Autograph Adventures – Linsanity

March 4, 2012
Boston, Massachusetts

If you’ve been to a general admission show you know there’s only one way to ensure a spot up front—be one of the first to arrive. With this in mind I scheduled an alarmingly early Sunday wake-up call to see the hottest ticket in town. The Linsanity Tour had stopped in Boston and I needed a front row seat.

After absorbing an elbow to the ribs from Mrs. Raymond, I dragged myself out of bed, into the chilly winter air, and onto the Mass Pike. Ten minutes later I pulled my car up to one of several open parking meters outside the Boston Public Garden. It was that early.

I arrived at the Knicks team hotel moments later. A dozen collectors stood corralled out front. I joined the standing room crowd, relegated to the fourth row. I was late.

As we waited a fellow collector entertained me with war stories from a recent adventure to New York City. He detailed his adventures over two days of graphing talk shows and premieres. Adjectives used to describe NYC’s resident graphers included “crazy” and “scary”. Nouns included “animals”. I said I looked forward to experiencing it one day. He said a guy like me wouldn’t survive.

Knicks finally began to trickle from the hotel. Rookie guard Iman Shumpert came out early and signed everything, including my 8×10. A few other first bus passengers signed including Mike Bibby and Landry Fields but I had nothing for them. The real prizes—Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Jeremy Lin—were on bus two which typically left about an hour later. A graph from any one of them would warm up the brisk morning quite a bit.

Surprisingly, the crowd hadn’t grown much since I arrived. Our graphing mosh pit filled out by only a few more members. On the opposite side of the hotel doorway a few bystanders tipped off about Lin’s arrival fingered point and shoots. Two hours of chatter suddenly fell silent.

Amare was the first of the big three to appear and the mob surged toward him, taking me with it like a wave. Still four-deep I craned my arm over the front rows hoping to get my photo within his radius. My height (taller than the average grapher) coupled with his (taller than the average NBA player) made getting the signature painless, and Amare accommodated everyone he could reach, which was everyone. It was my second time getting his autograph and it was, admittedly, not as exciting as the first. But an addict knows actions are driven less by desire than need. Another player I had graphed before but needed again was Carmelo, but first I would get to experience Linsanity.

Based on reports of Lin’s signing habits from other collectors I had reason to be optimistic, especially considering this was a homecoming of sorts. A graduate of Harvard, he would certainly take care of his Boston-area supporters. There was nothing more than a kernel of doubt in my mind.

Ok, there was a whole cob. Now that Lin was signed to a memorabilia deal with Steiner, anything could happen and I expected the worst.

After another stretch of silence, we exploded at the first sight of Lin. He was halfway to the bus when he handed off his equipment, changed direction and headed toward the pack of wolves. Expressionless, he grabbed a Sharpie as we clawed our way forward. He stood much further back than Amare had, several feet from the Retracta-Belt that contained us. As items were signed their owners fell back, generously allowing those in the rear a better position. I managed to position myself in the second row, dead center. At the end of my outstretched arm an 8×10 of Lin sat a foot from his chest, perfectly placed. He looked down at my photo then signed a Sports Illustrated magazine to the left of it. Then one to the right. I shifted as he moved, matching his steps. He signed an SI above my photo. Then another to the left. Then back the right. It was as if my photo and his hand were each positively charged.

After signing about a dozen autographs he dropped the Sharpie and boarded the bus. Nearly everyone with an SI received a signature (and several grabbed more than one). Did his Steiner agreement restrict his signing photos? Did I just have bad luck? I couldn’t be sure. What was certain was my disappointment.

Carmelo saved my day. Soon after the Lin snub he matched Stoudemire’s generosity and signed just about everything put in front of him. While I had graphed Melo years before on a mini ball, I was glad to get him on a photo which stores and displays much easier.

While Lin may have been the headliner on this stop, it was the other acts that made the show great and deserved the positive review. It’s almost certain I’ll check them out again on their next tour.