All Access Anyone?

KJ3 · #1 05-30-2008, 08:27 AM

did anybody else go to this? i thought it was a bust but mainly because i didn't know they were going to cut off the lines (twice, once right in front of me once far ahead in front of me) and "randomly select" where players were signing. the event seemed fairly overwhelmed. i get it that the big name players are going to be on the floor and only at the end but getting cut off like that was disappointing. i didn't even stay after the 2nd time.

i know they went out of their way to do this for the fans, but if they are going to go out of their way they should at least do it up right. make sure everyone gets a good autograph, not to dog on the guys i got but i went in looking for a mario or an andre and came out pretty empty handed all things considered. at least tell us who is going to be where and when and how many autographs are getting signed instead of letting all of that be a clusterf*** on the stadium floor.

i did get a couple signatures though, the headliner was chris taylor. i also got jimmy williams who i don't even know, mike briesel, scott jackson, joel dreesen and david anderson who has a ridiculous mohawk!

EDIT: i have to say this about anderson. my dad was busy getting dreesen's sig and i had already gotten both so i was kind of just standing next to him so i asked, "hey didn't you catch a touchdown last year?" and he said yes. so then i didn't really know what to say and i just blurted out, "uhh...do that again." he laughed and said he would do it as often as possible and we left. thank god for beer, because if it weren't for beer i probably wouldn't have said something funny. i probably wouldn't have asked him if he scored either but oh well....beer, the cause and solution to all of life's problems!

Keith · #2 05-30-2008, 08:56 AM

I believe this is the third year the team has run an All-Access event like this, so I can't say that I was surprised/disappointed at all since it went a lot like the first two.

Most of the better-known players were introduced by Rick Smith midway through the event (rather than at the end as before), then the players went to sign at tables on the stadium floor. So if you only hung around for the first half, then yeah, you missed out on those other guys.

I'm not quite the autograph hound, and honestly, I kinda like walking around and seeing/talking to the other players anyway. That said though, these guys on a whole are generally very nice to fans during this event, probably moreso than normal given the circumstances.

btw, Anderson said he didn't lose a bet getting that faux-hawk or whatever it's called. iirc, I think he said he was just having fun with it before cutting it off for training camp.

Charles Spencer and Brandon Frye were both listed as tackles on the nametags, and I asked both of them if they were working more at guard. Both pretty much said they're happy to go wherever to make the team.

I guess all in all, I got what I expected out of it, and it beats not having the event at all.

Mike · #3 05-30-2008, 09:27 AM

I was there and did not fight the crowds on the main floor. I stayed mostly in the concourse and got signatures and spoke with the guys up there.

My headliner was Omobi who was super nice, we chatted about his trip with Walli (i'm not going to spell his last name from the Bears) to Nigeria to give back to his homeland. He had a huge smile and said he was blessed to be able to be in a position to give back. Petey was at the same table as Omobi and I occasionally see him and his baby boy at a Mexican resteraunt in the offseason and he was chatty and very nice.

Sage talked about his golf game. Anthony Maddox was really funny. Towards the end of the night as it was winding down I was near his table and he was busting on Chester for being a camera hog in the offseason.

It was neat to see the locker room and some of the other stuff. From being on the field, it seems as though the stands are right on top of the field, even though from your seats it appears further away.

kravix · #4 05-30-2008, 10:03 AM

I didnt go this year. But it seems alot like last year, which was a saturday i believe. Players randomly spread out on the concourse with no map or idea who you might find. And the lines on the field are super long.

It is awesome for the Texans to give that to the fans, not all teams do. And it is awesome of the players to take the time to show up and interact with fans.

Mike · #5 05-30-2008, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kravix

I didnt go this year. But it seems alot like last year, which was a saturday i believe. Players randomly spread out on the concourse with no map or idea who you might find. And the lines on the field are super long.

It is awesome for the Texans to give that to the fans, not all teams do. And it is awesome of the players to take the time to show up and interact with fans.

I think they kept mum on where the players would be going on purpose. I was talking to one of the people who accompanied the players and he said they kept it quiet so that swarms were not congregating in one spot, and so that all the players would have people at the station. FWIW.

KJ3 · #6 06-02-2008, 07:09 AM

i'd still prefer the craziness of knowing who is where than the "life is like a box of chocolates" lines. seriously though, have like 4 lines with 1 or 2 star players at the end of each, set up 15 or 20 non-star players in front and have the lines coil through the seats. what's better than a seat in a long line? you can set up signs saying who is where and you better choose wisely because you're probably only going to get through one line.

KJ3 · #7 05-30-2008, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith

Most of the better-known players were introduced by Rick Smith midway through the event (rather than at the end as before), then the players went to sign at tables on the stadium floor. So if you only hung around for the first half, then yeah, you missed out on those other guys.

I guess all in all, I got what I expected out of it, and it beats not having the event at all.

yea, i left before thinking about some of the starters being out around the concourse but i really went solely for a mario autograph so i was surprised at how weird it was. it just seems like it would be way easier to have one or two big ass lines with like 15 players signing in a row than "what line are we in?" and "who is even in this line" and "oh i think i see that '30 minutes from here' sign about 600 people ahead". they really could've utilized the other half of the floor too- i get claustrophobic sometimes and last night i started to get that itch. really though, the line cut-off left a bad taste in my mouth. it's like, we pay for the season tickets, we took the time and drove out here, we walked all around this place, stood in lines....seems like the least they could do is try to get everybody an autograph from a couple star players. a hello and a signature is a pretty meager request by just about anyones standard. if you have to do it 3,000 times for 6 hours for the most dedicated of fans who cares?

it was better than nothing though

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike

It was neat to see the locker room and some of the other stuff. From being on the field, it seems as though the stands are right on top of the field, even though from your seats it appears further away.

totally!