Top 50 Interactions of 2015 (5th Annual Edition)

As I am writing this, I really can't believe that another year has passed and this is my 5th time writing my annual ranking of my top interactions with athletes and celebrities of the year. The first ranking entry back in 2011 had a top FIVE list, and now I have really slowed down the blog and struggle to narrow the list down to a top 50. I thank you guys so much for the tens of thousands of page views, and while I no longer post every week, I appreciate your continued support.

Here we go.

As in the past few years, I have created a visual of the places I met people in 2015:

The Travelers Championship(Cromwell) made it back on the list this year after I attended the event for the first time since 2014. 

Here are my countdowns from previous years:

2014

2013

2012

2011

50. Tito Oritz | Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion | Manchester,CT

49. Stuart Appleby| PGA Tour | Cromwell,CT

48. Canaan Smith | Country Artist | Wallingford,CT

47. Jonas Gray | Former New England Patriots Running Back | Waterford,CT

46. Photo With Tiffany | 80's Pop Star | Uncasville,CT

45. Ernie Els | 2x PGA Tour Major Champion | Cromwell,CT

44. Daniel Hamilton | UCONN Basketball, NBA Prospect | Storrs,CT

43. Tyler Beede | San Francisco Giants Prospect | New Britain, CT

42. Kyle Crick | San Francisco Giants Prospect | New Britain,CT

41. Bubba Wallace Jr. | NASCAR Rising Star | Cromwell,CT

40. Henry Owens | Boston Red Sox Starting Pitcher | Pawtucket,RI

39. Blake Swihart | Boston Red Sox Catcher | Pawtucket,RI

38. Ryan Sheckler |Professional Skateboarder | Cromwell,CT

37. Justin Masterson | Boston Red Sox | Baltimore,MD

36. Francisco Lindor | Cleveland Indians | Pawtucket,RI

35. Jerry Remy | Boston Red Sox Announcer/ Former Player | Mashantucket,CT

34. Brian Cashman | New York Yankees General Manager | Uncasville, CT

33. John Henry | Boston Red Sox/ Liverpool F.C. Owner | Mashantucket,CT

32. Troy Brown | New England Patriots Legend | Pawtucket,Rhode Island

31. Joe Buck | MLB/NFL Announcer | Boston,MA

30. Jim Calhoun | Naismith Hall of Fame/ Former UCONN Basketball Head Coach | Cromwell,CT

29. The Swon Brothers | Country Band | Brooklyn,CT

28. Tim Wakefield | Former Boston Red Sox Pitcher | Cromwell,CT

27. Geno Auriemma | Naismith HOF/UCONN Women's Basketball Head Coach |Cromwell,CT

26. Photo With Kris Dunn | Providence College Basketball/ NBA Prospect | Providence, RI

25. Clay Buccholz | Boston Red Sox | New York,NY

24. Chris Webby | Rap Artist | Torrington,CT

23. Iliza Shlesinger | Comedian | Mashantucket,CT

22. Patton Oswalt | Actor/Comedian | New York,NY

21. LeGarrette Blount | Patriots Running Back | Attleboro,MA

20. Stephen Gostowski | Patriots Kicker | Cromwell,CT

19. Malcolm Butler | Patriots Cornerback | Worcester,MA

18. Xander Bogaerts | Boston Red Sox Shortstop | Mashantucket,CT

17. Rodney Atkins | Country Star | Woodstock,CT

16. Bubba Watson | 2x PGA Tour Masters Champion | Cromwell,CT

15. Mat Lauer | TODAY Show Host | Cromwell,CT

14. Dennis Eckersley | Baseball Hall of Fame | Boston,MA

13. Pedro Martinez | Baseball Hall of Fame | Framingham,MA

12. Photo With Ray Allen | NBA Legend | Storrs,CT

11. Carlton Fisk | Baseball Hall of Fame | Mashantucket,CT

10. Bridget Moynahan | Actress(Blue Bloods, Coyote Ugly) | Cromwell,CT

I was able to meet Bridget at this year's Travelers Celebrity Pro-Am. She currently stars in one of my favorite shows, "Blue Bloods". This was her second year in a row at the event, but I had to miss it last year. She was awesome to her fans, and I hope she continues attending in future years.

9. Pat Monahan | Lead Singer of Train | Wallingford,CT

I actually met Pat during December of last year so he missed that countdown, but this was a huge success for me. Train has been a mainstay on pop radio for a very long time now, and I was very excited to meet Pat!

8. George Lopez | Actor/Comedian | Cromwell,CT

George was one of the most cordial celebrities I have ever met. He actually grabbed more photos from under my ones on top, which is nearly unheard of for someone to do. It was awesome to meet a comedy legend.

7. Rob Schneider | Actor/Comedian | Manchester,CT

This was perhaps my most fun experience of the year. Rob took me into his green room after his stand up show which was surprising, and a new experience all together. If you watch Adam Sandler movies you know how important Rob is in the world of comedy.

6. Kevin Bacon | Actor(Footloose,Tremors, The Following) | Hartford,CT

I was able to meet Kevin Bacon on opening night of his show, "Rear Window", in Hartford. He was awesome to the few people waiting, and besides being an awesome actor, he gives A LOT back to the community.

5. 50 Cent | Rap Icon | Various Locations

Anyone who meets celebrities knows that this was the year to meet 50 Cent. He was touring to promote his Vodka domestically as well as internationally, and he REALLY hooked it up with outside items. "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" was one of the first albums I bought in middle school back in the day, so this was a HUGE one for me.

4. James Patterson | Author | Hartford,CT

James Patterson has sold an incredible amount of books(~275,000,000) and I have always been a huge fan. Getting a 1st edition ,"Along Came a Spider", signed was pretty awesome because that was the first book in the "Alex Cross" series, as well as the first book by him that I read. He was actually surprised that I had one in such good condition.

3. Josh Radnor | Actor(How I Met Your Mother, Liberal Arts) | Storrs,CT

Josh starred as Ted Mosby in my favorite television show of all time, and meeting him was not a guarantee, so when I was able to meet him I was very happy. If you haven't seen his movie, "Liberal Arts", which he directed and starred in, I greatly recommend it.

2. Donald Trump | Mogul/ Presidential Candidate | Atkinson,NH

This was (I believe) my most read post of the year, and it makes sense. Trump is polarizing. Many love him, many hate him, and I am certainly not a fan of his politics, but he was amazingly relevant this year, and it is amazing that I got to meet him. I am still pretty shocked about it even though I had it planned out, and I hope to meet more presidential candidates in the future.

1. Mike Trout | Best Baseball Player in the World | Boston, MA

I had a little difficulty selecting #1 on this list, however at the end of the day, this experience is the one that made me the most happy, and that I will cherish in the future. Mike is known as one of the best signers at stadiums in baseball, which is remarkable seeing how he is the best player in the game, and everyone wants a piece of him. I was a little lucky to meet him, but very, very happy to.

Donald Trump 10/26/15

I had been wanting to make it to a political rally again for quite some time now, and I was able to do just that the other day in New Hampshire. I had the day off so I decided to make the just under 2 hour drive to Atkinson to see one of the most relevant people of the year, Donald Trump. I am not a Trump supporter by any means, but he is in the spotlight big time, very successful, and while I don't sell, his autographs are simply worth A LOT of money right now.

I woke up before 4:00 a.m. to start the 100+ mile drive, and I arrived at  the country club where the event was being held right around 6:00. The event was so early because Trump was holding a town hall meeting live on "Today", with Matt Lauer. Before the town hall meeting was a ticketed public event, which is what I attended. The doors were scheduled to open at 6:30 a.m. for the 7:00 a.m. event, however when I got there, they were open, and the place was PACKED. 

I went to look for a good spot, and even with the large crowd I was somehow lucky enough to find an aisle seat right next to where he would be walking out. My spot was as perfect as it could have been. This picture doesn't show the crowd in front of the stage, but it was gigantic, especially for before 7 a.m..

After a while of sitting around waiting, it was time:

I was pretty confident that I would be able to get the 'graph and maybe a picture on his way off of the stage, especially with me being right next to the rail.

The speech went on, and despite really not being a fan of Trump's views at all, it wasn't too bad of a speech. I was actually surprised with how even-keel it was. He mostly talked about how he was winning every state(which was true until this morning). 

I did however find this tweet that shows me "face-palming" during part of the event, which I thought was pretty awesome. If you want to see, simply zoom to the bottom left, and I'm in a black hat.

        

        

In Atkinson, Trump says that 30% of the press are good, but "50% are the worst people I've ever met." #nhpolitics pic.twitter.com/np6mjk73eg

— Kailani Koenig (@kailanikm) October 26, 2015

When the speech ended and Donald was walking off the stage I stood up and got ready. He got to me, saw my "Forbes" magazine, asked me how the article was, held it up to the crowd, got an applause, and signed it with a HUGE signature. I was happy that my drive up was rewarded. As much as I disagree with the way he carries himself politically, I was a devoted fan of his show, "The Apprentice", so it was really cool to meet him. I tried to take a photo with him, but he was just rushing too much and I couldn't get a good one taken.

I wasn't done though. Trump had an hour long live town hall with Matt Lauer as I said earlier, and I decided to stay around to see if I could get him to sign or take a picture again afterwards.

There were a number of supporters out near his vehicle along the railing, but I found a good spot. A few of the others were live-streaming the show, so I was able to know exactly when it ended. Just a few minutes later, he came out, and started interacting with the crowd. Almost immediately, I was being pushed hard against the railing, but Donald came right over to me after signing a book for a woman. As soon as he got to me, I felt the crowd pushing even harder but I wasn't really thinking about it. Trump grabbed my photo, once again held it up to the crowd, and signed it really big like the last time. This made the trip even more worth it, and I was pretty happy.

I think this was actually the farthest I have ever gone for a non-guaranteed interaction with someone, and I'm glad that it paid off. I'm excited to see which other candidates I can meet before next November.

Rodney Atkins 9/7/15

As I said last week, fair season in New England is going strong, which annually leads to a least a few music 'graphing opportunities. This one was a little more planned than the Swon Brothers, since I had seen at least a month ago that Rodney Atkins would be performing at a fair I go to every year in Connecticut. I also saw a post weeks ago that if you join Rodney's fan club for a small fee, that you have a chance to win a meet and greet with him at your show. I knew nearly nobody else would see that post, so it was pretty much a guarantee, (at least I thought so), that I would be meeting him.

There was a long stretch where I hadn't heard anything, but then about 4-5 days before the show I got an e-mail stating that I was in! I love Rodney's music, and he and Jason Aldean literally got me into country music years ago, so I was pretty thrilled that I was going to be meeting him.

I had bought all 5 of his CD's on Amazon/at Wal-Mart for around $5 each which was a pretty good deal, so I was well-prepared for the event.

When fair day came, I went to the merch booth where I was told my pass would be waiting, I picked it up, and inside was the meet and greet pass, along with a note that said only one autograph and one picture was allowed per person. I was a little bummed, just because I had gone through the trouble of buying his entire collection, but I didn't think they would really enforce it because it was so low key. 

After the concert I went to the meeting spot, which was at the merch booth, and after a few minutes, I along with maybe 15-20 others were led to the area where the meet and greet would be taking place. After another 10 minutes or so, Rodney came out of his bus, and the event was underway.

I was probably 6-7 people back, and I noticed that Rodney was signing multiples for people, which was awesome.

When I got up to him, I handed him the CD booklets, and he asked who to make them out to.

I told him that he was one of the guys who really got me interested in the genre, and that his song, "It's America", played at a baseball stadium near me for like 5 years, and was the song that really got me hooked. He told me that he appreciated that. He was VERY nice. Not that I wasn't expecting him to be, but he was just awesome. He really cared about what people were telling him, and he was one of the most genuine celebrities I have ever met.

Rodney signed 5 CD's for me. Here they are in order of their release:

He was also kind enough to take a photo with me after signing all of those.

New York Mets Vs. Boston 8/30/15

Last weekend I went to Citi Field for the first time on a group trip to see the Mets play the Red Sox. It is often tough for me on group trips to get autographs at the games because of timing, but this time we ended up showing up before gates opened which was pretty awesome.

This was my 5th different Major League Stadium, and as always, I was very excited to knock another one off of my list. In order, I have been to: RFK Stadium in Washington, Fenway Park, Camden Yards, Yankee Stadium, and now Citi Field.

Since it was a Sunday, I knew there wouldn't be batting practice which would limit my chances for autographs, but when I got inside, the pitchers were throwing, and I already saw someone signing. When I got closer, about halfway down the stairs, I could see that it was Clay Buchholz. I hadn't met him in about 7-8 years,  around the time when he threw his no-hitter.

When I got down to him he was nicer than I had ever seen him, which was pretty great, and he even took a photo with me!:

A few minutes later, Eduardo Rodriguez started to sign after an obnoxious woman was screaming his name for 10 minutes. He signed for her and about 4 others. I missed out which was a bummer, but no big deal I suppose.

Craig Breslow also signed for a while, but I just wasn't in position, and I didn't want to move because I had a really solid spot in the front row. I always joke around saying, I've met over 140 Red Sox players, and he is one of the nicest athletes in Boston, but I just have terrible luck with him.

After that I was able to get one more autograph. Steven Wright was coming over and I really wanted to talk to him because I had seen him play for a few years in Pawtucket and he was always one of the nicest and most fan-friendly guys. I told him about seeing him in Pawtucket for so long and how I was happy that he had really made it and has been sticking around.

I only got two autographs, but it was an awesome day, and Citi Field definitely became one of my favorite stadiums to watch a game at/enjoy the overall experience. People may call me crazy but I mighhhttt like it as much as Camden Yards.

The Swon Brothers 8/28/15

Fair season is officially underway in New England, and while that means the year is beginning to wind down, a good part of my 'graphing season is just beginning.

Every year there is a small fair near where I used to live, and I found out a few weeks ago that the Swon Brothers, who since their long stint on NBC's , "The Voice", have begun to really succeed in the country scene were going to be performing at it. The concert was on a Friday night which was pretty perfect as far as my schedule goes, so my girlfriend and I decided to head over to the show, and hoped to get an autograph or two.

When we got to the fair, the tour bus was fenced in next to the stage as usual, but there wasn't much action at all so we just decided to walk around for a while and come back closer to showtime. We went back to get a seat about 70-90 minutes before the show. While we were waiting, a sign was put up at the merchandise booth that said that the guys would be signing after their show. I had bought a CD, so I was happy to have this safety net, and it's always nice to have pretty much a guarantee that I will meet who I am trying for.

Maybe 30 minutes before showtime, I noticed a really nice SUV pulling up near the fence, and I could see that Colton Swon was in the front seat. I went over and positioned myself near where he would be walking over. He got out of the vehicle and I asked him to sign the CD. He went to grab my pen, and a cheap fair security guy told me to go away or something along those lines. Obviously I didn't think much of it because the artist was literally grabbing my CD and pen. The guy then got in front of him and tried to block me from handing off the CD. Colton looked at me and was just like, "Sorry man." I could tell he really wanted to sign it, probably because it kind of pays his salary when fans buy his music, but the guy was just being obnoxious. Eventually, and by that I mean within the next 10 seconds, he was able to finally sign the CD. After that, I saw his brother Zach getting out of the back of the SUV, and walking behind the merch table. Another security guy said, "You can't be here." Zach didn't care though, and grabbed my CD and signed it with no hesitation at all. The security guys all seemed so pissed, and nobody else had even been trying to get anything signed because it all happened so quickly.

Let's recap.

-I was literally in an open area at a SMALLLL local fair.
-Both guys wanted to sign my CD with no hesitation at all. I'm pretty confident Colton would have  had a full conversation with me if he had the chance.
-Security guys who had no affiliation with the artists were trying to control their actions.

This is becoming a more and more frequent occurrence in the hobby, and it obviously isn't good for it. "Security guys" just need to learn their place and not go above what their job calls for. I see this happen at concerts, basketball games, you name it.

Yes, I realize that I could have just gotten my CD signed after the concert, but, "I waited until the show ended and waited in line." isn't the most exciting blog entry for you guys.

With that said, they were selling photos for $5, so I did wait after the show and have them sign that, but that's besides the point :) .

I had gotten the booklet signed by them before the show, and when I went up to the line after the show, my girlfriend got the actual CD done for me.

Notice how the CD cover that I got signed before the show has much nicer autographs than during their signing:

Boston Vs. Cleveland 8/17/15

A few weeks back while I was at work, a reader of this blog who happens to live in the area, whom I had only met once mind you, dm'ed me on Twitter with an INCREDIBLY generous offer of two free tickets to the Red Sox game that night. I was honestly pretty shocked. It was just such a nice gesture for anyone to make, let alone someone who had only met me briefly in person  a few years ago. With that said, I just want to truly thank, "P"(Didn't want to put his full name here) for his generosity.

After work I met up with my girlfriend and picked up the tickets. We then promptly drove up to Boston. Where I used to live was a lot closer to Fenway, about 65-70 minutes, and my new place is about 95 minutes away, but I still like to take any opportunities I can to make it up to the park.

We were able to make it to the stadium while batting practice was winding down which happened to be much earlier than  I had expected to arrive, and I saw Pitcher, Trevor Bauer, signing over the dugout, so I raced over and was able to get him to sign a baseball. He must have signed around 50 things for people, and he was just very nice.

After everyone else came in, I decided to go to the NESN set on Yawkey Way to see who was doing the pre-game show  because I had seen that a number of my friends have had good luck over there in the past.

Hall of Fame Pitcher, Dennis Eckersley was doing the show with Tom Caron, AND nobody was around the exit of the set, so we went and got some food and came back closer to the end of the show. When the show ended, Dennis was walking over and when I asked him to sign, he couldn't have been any nicer. It was VERY hot so I was happy and thankful that he did it, and was extra happy to have met yet another Hall of Famer, and to add another Red Sox player to my list. I have now met 140+ Red Sox players.

Eck was also kind enough to take a photo with me.

I may have only gotten two autographs at this game, but when one is a Hall of Fame legend, there is little to complain about.

Chris Webby III 8/14/15

You may remember around this time a year ago, I met my favorite rapper Chris Webby at a music store in Connecticut while he was promoting his debut album. Now, a year later, Chris was back after 2 HUGE U.S. tours. The first was one in which he was the headliner, and the second was Tech N9ne's Special Effects Tour.

I had been wanting to see him again, because I had to miss his closest tour date on the Special Effects Tour after having gone to two stops on his previous tour.

This event was at a super small venue which was really cool. It had the feel of old Webby shows before he toured. For those who don't know Webby, he has been releasing mixtapes and a few EP's for years now. He has crashed Datpiff's servers multiple times, and his debut album got to the top of iTune's rap charts at one point. He's finally starting to get real national attention, and it's pretty awesome. Oh, and he's from Connecticut.

The show was really quick, and much faster than his tour shows were. Afterwards, I walked to where he was coming out, and he was already outside hanging out. I looked at his manager and he told me that he'd take care of me after he was done with his cigarette. Webby has always been one of the absolute nicest guys out there, so I was excited to meet him again. When he finished, I had him sign 3 of his mixtapes that I hadn't gotten signed yet and he talked about all of them to me which was really cool. He was actually really funny talking about them, because he said he absolutely hated one of them(Bars on Me), and then said, "You can't love all of your kids the same, right?" jokingly which was pretty hilarious. I also found this interesting because, "Bars on Me", is one of my favorite projects that he has released. He also commented on how much he loved, "There Goes the Neighborhood", and "Best in the Burbs", which he said went together really nicely back in the day.

It was really nice to see Webby again, and I can't wait until he comes back around!

Here are links to my other two blog entries about meeting Webby:
Chris Webby I
Chris Webby II