Paul's Autograph Mania Blog: May 18, 2013

Hotel - Seattle, Washington

I didn't have a whole lot for FC Dallas. They had visited Seattle late last season, and I had gotten the majority of my cards signed for them before that game. Despite this I still eagerly headed downtown before Saturday's match against FCD to work on my custom 4x6s. Only two other local graphers joined me, and the players exited at a manageable pace for the most part. I missed a group of guys when Kenny Cooper signed. I wanted to make sure I got Kenny on a couple of Portland Timbers 8x10s that I've had for a couple seasons. One of them depicts the starting lineup from the Timbers' first ever home game in 2011, previously signed by Eric Brunner, Jorge Perlaza, Adin Brown, and Jack Jewsbury. Another highlight was the acquisition of both FCD goalkeepers on a custom 4x6 (Goaltending Department), another custom 4x6 project I designed for this season showing the starting and second-string goalies for each MLS team. I didn't recognize Raul Fernandez at first, and had him sign an index card. Head coach Schellas Hyndman walked out of the hotel, chatting with rookie Walker Zimmerman. I needed Walker on my MLS Draft custom 4x6, so I went after him first. He had nice things to say about the photo, and signed it very neatly. The MLS draftees are always exceptionally cool about autographs, something that definitely can't be said on a consistent basis for the major four sports. Coach Hyndman was also cool, signing a custom 4x6 for me and an MLS All-Star program for one of the other graphers. David Ferreira was one of the last out, and was in a considerable hurry. Last season, he signed pages of cards. This time around, he still signed but didn't hit everything shown. I only had one item for him, but the other graphers were a bit surprised at the limit.

David Ferreira signing; note the stylish manpurse.

Overall, not a bad hour of autographing. On a side note, I wasn't able to get to Starfire the following day for the NWSL matchup between the Seattle Reign and Sky Blue FC. I was surprised to hear from fellow collector Ritch that a few of the Sky Blue ladies were a bit tricky to get on arrival to the stadium. Christine Rampone was an 0/3, Kelley O'Hara 1/2, and Jillian Loyden 2/3. Rampone later signed 2 of 3 on the way from the clubhouse to the stadium for warmups, but apparently she wasn't too thrilled about it. I haven't made it out to an NWSL game so far this year and probably won't until next month, but I do expect to have some pretty good success given the easy autograph access at Starfire.

Stats

FC DALLAS (17)
Jair Benitez 1/1 4x6 photo
Fabian Castillo 2/2 4x6 photo, card
Kenny Cooper 2/2 8x10 photos
Raul Fernandez 3/3 blank index, 4x6 photos
David Ferreira 1/1 4x6 photo
Jackson 2/2 index, 4x6 photo
Zach Loyd 1/1 4x6 photo
Chris Seitz 2/2 4x6 photos
JeVaughn Watson 1/1 blank index
Walker Zimmerman 1/1 4x6 photo
Schellas Hyndman (head coach) 1/1 4x6 photo

Scans

Dallas - Custom 4x6 Photos