Having been burned before in the past, most recently by the Cleveland Cavaliers, I went into the Warriors game with tempered expectations. One, I don't expect us to win. When your opponent has played 60+ games and only lost 5 of them, your chances aren't good. Given the way we played against Cleveland, I figured we wouldn't be #6 on their list of losses. Two, I don't expect to get Stephen Curry's autograph. I really want one, and he has a reputation for being a good signer despite his star status, much like Kevin Durant, but given the demand, I could understand if he decided to pass us all. I had to work this afternoon even though it was my usual day off. I went straight from work to the game, but arrived at 4:45 for a door opening of 6:00pm. The line at that point was longer than I thought, but I still got a good position in line. Had it been a true day off for me, I would have been much, much farther in the back of the line had I arrived at the time I had planned. Yay forwork. I got in to the arena and headed for my new usual spot where the kids stand. It seemed like a sub-optimal spot as it was similar to where I stood for the Cavs, but I knew it was pretty high up from the ground from the Cavs game and missing all those high fives, so I knew that once the players walked by, I had to crouch down and really position my items as low as possible. Once the crowd arrived, and it didn't take long, they really got aggressive once Stephen Curry finished his rather impressive warm-up routine. I had three items for Steph, 2 photos and a jersey. The jersey I prepped last night on a lark (rubber banded to two pieces of cardboard), thinking well, why not? I spent $75-80 on that Swingman after coupons, I should at least try, right? I decided to only hold out my jersey and it turned out to be a good decision. I nearly got trampled in the process, and my Klay Thompson photo was wrinkled/bent in the chaos, but I GOT STEPHEN CURRY'S AUTOGRAPH! It was very nicely done considering it was pretty taut and held open to the numbers on the back of the jersey. He gave a nice, FULL, well-placed black Sharpie signature in between the zero of the 30. Even though it wasn't in the best position (on the number is best) or in the best marker (paint pens trump Sharpies), it looks so much better than the autographs I've seen signed on the number. I consider myself very lucky and blessed! I heard quite a few of the people around me got skipped! Skipped! Usually when I say that word, it's me getting skipped and not the others. I don't know what kind of items they were presenting, but I saw quite a few programs, jerseys, and a small number of shoes. I've learned something today -- presenting a jersey (or some other item of value) seems to have slightly better results (though if a player doesn't like signing, it doesn't matter what you have). It seems counterintuitive, because if you're a dealer, you could get more money for the big ticket items versus the photos or cards. In any regard, the concept is like diecasts in NASCAR; the drivers know you spent a bit more money on it (versus a $1-5 photo) and that you're at least somewhat dedicated to them, so they're more likely to sign for you. Knowing this, I'm still not going to drop money on Swingmans for players I don't care much about. What do you know, the logic fits! The next guy to come out is wearing a hoodie. No one knows who he is. I don't know why anyone would do that -- we know you're a Golden State player, you're walking out onto the court, you can't hide from us. As he warms up, his hoodie slowly falls off to reveal Andre Iguodala.
Also out shortly thereafter is Andrew Bogut. After hearing the all the drama about Bogut not signing for people he believes to be dealers, I don't have high expectations for him. Neither player ends up signing, though because I'm crouched down low, I don't know if either guy ended up signing for a few before abandoning the rest of us. Klay Thompson, Brandon Rush, Marreese Speights, and one other player (who I wasn't sure who he was, possibly Leandro Barbosa) come out in relatively short succession, but Thompson and the unknown player run by us all and from what I could tell, didn't sign for anyone. Brandon Rush lived up to his name and gives us all a "Rush"-ed signature. I held out two photos for Speights but he only signed one. Oh well, that was my first attempt at trying for more than one and I'll have to do more experimenting to find out how to optimize those results. On a slightly unrelated note, who goes to games trying to get autographs but doesn't bring a Sharpie? Who does that? Bogut 0/1 Curry 1/1 Iguodala 0/1 Rush 1/1 Speights 1/2 Thompson 0/1 Thanks @stephencurry for making my day and putting on a good show. As a Thunder fan first, I'd probably be tarred and feathered by my brethren in orange and blue for saying this. But as a basketball fan, I think we all can agree that what we are witnessing is history in the making -- Stephen Curry is a once-in-a-generation talent and we all secretly wish he played for our team. I'll be hitting up three more home games in a row, so the next game on the docket is the Los Angeles Clippers on March 9th. Doubtful Blake Griffin will be out signing or even in the arena, but I can hope for a Chris Paul, right? Until next time, J.R.
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