Leading up to game 1 of round 1 of the 2015-2016 NBA Playoffs, I had some mixed feelings for sure. I bought tickets to the first two games with the intentions of graphing the Thunder, thinking that the Portland Trail Blazers would be our opponent. Things happened and then it was going to be the Memphis Grizzlies. Okay, fine, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley are out, so the plan should still be good to go. Then more things happened and our first round foe turned into my other favorite team, the Dallas Mavericks. I CAN'T GRAPH THE HOME TEAM WHEN WE'RE PLAYING DALLAS!!! My favorite player in all of the league is Dirk Nowitzki, who skipped signing for my side back in the November game. Do you see the problem here? We can't be ThunderGraphs without getting some Thunder 'graphs. But I digress. I was both happy and a little disappointed with our opponent draw, but I'll make it work somehow. Arriving at the game, parking was terrible. There were multiple events going on that same night, a Joyce Meyer conference and allegedly, a Justin Bieber concert. I actually had to pay for parking and if you know me, I avoid that whenever possible! I actually wasted an extra 10-15 minutes trying to find a parking spot before giving up and paying $10. Still way out in the boonies and expensive to boot. There were giant crowds outside the arena because they've got the whole Thunder Alley thing set up now, but surprisingly, the lines weren't bad. Oddly enough, there were NO Dallas fans in line, even when more and more fans started showing up. No one was wearing anything Maverick-related, except me (Go Dirk!), so I felt just a little bit weird -- but only for a little bit, because I thought, if this shirt is the difference between me and a few extra Maverick autographs, it'll be worth it. Here's a n00b tip: if you're graphing the opposing team, wear neutral colors or the opposing team's gear. You may be more likely to get the autograph. Side note: if a player doesn't like to sign, such as LeBron James, it won't matter what colors/team you're wearing. My goal for this game was to try for Dirk Nowitzki again, but keeping my expectations in check. That's another tip for n00bs: don't get your hopes up too high that you miss out on the other guys that are right in front of you willing to sign. Remember there are other people in the world who love autographs but don't have the same opportunities that you do. I made sure to stand on the side that Dirk signed for at the last game I attended so that I (hopefully) wouldn't get skipped this time. I got a spot on the second row, right by "the turn", which was a pretty good spot although not optimal. There wasn't anyone behind me asking for autographs either, so it was very easy for some of the players to just sign for the front row and then walk off. To my surprise, the first person I saw was Mark Cuban. Yeah, the billionaire who owns the Dallas Mavericks. I'd never seen him in person before (he wasn't at the November game as far as I could tell), so I didn't bother printing out a photo for him. I regretted that, but he was a nice guy nonetheless. The guys in the front row were calling out to him, but Mark could see that I was trapped behind them and pointed at me and said he would come around to the side to sign for me. What a great guy! I wish I had a bit more courage to yell out to him to get a picture with him at that moment. He was a bit far away for me to politely ask, and you know, it's an arena so it's loud. You gotta yell. I mustered up enough courage to do it when he came around the second time, but he only had enough time to pose with the kid in front of me (who had camera trouble) before telling me he had to go. I'd be more disappointed if it weren't my fault AND if I weren't already going to the Mavs game on Monday. Bully! The next guy I saw, I made sure he signed for me because I let him pass me by last November -- Zaza Pachulia. He signed a nice one for me in my new bronze Sharpie, which turned out really, really nice. It pops almost as much as a paint pen and without the potential for smearing. I asked him if I could get a picture with him, and it appeared that he didn't understand my question at first, but quickly figured it out. The pic didn't take but there was no older lady at fault this time, only me. I just got a new camera so I'm still learning how to use it. It turns out, I needed to have the flash part popped out. It doesn't automatically pop out. That part sucks about the design, but the only real pro to it is that the view pops up and flips over 180 degrees so you can see yourself while taking the picture. It's great for selfies, if I can only figure out how to use it. I'm not so bummed it didn't take, because I learned what to do when Dirk came by. Keep that puppy popped! Salah Mejri was next, and I thought that's who he was, but I wasn't 100% so I didn't want to call out "Salah!" when it might not be. It was though, and he was about to walk away but I held out my logo photo for him and he signed it for me, adding his #50, and walked away. Nice guy! Justin Anderson was next and he signed for a few people in the front row and on the other side, but when he got to "the turn" he said he had to go and that he would "sign after." No offense man, but if I get Dirk, I'm not waiting after the game for you. Charlie Villanueva was one guy I didn't get back in November because I arrived too late, but he signed for quite a few people, even giving his headband away to a fan, but when he was about to get to "the turn", a reporter-type lady stopped him, showed him something on her phone, and he picked it up like he was going to talk into it. I didn't get his autograph. I'm not even sure if that was poor timing or if he was done signing anyway, but that felt a little weird to me. I'll try him again on Monday but I won't be bummed if I get skunked again. Dwight Powell signed one for me, and J.J. Barea said he would sign for people after shootaround but stopped right before me at the turn. One thing of note, J.J. is listed at 6'0" but there is no way that's right. He looked very short to me, maybe about 5'8", even when he was on the court. I guess everyone exaggerates to an extent, but at least make it look believable. My boy Dirk Nowitzki was next, and I was worried he would skip me again or stop before getting to me, but God is good all the time and Dirk signed my swingman! I ordered the jersey from FansEdge on Thursday morning with a 20% off playoffs discount, and it was on my doorstep on Friday afternoon! It was all worth it. Eat that, Google reviews! I tried to get a picture of him signing for me but Dirk moves too fast and my camera does not. But we'll chalk that one up to user error. Chandler Parsons made a surprise appearance (I knew he was hurt and not expected to play), and even though injured players travel with the team, I hadn't seen any actually show up or come out to sign during the regular season (Joakim Noah, Blake Griffin, anyone?) A random guy appeared behind me and helped me out, he offered to hold my JaVale McGee photo while I looked for one for Chandler because they were both coming off at the same time. He said "I'll call out to him for you, real loud." "You gotta distract him, get his attention. I saw him at a bar [somewhere] and asked him about that." He asked me if JJ Barea had come out. Yup. HE LOOKS AT ME IN MOCK SHOCK. "He gave me tickets to this game!" Nice guy, where was he earlier? Too bad my gold Sharpie wasn't primed and it came out really light. Who knew Sharpies had to be primed? Oh well, live and learn. JaVale McGee came out right behind Parsons. He gave a nice bold signature for me and everyone else waiting. Even though I bought my first Prisma paint pens back in January before the Grizzlies game, I'd never actually used it in an autographing scenario fearing it would splatter all over the place or spit out all of its contents and ruin my item. For Raymond Felton, I'd gotten him before so I figured it would be okay if it didn't turn out all right. It came out looking a lot like the silver Staedtler that I had him use back in November, but the difference is, if you bend the photo in the light, you can see it pop a lot more. It streaked a bit even though I tested it multiple times while I was waiting for Dirk, but I guess if you are a fast signer that will happen regardless of the pen you use. Wesley Matthews was the last guy on the court and I won't say he pulled a Novak, he just timed it that way. I got my first NBA player high-five/fist bump from him. I held out my hand for a high five, his hand was in position for a fist bump. Contact was made and the first high-five/fist bump was born. Anderson 0/1 Barea 0/1 Cuban 1/1 Felton 1/1 Matthews 0/1 + high-five/fist bump McGee 1/1 Mejri 1/1 Nowitzki 1/1 Pachulia 1/1 - failed selfie, needed my "optional" flash to be popped up Parsons 1/1 - who knew Sharpies needed to be primed? Powell 1/1 Villanueva 0/1 The eight autographs I obtained tonight ties my record for most autographs in a single game this season, set when I graphed the Thunder in a December game vs. the Portland Trail Blazers. I have tickets to Game 2 against the Mavs on Monday. I'm hoping the real Mavs will show up and give the Thunder a run for their money, maybe even winning one or two to force a Game 5 or 7 so I can try to get a pic with Dirk. Hopefully the Thunder make it to the next round to face off against the Spurs; I need to get some Thunder 'graphs! Until next time, J.R.
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