My friend prince decided last minute to come out with me on this autograph hunting adventure! We were going to try to see two Kings players at two different locations with signings beginning just 30 minutes apart! Could we do it? Answer: YES.
Wow, where have all these Shop KP stores been all my life? Haha, this is the second one I've been to in two days. I would've never known about them had it not been for these Sacramento Kings autograph opportunities.
The people who came to the autograph sessions got some free mini basketballs. I think these are similar to the ones that the Kings give out during time-outs and stoppages in play. Pretty cool that fans can score one here!
Rudy Gay was awesome. He's one of the most courteous and nice NBA players I have ever met - and this is the second time I've had an interaction with him. I heard his interview with Grant Napear yesterday, and he recalled a story in which a professional player snubbed him as a fan when he was a kid. He vowed never to do that if he were given an opportunity to be a pro basketball player. He's definitely living out his decision.
Yesterday, fans weren't allowed to take posed photos with DeMarcus. I think they were assuming the wait in line would be too great. But today they realized that it would not be the case. Because of the early start time of this event, not as many fans were able to show up. It was great for those who were able to, but I feel bad for those fans who couldn't come due to conflicting schedules.
Slamson didn't make an appearance to this signing, but Lynsi and Andrea were able to come out! It's always great to have the SKD come out to these types of events.
After we got our Rudy Gay autographs we drove out to the Chick-Fil-A at Arden Way. When we got there we found a line, but it wasn't too long. In fact, Ben was not there yet as he was stuck in Traffic. Ben posted this signing on his Instagram account - good thing I follow him on there, otherwise I wouldn't have know about this! It pays to follow your favorite athletes on these social media platforms!
Ben was great today! He took the time to take a second to talk with the fans and also pose for some photos. As a fan, I really appreciate him doing this. The last time I met Ben, it was a rushed experience - there were 200+ people waiting to get his signature! This was much more intimate and relaxed.
Here's my posed photo with Ben. I was super glad to get this as it means so much more to get a photo with a player than to just get their autograph. You can get autographs of NBA players so easily and cheaply now on basketball cards through eBay. This photo is personal. Love it!
Here's Prince with the poster he got signed. Yes, Ben gave these posters out to the fans who came today. So nice! It's an awesome poster, the same one they gave out at the game earlier this week. Check out the big pile of them on the table!
Here's my catch for today. I think I could have gotten more autographs from both Ben and Rudy, but I didn't need to. This was definitely enough, and I was extremely happy to get these photos I took signed. I particularly like the Ben and DeMarcus dual autographed photo. The black and white with the gold ink looks killer.
Turns out that my wife was in the area. She called me and joined us for dinner. Chick-Fil-A was a great host for the signing. Not only did they provide a place for Ben to sign, they gave out free sandwiches to all the people who came out. I really did like Chick-Fil-A before... but now I love them! They were awesome.
Here's all the things we got today. It was definitely a good day getting all this amazing Kings stuff. Rudy and Ben were great. I have to really thank them for spending time with us fans this afternoon. Tomorrow the team will take on the San Antonio Spurs. Wow, that'll be a tough game. Good luck Kings!
No comments:
Post a Comment