Autograph after an interview?

I have gotten an autograph ONCE... when Gale Sayers came to town to do a speech and was autographing a stack of photos and handing them out like candy. And I didn't keep it, it was for a fellow Bears fan.

 

Have a story that tops all of these.

LeBron James' senior year in high school. His high school is playing in a tournament in Trenton,NJ. After the game the referee asks LeBron for his autograph and pose for a picture with him. LeBron obliged and the referee got into deep shit when the story ran in both Trenton papers.

 

But what if you really, really, really like the player and the autograph would complete the shrine of him that includes a bobble head, a wad of old gum he chewed and the "authentic" pants of his you bought off ebay?

 

That's Ok, but only if he doesn't accept your offer of fellatio first ...

 

former red sox dennis lamp was in my hometown's christmas parade one year when i was a kid. still have no clue why. he had an autograph tent at the end of the route. i waited in line for what seemed an eternity with my dad and brother, and couldn't feel my toes when i got home. i never really wanted anyone's autograph after that debacle. i have no clue where that card is.

 

I only got an autograph once, but a) I was in college and b) I had Bob Cousy sign a copy of a Holy Cross basketball retrospective issue I'd put together. Once the job became an actual job, the thought of getting an autograph was completely anathema (and kind of stupid, anyway).

 

I've seen papers get autographed footballs or baseballs for a charity auction, but schmoozing the athletes -- whether they're national-caliber such as MLB players or local like college coaches, etc. -- to do this shouldn't be my job. That's what the marketing department is for.

I'm not sure how they chose to set it up, so that's just my take on the matter.

 

If you are doing an interview at an autograph show and you ask for one, it would be fine. Otherwise, I wouldn't ask for one because it is unprofessional and I could see some possible bias in the story you would be writing.

Now, if it were me, I would take my sister with me, and after the interview, I would get her to get the autograph (preplan it) so it would look like she would want it. ;D

 

But what would you do with a baseball with "Springfield Kozy Kort Motel room 26 how bout it?" scrawled across the laces?

 

In a way I did. I didn't ask the athlete directly. I asked her father and it was done in two minutes in just a matter of fact way. I knew the father pretty well.

 

Had a buddy tell me about a reporter asking a golfer for his autograph IN THE INTERVIEW ROOM at a recent PGA Tour stop.

 

Twice in the last year I've seen an athlete ask a member of the media for his autograph... It definitely wasn't a goof in either case...