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AMAZIN HOF COLLECTOR
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Got a chuckle out of this. :lol:
I remember a board member saying there were players that charged on the golf course.....
Johanna's View
by Johanna Wagner
Jim Rice: Any Better than a **********?
This post was written by Johanna Wagner on February 11, 2012
Posted Under: Johanna's View
I have written over and over that I don’t blame a player who only signs autographs for money, even if it is a kid asking. I think that is their right. After all, they don’t have any say in how that autograph is used after it leaves their hands. Money can make it a fair exchange- the person with the signature is free to use it in anyway they want.
But yesterday, I saw something that turned my stomach.
WFAN, New York Sports talk radio, and Mike Francessa took the show on the road to the Mohegan Sun Casino free theater in Connecticut for their baseball kickoff show prior to the Connecticut Sports Foundation Dinner. Its a big charitable event with a lot of sports luminaries and raises tremendous amounts of money for kids with cancer and their families. The radio show consists of Francessa sitting and interviewing many of those appearing at the dinner. Yogi Berra, Goose Gossage, Mookie Wilson, Evan Longoria, Dave Robertson, Andre Dawson, and Jim Leyland and Bobby Valentine were among those interviewed. Jim Rice also set some time aside to sit with Francessa. The audience in the amphitheater was filled with middle-age folks, mostly men, excited to see the free show and in many cases get autographs. Many would rush the stage at the end of each segment and ask the interviewee to sign a few things. Most of the players were accommodating, though the station did have some security there and a producer who would signal the other fans when the player had signed enough. (Often this was to keep the show moving forward and to get the last player off the stage and the next one on for the next segment.)
After Jim Rice’s interview he stood, turned his back on the fans seeking autographs on the right side of the stage and made his way inside security to the left side stage exit. Suddenly, he stopped and turned because one fan was waving two $20 bills in the air. Jim Rice turned and headed towards the fan with the $20’s. He grabbed the money, then the ball and signed for the fan. The man next to him also had cash, which Rice took and signed something for him before stepping back behind security and heading further off, where he stopped and signed one more thing. (I couldn’t see if there was more cash exchanged at that point.)
I have never seen anything more crass in my life. A pole dancer has more pride, I expect. Again, I have no problem with only signing for money, but to see him turn on a dime, so to speak, because he some some green waving in the air presented an air of desperation not fitting anyone with any pride.
Briefly, afterward, I wondered if by chance he collected the money for the charity he was there to support. But a quick internet search revealed stories of him collecting money for signatures at games and at other charity events.
Signed balls by Jim Rice go for between $50 and $70. If you are going to sell it - and who is going to cherish a ball by a guy who behaves like that- then perhaps he should get $40 each time. But, if you feel that way set up some ground rules for yourself. Have some self-respect. Only do events like this if they set up a table and time for you to sign for those fans that are willing to pay for it, and then only sign for fans that show up at that table. Don’t walk around collecting $20s like Holly Golightly heading to the powder room. You are a Hall of Famer. Act like it.
http://blog.lovemyteam.com/2012/02/11/j ... rostitute/
I remember a board member saying there were players that charged on the golf course.....
Johanna's View
by Johanna Wagner
Jim Rice: Any Better than a **********?
This post was written by Johanna Wagner on February 11, 2012
Posted Under: Johanna's View
I have written over and over that I don’t blame a player who only signs autographs for money, even if it is a kid asking. I think that is their right. After all, they don’t have any say in how that autograph is used after it leaves their hands. Money can make it a fair exchange- the person with the signature is free to use it in anyway they want.
But yesterday, I saw something that turned my stomach.
WFAN, New York Sports talk radio, and Mike Francessa took the show on the road to the Mohegan Sun Casino free theater in Connecticut for their baseball kickoff show prior to the Connecticut Sports Foundation Dinner. Its a big charitable event with a lot of sports luminaries and raises tremendous amounts of money for kids with cancer and their families. The radio show consists of Francessa sitting and interviewing many of those appearing at the dinner. Yogi Berra, Goose Gossage, Mookie Wilson, Evan Longoria, Dave Robertson, Andre Dawson, and Jim Leyland and Bobby Valentine were among those interviewed. Jim Rice also set some time aside to sit with Francessa. The audience in the amphitheater was filled with middle-age folks, mostly men, excited to see the free show and in many cases get autographs. Many would rush the stage at the end of each segment and ask the interviewee to sign a few things. Most of the players were accommodating, though the station did have some security there and a producer who would signal the other fans when the player had signed enough. (Often this was to keep the show moving forward and to get the last player off the stage and the next one on for the next segment.)
After Jim Rice’s interview he stood, turned his back on the fans seeking autographs on the right side of the stage and made his way inside security to the left side stage exit. Suddenly, he stopped and turned because one fan was waving two $20 bills in the air. Jim Rice turned and headed towards the fan with the $20’s. He grabbed the money, then the ball and signed for the fan. The man next to him also had cash, which Rice took and signed something for him before stepping back behind security and heading further off, where he stopped and signed one more thing. (I couldn’t see if there was more cash exchanged at that point.)
I have never seen anything more crass in my life. A pole dancer has more pride, I expect. Again, I have no problem with only signing for money, but to see him turn on a dime, so to speak, because he some some green waving in the air presented an air of desperation not fitting anyone with any pride.
Briefly, afterward, I wondered if by chance he collected the money for the charity he was there to support. But a quick internet search revealed stories of him collecting money for signatures at games and at other charity events.
Signed balls by Jim Rice go for between $50 and $70. If you are going to sell it - and who is going to cherish a ball by a guy who behaves like that- then perhaps he should get $40 each time. But, if you feel that way set up some ground rules for yourself. Have some self-respect. Only do events like this if they set up a table and time for you to sign for those fans that are willing to pay for it, and then only sign for fans that show up at that table. Don’t walk around collecting $20s like Holly Golightly heading to the powder room. You are a Hall of Famer. Act like it.
http://blog.lovemyteam.com/2012/02/11/j ... rostitute/
