[abothebear]

I am not an autograph guy. I would hate to always be signing autographs for people if that was me so I don't ever ask if I meet anyone.

But, when I was 10 or 11 my dad took me and my brother to a Pistons game. It was in January and the giveaway was a calendar with a player's photo for each month. We got there early and some of the bench players were warming up and my dad made us go down to the court and ask for autographs. I was amazed at how huge they were. John Salley signed and was nice about it, and Dennis Rodman was willing to sign for me too. But Dennis started signing on the calendar part (not his photograph) and I panicked and said, "No, on the picture." I can still remember the look he gave me. It was an are-you-kidding-me look, but there was a trace of a smile in there. It could have gone either way. But then he signed on the picture and it became a great story. I told a huge professional basketball player he was signing wrong and lived to tell the tale.

I took my son to get Jack Morris's autograph at a Twins caravan event because I was a fan of his when I was a kid. We were the only ones wearing Tigers hats in the place. I don't think he was super enthused about the length of the line he had to deal with, but was friendly enough and let me take a picture of him with my son.

Those are probably the only autographs I've pursued.

My brother and his friend were playing golf and there was a guy playing by himself behind them so my brother invited the gentleman to join them. It was Bo Jackson. They played about 14 holes together. Bo is not an extrovert, but they got along well and had a nice time. My brother casually asked him if he'd sign a golf ball but Bo said he didn't sign. I think he said something about how that was work, and he wasn't working today. Which makes sense to me. If you don't have a rule, where do you draw the line?