Hartford Wolfpack @ Albany Devils 3/22/15

I'm really falling behind on these entries, I'm sorry. School and life have been pretty busy, but I'm starting to catch up.

About a month ago, I attended the Albany Devils game on a Sunday afternoon when they hosted the Hartford Wolfpack. The Wolfpack were one of the first teams I ever got autographs from in Albany, so I figured I'd try my luck with them again.

The game was also scheduled as the last autograph signing for the Devils, which was good because I was looking to get a few photos signed from some players.

The game itself was a pretty good one, as the Devils scored four goals in the third period to come back and beat the Wolfpack. I got a few of them on video, as you could see HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Directly after the game, I went to my usual spot outside the Times Union Center and waited for the Wolfpack to come outside.

It was pretty cold, so I don't have any photos of the Wolfpack outside, but here's the quick story of what happened. Defenseman Michael Kostka came out and I instantly recognized him because of his long blonde hair. He quickly signed the photo on the right for me before boarding the team bus. Longtime AHLer Chris Mueller also came out and signed a photo for me. I rarely print out photos of people in AHL jerseys, but I liked this one so I got him to sign it.

Eventually, someone I actually recognized walked out the door. Dylan McIlrath signed a program for a kid, and I instantly recognized his signature from the last time I met him. He signed a nice photo for me. One of the last guys to walk out the door was Joey Crabb, and a fellow collector pointed him out for me so I could get him to sign the photo on the right.

I had printed out a Hartford Wolfpack team logo 4x6 photo to get a few random people to sign. I got a couple of players to sign it, but I'll get to them in a second. Assistant coach and 1994 Stanley Cup Champion Jeff Beukeboom walked out the door carrying some food, and when a couple collectors asked him to sign, he went on the bus and said he would be right back. A lot of people say that, but few live up to their word. But thankfully, Beukeboom but his stuff down on the bus and came back. He signed a cool 1994 Stanley Cup Championship puck that I had, as well as the Wolfpack logo sheet. Here are both items with the other people who signed the logo sheet.

Beukeboom signed it on the top right corner.
74-Nick Tarnasky 29-Danny Kristo
2-Mat Bodie 48-Carl Klingberg

After that, I went back inside for the Devils autograph signing. The first table I got in line for was that of the day's winning goalie, Scott Clemmensen. I met Clemmensen the first time he got sent down back in November, but he wasn't coming out the usual back door since then. I took a photo with him that first time, and I printed it out and tried to get it signed. When I handed him the photo, he said that we look like a couple of handsome men. Then, he said he liked the photo of him playing on the Cats, aka the Florida Panthers. Here are the two photos he signed for me.









The other Albany Devils' player who I had an individual item of was Joe Whitney. I printed out a photo from his first NHL goal in Detroit earlier this season.  I told him that I've never seen anyone look so happy in a hockey photo, and he said he remembers how happy he was after putting the puck in the net. Judge how happy he is for yourself, the photo is on the right.

The giveaway at the game was a team poster. They gave posters out last year, and I was there for that game too. This year's poster was significantly smaller, which made it easier to carry around. After the game, I got everybody that was there to sign the poster. I don't have a specific list of names, but here are a few photos I took at the signing.

And below is the team signed poster. I put pucks on the corners to hold it down. Click on the photo for a closer look.

That's all for this entry, I'll have another one coming up soon. Thanks for reading! 

Celebrities on Campus: Common & More

Earlier this school year, I was fortunate enough to meet Full House star Dave Coulier on the campus of my college. A few weeks ago, my school booked Academy Award winner Common to give a speech on campus as part of the Black History Month celebrations.

I'm not a big music guy, but once I heard Common was coming, I knew I had to be there. He won the Academy Award for this song from the movie Selma.

I got to the speech just in time to see him get introduced by a professor. He talked about many different aspects of his life, including his time as a Chicago Bulls ball boy, how he got into music, and his recent award wins. Here are a couple pictures I took of Common during his speech.

His speech lasted an hour, and I throughly enjoyed. After meeting Coulier months ago, I knew pretty much exactly where Common would walk in and out of the building and where his car would park. 

After standing outside in the cold for a few minutes, Common walked out the exact door that I thought he was going to. With an entourage that seemed like a dozen people, Common came right over and signed a couple photos for me and another photo for someone else. He originally was only going to do one photo, but he saw the Oscars photo and said he liked it, so he signed that one too. He has played in the NBA Celebrity game the last few years and is an avid basketball fan. I told him he was a great speaker, then he thanked me for that and left. Here are the photos. 

He then went back to his car and drove away. One member of his entourage tripped walking up the steps, which tends to happen often in icy Albany.

Also, I got another couple of autographs in the past week.

On Friday, my college was hosting the women's basketball conference championship game. It was a great game, and I got to cover it for the student media. It turns out that there was a celebrity sitting behind me the whole game. Actor Brandon Jay McLaren, a former soccer player and alumnus at my college, had court side seats to the game. Click on his name to see what stuff he was in. After the game, a friend introduced me to him and I took a picture with him while chatting for a minute. Before he left, he signed my program for me. I had nothing else to get signed, so I figured it can't be bad. The photo with him is on the right.

The announcer of that game for ESPNU was Sue Bird. Her resume is impressive: 2 time WNBA Champion, 1st overall pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft, 8 times WNBA All-Star, and 3 time Olympic Gold Medalist. After the game, I went over to her and she also signed the program for me. She was very nice. She took photos and signed autographs for everyone who wanted one. Below is the program, with McLaren's signature on the top.

That does it for this entry. Thanks for reading and good luck graphing! 

Jack McKeon and Multiple Jets: What a Weekend

Some weekends are more fun than others, and this weekend was one of them. Three straight days of graphing opportunities arose, and I took full advantage of all of them, and covered a wide variety of different sports while doing so.

Friday 1/30
Last season, the St. John's IceCaps knocked out the Albany Devils in the first round of the AHL playoffs. I met some of the IceCaps, the Winnipeg Jets AHL Affiliate, after game one last season. They were nice. This year, they were coming back to Albany, and I figured I'd try and get some more autographs.

Since I had some extra time on Friday, I went down towards the Times Union Center before the game, something I rarely do. I didn't have too much stuff, so I printed out a couple 4x6 photos to get a bunch of people on.

I didn't have much individual stuff, but one person I did have stuff for was Carl Klingberg. He came walking out and signed a 4x6 photo I had printed out of him. He is one of the Jets top prospects and he should be in the NHL again real soon. He also said that his hometown is Sweden is closer to St. Johns than we thought it was.


Many other players were walking toward me, and I got most of them to sign one of two other photos I had printed. One was a basic Winnipeg Jets 4x6 logo paper, and the other was a photo I took before game one of last year's playoffs. Here are both photos and everyone that signed them.

34-JC Lipon 16-John Albert 25-Blair Riley

8-Brenden Kichton 48-Carl Klingberg 7-Kris Fredheim

19-Kyle MacKinnon 26-Nicolas Blanchard 50-Austen Brassard

7-Keaton Ellerby 49-Julien Brouillette 9-Ryan Olsen 

That was all I got from the IceCaps on Saturday. The IceCaps then beat the Devils on Friday, and lost to them on Saturday. 

Saturday 1/31

A friend of mine works for the Amsterdam Mohawks, a collegiate summer-league team. Every year, the Mohawks have a winter hot-stove dinner with a guest speaker. Doc Gooden was one of the speakers a few years ago. My friend invited me to join him for the dinner, and I was happy to accept the invitation. This year, former Marlins manger and World Series Champion manager Jack McKeon was scheduled to be the guest speaker, as he played in the Amsterdam area in the 1950s. 

After getting a little lost on the way there, my friend and I made it to the event during the cocktail hour. An autograph signing with McKeon was scheduled for the cocktail hour, but my friend and I missed that portion of it. Eventually, we sat down for the dinner. A few people gave speeches, and food was served. I was able to grab photo that he already signed at the signing during the dinner. So, at least I wouldn't go home empty handed. 

Eventually, I noticed McKeon go into a room where a silent auction was being held. He was taking pictures with a couple people who were honored at the event. After the photos were over, I walked up to McKeon while he was standing by himself and asked him if he could sign a couple cards for me. He said he would and I handed him a sharpie. I put the cards on a nearby table and McKeon leaned over and signed them all beautifully. I then thanked him, shook his hand, and told him I was looking forward to his speech. Here are the cards he signed for me.

His speech was pretty funny. My favorite moment is when he recalled his playing days and said, "I hit three ways, right, left, and seldom." That drew a large applause from the crowd. He talked about his managerial days, his time in the Amsterdam area, and many other topics. He was pretty funny and one of his main messages was to follow your dream. He said his dream wasn't accomplished until he was 72 and managed the Marlins to a World Series title. He is the oldest manager in MLB history to win the World Series. On our way out of the dinner, my friend and I stopped McKeon and asked if we could get pictures. He happily obliged, and we left the dinner in a good mood. 

Sunday 2/1 

Super Bowl Sunday, always a fun day. Long story short, a few of the football coaches at my college played in the NFL, and I heard they were doing an autograph signing during a basketball game. I had found a card of longtime New York Jets center Jim Sweeney at home a few weeks ago. I was happy to get that card signed and a friend gave me a card of Nate Byham, a new assistant coach, which he signed. 

That is it for this entry. It was a fun weekend and I should have some more stories up soon. Good luck graphing and thanks for reading! 

Celebrities on Campus: Dave Coulier

If you don't know already, I'm a SUNY Albany student. At SUNY Albany, well-known celebrities rarely come to campus. So therefore, on-campus autographs are hard to come by. Last year, well known Broadway actress Carolee Carmello came to campus, and I got her autograph. You can read about that HERE. However, a recent opportunity arose, and I took full advantage of it.

As a child growing up, I watched Full House reruns on ABC Family on Nick at Nite all the time. My family even has multiple seasons of it on DVD. So when I found out that Dave Coulier (aka Joey Gladstone) was going to be doing stand-up comedy on campus, I was thrilled.

Coulier's comedy event was scheduled for right after the annual homecoming football game, which was a perfect time for me. A half hour before the event was scheduled to start, I made sure to grab an aisle seat in the middle of the ballroom where the event was going to take place. Here are a couple good pictures I took of Coulier during his event.

In the photo on the right, Coulier had called a student on stage to take a video for Twitter. Here is the result. 

Sheri, it worked! Sort of... @Sherijoy0531 LIVE @UAlbanySA - sorry it is sideways! :) https://t.co/xhH358vLCc #cutitout
— Dave Coulier (@DaveCoulier) October 12, 2014

If only it wasn't sideways. Oh well. The show itself was hilarious. Coulier made many Full House references, talked about Bob Saget and John Stamos. He also made a whole bunch of sports jokes, including some about A-Rod. The show was as funny as I hoped it would be and was probably one of the highlights of my school year so far.

I had heard there was going to be a meet and greet after the show, but that turned out to be just a rumor. However, since the event took place right in the middle of campus, I had a guess as to where Coulier would be going. After the show ended, Coulier took photos with some of the programming people who organized the event.

Since I am familiar with my college's campus, I had a good idea as to where he would be leaving. So, I grabbed a seat within eye sight of the stairs leading to the exit door. After many nervous minutes waiting by the door, I heard a noise at the top of the step. A few seconds later, Coulier and a couple of the programming people walked down the stairs.

Upon seeing me, one of the programming people jokingly said, "Oh, there's only one stalker tonight." While I thought Coulier might just walk past me, he laughed at her joke and came over to me.

"Look at you coming prepared with the Full House pictures," Coulier said as I handed him my sharpie and thanked him for the hilarious show. He beautifully signed the two photos I had printed out. When he signed one of him and Mr. Woodchuck, hemarked that he is doing a new bit with Mr. Woodchuck coming out online. HERE is the new bit, it's funny. Below are the pictures Coulier signed for me.

After signing for me, I handed my new iPhone 6 to the programming woman and took a picture with Coulier. My eyes are slightly closed, but that's ok.

After taking the picture, I shook his hand, then took a picture of him and someone else who happened to be in the room. Shortly after that, he left, continuing his tour across the country.

Hopefully UAlbany can get some other good celebrities to come to campus. I enjoy getting a not sports autograph when I get the chance. That's all I have for this entry. Thanks for reading and good luck graphing.

Albany Devils Autograph Signing 3/30/14

I went to the Albany Devils game back on March 30. It was followed by the last post-game autograph signing of the season, and I wanted to finish as much of the Albany Devils stuff that I had.

Before the game, I went to the Albany Devils tunnel and got assistant coach Sergei Brylin to sign a card I recently found. Unfortunately, it got smudged when he passed it back to me, but it is still a good autograph from a Stanley Cup Champion.

During the game, I got a good video of Reid Boucher scoring a goal. Check it out below. That's me with the play by play.

The game was a good one, that went to a shootout. Unlike the New Jersey Devils who are 0-11 in shootouts, Albany is pretty decent in the shootout. Captain Rod Pelley scored the only goal, and Scott Wedgewood didn't allow a goal. The Albany Devils look like they are going to the playoffs, and they got the win on this day 3-2.

After the game, I got in line for the 45 minute signing. The first table I went to had Chris McKelvie, Keith Kinkaid, Kelly Zajac, and Mike Sislo. I took a picture with Kinkaid, Sislo, and McKelvie last time, and they all signed a 4x6 that I printed out of it. Kinkaid also signed the photo of him and Johan Hedberg that Hedberg signed in February.

The giveaway for this game was a very large Albany Devils poster, and I got everyone to sign that as well. The next table I went to had Reid Bocuher, David Wohlberg, Scott Timmins, and Corbin McPherson. They all signed my poster, and I got Wohlberg to sign the program I started getting signed in October. I got a few more people to sign the program throughout the afternoon. Here is a photo of Wohlberg signing a hat and Boucher signing a program with Timmins and McPherson in the background.

When I reached the table featuring Stefan Matteau, son of Stephan Matteau, I stopped for a minute to grab a puck out of my bag. Matteau is one of the Devils top prospects, and has the potential to be a regular in the NHL in the next year or two. He signed the puck with my gold sharpie, the poster, and his photo in the program, which you can see at the bottom of this entry. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of Matteau signing, but the evidence is good enough.

I also got to a table that had winning goalie Scott Wedgewood, Reece Scarlett, Harri Pesonen, and a fourth player whom I can't remember right now. They all signed the poster after what seemed like a long wait. Of all the Devils autograph signings I've been to, this one was by far the most crowded.

Another table had shootout hero Rod Pelley, Cam Janssen, and another player who I can't remember. I wish I had the list of who was at what table, but I didn't get one for this day. I just walked in a circle and got everything signed. They signed my poster as well.

That's all the pictures I have from the signing. Here is the poster. You can see who signed it under the picture of the poster. The two hockey pucks are shown for scale. Everyone that was at the signing signed the poster.

Here's everyone that signed the poster. The number next to their name is the number that is on they jersey they are wearing, not the number they signed with. It's easier to identify them that way.
8-Mattias Tedenby 1-Keith Kinkaid 22-Cam Janssen 26-Mike Hoeffel 32-Alex Urbom
7-Brandon Burlon 23-Darcy Zajac 28-Dan Kelly 19-Mike Sislo 14-Reid Boucher
10-Rod Pelley 18-Stefan Matteau 33-Corbin McPherson 2-Seth Helgeson
17-Scott Timmins 29-Raman Hrabarenka 16-Chris McKelvie 11-Kelly Zajac
15-Harri Pesonen 34-Reece Scarlett 25-David Wohlberg 31-Scott Wedgewood

Lastly, here is my updated signed program. I got a bunch of people to sign it at the signing. The names are near the photos and signatures, so there isn't a need for another list.  Click on the photos to get a bigger look.

Overall, another well organized signing by the Devils. If you are in Albany, go to a game and try to get some autographs, you won't be disappointed. The AHL playoffs start in a few weeks, and some players currently on New Jersey should be sent down once the Devils are out of NHL playoff contention. That's all I have for now. Best of luck graphing and thanks for reading!

Bridgeport Sound Tigers 1/31/14

Last Friday, I went to see the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Albany for the third time. Remember the first and second time I saw them? Those were fun. This time, during the game, I was involved in a little bit of controversy. If you want to read about it on my other blog, click HERE. I didn't get too much on this night, but I got enough.

After the game, I went to my spot outside the Times Union Center to see what autographs I could get.
With about six other people waiting also, I knew there wouldn't be many players walking by that we would miss.

One of the first guys out was Pierre-Marc Bouchard. He was sent down in December after struggling with the Islanders. After taking a picture with one of the Sound Tigers fanatics, he walked over to me. He signed my two cards, and then took my sharpie to sign one card each for the rest of people that had cards. I can't explain why I got two, but I'll take it because I don't get cards too often.

I was hoping to see Aaron Ness, I had some cool photos of him, but I'm pretty sure he snuck out behind me when Bouchard was signing for me. The next person out that I wanted to see was Anders Lee, and he signed a photo I had of him from his first NHL goal. 

Shortly after, the now-injured Ryan Strome walked out, with his injured hand in his shirt pocket. Thankfully for the autograph seekers there, he injured his non-writing hand. I had two pictures from when Strome scored his first NHL goal, a game I attended. He didn't say anything about his hand, and he signed two photos for me, pretty sloppily, and signed for others before running onto the bus. Hopefully he will be fine soon. 

The last member of the Sound Tigers that I got on this night was goaltender Anders Nilsson. He signed a photo and his page in the Islanders yearbook before telling the fans he was the last player to come out. Once he got on the bus, it drove away, bound for Bridgeport.

That's all I have for this entry. Good luck graphing!