02/21/08: NCAA Basketball – Arizona Wildcats @ Washington Huskies (Pac-10)
Hotel / Bank of America Arena - Seattle, WA
Before I post about Arizona, I figured I'd fill in the gap a bit. I didn't post a UCLA story because I was p*ssed off about how it all went down. They had a no-signing policy at the hotel before the game; they were upset by the Huskies and a couple guys signed before the coaches rushed the players out of the arena and prevented most of them from signing. No Love for the hounds... I did get Howland and a couple non-stars but it was about as bad of a clusterfudge as it could get with a normally great signing team.
Anyways, I was looking forward to Zona to erase the memory of the last game, and this one went a lot better. I somehow found time to get down to the hotel in downtown Seattle before the game, and as usual I was the only one there. The players left one or two at a time which made it easy to pick everyone off. Got a couple of nice comments about the cards; since Lute Olson had left the team earlier this season, I printed out a Kevin O'Neill "stub" picture for my coaches 8x10 composite that I can attach somehow to the photo so I at least get the coach who was in the card. As Bret Brielmaier was signing my card, former Wildcat star Miles Simon snuck by. I also missed Nic Wise and Jawann McClellan somehow. Budinger and Bayless came out last (of course); Budinger quickly rattled off two autographs on my cards, skipping the 4x6, while Bayless was one per (however he did wait behind Chase Budinger for a few seconds while I was getting Chase).
With most of the team out of the way, postgame would be easy. Once again the Huskies pulled out a surprising win. I went into the arena at the conclusion of the game and got announcer Bob Weiss (former NBA) to sign a card... very nice guy. After waiting around by the tunnel for a few minutes (and missing Nic Wise again as he went to the bus early), Jawann McClellan came out and signed two cards for me. I was looking over at the Husky tunnel to see if Appleby and Brockman were coming back out, but I figured I had more time so I went out to the bus instead. Boy, am I glad I did the hotel before the game! I heard from the two hounds outside that Bayless had stiffed completely (he had a terrible game). Miles Simon came out and signed the card I had - I thought of tracking down his two different SI's but never got around to it. A few players filtered out who I didn't need, then Budinger came out last. He signed for the other collectors, then signed the 4x6. Right as he handed the pen back to me and was about to go, a team staffer said "No Chase, let's go..." Perfect timing! Me 1, uptight team staffers 0. After the bus pulled away, I hurried back into the arena and luckily Appleby was still chatting with some people. I got him on a few things including an SI for jgnova. Then just a few minutes later Jon Brockman came out to the court and so I got him on my cards and the SI. That completed my cleanup of the Huskies for the season! I ended up skipping Arizona State so this concludes the Pac-10 season in Seattle.
Arizona
Jerryd Bayless 1/3 card
Bret Brielmaier 1/1 card
Chase Budinger 2/3 cards, 1/1 4x6
(BaadN10tionzz 1, luckydog 1)
Daniel Dillon 1/1 card
Jordan Hill 2/2 card, 4x6
(luckydog 1)
Jamelle Horne 1/1 card
Jawann McClellan 2/2 cards
(BaadN10tionzz 1)
Kirk Walters 1/1 card
Nic Wise - missed
Kevin O'Neill 1/1 coaches 8x10 stub
Miles Simon 1/1 card
Washington
Ryan Appleby 3/3 inserts, SI
(jgnova 1)
Jon Brockman 3/3 cards, SI
(jgnova 1)
Miscellaneous
Bob Weiss 1/1 card
