On Saturday October 26, 2013, Matt Barnes of the Los Angeles Clippers was scheduled to sign autographs at the Sports Authority in Hawthorne, CA. Even though Matt is a currently a Clipper and is a former Laker, I had a few photos from Matt's UCLA days I wanted to get signed. Barnes was scheduled to sign from 3pm to 4pm. It's sometimes tough to gauge the turnout for a free event like this so I decided to arrive a couple hours early. Luckily when I arrived, I was about the fifteenth person in line. There were definitely lots of Clipper fans in line.
Right around 3pm the Sports Authority staff let a group of twenty into the store. As I approached the front of the line, I asked one of Matt's handlers if he was only signing one item per person. He said no, Matt will sign anything you have. After hearing that, I prepped two photos for Matt to sign. I had a total of four but I didn't want to be greedy. I handed Matt my two photos and a silver paint pen and he proceeded to sign over his white jersey and needless to say, the silver doesn't show well. So on the second photo I specifically asked him to sign in the dark area. Before he signed it, he called one of his sons over to see a picture of his dad with no tattoos. His handlers/family liked my UCLA photos so much, they asked if I could lay them out on the table so they could take pictures of them.
I then asked if they wanted to see my two other UCLA photos and one of the females said, "why don't you have Matt sign them too, you never know when you will have this opportunity again." Not one to disagree, I took out my other two photos and Barnes was nice enough to sign those too. Matt Barnes was class act. He signed multiple items and took posed photos with anyone who asked. I also have to mention a couple of graphers I got to see on Saturday. I ran into DodgerBobble and Juan at the signing. It was a great signing at Sports Authority!
Take a look at my pics below.
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