Autograph Hell

  By Brent Briggeman Advertisement Every time a fan pulls out a phone and asks Michael McKenry to pose for a selfie, it makes him laugh. It reminds the Rockies catcher of "The Goonies," where one of the young characters created a device that holds the camera out in front of him. "When you think about it, he's the one who invented the selfie stick," McKenry said of the kid in the 1985 film. "And it took all this time for technology to catch up." Technology has caught up, all right. Roughly 100 million selfies are taken daily according to a study from Google, those making up part of the nearly 900 billion photos snapped in a year according to Agence France-Presse. The Internet is filled with surveys that tell what your...

Shaun Smillie The prominent pieces of the collection are the Lennon signature and the autographs The Beatles signed at their 1963 Royal Command performance. File photo Image by: GETTY IMAGES Christine got around. She hobnobbed with the stars of her day, if only briefly. But in those brief encounters, she persuaded them to append their autographs - and she did it over and over. The band The Searchers signed her book, as did Cliff Richard. John Lennon signed it twice. Christine collected those autographs more than half a century ago and next week they are expected to fetch tens of thousands of rands at auction in Johannesburg. The prominent pieces of the collection are the Lennon signature and the autographs The Beatles signed at their 1963 Royal Command performance. It was at this performance, in front of Princess Margaret, that Lennon famously remarked: "The people in the cheaper seats, clap your hands. And...

Michael Kahlig of Arlington scored a helmet-full of autographs in just one day. By Stefan Stevenson/Fort Worth Star-Telegram They arrive long before the bustling begins. Globe Life Park is usually still a quiet, peaceful place when the small group begins to gather on the grass by some trees at the lip of the tunnel where Texas Rangers players and officials enter a parking garage under the stadium. There, a group of diehard Rangers fans, typically no more than a dozen, all wearing team colors, sit and wait. They’re autograph seekers and there’s a group just like them at every Major League ballpark. Of course, autographs are nothing new to sports fans. Baseball players can be seen before most games signing along the first and third base lines at home or on the road. It’s part of the history of the game, one that players generally ...

I have Reggie Jackson to thank for a recent personal epiphany. A few people before it was my turn to get an autograph last Saturday, a man had to wait as Reggie “Mr. October” Jackson put pepper on the sandwich he was eating. I snapped this cell phone picture of MLB Hall of Fame outfielder Reggie Jackson April 11 at a signing in the Twin Cities. I’d hoped to capture him signing my bat, but I failed and got him looking at me to silently ask where I wanted him to sign the bat. When it was my turn to get his autograph at the Sportsnews Production Show on April 11 at the Earl Brown Center in Brooklyn Center, I took out my phone to get a photo of the hall of fame outfielder known as Mr. October signing my bat. I looked up to see him staring at me and pointing at the bat with a look of “Where do you want me to sign this?” Without saying a word, he kept pointing until I picked ...

By Tony Henderson Tony Weightman reckons there are around 3,000 autographs in his collection which will be sold by Anderson & Garland in Newcastle Tony Weightman (left), a spiked trainer worn by Jonathan Edwards (top) and Elton John's tracksuit (bottom) The haul from years of tracking down celebrity signatures by a North East businessman will be auctioned on Tuesday. Tony Weightman reckons there are around 3,000 autographs in his collection which will be sold by Anderson & Garland in Newcastle. He runs management development consultancy Weightman Associates, based in Gosforth in Newcastle, and has gathered signatures during his worldwide travels for work and sporting events. His business career has seen him work for Procter & Gamble, Unilever and at director level for Scottish and Newcastle Breweries. “My first autograph was Mohammed Ali and that started me off. I had idolised him when I was a kid,” said Tony. ...

Inside the book cover written in pencil in my best 12-year-old penmanship: Linda Lampsa, Rte. 1, Box 91, Gilbert, Minnesota. Our family had gone on a car trip, in our ’50s green Chevrolet, all the way to Deer River to visit an old friend. And my parents had bought me my very own autograph book at a shop in nearby Grand Rapids. That was 55 years back in time, but the memory is clear still, coming back to me upon finding the treasure among my souvenirs. How well I remember asking friends and relatives if they would sign my book. It went with me every day on the ...

How Long Do Players Spend on Court After Matches Signing Giant Tennis Balls? By Jim Chairusmi Roger Federer signs autographs at this year's U.S. Open. Getty Images for USTA   An autograph from a tennis star is one of the most coveted souvenirs at the U.S. Open. But securing one isn't easy. It requires agility, good court positioning and a bit of luck. It also requires a player willing to sign enough autographs to get to yours, which raises an essential question: Which player represents an autograph seeker's best bet? To find out, the Count broke out the stopwatch to tally how long top players have been signing balls, shirts, programs and the occasional body part after winning their matches at this year's U.S. Open. The answer: When in doubt, stake ou...

My greatest brush with greatness came on April 12, 1987, while attending my first Chicago Bulls game. There was a special promotion where you could have your picture taken with your favorite player before the game. Of course, this is well before the team's championship years, when there was only one player with whom anyone wanted to have his picture taken -- Michael Jordan. The Cliff's Notes version of the story has me waiting in line for two hours and thankfully getting shuffled into Jordan's line. The Polaroid photograph of a gangly 16-year-old me and His Airness sitting on a table on the baseline at the old Chicago Stadium is one of my most prized possessions. It would be one of the first things I would grab if my house caught fire. In the wake of meeting my idol, all anyone asked was whether I got his autograph. Why in the world would I need Jordan's autograph? I had photographic evidence that I met him. For some, collecting autographs ...

San Bernardino twins share a love for collecting celebrity autographs that span four decades Twins Karen and Sharon Brawley hold their autograph book, in which they've collected celebrity signatures since they were kids including iconic figures such as David Cassidy, Lucille Ball and George Harrison. (Photo by Rachel Luna / San Bernardino Sun) By Diana Sholley , Inland Valley Daily Bulletin Twins Karen and Sharon Brawley collected an autograph from former president Gerald Ford on January 16, 1981, which is one of many iconic celebrity autographs they've collected since they were children. (Photo by Rachel Luna / San Bernardino Sun)    When it comes to celebrities no one can drop more names than twin sisters Karen and Sharon Brawley. The 57-year-old Brawleys have collected more than 75 autographs from the rich and famous starting...

Why autographs are becoming obsolete by Susan Pierce Blaine Savage, 11, has been collecting autographed sports memorabilia for several years. Photo by Angela Lewis Foster . Autograph collection becomes business For 28 years, baseball fans Barbara and Mickey Brinkley of Ellijay, Ga., traveled to spring training camps around the country collecting autographs from players. "He'd watch the games, and I chased the players," Barbara says, laughing. "We got to know a lot of them because we went every year. We...