Autograph Recap, 1st Annual Juglife Celebrity Softball Game 8/3/14

I went with my buddy David to Javale Mcgee's 1st Annual Juglife Celebrity Softball game held at UCLA's Easton Softball field. The game was an affordable graph costing only $15 to get inside, and all proceeds were supporting Juglife's bid to fundraise to support their efforts in 2015 to go build wells in Uganda to provide clean water. It's a great cause and McGee's doing good things raising awareness about an issue that may seem basic but is fundamental for life in that part of the world.

Before the game got underway I was able to get NBA center and surprise guest Andre Drummond's autograph on a floorboard piece after he was dropped off at the game. It was nice to get on the board after having struck out with Nick Young declining to sign for me on the way in.

After Drummond arrived I was able to get Denver guard Ty Lawson's autograph when he arrived to support his teammate's cause. Lawson showing up was awesome since he didn't come to play just to hang out and put his support behind Mcgee.

After Lawson showed up I went inside caught the rest of the game to watch the celebrities play ball. It was a blowout game and it even made the wire with Ray J making it on TMZ for blowing over Laura Govan on his way into 3rd base.

When the game wrapped up the Juglife crew set up some tables and the majority of the athletes came over and sat at the tables to sign autographs. John Wall and Nick Young had shown up to the event but they took off quickly without stopping at the tables to sign. Young only signed a few and Wall signed a bit before he came into the event, but I wasn't able to get either of their autographs.

At the tables Andre Drummond started signing but since I already got him and hadn't prepped for him I didn't get another floorboard signed. The next guy was the man himself, Javale McGee autographed two 8x10's for me. The first one was of him participating in the slam dunk contest.

The second 8x10 Mcgee signed was of him with the Wizards winning the tipoff against Yao Ming.

Next to McGee was Terrell Owens who autographed my 8x10 photo of him and Jerry Rice back in San Francisco.

Ty Lawson was signing so even though I got him on my photo I had him autograph a floorboard.

It wasn't a bad haul and there were even more celebrities in attendance than I had prepped for. Ray J autographed my ticket when I was walking out to my car. 

Omarion was in attendance with his wife, Damien Wayans, Laura Govan, and Doug Christie were also there. Those were the main celebrities that I recognized but a few minor celebs from vine, instagram, tv and music were also in the game.

Overall it was a great day getting a few NBA autographs and Terrell Owens who may go in the Hall of Fame in a few years. Javale's crew did a great job putting on one of the best charity events that I've been to in a while. He was really polite and donated a ton of items for the raffles that went on with nice prices throughout the game, and his guests were also great taking the time to sign for fans and come out. It's nice to see someone local bringing their star power to good use but still being accessible to fans. Bobby Wagner take notes, the Javale McGee softball event was how things are supposed to be.

Autograph Opportunity Reggie Bullock June 14, 2014

So here's a great NBA autograph opportunity if you're a fan of the Clippers. 2013 LA Clippers 1st round pick Reggie Bullock will be making his first public appearance at the practice of Dr. Alex Corbin Liu.

Bullock will be at the Rowland Heights practice June 14, 2014 with autographs on any item only $15 and includes inscriptions. Mail order is available for this signing so if you're a Los Angeles Clippers autograph collector from out of state I'd definitely take advantage of this signing.

Autograph Opportunity, Paul Lo Duca April 26, 2014

On the 26th of April there's an opportunity to meet with Dodger and Met fan favorite Paul Lo Duca making a Southern California appearance.

Lo Duca will be appearing at Dr. Alex Corbin Liu's practice in Rowland Heights. It's a great chance to meet the 4x All Star and get his autograph at a great price with any item being $20 and $8 per inscription. Be sure to take advantage of the opportunity and remember there are mail order and presale options available.

RBI (203) Kenley Jansen…

I went to Dodger Stadium with some friends to catch the Angels Dodgers preseason action and get a bit of graphing in to train for the season. I'm not often in Los Angeles for baseball autographs so I was glad to get some Dodger Stadium graphing in.

I was able to get this Kenley Jansen autographed baseball at the Dodger dugout after he chatted with a few suits on his way into the clubhouse. I'm glad to knock this out since he's one of the top closers in the National League and the hard throwing righty has one of the highest K/9 ratios in the game for a reliever. He's only 26 and already sitting on over 300 Strikeouts and 60 Saves. If the Dodgers are going to the World Series he's going to be a big part of it.

Dodgers Fanfest 2014 Photo Series

So it's delayed by a while but here's a short photo set I took at Dodgers Fan Fest 2014.

Good Morning Los Angeles.

The new Mr. LA Jerry Hairston Jr.

Viva Los Dodgers.

Autograph Opportunity, Kenny Landreaux March, 15 2014

Well everyone, if you're not able to make it to Spring Training this year but looking for an autograph signing feel free to check out a signing happening at Dr. Alex Corbin Liu's practice. It looks like it's a good deal to snag a popular Dodger alumni.

Appearing : 1981 World Series Champion and All-Star Kenny Landreaux

Autograph signing
March 15, 2014 from 3:00-4:00pm
The Optometry Practice of Dr. Alex Corbin Liu
19735 E. Colima Rd.
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
1 free autograph for patients.
$10 per autograph for public on any item.
Only 50 public autograph tickets available.

Contact xcorbinod@gmail.com for any questions and to purchase presale tickets.

Dodgers Fanfest 2014 Summary

Well I don't often make it to Dodger Stadium to get autographs so it was nice to have Dodgers Fanfest 2014 happen this week for the opportunity to get some Dodger autographs.

That was one of the few nice things besides hanging out with my friends. Basically I misplayed most of fanfest and then didn't get some help from the most important part of a grapher. My pen.

The day started out well because instead of going to an early autograph session I actually graphed. I staked out a spot and started my day getting Nomar Garciaparra's autograph. Only I didn't notice until I got home that the pen also streaked. Which I don't understand, but it was the theme of my day. Great.

After Nomar I was able to get Orel Hershiser's autograph on this baseball. Using the same pen, but the autograph looks infinitely better. Great.

After Orel signed autographs Jerry Hairston Jr. came over and autographed a card Rob hooked me up with.

After getting Jerry Hairston's autograph I proceeded to start the rest of my day. My first autograph was Yasiel Puig on this 11x14. Only Puig was too busy flirting with the handler and leaning back bored while signing to actually have any sort of interest in the autographs he was giving. Oh and the perfectly fine and prepped pen I had fell on the table somehow and streaked. Great.

After Puig I didn't understand what was happening and Jaime Jarrin autographed this 8x10 photo inscribing "HOF 98" with the same streaky pen. Great.

Not to be deterred I switched pens with Rob for the next autograph session which was for Carl Crawford's autograph. Apparently it didn't matter what pen I used because that one didn't work either as soon as Crawford took it from me despite it being prepped and working fine on the prep paper. Great.

So that's my Dodgers Fanfest summary. Great. At least the Orel came through and looks good or it would have been a total waste.

Oh and that Jerry Hairston is nice to. Great.

Update. I have to admit that I was pretty upset about the Puig encounter. I wasn't happy with how some of my other autographs came out, but that's just how the day went for me. Some days that's just how the hobby goes. What I wasn't okay with was being treated dismissively and ignored at a fan fest after I had paid for an autograph ticket. So I contacted the Dodgers. Here's where most of you are thinking oh well the Dodgers are going to send him something to make up for it. They're not.

That's not the point of this update either. The point is both fan relations people I've spoken to said they'd work with their baseball operations people to help the players (Puig) understand the importance of not ignoring the fans, and that he's young so please bear with him. Considering his reckless driving case was just dismissed apparently that's the feeling everyone has for him. That's crap. I'm over him already, and people need to stop making excuses for him.

The Dodgers people were great, they were respectful and heard out all my thoughts and concerns. I'm generally pleased with how they interacted with me, but I'm still annoyed that Puig gets off again with other people covering for him.

Autograph Opportunity Steve Sax February 15, 2014

If you're looking for a baseball autograph signing Los Angeles Dodgers veteran Steve Sax will be making an appearance at Dr. Alex Corbin Liu's practice February 15, 2014.

It is a paid signing so be sure to check the flyer for further details and meet the 5-time All Star, 2-time World Series Champion and 1982 NL Rookie of the Year who even made an appearance on the Simpsons.

Steve Sax autographs can also be gotten through mail order and pre-sale, but you need to contact Dr. Liu via email.

Autograph Opportunity, February 8, 2014 Vince Ferragamo

Well folks I thought it'd be a good way to start off 2014 by passing along a Southern California autograph appearance, this one by former NFL QB Vince Ferragamo. Ferragamo is of Los Angeles Rams and Super Bowl XIV fame, appearing on 2 Sports Illustrated covers so he's a nifty pick up for collectors. There are few NFL autograph opportunities in Southern California so be sure to take advantage of the chance graciously provided by Dr. Alex Corbin Liu, an optometrist to the stars and friend of autograph seekers.

Vince Ferragamo will appear at Dr. Liu's practice in Rowland Heights on Saturday February 8, 2014 from 2:00-3:00 for an autograph and photo opportunity. I've heard previous events held by Dr. Liu have been top notch so check it out if you've got the chance to make it to this Southern California autograph signing.

Blake Griffin Kia LA Autoshow Appearance 11/30/13

This is one of the graphs that makes me thankful that I live in Southern California due to all the great autograph opportunities. The Los Angeles Autoshow is one of the biggest and most important in the industry so vendors are sure to pull out the stops to try to draw large crowds. Kia for the past few years has leaned on drawing a crowd with its spokesman Clippers star Blake Griffin.

I went to the autoshow extremely early so I could make a full day of the event. I wondered the various booths and checked out the luxury cars before wandering over to the Kia booth. There was a line starting to form so I waited for Alex and Rob to come give me company. When they arrived we hung out and waited patiently for Blake to arrive for the signing scheduled from 4:30-6:30.

As we were waiting we saw the line grow. That's not unexpected to us. Apparently though it was unexpected to Kia as they had a small stack of small 5x7 photos that they were expecting to have Blake sign and hand out. However there were easily 400 people wrapped around the convention center going from the far left of the photo all the way around the Kia booth and wrapped back past the right side of the photo. And everyone was waiting for a chance to meet Blake for an autograph and photo op.

Since they were vastly under prepared for the crowd they made a surprising announcement that they'd allow you to get one item signed. One item that you could provide yourself. That's right. A free Blake Griffin autograph on an item of our choosing, not the standard provided Kia stock photo.

We couldn't believe ourselves and even when Blake showed up we still didn't believe it. Blake doesn't do signings besides the Kia appearance and the past 2 years he's only signed the Kia photo. Well it came down to it and Blake started signing autographs.

And what would you know it was true. The Kia booth was nice enough to have an employee who took a photo for you, and they were nice/smart enough to snap two to make sure it came out. I took my turn saying hello and then was able to my Blake Griffin autographed jersey.

Getting Blake Griffins autograph was awesome enough, but I was able to get him to sit down and knock out a jersey for me instead of a small stock photo. It was a great day running into everyone, checking out some cars and not only meeting Blake but getting him to autograph my jersey.