I go to the Souths member day every year and get a Best & Less sponsor free jersey signed. I have clipped to a sturdy board so the player can just sign, and all the sigs are in the square and it's easier to sign then handing a bunched jersey to a player. Have been doing it since 2006, and one day, I'll get them framed.
But seriously, some of the responses are absurd.
"Mate, is this going on Ebay?" said narkily. I'm there with a 2 year old, a bemused wife and queue of members who could only get in because we showed our memberships. Some of them are bored, chatting and texting between themselves and couldn't give two s#its. And this is to the members...the ones they're begging to sign on each and every year as they put the tickets up and up and up and deliver very little on the field.
But to be fair, for every one d!ckhead, there is two nice guys. It just makes you feel like s#it, even at 35 years of age, to be brushed off by footy players. So I can imagine if you're 5-10 how you would feel if you were swatted away. Plus some of the scribble they sign, I kind of think why do they bother, and why do I? Seriously, I forgot to mark the 2005-2008 jerseys and now, trying to decipher the scribble is near impossible LOL!
On the plus side, the good players are genuinely nice. Make an effort to sign, some remember you (though these days with the revolving door of ins and outs at NRL clubs, most players aren't there long enough to remember anyone). I have the utmost respect for the players who sit, chat (and yes, some sig hunters are total wallys, but each to their own) and the players treat them with dignity. Some are humble. Some are just chuffed to be signing stuff. So the good can outweigh the bad.
But little wankers like Isacc Luke and Chris Sandow...well, in five years or so, where will they be when they have retired from the game? {{I know this is sour, but they get all the press and all the cash, when tradesmen like Luke Stuart get paid a pittance yet are some of the nicest footy players you'll ever meet}}.
Sorry for the diatribe...I'm just a bit over some attitudes to fans. Granted, as I said, there are wallys, but come on...kids?
Off topic...
About 5-6 years ago, I remember cricketers wouldn't sign stuff when they were on the boundary. I remember one day, it was Aust vs Sth Africa Jan 2005 at the SCG, and Brett Lee was ignoring all these kids. And some guy stood up and yelled "Brett Lee you piece of s#it...sign these kids f'ing bats...or I'm going to come out there and f'ing knock your block off!" and the crowd laughed so hard, even though it wasn't something I'm particularly happy to have heard said in front of kids, but the message was clear. At the end of the over, Brett Lee skips in to Punter and is moved. LOL!
Around the same time, we were told by an official that the players were too busy concentrating and couldn't sign autographs, and the parents with the kids just rolled their eyes.
Am happy to say the past couple of years, they've been back on the fences signing sigs. It's funny, because all these players always say how they were at some match, and some player signed his bat or took a photo and that's what inspired them to play, and they make the Aussie side, and then suddenly forget that. Come on!
Anyway, as I said, this summer, saw plenty of players signing stuff, and it's good to see. Sure not all game, but between overs, and the like.
Don't want to sound like some moral crusader on the issue, and it is a players right to say no to sig hunters. My tip is to be polite, thankful and obviously there's a right time and a right place (like when I saw Mark Waugh and his missus at dinner and people were lining up for phone photos...ummm, now that's wrong. But I dunno, at matches, it doesn't sit well with me.
Here endeth my rant.
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