Quote:
Originally Posted by jimjim
+1
I used to live in Philly, and I would go to the stadiums and wait outside once in a while when I had some time on my hands. Those dealers were brutal. And then I decided to try the hotel once or twice. They were even worse there. Dealers from NYC would come down and literally act like animals. Never seen anything like it before. And the autographs the players gave out were just c**p. I remember going for Wayne Gretzky at the hotel when he was coach for the Coyotes. I was hanging inside the hotel just to relax, and saw him chilling in a chair. I decided to not bug him and wait for him to run the line outside, as I was very confident he would stop (bad decision). He comes outside, I run out and get in line, and he does stop and sign but it was a madhouse, and the autographs he gave out were horrible. I don't even have that photo framed, it is that bad. Not sure how the dealers can even sell that stuff. Plus he was calling out the double dippers, and they were denying and arguing with him. I decided then and there that it wasn't worth it, and I was completely embarrassed to be associated with that dealer scum. Haven't gone back to a hotel since. Plus I moved down South and things are much more civilized here. Of course there are plenty of dealers, but at least they have manners!
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+100
Those 'Out-of-towners' would say some of the rudest, nastiest stuff if they didn't get their quota. I mean what is the 'acceptable' allocation of time to sign after a game? 5, 10, 15 minutes. An hour? 20 autographs? 200?
Some have judged a players stance on the time it takes to sign an autograph. Have you ever seen an accomodating player signing all different kinds of material, usually having to take the cap off of any pen (or worse looking to borrow one that works), balancing the item on his palm or thigh? And then being cursed out because he wouldn't sign a dozen balls in a freshly opened box?
As far back as I go, dealers have used little kids as pawns. Most likely those kids in the article had the autograph in their hands for less than a minute. My guess is that there will be a sudden influx of children standing in line.