Paul's 2007-08 Basketball Thread

[spokanehound]

01/11/08: NBA Basketball - Dallas Mavericks @ Seattle Supersonics
KeyArena - Seattle, WA

This wasn't even going to be an autograph outing, to be honest. I was taking my girlfriend to the game and didn't do any pregame signature seeking at all. I brought my Sonics stuff and a few index cards just in case, but didn't really expect to get anything. Sitting in the cheap seats, we watched the Sonics lose by 20 (big surprise there). During the game, they showed former Sonics Fred Brown and Detlef Schrempf on the big screen but I couldn't pinpoint where they were sitting (I assume courtside somewhere). Then near the end of the game, the Sonics mascot pulled NFL QB Jon Kitna out of his courtside seat to help throw T-shirts into the crowd. Just for the hell of it, when the game ended I went down to that section and Kitna came over to sign for a bunch of folks. He did an index card for me in someone's fresh black Sharpie.

After the game we headed out to the Sonics lot on the south end of the arena. The lot is gated, but people can wait outside the gate and hope that players stop. After hearing about Kevin Durant stopping after every game and signing, I had to check this out. Some Seattle regulars were also out there waiting for Durant. He was great about accommodating everyone there. Not much later, Jeff Green drove out and signed two items for me. After that the inevitable Seattle rain started to fall, so we quickly peaced out. Overall can't complain about getting Durant and Green, as they are the two Sonics I most wanted to get this season!

Seattle
Kevin Durant 1/1 8x10
Jeff Green 2/2 card, custom 3x5

Miscellaneous
Jon Kitna 1/1 blank index card

[moses5]

Very nice job with Durant!

[Bosox044]

That came out great!!! That's the same photo I have Durant and hope to get it done!

Is Kevin a fan friendly guy or did he do it grudgingly?

[spokanehound]

He stops after every game and signs from the passenger seat of the car he is in, so he must enjoy it to some extent - most other players don't really stop. He didn't say much while signing (some random guy had Durant sign his cellphone, and Durant's driver was like "a cellphone??" but Durant didn't do any sort of double-take while signing something that weird) but was good about getting everyone there. I also didn't notice how many he was doing at once for people, as I was one of the first in the group to get him.

[spokanehound]

01/12/08: NBA Basketball - Luke Ridnour signing
Alderwood Mall - Lynnwood, WA

This was a quick trip up to a mall north of Seattle. I had a photo and a few cards for Luke Ridnour, and since I heard he doesn't stop much leaving the practice facility or arena, I figured this was a good chance to get some stuff done. Luke was signing in one of those Comcast lounge areas that they have set up in the middle of the mall concourse. I got there a few minutes before the signing kicked off, and I was probably 40th in line. However things zipped along pretty well and before I knew it we were to the front. My girlfriend got a couple of cards signed, and then I had my photo personalized. Then I went back in line and got my last card signed plus a 5x7 photo they were handing out to everyone. I didn't bother asking Luke to switch pens on the cards, but seeing how dead the pen was I regretted it instantly. Other than that it was pretty cool.

Seattle
Luke Ridnour 1/1, 2/2, 2/2


Luke signs the handout photo for me

[Bosox044]

Nice pick up on Ridnour! He is very tough!!! He hasn't signed once in Boston yet

[Ahmanfan]

former nfl qb jon kitna? did he retire?

[cubs22]

Originally Posted by Ahmanfan

former nfl qb jon kitna? did he retire?

Dude...he plays for the Lions and did pretty good this year.

[spokanehound]

Shows you how much I follow the NFL! My bad.

[spokanehound]

01/17/08: NCAA Basketball – Oregon Ducks @ Washington Huskies (Pac-10)
Bank of America Arena - Seattle, WA

I couldn't make it to the hotel before the game, so this was a one-shot deal. After the Huskies surprisingly beat Oregon, I waited outside on the south end of the building by the bus and got guys as they came out. I was pretty tired at this point, and my player identification radar was malfunctioning so I missed a couple guys. Tajuan Porter and Malik Hairston both came out at the same time - I had more for Porter so I went for him and finished off my Lindy's magazine, but Hairston slipped by. Bryce Taylor was cool, knocking out a few small items and the Athlon mag. Ernie Kent added his signature to my coaches 8x10 (3 for 3 so far on that). Maarty Leunen was late coming out to the bus, and the bus driver tried to prevent me from asking him to sign, but I did anyway - I only showed him one card since he was in a rush and I didn't want to tick off the driver (since I think he drives all the Pac 10 teams). Kind of sucked missing Hairston and a couple others, but I got the two guys I needed the most (Taylor and Porter).

Oregon
Joevan Catron 1/1 card
Maarty Leunen 1/1 card
LeKendric Longmire 1/1 card
Tajuan Porter 3/3 cards, magazine
Ray Schafer 1/1 card
Bryce Taylor 4/4 cards, 4x6, magazine (luckydog 1)
Ernie Kent 1/1 coaches 8x10
Kenny Payne 1/1 index

Washington
Tim Morris 1/1 card

[spokanehound]

[spokanehound]

01/31/08: NCAA Basketball – Stanford Cardinal @ Washington Huskies (Pac-10) + Cleveland (NBA)
Hotels / Bank of America Arena - Seattle, WA

This college basketball outing was full of curveballs but ended up being fairly productive. I found out that Stanford was staying in downtown Seattle instead of Bellevue, at a hotel that NBA teams sometimes use. This wasn't really a bad thing - the bus parks on the curb. My goal was to hit up the Cardinal first, then get UW after the game. The LeBron show was also in town, and the Cavs were staying five blocks away at the normal NBA hotel. Since I had practically nothing for the Cavs and didn't want to sit there and get nothing, I stuck to the Stanford hotel.

Surprisingly, I didn't do so well before the game. Players were coming out in groups so I had to pick and choose who to get. I was able to get Drew Shiller, Fred Washington, Landry Fields, coach Trent Johnson on the 8x10, and Brook Lopez on two magazines. Brook politely said he had to get going after doing the two mags. Trent Johnson thought my composite photo was a cool idea. Now the weird stuff... Nick Robinson, a former Stanford player most notable for hitting a ridiculous buzzer beater against Arizona in 2004 (YouTube - Stanford vs Arizona, 2004), is now an assistant coach with Stanford. He came out with Mitch Johnson and I asked him to sign a 4x6 I had made showing him hitting that buzzer beater. He looked at it and said "Nah, I'm good" and continued on. Definitely not what I expected. (More on this later...)

After the Stanford bus pulled away, I walked down to the Cavs hotel just to see what was going on. The second bus was there, awaiting the last of the team. I was told that LeBron had walked onto the bus, giving nothing more than a wave; Z. Ilgauskas had signed though. All I had were blank index cards (please try not to laugh), since I didn't really plan on seeing this team today. Coach Brown came out and signed nicely, even answering a couple questions from some fan who had a video camera. Devin Brown signed for everyone, and surprisingly Eric Snow did too after putting his bags under the bus. Damon Jones muttered something like "get you later" to us when he came out. Overall it was fairly uneventful given how poor my item selection was for this segment of the afternoon.

Now my attention turned to the three hours of time I had to kill before the end of the sold-out UW-Stanford game. Comedian Joe Rogan was doing a surprise show (one of those MySpace Secret Show dealy-o's) at a B-list comedy club around the same time the UW game would be ending... timing wasn't great, and neither was the weather. The northwest rain kicked in as I reached the comedy club, and with no shelter from this I quickly nixed this idea and headed up to UW. (I had also found out about this show earlier in the day so I had nothing of value to get signed beyond an index card; also, the comedy club was in an area of downtown that is kind of sketch. Blah!).

After putting in a few hours of what I thought was merely okay hounding, I hoped that the rain would let up so I could finish off Stanford after the game. It didn't, and I grew more restless. I made the decision to head into the arena after the game and get whichever players come back out onto the court after the game. Usually a few from the visiting team will come out and talk with family and friends, as will a good chunk of the home team. The arena is incredibly friendly - they will oftentimes let people in a few minutes before the end of the game, and let fans walk around the perimeter of the court when players are signing instead of having to go around the tunnels. My decision to stay dry paid off - most of Stanford came out to the court! The 14th-ranked Cardinal had won 65-51 in a game that was consistently lopsided, so the team in red was in a good mood afterwards. The Lopez twins signed everything for everyone - I finished off my Brook stuff, and Robin was awesome. Anthony Goods and Lawrence Hill thought the cards I made were neat - though Goods commented "Man, you couldn't have picked an uglier picture [of me]!" Nick Robinson came out and I finally got him to sign the 4x6. I'm not sure whether it was shyness or something else, but he was very reserved and seemed surprised that I asked him to sign. He wasn't mean-spirited or anything, just a bit hesitant for some reason - no complaints really as I ended up with the autograph. While the Stanford players were hanging out by the tunnel, a few Washington players were on the other side of the court, and I was able to finish off two multi-player magazine covers. Justin Dentmon signed the Athlon from last year also picturing Malik Hairston and Derek Raivio; Quincy Pondexter finished off this year's Athlon magazine that I had also gotten Derrick Low and Bryce Taylor to sign. Both players also had some good things to say about my custom cards. This was a great way to end the evening and I am looking forward to the next team coming in (Cal). Thanks for bearing with this unusually, randomly long post.

Stanford
Landry Fields 1/1 card
Anthony Goods 3/3 cards, 4x6 (BaadN10tionzz 1, luckydog 1)
Lawrence Hill 2/2 card, 4x6 (luckydog 1)
Mitch Johnson 2/2 card, 4x6 (luckydog 1)
Brook Lopez 2/5, 3/3 magazines, cards, 4x6 (BaadN10tionzz 1, luckydog 1)
Robin Lopez 4/4 magazine, cards, 4x6 (BaadN10tionzz 1, luckydog 1)
Drew Shiller 1/1 card
Fred Washington 1/1 card
Trent Johnson 1/1 Pac-10 coaches 8x10
Nick Robinson 0/1 , 1/1 4x6

Washington
Justin Dentmon 5/5 magazine, gameday inserts, cards (BaadN10tionzz 1)
Tim Morris 2/2 gameday inserts
Quincy Pondexter 3/3 magazine, cards (BaadN10tionzz 1)

Cleveland
Mike Brown (coach) 1/1 index
Devin Brown 1/1 index
Eric Snow 1/1 index

[spokanehound]

[spokanehound]

[spokanehound]

Cavs: Mike Brown, Devin Brown, and Eric Snow