Autograph after an interview?

Or your left butt cheek.

 

Thanks for the interview. Now would you mind signing my left butt cheek? It' not for me. It's for my sister.

 

It's not for me, it's for the highest bidder on EBay

 

LMAO. This is so horrible? Ask before the interview, and all you chaps are assuming every autograph is sold for the money. Not true at all.

 

I havent yet landed a job as a sportswriter and I find it awkward just to ask for an autograph if I see an athlete in person. I think the only its acceptable as a fan when you pay for a ticket to attend the event, at an autograph show, or if the athlete is a huge mega-star like Tiger or Jordan. Ozzie Newsome is not a mega-star he is a former athlete.
I used to pass by Al Thornton all the time(soon to be NBA lottery, or at the very least, first round pick,) and we are both alumni from the same school...that doesn't mean I should get his auto.

Also, the reasoning behind getting the autograph can be questioned too. I have a desire to have a future office in my future house and I would like to hang sports memorobilia in that future office. So if I have the opportunity get an auto. of my favorite team I might do it..but most likely I will just buy the stuff.

 

only time i've done it is for a sick child. even then, i have the p.r. staff do it for me. NEVER DO IT YOURSELF. cripes.

i have a good friend in the biz who never, ever thought of doing anything like this -- until he had a son, who he spoils to death. now he doesn't think twice about getting special treatment for his boy -- autographs, pictures, you name it.

oh, well. life is nothing but a series of rationalizations, right?

 

I've been through what Shockey's friend did, but there is no special treatment for my daughter. We ran into Kobe Bryant (pre-Colorado) at a restaurant and I told her just to wave and say HI to him. Ran into Shaq, same thing. We went to a Sparks game and our paper's Sparks writer offered to take my daughter into the locker room to meet Lisa Leslie. I said, thanks but no thanks.
About the only special thing I did was at a youth volleyball tournament, Mike Scioscia was there because his daughter plays. I've known Scioscia since his rookie year and I approached him and talked with him briefly. At the end of the tournament, I saw him walking through the parking lot, I grabbed my daughter to go meet him and about 6 of her teammates followed us. But I knew Scioscia wouldn't mind, that's why I did it. No autographs, just introductions.

 

You just don't get it.
If you want an autograph so badly, pay for it from another source.
Otherwise, you're compromising your integrity and making the rest of us look really bad.

 

Asked and answered ... yes, it's that horrible for a professional journalist.

 

I agree totally with autographs being off limits for reporters. But I wonder if people agree about this exception.

Many years ago, Gale Sayers came to my town for a banquet. During the banquet there was a silent auction for 10 Sayers jerseys, which he would autograph for the winners. As Sayers was one of my favorite players, I felt compelled to bid, and I was one of the 10 winners.

I did a short one-on-one with Sayers after the banquet, and for the life of me I cannot remember the situation in which he signed the jersey, but it is not personalized. And, to be honest, it wasn't the autograph I was after, it was the jersey.

Does this qualify me as a child molester?

 

I saw that Tom Boswell wrote that he once asked for a Cal Ripken, Jr. autograph after an interview. Granted, there were extenuating circumstances, but he even said it was unprofessional to do so as standard practice.

I don't know if I've ever done so, even back in my college days, and I've interviewed some people whom I might have asked for autographs if I weren't a member of the press.