Writing up a blue streak: 2024

[DFWGrapher]

It feels like just yesterday that I was searching through thousands of cards, pulling out what I was going to need for a week at Spring Training. Honestly, I'm surprised I'm not having nightmares, waking up in a cold sweat realizing I need to search for cards of some random White Sox scout-- even though I've already gone to Arizona, got my autographs, and came back with 324 of them

Such is the life of the in-person grapher.

And so, here's a thread on all my in-person graphing exploits this year. I write a weekly column for Sports Collectors Daily, but here I can expand a bit on my in-person experiences. My two-part column on my week in Arizona is already posted there, so I'll start here with today's outing to a UFL practice in Arlington,

The UFL is the aftermath of the merger of the USFL and XFL to have a single spring football league. Arlington's team has been great about having an open practice before the season so fans can come watch, get ticket info, get autographs, and just publicize the team.

Or at least that's how it was the past years.

Before the 2020 season, they had a couple great events: an open practice at University of Texas-Arlington where fans could come on the field afterward for autographs, then a second event at Choctaw Stadium with fans allowed on the field for autographs. The season was canceled for Covid, as was 2021; 2022 was spent rebuilding the league, and in 2023 the team had another practice at Choctaw for fans. Season ticket holders could watch from the field, but afterward, players lined the concourse in the former center field area from when it was the Rangers' Ballpark, and everyone signed. Great events, well-run, and I left with a lot of cards signed.

So I expected something similar this season as I went down to the Stadium a little before 10 am. As practice ended and only season ticket holders were allowed down at the field, I asked two employees if they would be having a regular autograph session else where.

Sorry, no. You have to pay out hundreds of dollars to them for the privilege of owning an autograph. Kick rocks, peons!

The closest access I had was at the front of the bleachers, where the floor was about 8 feet above ground level-- and hope I could call a player over and get my cards down to them to sign. Several players just went straight to the locker room after practice (Deontay Burnett); others I missed out on just because I was trying to figure out the logistics (Vic Beasley and Marquette King). So honestly it was a minor miracle that I got what I got:

K Taylor Russolino 2/2
LB Marquel Lee 3/4
WR Lujuan Winningham 4/4
RB Deveon Smith 5/5
RB Tyler Vaughns 4/4
QB Luis Perez 3/3

Players I had stuff for and missed: P Marquette King, LB Vic Beasley, WR Deontay Burnett, CB Ajene Harris, DL Bunmi Rotini, LB Colin Schooler, QB Lindsay Scott, CB Jamar Summers, Coaches Bob Stoops, Chuck Long, and Reggie Davis.

I'm hoping they'll have a few more team-related public events for this season. They did last year at least, having the team at Texas Live and a local mall. For a team in a fledgling league that really needs support, they sure didn't show it with this event.

Next up: probably the Corpus Christi Hooks at the Frisco Roughriders on April 13 or 14; an outside chance of the Red Sox at Rangers on March 25, and an even more outside chance of the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 22.

 

[Mike]

Nice article, thanks for sharing! I wish I had time, and was close enough to somewhere, to go to some of these events to try to get autographs. Pretty wild, though, to think you'd have to pay out hundreds of dollars for them to sign. Seriously? If it weren't for us fans, you wouldn't even have that job! The least you can do is take out a little time to sign a few items and shake a few hands.

Hopefully you'll be able to catch up to some of the ones you missed at future events where you'll have better access. Good luck!

 

[DFWGrapher]

an even more outside chance of the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 22.

Things didn't look good for me last week. The Penguins were set to play in Dallas on Friday March 22 after playing in New Jersey on March 19. Most of the time that means they would either stay over in New Jersey, practice there on the 20th, and fly in later that day; or fly into Dallas on the 19th or 20th and practice here on the 21st. The latter is the best possible option, the former being sub-optimal but decent.

Instead they took the screwy option: fly back to Pittsburgh on the night of the 19th, practice there on the 21st, and fly to Dallas right after that. Crap.

To make matters worse, rain was in the forecast from 2 pm on the 21st through the morning of the 22nd. Double crap.

The third scoop of this fecal sundae is that most hockey teams in Dallas stay in a hotel that is nearly impossible to graph. We have to wait 200 feet from the bus and only have a chance if someone comes down to the Starbucks for a pregame coffee. Last year, that was only Danton Heinen.

With the rain, I wasn't going to chance it on Thursday night with the team's arrival from the airport. It mostly misted, but still, that's the worst for graphing. I also was in limited mood to try them at morning skate since rain was still a possibility and I didn't want to sit around downtown Dallas all afternoon. So, my friend Chris and I got to the hotel around 2, hoping maybe we'd catch players grabbing lunch or a coffee.

The good news is that this time they stayed at a different hotel. Chris and I parked ourselves outside the main entrance and waited. After two hours, we saw nothing: no players, no bus, no other graphers. So we took a walk around the building just in case there was another entrance that we didn't know about.

Paydirt! There was indeed a back entrance. And there was a bus there. And I could see a few graphers on the other side waiting. Fortunately I had missed literally nothing: one said no one signed the night before, and no one had yet come out to the bus. They said the security people had been cool so far. The hotel security guy even asked if anyone needed a water or anything while the team security guy just said to keep the walkway clear and everything would be good. There were only 8 of us there, so we could do that just fine.

First came Kris Letang: didn't even look at us. Pierre-Olivier Joseph, same thing. A couple others came by without being asked, and then the big one...

Out walked Sidney Crosby. One collector in front asked if he would mind signing and he came over and went down the line, hitting some Funko boxes and pucks first.

Flashback to 2005: I was a collector in Boston and Crosby was a rookie, making two trips into town in the span of a month. And across those two trips, I went 0 for 14 with him combined. Add in a failed TTM attempt to his Canadian home address in 2007 and a questionable success from him via his Pittsburgh address in 2008, and I was a combined 0 or 1 for 16 with him in my life. And this guy is one of my favorite players: I have a cat named after him for Spiderman's sake!

He was about to get to Chris when the security guy said "Alright guys, he's gotta go." Chris said his 10 year old nephew wanted to come but had a tournament. And Crosby took his pen and signed. The security guy said "That's the last one guys, he's gotta go."

Oh hell no. Not again. I am not going 0 for 18...

I threw up the Hail Mary: "Sid, I've been trying to get this card signed for over 15 years now!"

He took the Sharpie he used on Chris' card, signed mine quickly, handed the pen back, and went to the bus.

I've seen better, and I've seen much worse. But when all is said and done, I finally landed my Crosby sig.

 

[Mike]

That's awesome! Persistence pays off! Congrats on finally getting that one signed.

 

[DFWGrapher]

Looks like I have potential for a super busy year depending on how much I want to put into it. I have a friend who is a photographer and often hits up AAA Oklahoma City and AAA Round Rock. He's said I can go with him anytime he goes to those places, and there are always Rangers possibilities throughout depending on alumni signers and giveaways and who I need for set cards from visiting teams. So, here's my schedule for IP graphing this season, with some AAA/MLB possibilities sprinkled in. Cleburne games mostly depend on what opposing players and coaches have cards.

April 13: Corpus Christi at Frisco w/ pregame team autograph session
April 23: Amarillo at Frisco
April 27: Cleburne Railroaders open house and Amarillo at Frisco
May 11: Winnipeg at Cleburne
May 12: San Antonio at Frisco
May 25: Midland at Frisco and Efren Ramirez appearance (Vote for Pedro)
May 26: Fargo-Moorhead at Cleburne
June 8: Gary Southshore at Cleburne
June 15: Amarillo at Frisco
June 22: Milwaukee at Cleburne
June 29: Corpus Christi at Frisco
July 5: Arkansas at Frisco
July 6: Lake Country at Cleburne
July 12: Northwest Arkansas at Frisco
July 13-16: MLB All-Star Village
July 18: Sioux Falls at Cleburne
July 20: Lincoln at Cleburne
July 27: Tulsa at Frisco
July 28: Sioux City at Cleburne
August 10: Chicago at Cleburne
August 18: Springfield at Frisco
August 24: San Antonio at Frisco
August 25: Kane County at Cleburne
September 8: Wichita at Frisco

My personal record for IP autographs in a year is 1085, set in 2022. I am at 346 right now. I don't think I'll break that as I'd have to average 30+ per game, but it's in play at least.

 

[kclj520]

Things didn't look good for me last week. The Penguins were set to play in Dallas on Friday March 22 after playing in New Jersey on March 19. Most of the time that means they would either stay over in New Jersey, practice there on the 20th, and fly in later that day; or fly into Dallas on the 19th or 20th and practice here on the 21st. The latter is the best possible option, the former being sub-optimal but decent.

Instead they took the screwy option: fly back to Pittsburgh on the night of the 19th, practice there on the 21st, and fly to Dallas right after that. Crap.

To make matters worse, rain was in the forecast from 2 pm on the 21st through the morning of the 22nd. Double crap.

The third scoop of this fecal sundae is that most hockey teams in Dallas stay in a hotel that is nearly impossible to graph. We have to wait 200 feet from the bus and only have a chance if someone comes down to the Starbucks for a pregame coffee. Last year, that was only Danton Heinen.

With the rain, I wasn't going to chance it on Thursday night with the team's arrival from the airport. It mostly misted, but still, that's the worst for graphing. I also was in limited mood to try them at morning skate since rain was still a possibility and I didn't want to sit around downtown Dallas all afternoon. So, my friend Chris and I got to the hotel around 2, hoping maybe we'd catch players grabbing lunch or a coffee.

The good news is that this time they stayed at a different hotel. Chris and I parked ourselves outside the main entrance and waited. After two hours, we saw nothing: no players, no bus, no other graphers. So we took a walk around the building just in case there was another entrance that we didn't know about.

Paydirt! There was indeed a back entrance. And there was a bus there. And I could see a few graphers on the other side waiting. Fortunately I had missed literally nothing: one said no one signed the night before, and no one had yet come out to the bus. They said the security people had been cool so far. The hotel security guy even asked if anyone needed a water or anything while the team security guy just said to keep the walkway clear and everything would be good. There were only 8 of us there, so we could do that just fine.

First came Kris Letang: didn't even look at us. Pierre-Olivier Joseph, same thing. A couple others came by without being asked, and then the big one...

Out walked Sidney Crosby. One collector in front asked if he would mind signing and he came over and went down the line, hitting some Funko boxes and pucks first.

Flashback to 2005: I was a collector in Boston and Crosby was a rookie, making two trips into town in the span of a month. And across those two trips, I went 0 for 14 with him combined. Add in a failed TTM attempt to his Canadian home address in 2007 and a questionable success from him via his Pittsburgh address in 2008, and I was a combined 0 or 1 for 16 with him in my life. And this guy is one of my favorite players: I have a cat named after him for Spiderman's sake!

He was about to get to Chris when the security guy said "Alright guys, he's gotta go." Chris said his 10 year old nephew wanted to come but had a tournament. And Crosby took his pen and signed. The security guy said "That's the last one guys, he's gotta go."

Oh hell no. Not again. I am not going 0 for 18...

I threw up the Hail Mary: "Sid, I've been trying to get this card signed for over 15 years now!"

He took the Sharpie he used on Chris' card, signed mine quickly, handed the pen back, and went to the bus.

I've seen better, and I've seen much worse. But when all is said and done, I finally landed my Crosby sig.

View attachment 106

I'd say you had that one coming....your luck definitely changed!!

Cheers!

Kevin

 

[DFWGrapher]

I think my Cleburne schedule may change a bit.

They announced deals for every day of the week... and Mondays are Mustache Mondays-- get in free if you're rockin' a 'stache.

Which I am.

Other deals include:

Tasty Tuesdays with a special food item... and a post game autograph session
Wiener Wednesdays: Dollar hot dogs!
Salute to Heroes Thursday: Discounted tickets for first responders, health care professionals, military, etc.
Firework Fridays: Fireworks are overrated
Sizzlin' Saturdays: Various giveaways TBA
Kids Club Sundays: Free admission for kids club members