Cody-Senior Bowl

[bnhonest]

I can understand wanting to get an autograph for your kid.We were all kids once and thought that Bama players and spotlighted athletes were living gods. I had the pleasure of meeting Wesley Britt at a local tailor shop a couple years when I had my 3 year old son with me, who happens to be named Wesley. Now my son didnt know who he was aside from me explaining that the big guys name was Wesley too and he had played football for Alabama. It thrilled my three year old to shake his hand and get his autograph, and WB was super nice about it.

I'm not going to knock on Cody for not making himself available for an autograph. And I am not going to knock the OP's sentiments on feeling disappointed. I will just say there is a time and place for everything and I think its best not to air dirty laundry if you caught the guy in the wrong time and place.

 

[twofbyc]

what part of "NO AUTOGRAPHS" did you not get???

autograph seekers can be a rude, and at times creepy lot. i'm all for kids wanting to get autographs but parents should know when to cross the line and teach their children that they shouldn't feel ENTITLED to always get an autograph. if they miss getting their favorite players autograph, then tough luck. you can get it next time. but to try and say you're "disappointed" in several of our players just proves my point on the subject. take a step back and think about this for a minute. think about how much our players already to do to give back to the fans.

Signs and rules are only meant for some people...

 

[CajunCrimson]

My wife and I sell vinyl records on Ebay. Recently Graham Nash (of Crosby, Stills and Nash) bought a record from us. We didn't think it was him at first, and then we did some research and found it was. We sent him a copy of a CSN album and asked him to sign it for us....2 weeks later, we got it back, personalized, and signed by Nash. We were very excited, and it has a place of honor in our home along with some other rarities we have.

With that said.....I can understand the excitement of having one of your heroes (sports, music, movies, tv, etc....) sign a piece of memorabilia for you. It's a great conversation piece for us.

BUT.......in no way do we feel that Mr Nash owed us a signature for our "dedicated" lifetime of enjoying his music. The autograph industry is a big and powerful one........I don't doubt Cody either misunderstood, or wasn't allowed to......and that he wasn't trying to blow anyone off.

He's an amazing kid who is just traded in his bicycle and is eyeing a new ferrari with his life.......and I'd be proud to have his autograph.......

I still have an autographed personalized photo of Coach Bryant in my office. I look at it everyday........and it still makes me smile.........shoot years ago, I met EJ Junior and we got to talking, and he offered me a signed photo, I guess after several minutes of hearing me ask questions about Coach and the teams he played on.

Bottom line........I'm guessing Cody couldn't give one, or didn't understand the request.

Bottom line 2........It's okay to want a signed item, but we aren't entitled to have one......but when we get them, they are fun to say you have.

 

[BamaHoHo]

I can understand wanting to get an autograph for your kid.We were all kids once and thought that Bama players and spotlighted athletes were living gods. I had the pleasure of meeting Wesley Britt at a local tailor shop a couple years when I had my 3 year old son with me, who happens to be named Wesley. Now my son didnt know who he was aside from me explaining that the big guys name was Wesley too and he had played football for Alabama. It thrilled my three year old to shake his hand and get his autograph, and WB was super nice about it.

I'm not going to knock on Cody for not making himself available for an autograph. And I am not going to knock the OP's sentiments on feeling disappointed. I will just say there is a time and place for everything and I think its best not to air dirty laundry if you caught the guy in the wrong time and place.

Wesley Britt is one of the nicest most regular guy ot come thru Bama. Ive seen him all around town & he never seemed full of himself.

 

[KrAzY3]

To clarify one thing, I wasn't trying to say that getting autographs is a bad thing. I started collecting cards when I was 9 and I still have a memorabilia and autographed card collection. Interestingly enough, I don't like "hand autos" much and I'm actually annoyed that some of the items I acquired were autographed (like my Jake Peavy BayBears road jersey).

I don't think it's inherently wrong to ask for autographs, just be aware of the environment. If a sign says no autographs... then perhaps you should pay heed to the sign. A introduction that asks for a autograph is not a polite introduction. Even if your time is short don't start out a conversation with "please sign this" you're generally making yourself a nuisance. If they don't have time to talk but are not already signing autographs may be a wave or word of encouragement is the best greeting. Remember, we live in the Ebay era. They don't know you, they don't know if you plan to run to Ebay with the autograph they just signed for you.

I remember at the end of one concert when a lot of people ended up on stage, I approached a artist I had communicated with several times (email, chat, sit down meeting, going out to eat together, etc...) and just wanted to say hey. He didn't even acknowledge me. Upon reflection, he was in performer mode. You can't afford to pay attention to individuals during that time and if you do it's to protect yourself from them (they have a nasty habit of pulling hair and the like). I couldn't be annoyed at him ignoring me, I had inadvertently came into his office, sat down and tried having a conversation while he still had work to do.

As far as getting autographs in person, just try to consider the person. I never asked for a autograph upon initially meeting a celebrity. The times I did ask for one it was at least on the second day of being around them. There's also several celebrities I have been around that I never asked for a autograph from. Believe it or not they are people, if you just enjoy casual conversation with them why turn it into something else? The same goes for taking pictures with them, it doesn't mean you shouldn't. But perhaps you shouldn't run up to them with a camera. If we remember they are people, not objects perhaps we can do a better job of treating them accordingly.

Do you stop to acknowledge everyone you pass on the street? Do you stop and have a conversation with a homeless guy when he stops you to ask for spare change? I remember someone stating how they gave a homeless guy money almost every day, but the guy got mad the one day he didn't... make sure you don't come off like that.

 

[Titletown]

This whole conversation reminds me of that picture in the Birmingham news of those middle aged fat guys, all sprinting in 100 degree heat, trying to be the first to get in line inside Bryant-Denny stadium for Coach Saban's autograph.

If I ran Websters Dictionary I would put that picture under the word "Loser".

 

[TideFan in AU]

the most ironic part about all of this is when the Senior Bowl was going off they showed Cody signing a football.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Con]

I met a few celebrities when I worked at a rental car company at the airport. I never bothered them with asking for an autograph. I just enjoyed talking to them about how they were doing and sometimes they would go into a little detail about why they were in town. I felt that when they were renting or dropping off a car was just not the right time to ask for an autograph. Now after the 92' title though I did wait for an eternity to get my championship football signed by Gene Stallings. Nobody ever even sees the ball though. Just like others have said, there is a time and place for everything.

 

[bayoutider]

This thread has gone from loser to one of the better off season topics dealing with autographs.

 

[Jessica4Bama]

Speaking of autographs, whose coming to Parkway to show Reamer some love?

 

[TIDE-HSV]

A poster on another site was bashing Cody this AM in a manner similar to this thread. He was recognized by someone who knew him and recognized him as an eBay trader in Bama stuff. He'd shown up with a box of miniature helmets to be signed. When Cody replied politely that he could only sign two, the guy exploded with cursing and name-calling and had to be removed by security. I don't know how the kids handle these things as well as they do...

 

[bamabryan]

This thread has gone from loser to one of the better off season topics dealing with autographs.

It's nice when people behave themselves and for the most part are respectful of others. :smile:

 

[bamabryan]

A poster on another site was bashing Cody this AM in a manner similar to this thread. He was recognized by someone who knew him and recognized him as an eBay trader in Bama stuff. He'd shown up with a box of miniature helmets to be signed. When Cody replied politely that he could only sign two, the guy exploded with cursing and name-calling and had to be removed by security. I don't know how the kids handle these things as well as they do...

I've seen something like this happen before. Someone showed up at Shula's weeknight radio show when it was at Baumhower's I believe (not sure) and gave Shula a stack of pictures to sign. Shula signed one and gave him the pictures back and the guy went ballistic. Shula wound up signing more pictures if you can believe it.

I was at SEC Media days years ago and there was someone who sold memorabilia on E-Bay who was giving small kids multiple mini helmets for David Greene to sign. The kids would bring the helmets back to him after they got them autographed.

It's totally out of line for one person to want any more than one or two autographs from a player or coach. Unfortunately there are a lot of people that get autographs for nothing more than personal gain. There is a huge market out there for autographs depending on the player or coach. I've never sold any of my autographed items. It's all been strictly for my personal collection although I have given autographed items to family or friends.

 

[tideronthehooch]

We need to realize that we fans are somewhat to blame for at least some of the way that fans are treated by the players. After the Auburn game we went down by the locker room as the players were getting on the buses. I cannot count how many autogaraphs, photos,high fives and "Roll Tides" the players and coaches took their time to give. :biggrin2:

On the other hand, I was SHOCKED at how some of the FANS behaved, especially the "professional" autograph hounds literally grabbing players and pulling on their clothing to get the signatures they were looking for to put on Ebay. It was ridiculous. If I was a player, I would've ignored those guys too.

 

[Jessica4Bama]

A poster on another site was bashing Cody this AM in a manner similar to this thread. He was recognized by someone who knew him and recognized him as an eBay trader in Bama stuff. He'd shown up with a box of miniature helmets to be signed. When Cody replied politely that he could only sign two, the guy exploded with cursing and name-calling and had to be removed by security. I don't know how the kids handle these things as well as they do...

That's crazy. I love getting autographs, but they are for me and only me. I'm not going to hand a player stacks of items just so I can make some money.

I dealt with a jerk ebay autograph seller last weekend. I asked him where and when he got his item I was interested in signed. He got very defensive saying that I don't have time to trade emails back and forth. I'm on here to make money. That told me one of two things. It was either fake or he didn't get it signed (it's from a third party). Sorry for my rant!

 

[gmart74]

if i was a famous player i wouldn't autograph anything. there is no way i'd allow random people to make a buck off of my signature. I would , on the other hand, gladly take pics with anyone who wanted one. i figure that would be a greater keepsake for someone to remember a cool moment than some scrawled signature.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I remember an interview 20/20 did with Mark McGwire many years ago when doing a story on sports auto-graphed paraphernalia and what players think about it.

McGwire said it made him mad that people would get his autograph just to turn around and sell it. He said he'd all but stopped giving autographs because of this.

I guess the problem I've got with this is what does it really matter? McGwire (and other pro athletes) doesn't mind signing that $100m contract that forces ticket prices up through the roof yet gets mad when a commoner makes a few hundred bucks off his autograph. Talk about greedy. And now the truth has come out McGwire cheated in order to get those big contracts. Talk about a fraud.

if i was a famous player i wouldn't autograph anything. there is no way i'd allow random people to make a buck off of my signature. I would , on the other hand, gladly take pics with anyone who wanted one. i figure that would be a greater keepsake for someone to remember a cool moment than some scrawled signature.

 

[jangalang]

With all the Pro-Bowl practices being very accessible to fans in Miami, this subject came up on the radio this morning. My opinion was eloquently stated by a caller that said,

"If you're not old enough to trick-or-treat, then you're not old enough to ask for autographs."

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I'm not talking about interrupting them while they're eating dinner. I'm talking about them getting so irate over someone selling their autograph for a few hundred bucks. How big a deal is this really? I mean good lord. They stop signing autographs all together because of a few selling them is stupid. How material is it to their pocket books and livelihood? Doesn't even make a dent. About like a fly getting hit by a 747 Boeing. On the list of "Things to care about" this one in the life of a professional athlete should be WAY WAY down the list. Is it "right"? No, but I don't think many people care when the person complaining about their autographs being sold for money is making more money in the first five innings of a baseball game than most people in this country make in a entire year or two. It's really not that big of a deal. The number of people that are asking for autograph's to resale are very very small in comparison to those that want them just as a collector's item.

I would be angry. They pay you those contracts to play ball, increase revenue, and make television ratings go up. When you eat dinner with your family, that's your time. Now you might still want to sign autographs for the fans that support you and keep you in a job, but why would it make you happy that some jerk makes money off your name when he does nothing to deserve it?

 

[TIDE-HSV]

To get this back into perspective, this started out talking about a kid who hasn't made any significant money yet. My concern is with him and other Bama kids, not a pro baseball player. And I do think there's something creepy about a guy bringing a box full of miniature helmets for Cody to sign...