Cubs @ Mets 8/18/14 at Citi Field

After a pretty successful series last week at Citi Field, I was back one more time before I go back to college. The day before the game, I got great tickets on StubHub. I went to the game with my mom, who had never been to a Mets game with me before.

The game was a bright and early one, with a 12:10 p.m. first pitch on a Monday afternoon. I arrived at about 10:30, 20 minutes after the gates had opened. That wasn't early enough for me, but it was almost too early for my mom. Upon arriving at the gate, I noticed something I'd never seen before: no line. Usually when entering Citi Field, there is a line dozens, if not hundreds of people deep waiting to get in. But this time, I just showed up and walked through the gate no problem.

Being that it was also a Military Monday at Citi Field, I figured I'd get in on the act. I dug up my camouflage Mets hat that was a giveaway at a game at Shea Stadium in 2008 and wore it for the first time in recent memory. Once I got inside, I squeezed myself into a corner spot in the front row right next to the Mets dugout. Within a few minutes of getting to my spot, reliever Josh Edgin signed a baseball for me. I don't have a picture of him signing, but take my word, he signed for everybody that wanted one. You can see the signed ball at the bottom of this entry.

Since there was no batting practice, there wasn't much action happening before the game. The only other person to come over in the long lull before the National Anthem was Mets manager Terry Collins. He came and chatted with someone he knew in the crowd behind the dugout for a few minutes before walking over toward the crowd of people I was in. When he was near me, I took a selfie with him when he wasn't looking up. Unfortunately, I had already put the baseball Edgin signed away by the time Collins came over. I also had a signed baseball from him that I got last season. Instead of getting another one signed, Collins signed a blank autograph card for me. Here is a brief video I took of him signing for some of the people.

After Collins, there was no action until the National Anthem. I sat down with my mom in a spot where I figured we had the best chance to meet Curtis Granderson. I had met him on Thursday, and wanted to try again. Granderson signed three cards for me on Thursday, and I brought three more in hopes of getting them signed. True to his form, Granderson came over after the national anthem and started signing. I gave my mother the baseball in hopes of getting that signed as well. Here's a video I took as I got closer to Granderson, with a shoutout to my Aunt Jill (huge Yankees fan) at the end.


In the still frame of the above video before clicking play, Granderson is holding a card and blue sharpie. That was my card. He signed one card and then handed the card and sharpie back to me. After, I gave my camera to a nearby security guard to try and take a picture with Granderson. My mom was a couple people behind me in the line of people, but she managed to sneak her way forward when she saw a picture being taken. It came out great, as you can see on the left.

After the picture, my mom handed Granderson the ball Edgin already signed and a pen. Granderson quickly signed the ball and handed it back to my mom. For someone who hasn't gotten an autograph before, she did a great job. Also, if I didn't compliment my mom, what kind of son would I be? (Don't answer that.) Here's the card Granderson signed, and the ball that he and Edgin both signed. Edgin's signature is on the top.

After meeting Granderson, we went back to watch the game from our seats. If I haven't mentioned this already, the Mets stink. That's all for this entry. I probably won't be at another Mets game this season. If that's the case, than I think I went out on a high note. I will have another entry up soon once I'm back in school. Have any questions or want any tips? Have you met Curtis Granderson? I'd love to hear about it in the comments. Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Autograph Adventures: Jadeveon Clowney

If there is one sports memorabilia company that you know you are going to get a good product from, it's Steiner Sports. They have the exclusive autograph rights to some of the best athletes in sports, such as Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Henrik Lundqvist, and Carmelo Anthony among others.

A few weeks ago, they held a contest on their Instagram account for a free ticket to the Jadeveon Clowney signing they were having on July 18. Somehow, I won the contest and gave my info to the Steiner representative on the phone. The person on the phone told me I had won a free autograph on a flat item from Clowney, the top pick in this year's NFL Draft. A flat autograph from Clowney at this signing cost about $80, so I was thrilled to have won a free one.

After winning the contest, I immediately had trouble deciding what to do. I could have bought an 8x10 photo directly from Steiner for $6. But I took a different route. As cool as 'The Hit Heard Round The World' is, I didn't want a college photo signed. Eventually, I found a good picture of Clowney in a Texans uniform and printed it out on glossy 8.5x11 paper in my house.

Fast forward to Friday, July 18, the day of the signing. After going inside the Steiner Store at Roosevelt Field Mall, I identified myself as the contest winner and was given my ticket to the signing, which you can see on the right. The signing was scheduled to begin at 6:30 and go until 8 p.m. I was going to wait for my friend to show up before I approached Clowney so we could both meet Clowney together.

The line of people wasn't more than 20-30 people deep during the whole signing. However, at 7:30 p.m., my friend still hadn't showed up. There were no other fans in line for the signing, so Clowney decided that he was going to get some dinner. He and his manager went to Chipotle in the mall, where he apparently was hitting on girls and nobody really knew who he was, which is surprising because there aren't many people who are six and half feet tall walking around the mall. As Clowney was walking toward Chipotle, my friend showed up. After talking to the people at Steiner Sports, they assured me that I'd meet Clowney in the private signing room.

After about a half hour of standing around in the Steiner Store, my friend and I were told it was time to go to the private signing room. After going down a few escalators, stairways, and down a few creepy hallways in the bowels of the mall, a door was opened. Inside the room, tables filled with photos, helmets, footballs, jerseys and other items were waiting to be signed by the man sitting in a chair getting items handed to him.

I was standing in the room with my friend waiting to meet Clowney. The other people in the room said he had to sign a few more helmets before he could sign my item. Realizing that it might take a minute to sign the helmets, I figured I would take a picture of him signing a helmet. Unfortunately, it came out blurry (see right) and Clowney realized that I was taking a picture. "Let me see that," Clowney said pointing at my camera.

Photo Credit: Jadeveon Clowney

I handed Clowney my camera because as logic dictates, when someone bigger and stronger than you asks you to do something, you do it. He then questioned me as to why I was taking pictures. With my camera on his lap, Clowney signed a couple more helmets before questioning as to why I was taking pictures. After I said something that probably didn't appease him, he took the camera, pointed it at me and said something I won't ever forget. "You can tell your friends that Clowney took the f***ing picture," he said as he took a picture of me that you can see on the left. I was holding the photo I brought to get signed as well as a sharpie one of the Steiner people handed to me.

After taking the photo of me, he took a few selfies with me, which you can also see below. After taking one, he asked to see it because he thought it was blurry. He did agree that it was blurry, and took a few more selfies with me on my camera, which also turned out slightly blurry.

Photo Credit: Jadeveon Clowney

Photo Credit: Jadeveon Clowney

Sometime in the middle of everything, I can't exactly remember when, I told Clowney that I had won a contest to get to meet him. After explaining what the contest was to him, he clearly wasn't impressed. "You're a real winner," he said jokingly. After two selfies with me, I said my friend needed to get into the picture, so Clowney took a few selfies with my friend in the frame as well. One of them isn't that blurry. You can see that one on the right. The other ones are just too blurry. It's a good thing Clowney has a day job, because he wouldn't do well as a photographer, or at least a selfie photographer.

Eventually, Clowney signed the picture I had printed and then one of the Steiner people took a better picture of us. The picture came out perfect, as you can see on the right. The autograph was perfect as well, as you can see below. One of the Steiner people put a small hologram sticker on the bottom corner of my photo and handed me a matching certificate of authenticity. I've never gotten one of those at a signing before, and that is just another example of how Steiner is top notch when it comes to sports memorabilia.

Overall, it was an unforgettable experience. It was the first time I had ever been to a signing at the Steiner Sports store, and I will be back again whenever I can make it to a signing.

I'll end with a lesson for all who may meet Jadeveon Clowney: Don't take pictures without him knowing. He may steal your camera and take selfies on them.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!!!

New York Rangers Hockey House 6/1/14

This entry was supposed to be about some recent mail successes I've had, but alas, you never know what is going to happen. I was in New York City for the Celebrate Israel Parade, and a little detour occurred on the way back.

After the parade, I took a taxi back to Penn Station. With no timetable for when I needed to get on the train, I decided to look around the Penn Station/Madison Square Garden area. After looking around for about 30 seconds, I saw the Rangerstown Hockey House, a playoff fan-fest type area for New York Rangers fans to get hyped for their Stanley Cup Playoffs run. It was a Sunday afternoon, there was no Rangers game happening that day, but the fun was still happening.

As you probably know, I am not a New York Rangers fan by any stretch of the imagination. The name of my other website should give you enough of a hint about that. However, as a hockey fan, I felt like I should check out what was happening inside. The line to get in was about 20 people deep and moving slowly because everyone entering had to sign a waiver. It pretty much said that if you hurt yourself inside, whether it be shooting a puck, tripping, or whatever, you couldn't sue the Rangers. Also, people had to go through security with a guard patting people down and using a metal detector. After all of that, you were given a Rangerstown necklace and led inside.

Once inside, there were many options of what you could do. Walking around, I noticed an older gentleman in a Rangers shirt standing around and taking photos with people. After asking a few people near me, I discovered it was Ron Greschner, a defenseman who played his entire 16 year NHL career with the Rangers. Since I wasn't really prepared with anything for him to sign, I handed him the necklace that I was given on the way in, and he signed it for me. You can see it toward the bottom of this entry. He was walking toward the door to leave as he was signing for people.

After Greschner signed for me, I saw a line for a signing with a former Ranger had been roped off. I then walked over the rope, making me last in line for the signing. After convincing the security guard I was in line the whole time, she let me wait in line for Pete Stemkowski. After about 5 minutes of waiting, I approached Stemkowski. He was signing photos that were free and given to pretty much anybody. I asked if I could get two of the photos signed, and he didn't even think before signing two and handing them to me. I asked the person next to me in line if he could take a photo of Stemkowski and I, and he said he would. You can see that on the right as well as the photos below. He also signed the necklace that Greschner had just signed. I thanked him, then went on my way

Stemkowski left later on, and I went to explore the rest of the house. I walked around for about five minutes, then saw the Prince of Wales Trophy on a table. People were taking pictures with it. The Rangers had just won the trophy a few days earlier, and the fans were able to be a part of the celebration. Click HERE to see what the Rangers did when they received the trophy. That's right, none of them laid a finger on it, as Doc Emrick mentioned. After a surprisingly short wait in line, I handed my camera to the woman who was taking all the photos and stood next to the trophy. After taking one picture not touching the trophy, she was about to take another one. I figured I might as well touch the trophy and see if anyone notices for the second picture. Nobody cared, and I might have just jinxed the Stanley Cup Finals for the New York Rangers. Only time will prove the superstition right or wrong.

Walking around the house some more, I saw another former Ranger was sitting at the table Stemkowski was at minutes earlier. It turned out to be former All-Star, Brian Mullen, who played for both the Islanders and Rangers, among other teams, in his career. After another short wait in line, I approached him. He mentioned something about my New York Mets shirt, and I said that they have been stinking pretty badly lately. I was actually wearing the shirt I had caught at the game eight days prior. I asked for two photos again, and he personalized one for my friend who is a big Rangers fan. He added his signature to the necklace. I also took a picture with him. Then, I shook his hand, thanked him, and went to look around again.  Here is the photo he signed that I kept for myself, and the necklace that Greschner, Stemkowski, and Mullen signed. If you were wondering, the signed photos are about 6x9 inches, an unusual size, but a good one.












That was all I got on the necklace, but it wan't all I got on the day. While I was exploring the back of the hockey house, I saw a face that I actually recognized. MSG network's Ron Duguay, a former Ranger known for his awesome hair. He was doing a question and answer session when I first entered, and now he was sitting in the corner, eating lunch and getting ready to leave. When he emerged, he stopped to sign autographs for a couple other people. He signed an autograph card for me. After that, I took a picture with him, took a picture of him with other fans, and he left. I always keep an autograph card with me, and this is exactly why. I guess I could have gotten him to sign the necklace, but the card was more accessible. He's still got the hair.

I left soon after Duguay, as I had to get on the LIRR. I didn't plan on getting a single autograph, and I ended up having a fun time. Even though it's the Rangers, I respect them. The event was very well organized, and enjoyable for all, even an Islander fan like me.