Top 10 Autographs of 2014

Happy New Year! I hope you had a great one like I did. I did a Top 10 Autographs of 2013 post last year, and it's time to do it again for 2014.

I'm making this list with the following rough guidelines. 

• How good the person is. (All Star, Award Winner, Hall of Famer, etc.)
• How much the person means to me. 
• How I got the autograph. (Through the mail, in person, etc.) 
• Any fun story behind getting the autograph. 

With that, let the countdown begin. 

10. Harrison Barnes-Golden State Warriors Forward

One of the finest young players in the NBA today, Barnes did something few athletes do in today's world. Early in the summer, Barnes posted THIS message on his Facebook page. He invited fans to send him items for him to sign with specific guidelines. The day I saw that message, I sent out a 4x6 photo. A couple weeks later, I got the photo back signed in silver. He is now having a pretty good season playing for one of the top teams in the NBA. This was a great success from a class act to say the least. 

9. Trevor Gillies-NHL/AHL Hockey Player 

Up until this point, the NHL career of Trevor Gillies has been brief and full of controversy. He only has two NHL goals, but he is more known for his fighting skills. He was one of the main players in the famous brawl against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2011. Now, he is playing for the Calgary Flames AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Flames. I went to see their morning skate a few weeks ago, and Gillies was as nice as could be. Click HERE for the full story. He might not be a great player, but I saw him with the Islanders and he will always be a fan favorite for me. Also, how can a guy who draws a mustache on his autograph not be on this list? 

8. Matt Kemp-MLB All Star

The first in-person autograph I got at Citi Field last season was that of MLB All-Star Matt Kemp. He was playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers at the time. He was recently traded to the San Diego Padres. He signed for a few minutes before the game, and I was lucky to get his autograph on the sweet spot of an official MLB ball. There was a huge mosh pit of people, and I was very happy to get this autograph. 

7. Al Arbour-Hockey Hall of Famer, Former Islanders Coach

The Islanders have had many legends over their 43 year existence. Few are greater than coach Al Arbour. He was the Islanders coach for all four Stanley Cup Championships, and was the coach for exactly 1,500 games over his career. I attended game number 1,500 in 2007. It was an amazing experience, and the Isles got Arbour his 740th career win that night. I have autographs of pretty much everyone whose banner hangs in the Nassau Coliseum rafters, but Arbour's has been hard to find for a long time. I sent him a couple photos and an autograph card in hope of getting a response. To my delight, I got everything back signed in the mail. It was great to finally add his autograph to my collection. 

6. Dwight 'Doc' Gooden-Former Mets and Yankees Pitcher

One of the most celebrated pitchers in recent baseball history, Dwight Gooden is also one of New York's beloved baseball stars. He won a World Series for both the Mets and Yankees during his time in the MLB. However, he also had problems with drugs and alcohol during his career. Over the summer, he appeared at the Nassau County Health and Fitness Expo to give a speech on how his addiction made his life difficult. He also did an autograph signing that day, and he signed three cards for me and took a photo with me. One of the cards was previously signed by Wade Boggs. It was great to meet him and hear him admit his mistakes. 

5. Darryl Strawberry-Former Mets and Yankees Outfielder

Similarly to Gooden, Strawberry is also one of New York's beloved baseball stars. He was Gooden's teammate for many years on both the Mets and Yankees. Over the summer, he was a part of the Meet Mr. Met Tour, a Mets sponsored tour of Citibank locations that featured various Mets alumni. I met Strawberry twice over the summer, and I took a photo with him and got three autographs from him over the course over the summer. He was a nice guy, and I was happy to get his autograph.

 4. Curtis Granderson-Mets Outfielder
A man who made this list last year returns again. I got his autograph in the mail last year and said I hoped he would be in a Mets jersey next time I saw him. It turns out I was correct. Granderson didn't have the year I hoped he would, but he's a Met and he's here to stay. He has a reputation for being one of the nicest current players in baseball, and he lived up to that reputation over the summer. I met him two separate times over the summer, and got five autographs from him. He is truly a class act, and I hope to meet him again next season. He also gave my aunt a shoutout, as you can see in the video below.

3. Jadeveon Clowney-Houston Texans Linebacker
Although Jadeveon Clowney didn't have the rookie season anybody planned on, I had a good experience with him before the season started. I had won a free ticket to meet Clowney at the Steiner Sports Store on Long Island. I got him to sign a photo I printed out. He was a funny guy, and if you want to read the full story from that day, click HERE. Hopefully Clowney will be ready to star for the Texans next year, or he could end up being another top draft pick bust.

2. Dave Coulier-Actor/Comedian
I very rarely get autographs from people that aren't related to sports. However, the perfect opportunity arose when I found out Dave Coulier would be doing a free comedy show on my college campus. Since I grew up watching Full House, I knew I had to get his autograph. After his hilarious comedy show, I went to try and find him. Long story short, I did get his autograph and a picture with him. HERE is the full story from that night. He is one of my favorite actors now, and one that I will always remember. 

1. Denis Potvin-Hockey Hall of Famer, Former Islanders Captain
As I mentioned earlier in this post, I have autographs of nearly every Islander who has a banner hanging in the Nassau Coliseum rafters. The one player that eluded me for most of my life was Denis Potvin. He was one of the league's top defensemen and the captain of all four Islanders Stanley Cup Championship teams. I finally met him in November when I was home for Thanksgiving. HERE is the full story from that night. The fact that I was finally able to meet him after many, many years puts him in the number one slot as my top autograph of 2014. 

Thanks for reading and good luck graphing! Happy New Year!

Nassau County Health and Fitness Expo 8/9/14

This past Saturday, August 9, was the annual Nassau County Health, Fitness, and Sports Expo at Mitchel Field on Long Island. I didn't find out about it until the night before, and once I heard Dwight Gooden was going to be there, going to the expo was an easy decision.

While I recently met Darryl Strawberry and Ron Darling, Dwight Gooden was supposed to be one of the scheduled signers. However, he cancelled the day of the first signing with Strawberry. Once I saw on his twitter where he was going, I figured out that it would be easy to go. 

Gooden was scheduled to be at the expo to talk about his drug and alcohol addictions problems, which caused him to miss the parade after the Mets won the 1986 World Series. I knew he would be doing a signing also, but I didn't know what time. 

The expo was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., so I arrived right after the doors opened. After walking in circles around the expo looking for where Gooden was going to be, I found the tent where he would be. The tent was pink for the company he was working with. Once I found it, I was within the first ten in line.

Eventually, Gooden showed up with his son. They sat at the table for a few minutes while security guards and other people arrived. The organizer then went and made an announcement on the main stage that Gooden was signing autographs at the tent. Within ten feet of the tent, there were a few security guards, organizers, among other people. After about five minutes of just sitting at the table fiddling with a pen and his phone, Gooden began signing.

A few minutes after the signing began, I approached Gooden. I shook his hand and introduced myself. Before he could sign my cards, a woman that was working at the expo handed him a sheet of paper and asked him to sign it.
No, she wasn't an autograph seeker. Gooden's son wanted to walk around the expo and play in the various sports clinics that were going on. But to do so, a parent needed to fill out a waiver. Gooden filled out the waiver for his son, signing and spelling out his name along with the date on the waiver. I wonder whatever happened to that waiver.

After signing the waiver, Gooden looked up at me and took the blue sharpie I held in his direction. I placed all the cards I had on the table, including a card of him and Wade Boggs that Boggs had signed in the mail years ago. He signed all three cards that I had, then I took a photo with him, thanked him, and walked off. Gooden had no problem signing multiple items for people as there was no handler sitting next to him. But when the line got longer and he was rushed, he signed one item per person. I was lucky to get the three cards signed that you can see below.

After that, the line for Gooden got longer and I walked around the expo for a while. Eventually, I noticed there were a few members of the New York Cosmos at a table signing. I had been to the Cosmos game against the New York Red Bulls a few weeks earlier, and was familiar with some of the players. However, I had no clue who was signing at this table. Only after getting signed giveaway photos from both Jimmy Mulligan (white shirt) and Jimmy Nealis (blue shirt) did I figure out exactly who they were. The Cosmos were also doing a raffle for tickets to a game and promoting their fall schedule. At the game I went to, they crushed the New York Red Bulls, who are in the MLS, while the Cosmos are in the lower league NASL. Hopefully they continue to bring the fun soccer to Long Island.

 After meeting the Cosmos, it was time for Gooden to give his speech. Here is a short segment of it that I recorded. That's all I have for this entry. Good luck graphing!