spanky wrote:
Went to a meet the team event for the STH for the hawks in the late 90's. The team that had Amonte, Mironov, Thibault, etc.
The whole team was there signing autographs, free hot dogs, nachos, etc.
Three players per table, spread out around the 200 level of the concourse. Not one table had a line. You could walk right up to any player and get them to sign anything you wanted, take pics, talk, etc. The players were almost begging for somebody to come up to them.
Times have changed just a little bit.
A little off topic, but your post reminded me of this. A friend of mine had a big job with Ford Credit. One of his dealers, the guy in Melrose Park, I can't remember what it was called back then, had a big tent sale. My buddy was gonna be on hand to sign off on any deals immediately. They had hot dogs, popcorn, games for kids, all kinds of shit.
The dealer has made a deal with one of the Blackhawks to come sign autographs during the sale and in exchange he would give the guy a car to use. I'm almost positive it was Christian Ruuttu, but I'll add the almost as a disclaimer since I don't want to slander the guy if my memory is wrong. Anyway, the player came in and said, "Where is my car?" The porter brought it up and he jumped in and drove away without signing a single autograph.