Have You Ever Totally Humiliated Yourself Trying To Get An Autograph?

DirtyDog48 · January 10, 2005 12:53AM

Way back in the days of the NHL's original six teams, Frank "Big M" Mahovlich of the Toronto Maple Leafs had the reputation of being an impossible get. Well, I was determined to change all that.

One night after a Leafs-Rangers game, with 3X5 index card and pen in hand,I stayed at Mahovlich's elbow for three crosstown Manhattan blocks constantly repeating in my whiniest voice, "Please Frank", "Please Mr. Mahovlich", "Please Frank, you're my favorite hockey player!".

Finally, Mahovilich looked down at me, rolled his eyes, and without breaking stride, scribbled his auto on the 3X5 card and gave it back to me. I sprinted back to the old Madison Square Garden on 8th Avenue & W. 49th St. and enjoyed my 15 minutes of adoration that was heaped upon me from the masses assembled outside the Garden's player's entrance.

Anyone else have a tale of shameless groveling?

puff · January 15, 2005 6:54AM

>>Have You Ever Totally Humiliated Yourself Trying To Get An Autograph?<<

NO!

duner · January 28, 2005 11:34AM

ABSOLUTELY!!!, i've been a huge LSU junkie since i got to baton rouge....i go to every fan day to get team autos, and i drag my wife so i can have multiple items. but i've got to admit, it usually takes a few drinks to get the schtick to go around getting teenagers to sign stuff for me. but it's worth it, i have one room of my house dedicated to lsu athletics...and i've only been at school here for less than a year.

DirtyDog48 · January 29, 2005 9:26PM

The immortal NHL goaltender, Terry Sawchuk was also a near-impossible get.....a tortured soul, Terry died as a result of injuries he received in a barroom brawl with one of his own teammates, but one night outside of Madison Square Garden I melted his heart with a color pencil drawing of him that I had done with my Venus Paradise set.

Back in those days, the players would carry their own equipment bags out to the team bus or to a waiting caravan of taxi cabs. When Sawchuk emerged from Madison Square Garden's "employee's entrance", he was using both hands to carry two bulky bags of goalie equipment when I shoved my sketch under his nose.

He looked at me and asked "Did you draw this?" I nodded yes and he slowly put his bags down on the sidewalk, took the drawing from me and autographed it, then picked his bags back up and walked up W. 49th street alone.

magikbilly · February 2, 2005 5:47PM

<< Way back in the days of the NHL's original six teams, Frank "Big M" Mahovlich of the Toronto Maple Leafs had the reputation of being an impossible get. Well, I was determined to change all that.

One night after a Leafs-Rangers game, with 3X5 index card and pen in hand,I stayed at Mahovlich's elbow for three crosstown Manhattan blocks constantly repeating in my whiniest voice, "Please Frank", "Please Mr. Mahovlich", "Please Frank, you're my favorite hockey player!".

Finally, Mahovilich looked down at me, rolled his eyes, and without breaking stride, scribbled his auto on the 3X5 card and gave it back to me. I sprinted back to the old Madison Square Garden on 8th Avenue & W. 49th St. and enjoyed my 15 minutes of adoration that was heaped upon me from the masses assembled outside the Garden's player's entrance.

Anyone else have a tale of shameless groveling? >>

I have him listed in recent guides for about $5-$7 for a 3x5 - is this accurate?

Billy

magikbilly · February 2, 2005 5:56PM

No, not shameless grovelling...worse.
I had spent several hundred bucks to be in the orchestra for a Radiohead concert at Jones Beach Theatre on LI so I could get Thom Yorke's signature (near impossible now). I knew where the band would be coming from and positioned myself in the way. After being invited to hang out with the crew and tech peoples in the lighting/mixing booth for a while, I could no longer actually find the concert...so, I befriended an equally happy crew person who took my seat number and my limited edition Radiohead postcard to get signed by Thom Yorke. So, I killed time by talking to some guys near the stage where I was deposited by the guy getting the SIG. They wanted to know what I thought of Radiohead...I said "Well...Thom is incredible with a voice to match, Jonny is a god on a Telecaster. The rest are filler to me..." They found this very funny. While walking back to my seat people were staring at me - naturally, I had just insulted 3/5 of the band

Billy

jonesy · February 6, 2005 4:22PM

I once saw Paris Hilton and I........... Forget it.

coinhead1 · February 10, 2005 1:16PM

Meg knows my name!

DesertRat · February 18, 2005 4:51PM

I knew a guy once who's sister worked with a girl who's second cousin has an aquaintance who knew the hairdresser for the roadie who carried the drum stands for the Rolling Stones!

So there!!

DirtyHarry · February 20, 2005 11:19AM

DirtyDog - good story. Guess this is not the place. I see your posts on the sports forum - they are better appreciated there. Regards.

DirtyDog48 · February 20, 2005 3:13PM

<< DirtyDog - good story. Guess this is not the place. I see your posts on the sports forum - they are better appreciated there. Regards. >>

Harry,

Glad to hear you enjoy my musings.....here's one autograph experience that turned out to require minimal groveling on my part. I was a sophomore in high school in 1963 and a diehard fan of the NFL, especially the New York Giants. I cut out of classes one Wednesday morning when there was a small piece in the Daily News about the Giants and their upcoming opponent, the Dallas Cowboys having an afternoon practice session at Yankee Stadium.

Since stadium security was practically non-existant in those days, I figured that if I wore a sport jacket and tie and behaved in a somewhat civilized manner, it would be no problem to talk my way past the stadium security guards (who were almost always moonlighting NYC cops). Turns out, I was right......I walked right up to the Visitor's Entrance at the Stadium and mumbled something about me being Joe Morrison's nephew......the security guard who obviously had better things to do than to check out my story just waved me into the door and pointed me toward the entrance to the field.....I was in!

I came away with a stack of autographed 3X5's including Tom Landry, Don Meredith, Y.A. Tittle, Roosevelt Brown, and I even ended up having a quick game of catch with Giants center Greg Larson.....what can I say...I was on Cloud 9 that day.

magikbilly · February 21, 2005 2:09PM

<< DirtyDog - good story. Guess this is not the place. I see your posts on the sports forum - they are better appreciated there. Regards. >>

What about us folks with great autograph stories and even greater collections - but no sports interest?

DON"T LEAVE ME IN HERE ALONE WITH THESE PEOPLE!

Billy

jonesy · February 22, 2005 12:27PM

<< 

<< DirtyDog - good story. Guess this is not the place. I see your posts on the sports forum - they are better appreciated there. Regards. >>

What about us folks with great autograph stories and even greater collections - but no sports interest?

DON"T LEAVE ME IN HERE ALONE WITH THESE PEOPLE!

Billy

>>

I thought we were Buds.

magikbilly · February 23, 2005 3:16PM

Never said we weren't, but you must admit there is not a lot of Autograph talk here and you have not answered my question even when asked directly - "do you collect autographs?" - I don't even know the answer

So, although I like telling you about my friends in the animal kingdom, I would also like to talk about autographs.

Best,
Billy

jonesy · February 24, 2005 3:44PM

I actually don't collect autographs. But I'm starting to. Did I tell you about the autographed Paris Hilton thong I got??

MRK · February 25, 2005 9:38AM

It was my first job at an amusement park and a coworker pointed out Dennis Johnson from the Celtics and a friend playing video games in the arcade. The coworker told me he was too shy to approach Dennis Johnson for an autograph and that he'd give me five bucks to approach him and ask for an autograph. Dennis Johnson was already retired when I started watching basketball so like an idiot, I went up to his friend and asked for his autograph. Luckily he was polite, and told me that I didn't want his autograph, but I wanted the autograph of the guy standing next to him. I basically went to the wrong guy asking for an autograph.

jonesy · February 25, 2005 12:44PM

<< It was my first job at an amusement park and a coworker pointed out Dennis Johnson from the Celtics and a friend playing video games in the arcade. The coworker told me he was too shy to approach Dennis Johnson for an autograph and that he'd give me five bucks to approach him and ask for an autograph. Dennis Johnson was already retired when I started watching basketball so like an idiot, I went up to his friend and asked for his autograph. Luckily he was polite, and told me that I didn't want his autograph, but I wanted the autograph of the guy standing next to him. I basically went to the wrong guy asking for an autograph.

>>

But did you get the autograph??

MRK · March 3, 2005 10:34AM

Yep, I sure did get that autograph. To make things worse, it was on a ripped piece of scrap paper. But hey, I didn't care, I just wanted the five bucks.

Cubby · April 1, 2007 3:23AM

MrLee · April 1, 2007 6:04AM

I humiliate myself all the time.

Just not for autographs.

Cubby · December 1, 2009 2:29PM

Guess that makes you a humiliator

DimeAdozen · December 20, 2009 10:25PM

I have not humiliated myself till now but have managed to get an...

Have You Ever Totally Humiliated Yourself Trying To Get An Autograph?

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