah, it was bad. We waited for AN HOUR after the show(Webby has been doing really long meet and greets after his shows), and then we saw him come out of the door. We approached him, and he was like last time, amazingly nice. He is super environmentally conscious, so before he took care of us, he actually picked up a plastic six pack holder that was on the street and ripped it up.

He then signed two of my photos and took a picture with each of us. We talked about how we came up from Connecticut, and that we would be seeing him again soon and he told us about what he had been up to, and about staying in the city. I had more photos, but it seemed that he wanted to get going, so we said our goodbyes and went on our way.

Overall, it was another great experience with someone in which I really enjoy listening to.

Chris Christie Round II 11/3/14

For the 5th time in under a month, New Jersey Governor, and 2016 Presidential hopeful, Chris Christie was scheduled to be in Connecticut to stump for CT's GOP nominee for governor, Tom Foley.

You may recall that I met Christie just last Monday when he came through, and was pretty successful, but this time he was even closer to where I live, so there was no way I wasn't going to go and try to get some more autographs, because once the campaign trail comes, more and more people are going to be trying which will make things more difficult.

I had to rush there because of my schedule, but luckily for me the Governor had an even busier schedule. In the morning he was in Rhode Island, he then flew to Michigan, flew back to Connecticut, and was going to finish his night in Portland, Maine.

I probably got there about 20-25 minutes before he arrived, and while I got close again, I failed to get his autograph before he spoke. It was MUCH less crowded than the last rally I attended however, and I was even able to get the first spot where he was going to walk away from the podium. When that happened, I knew I would be all set. I actually brought a friend with me to help, since I wouldn't be seeing the Governor again for a while.

When he walked off of the "stage", he came right by me, and started signing. I had a picture of him and his wife, which was a strategic move on my part, to start a conversation, and keep him signing, which he did. He showed the picture to his wife, who was also happy to sign it.

When he saw this picture he said, "Hey it's me with my buddy!"

After he passed us in the line, we went to get a position by where he was going to exit. It got very crowded, so I decided that we should go outside to try for one last 'graph, and maybe get a picture.

I had him sign a baseball out there, and got an even nicer signature on it than last time.

Unfortunately we couldn't get a picture with him, but he signed a lot for us so I went home more than happy.

Chris Webby 10/30/14

For a number of years now, I have been constantly listening to Connecticut rapper, Chris Webby, and like the rest of his huge, but still somewhat niche fan base, have been waiting for his debut studio album to be released for quite some time now. Luckily for us, Chris' album dropped last week, and FYE had him do in store signings in a number of cities. I was lucky enough to make it to his Meriden stop.

It is very widely known that Chris is one of the most fan friendly rappers there is to meet, and I have appreciated his music for years now so this event was the perfect opportunity to meet who is in my opinion, already one of the best rappers out there, in his home state of Connecticut.

Chris was a little late, because he had an extremely busy day which started in New York City, which is a few hour drive away but made it more than worth it for every fan who waited for him.

I should mention that the crowd was VERY big. I was so happy for him to get such a big turnout, but I shouldn't have been very surprised because his album sold out in nearly every Target and Best Buy in the country in just a couple of days.

Overall, I had a great time meeting one of my favorite rappers ever, and I can't wait to see him perform at the end of this month!

Chris was super appreciative of everyone who came out to support him, and talked with everyone for as long as they wanted. He asked me if I had gotten to hear the album, and I told him I had barely stopped listening to it at all within the last few days.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie + Tom Foley 10/27/14

As far as last minute adventures go, this one just about tops them all. I found out literally HOURS before this event, which was a rally for Connecticut Gubernatorial candidate, Tom Foley, that New Jersey Governor, and likely 2016 presidential candidate Chris Christie wouldn't be too far from me.

Even though I was not prepared at all, after my last class/meeting I shot over to the store, printed some photos, grabbed some baseballs from home, and was on my way.

I got to the venue about an hour before things were set to kick off, and there were a TON of people. Luckily, I found a parking spot down the road, and headed over. It was clear that neither Foley nor Christie had arrived yet, so I waited by the spot where I figured they would be going in.

Both arrived after the event was supposed to start, which is totally normal. Foley was first there, and after he finished talking to a few folks, I had him sign a photo for me. He was nice, but not overly so, but certainly wasn't mean which was good.

When Christie's SUV pulled up I got ready to approach him, but Foley did also so I obviously wasn't going to interrupt. When they went to go in I don't think the governor heard me, but his lead security guy did, and he told me he would get me on the way out.

It was getting pretty cold at this point, so I really hoped he would stop. The event didn't run too long, and when Christie came out, I was the first person to stop him. He was extremely nice, and took the time to sign a photo for me, as well as take a picture with me!

I wasn't done.

After that, I was able to get in the middle of the media scrum, and got him to sign a baseball. I was really excited about this, and he gave me an AMAZING signature. 

I left very happy.

It isn't often that I get a chance to meet a political powerhouse, the last one really being Rudy Giuliani a few years ago. It was nice to have to opportunity to make this happen, especially on such short notice.