When you meet your basketball hero...

First, thanks again to Walker from the Blazer Blog for giving me the tip.  I saw Walker at the signing, but I had four kids with me and didn't really have time, or the ability, to go over and properly introduce myself.  But really, thanks to Walker for keeping me in the loop.

Well, we were told that the autograph signing was going to be at Fred Meyer.  And also, there was a basketball session with Nic Batum for the kids.  The day was great.  Not only did we get to go to a card show in the morning, but things worked out so that we were literally one of the first families to show up for the event.  By the time that the things got going, this line was FULL of kids and crazy parents jockeying for position.

The event was sponsored by Adidas, who Nic is affiliated with.  They custom make his "Frency 88" shoe for him.  Google it.  Awesome shoes.  My kids by this time were into it.  They knew who Nicolas Batum was.  And meeting him made perfect sense in their little heads.  Why watch him so long on TV without just going and meeting him?

  And after waiting for about a couple of hours in the parking lot, all of a sudden, Nic was there.  Super excited moment when he came walking out of the store towards the pavillion.  Nic said a couple of words to the crowd and we got ready to get the girls in to play with him.

But this being real life, my 4 year old daughter had to go the bathroom.  Immediately.  So she got to see Nic come in, but my wife had to take her and the baby into the store to go to the bathroom.  But at least my wife got to hold our place in the autograph line that way.  So it did kind of work out.

My oldest daughter (right, in the pink) did get to play with some kids right next to Nic.  Nic was supposed to do a clinic for the kids, but the younger kids just played a scrimmage while Nic officiated the games.  I got a good amount of video of my girl playing right next to him.  It was really cool - and she was quite excited about the whole thing.  They let the kids play for about 5 minutes a group. 

It was really a good atmosphere for the kids.  Very mellow and personable.  Nic was great with the kids.  You can see the security guy in the back of this picture.  Adidas made a big deal of the security they brought for him.

The Adidas rep, Rod I think was his name, was really cool with the crowd.  In fact, I gave him most of my Bowman Base Batum RC's to give to kids to have Nic sign later.  Funny, Rod had never seen a Batum RC before.  I didn't want to go up to random kids and hand out cards - that's just weird.  So I let the official guy do it.  And I felt good about doing it.  Kids should have a RC of their favorite player. 

So after the game, the crowd moved inside for the autograph session.  And that's really where the mood changed.  Nic was still great.  Really affable sort.  But the organizers of the event (either Adidas or Fred Meyer) were really hurrying people through the line.  It was really kind of rude at some points.

People could only take pictures of friends in front of them.  No posing with Nic at all.  No second pictures either.  Nic handled it well.  He deferred to the people in charge.  It was a free autograph session.  Before I was worried they might charge.  And now, I kind of wish they had.  I would've rather paid 20 or 30 dollars and had a photo with him and a two minute conversation rather than being hurried through.  Maybe next time.  But one person in front of us had Nic sign a Gatorade bottle.  A fee would've prevented that clown from gumming up the works.

There's my two daughters (hard to see - but you only get one shot) with Nic.  They each had a Bowman of mine for him to sign.  I gave the oldest a Blue border /499 to sign and the middle child only a base card. 

Tip:  Tell kids not to touch the signature when the ink's still wet.  You'll see.

This is my best friend's boy.  This picture turned out really well.  He's now the proud owner of an on-card Batum autograph. 

Some day he'll thank me.

And then it was my turn.  My wife took this picture.  She wanted me to turn around to pose.  But with the pace of the session, I didn't want to waste my twenty seconds on a pose - which I can rarely pull off well anyway.

So what do you say when you're right next to your basketball hero?  First, I handed him an Orange border /299 card for him to sign.  The first Batum card I ever bought was an Orange border numbered 88/299 (his jersey number).  So I thought it was fitting to have him sign an Orange copy.

And I took my time to tell him that the whole family was a fan of his and wished him good luck on the rest of the year.  He just smiled and said, 'thanks' in his really thick French accent.  And then it was done.  Very quick.  I really wish I had another minute or two.  But I'm sure me and the family will see him again in the future as some other event.

My wife was right behind me and she had a Chrome refractor for him to sign.  I only brought one Chrome card - since I didn't know how well it would turn out.  I'm glad I had the foresight to think about that.  And since there was nobody behind my wife to take her picture - which bummed her out, she snapped a pic right in Nic's face.  Kind of rude, but he didn't mind too much.

Good sport, that Nicolas Batum.  And that was it.  Still kind of feels surreal.  You invest so much of your time, and sometimes your money, into a favorite player, and it all becomes real in an instant.  But I'm glad we did it.  I'll always remember it, and I hope the kids do too.

And here's the cards we had signed:

Really, the Orange auto came out great, so did the base.  The blue would've looked nice, but my kid touched it while it was still wet.  It's ok, it'll be a great family story for years to come.  And the Chrome Refractor didn't smudge, but the sharpie didn't take as well.  I'm VERY glad I didn't bring all Chrome cards for him to sign.  I would've bee devastated if all the autos looked like that. 

It did dry though, and it's not bad.  But the regular card stock is much better. 

You know, getting these four cards, signed in person and being on-card, really just makes sticker autos look so much more ridiculous.  Right now, the only liscensed Batum cards that feature on-card autos are the Exquisite RC's.  And those run $100+ on ebay.  So these to me are priceless.  I couldn't be happier with the day or the cards I have now.

Great day all around.