Tonight, my hometown Thunder take on the New Orleans Pelicans. I was surprised to see Enes Kanter out practicing again. This seems to be something new for him, coming out to practice every few games or so. He never came out last season, but hopefully he'll be out again when I decide to go over there. I didn't attend last season's Pelicans game, but I've read that Anthony Davis didn't come out for practice. This year, he did. Would he sign? Either way, a lot of people would leave the section afterwards if he did (or didn't). Most players that don't sign will trot or run off towards the lockers. Anthony Davis walked. Slowly. Or normally, who knows. I think he may have signed for Charlie and a few other kids at the front, but he skipped most all of us and *WALKED* back to the lockers. This is when Buddy Hield came out. I got a high-five from Buddy Hield! Stick your hand out to the monitor and YOU TOO can get a high-five from Buddy Hield! ...No? It doesn't work like that? Well... I guess you just had to be there. I thought E'Twuan Moore would be surprised if people knew his name, because my perception of him at the Christmas Day game last season when he was a member of the Chicago Bulls was that he would absolutely rack for anyone who know who he was. Ehh..I didn't really get that vibe this time around. He was quiet and I probably could have asked him for a selfie, but it just didn't feel right. He signed one for me, but I don't know if I'd go through the trouble to find and print out a photo for him next time. Nothing against him, I just didn't get that kind of a vibe from him. I didn't know who Terrence Jones was, but he looked vaguely familiar to me. He signed a few and then skipped most of the rest of us. It's just as well, seeing as how I didn't print anything for him and I also didn't know who he was. Turnabout is fair play. A guy came off the court, who I THOUGHT was Anthony Brown (but I was just going to hold my logo photo out for, because I wasn't 100%), but turned out to NOT be Anthony Brown. I don't know who he was. He also didn't sign when he got to my side. I think he may have signed for a few people up front, but that was it. What to say about Omer Asik? His name is pronounced like Dominik Hasek's last name except without the H. Sorry to all non-Canadians and non-hockey fans who didn't get the reference. The kid to my left had a bad black Sharpie, and though I can't be totally sure of this, I kind of get the feeling Asik would have passed me by if he didn't need my Sharpie. Nevertheless, he signed for all of us. He used my Sharpie to sign the kid's card and the programs and whatnot from the fans on my right. N00b tip -- don't be that guy who goes graphing without a Sharpie. All the other regular graphers carry multiples from what I've seen, and I'm one of them. You gotta have options. Jrue Holiday disappeared for a while and I wasn't sure if he was hidden off in a corner or if he'd snuck off down another tunnel. He appeared right about this point and I can't be sure if he signed for anyone, but if he did, it was for a few kids and the rest of us got skipped. I'm sensing a theme here. He always looks so happy in his Media Day team pictures, but it turns out that he's not so nice after all. J.J. Barea anyone? Alexis Ajinca came off right about the time Buddy Hield was making the rounds, so he was able to slip past all of us. I looked right at him as he walked by, and the kid next to me did as well. He didn't stop, we didn't ask, and no Ajinca autographs were given to either of us. Regrets? Nah. Buddy Hield signed normally at the beginning. He went to the far end of my section and signed there, got people on the section across from mine, and then things got a little crazy and he had to rush. He said he "had to go back to the lockers" and I really think he was telling the truth. He knows Oklahoma loves him. No lie. At the end there, he grabbed a black Sharpie and just ran with it, scribbling the best "Buddy Hield" he could on whatever he saw. I noticed he skipped the kids' programs on my left and possibly on my right. I know he hit my photo, and even though it didn't come out great, I'm still happy I got it. During the game, the crowd cheered whenever Hield came into the game and whenever he scored a basket. He shot a few 3s and probably an equal number of air balls. But a guy in my section yelled out in a raspy voice, "He plays for the wrong team, what's wrong with y'all?!" And then when Hield started draining a bunch of 3s and put the Pelicans within four points of us, he said, "Y'all gonna cheer for him now?" And there was none. Ajinca 0/1 Asik 1/1 Not Brown 0/1 Davis 0/1 Hield 1/1 Holiday 0/1 Jones 0/1 Moore 1/1 This wasn't a bad outing even though I have walked away from other games with more. I didn't get Anthony Davis, but most of us didn't and I didn't really have high expectations from him anyway. For those of you who would like to try your luck, Mr. Davis ONLY uses a black Sharpie. The next game on the docket for me is Sunday's game versus the Boston Celtics. I haven't seen them play before, and there's no one I *MUST* have, but hopefully the crowd will be small and I'll be able to get some selfies. Until next time, J.R.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Welcome!If you've ever wanted to know the ins-and-outs of In-Person (IP) graphing, or if you've ever wanted to know what goes through a grapher's head, this is the place to be! Archives
December 2018
Categories
All
|