Autograph Questions With...Dan Paille

Another "AQW..." that was gathered at the recent Guelph Storm Alumni Game.

I watched a young Dan Paille in 2003-04 play for the OHL's Guelph Storm, and he tore up the league that season.

















He picked up 80 points in only 59 games, that year. He made the Canadian squad for the World Junior Tournament, and was named captain. He led Team Canada to a silver that tournament, his same medal result the year before. But he grew from that loss, and helped lead the Storm to an OHL Championship that year. He scored 18 points in 22 games, that playoff drive. He was great to watch, as a Storm fan that year.














I've had a few things signed by Dan, that season, which turned out to be his last with the Storm. The next season, the Buffalo Sabres assigned him to Rochester, after drafting him in the 1st round, 20th overall in 2002. After spending the 2005-06 season in the AHL, Buffalo called him up next season. Paille scored his first NHL goal on January 14, 2006, against the Los Angeles Kings. In the summer of 2007, Paille signed a one-year, $535,000 one-way contract to remain in Buffalo, then re-signed with Sabres for two years, which was announced on July 16, 2008, for $2.2 million: $900,000 in the first year, and in the second, $1,300,000.

He got to play in the, now famous, 2008 Winter Classic with Buffalo, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Buffalo ended up losing in a shoot-out, as Sidney Crosby scored the game winner on Ryan Miller.

Paille was traded to the Boston Bruins on October 20, 2009 for a third-round and a conditional fourth-round draft selection. Paille's move to Boston marked the first ever trade of a player under contract between the two division rivals in their common 39 years in the NHL.

This trade enabled Paille to play in his second Winter Classic. On January 1st, 2010, his Bruins faced the Philadelphia Flyers, at Fenway Park. Again, this game went to overtime, but his time wouldn't lose this time! The Bruins won in Boston, as Marco Sturm scored early in overtime.















When Paille returned to Guelph, a few weeks ago, for the Alumni game, I had a couple of photos for him to sign. When I got to see him, at his signing table, he gladly signed each of the photos, commented on how much he liked the Sabres photo, in which he is jumping after a goal! After chatting for a minute, we shook hands and that was it.


















After the game, I decided to stick around and meet some of the players and hopefully interview them for my blog. When Paille came outside of the Sleeman Centre, after the Alumni game, he agreed happily to answer some questions about autographing.

Which now leads me to our interview.

Autograph Questions With...Dan Paille

Who was the first person, you ever asked for an autograph?
DP; "Walter Gretzky."













Who was the most recent person, you've asked for an autograph?
DP; "My teammate, Zdeno Chara."














What's the 'coolest' thing you've been asked to sign?
DP; "Hmmm...a baseball bat, in Boston!"














What NHL city do you find is the worst for autograph hounds?
DP; "Montreal." (He immediately had an answer for this question!)












Finally, if you could ask anyone, living or deceased, for an autograph...who would it be?
DP; "Hmmm...Mario Lemieux."


















There's another "AQW..." in the books.














Hope you enjoyed it, I should another one ready soon for posting. Want a hint on who it is?! It's not a Storm alumni...it's a San Jose Shark, and I didn't have a single thing for him to sign! Thanks to Bill, again, for the photo of Dan and I.

All the best,
C.

PS- I realize the last few postings have been nothing but interviews, but this summer has been pretty quiet on the autograph front, and when I get an 'adventure' worth posting...you'll see it! Until then, please visit regularly, and try to enjoy the "AQW..." interviews!

Autograph Questions With...Paul Quantrill

So many interviews conducted, so little time to blog them.

Yes readers, I've got ALOT of "AQW..." to blog about now! Now, if I could only find decent to write them all out!

Anyways, enough complaining, let's get started.

Last Thursday, my family and I made the trip (back) to St. Mary's, Ontario for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame's celebrity softball game. I had the pleasure of meeting the Hall's newest inductee; Paul Quantrill.













Paul Quantrill, born in London, Ontario, is a former Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher. He earned a reputation for being very durable and having impeccable control. He regularly appeared in 80 or more games a season and did not walk more than 25 batters in a season since 1996. Commentators often joked that he had a "rubber arm".

Quantrill was drafted in 1986 by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 26th round, 660th overall, and again by the Boston Red Sox in the sixth round of the 1989 amateur draft, 161st overall, and made his Major League debut on July 20, 1992.

Originally considered a starter, Quantrill eventually found consistency as a reliever after several years of splitting time between the bullpen and the starting rotation for several teams. Some of his best years came for the Toronto Blue Jays, in his home province of Ontario.

Before the 2004 season, Quantrill signed a two-year $6.8-million deal with the New York Yankees.
















Due to poor performance in late 2004 and early 2005, Quantrill was designated for assignment on July 1, 2005. The next day he was traded to the San Diego Padres for pitchers Tim Redding and Darrell May. Quantrill was then traded to the Florida Marlins and spent the rest of the year in the bullpen. In the middle of March while playing in the Baseball World Classic, Quantrill said he would retire at the end of the World Baseball Classic.











Quantrill was one of the coaches for Team Canada during the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

On June 19, 2010, Quantrill was inducted, along with former Blue Jay Roberto Alomar, into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St Marys, Ontario.

He pitched in 841 MLB games, by far the most of any Canadian.

After recieving a great autograph from Quantrill, and posing for a picture with the Canadian relief pitcher, the former 2001 All-Star answered a few autograph questions.


















Let's roll.

Autograph Questions With...Paul Quantrill

Who was the first person you asked for an autograph?

PQ; My father got me a Bobby Orr autograph, when I was young.


















Who was the most recent person you asked for an autograph?

PQ; It was actually a Yankees team signed baseball for my son, while I played there.


















What MLB city had the most autograph hounds, when you played?

PQ; Baltimore.













What's the 'coolest' thing you've ever autographed?

PQ; Being Canadian, I have to say signing a hockey stick was the coolest thing that comes to mind!


















Finally, if you could ask anyone (living or deceased) for an autograph, whom would you ask?

PQ; Babe Ruth.




















Well, that's my first baseball player "AQW...", and I'm glad that it was a Canadian baseball player! Hoped you enjoyed it!














Thanks to Paul for his time, during his induction weekend. And thanks to Chris for taking our picture!

Take care,
Chris

Autograph Questions With...Ryan Callahan

Welcome back.

Right off, I recently attended (with my wife) the Guelph Storm Alumni Reunion game, in Guelph, Ontario. The Storm decided to bring back some (former) star players, have a game...all in the name of charity. The tickets to special event were 10 dollars, with all net proceeds from the event being donated to the Guelph Wish Fund For Children.














There was an autograph signing with the players before the game, which was a bonus for me, as I just wanted to see the game originally! There were dozens of former Storm players in attendance, and we ended up with LOTS of autographs!

I also had the rare chance to speak to a few Storm alumni, and ask them a few autograph questions, which I'll try to blog within the next few weeks. (Easier said than done?!)

Let's change gears here.

When people (friends, family, etc...) find out that my hobby is collecting (in-person) autographs, I get asked a few common questions. "Who's your most famous?", "Who's your most valuable?", "Who's really nice and who isn't?", "What's your favourite signed piece?", and "Who's your favourite player, of your favourite sport?"

Let me tackle the last question. Growing up, I loved hockey (still do!), and my favourite player was the greatest to ever play...Wayne Gretzky. Since Wayne retired, I've enjoyed a few other players' style, but there was one player whom I got to see since his beginnings in junior hockey. And maybe it's because I got to watch him grow within the game, and begin to dominate each level he joined, he became my favourite player.

I love to watch Sidney Crosby play, but my favourite current NHL player is Ryan Callahan.














Most junior hockey fans have that one special player, they got to watch for 3 or 4 years, blossom into a great NHL player...and mine happens to be the former Captain of the Guelph Storm, and current Alternate Captain of the New York Rangers. Strange part is...I hate the Rangers, as I'm a Leafs fan! I often say, I'm not a Rangers fan...my favourite player, plays for the wrong team!














Anyways, Cally, is simply a great player. Let me tell you about the Rochester, NY native.

Callahan played one year of high school hockey for Hilton High School. He began his junior career with the Rochester Junior Americans of the Empire Junior B Hockey League where he played for two seasons, 1999–2001, then moving on to the Syracuse Jr. Crunch and Buffalo Lightning of the OPJHL before moving onto a four-year Ontario Hockey League (OHL) stint with the Guelph Storm, where he played alongside future Ranger teammate Daniel Girardi. Ryan turned professional with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL), where he played most of the 2006–07 season.














Callahan received his first NHL call-up to the Rangers on November 28, 2006, making his NHL debut on December 1, but he would only play in that one game before being sent back down to the Wolf Pack.


















He was called up for a second time on December 19, but would again only play in one NHL game in that stint. Towards the end of the season, Callahan was called up for the third and final time on March 15, 2007, after scoring 35 goals in 60 AHL games, and he would stay with the Rangers through the postseason. Two days later, on March 17, he scored his first two NHL goals against Joey MacDonald of the Boston Bruins. He scored his first career assist on March 21 and first career game-winning goal on April 1. He scored his first two NHL playoff goals in a 7–0 win in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Atlanta Thrashers on April 17, 2007.

After scoring one goal in the first eight games of the 2007–08 season with the Rangers, Callahan was out for a month with a Grade two knee sprain. He never gained his full strength back at the NHL level, going his next 16 games without a goal, so the Rangers sent him back to the Wolf Pack on January 7, 2008. After 11 games in Hartford, he was called up on February 3 to replace an injured Brendan Shanahan in the Rangers' line-up against the Montreal Canadiens.[6] Callahan tallied his second career two-goal game against the San Jose Sharks on February 17. Callahan scored the game winning goal with 20 seconds remaining to help clinch the Victoria Cup for the Rangers during an exhibition game in Switzerland.












2008–09 was a breakout year for Callahan. On October 1, 2008, Callahan scored the game winning goal for the New York Rangers with 20 seconds left in the inaugural Victoria Cup. The Rangers defeated Metallurg Magnitogorsk by a 4-3 tally. In the regular season, he was third on the Rangers with 22 goals and fifth on the team with 40 total points during the regular season. Callahan was awarded the Rangers' Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award for his hard work throughout the season, and scored the winning goal in the team's playoff-clinching win in the final home game of the season. Callahan was re-signed by the Rangers on July 13, 2009.

Callahan was named an alternate captain of the Rangers on October 2, 2009. On January 1, 2010, he was named to the United States Olympic team, with whom he earned a silver medal in Vancouver.


















I've seen Cally play lots of times, at the junior level...witnessing first hand, the Storm winning the 2004 OHL Championship. I saw him again, at the AHL level, during the 2007 All-Star Classic, when he scored the game winning goal (7-6), with less than 10 seconds left in the game! In 2008, we made the trip to Buffalo, to see the Rangers play the Sabres, and finally got to see Cally play at the NHL level. I'm glad to say that I've seen him play at all three major levels of his career. I've gotten his autograph countless times, on various cards and pictures, and he's ALWAYS been accomodating and friendly each and every time.












So, when I finally had the chance to catch up with #24 again at the Storm Alumni game, I was pretty excited!

When I reached the table where Callahan was sitting for his portion of the autograph session, I was about 4th in line for him. When I reached the front of the line, he recognized me, smiled, dropped his Sharpie, saying; "Hey...how's it going, man?!" while offering his hand!

I shook his hand, replying that I was good, and asked the same of him. We spoke for a minute, as I asked about his knee and if he was going to play today. He said that his knee was good, and that was going to play. I also asked him; if he was on Facebook, to which he said no, and that he has someone pretending to be him. He said that he gave up FB along time ago. Just a head's up, folks.

After our quick conversation, he signed a couple of 8x10's for me, personalizing one photo to me. Corinna, my beautiful wife, went through Cally's line earlier (as I was in Jeff O'Neill's line), and got to get a card signed for my son, by Cally. (Thanks to Ryan, for the card.)

Afterwards, I shook his hand again, and thanked him for everything. He seemed pretty appreciative, as he knows that I'm a big supporter.













After gaining alot more Storm players' autographs, I returned to where Cally was, and had a chance to take a picture with him, and got to ask him some autograph questions...which I hope you know enjoy!

Sorry for the long delay/build up...but please, carry on!

"Autograph Questions With...Ryan Callahan"


















Who was the first person, that you ever asked for an autograph?

#24; "It was Jason Bonsignore. I asked him, as a kid, in Rochester...where he's also from".


















Who was the most recent person, that you've asked for an autograph?

#24; "Markus Naslund." (Cally played with Naslund, for the NYR, when Naslund retired)















What's the coolest thing you've ever been asked to autograph?

#24; "Hmmm...you know, I gotta say a 'fight' picture! I really think it's cool to sign a picture of me in a hockey scrap!"


















What NHL city, other than your home team's city, has the most autograph seekers?

#24; "Montreal."













Finally, if you could ask anyone (living or deceased) for an autograph, whom would you ask?

#24; "Muhammad Ali."














Well, that's my "AQW..." with my favourite player. He was really, really accomodating, and I thank him for that...and his time. I urge you all to check out a Rangers game next time, they're on tv, and watch for #24. He'll be the one, that his coach will be depending on.

I got to do my "AQW..." with 5 or 6 other players, which I hope you return to check out in the next few weeks.

Also, in the next little while, I'll show some autograph successes that I had at the Guelph Storm Alumni game.

Finally, the team that Cally played for...(the white team), won the Storm Alumni game.














Take a guess on who the game MVP was?

Yup...#24. Ryan Callahan.

Go Storm Go!
Chris

PS; Thanks to Corinna for her help, throughout the day...and for helping me 'razz' O'Neill! Thanks to Bill for his kindness with his camera, et al...and again to Ryan, with the Cally card for Josh. Our day, was a great day.

Autograph Questions With...Stephenie LaGrossa

Time for the 2nd installment of "AQW...", hope you enjoy it.

Autograph Questions With...Stephenie LaGrossa












As I explained in my previous posting, I had the chance to meet Stpehenie LaGrossa of Survivor, and recieve her autograph. During the signing, she kindly agreed to answer a few questions about autographing. This is what was said;

"Who was the first person, you ever asked for an autograph?"

SLG; "Hmm...oh, Mickey Mouse! Yes, my parents to us to Disney World when I was kid, and I asked Mickey for his autograph!"














"Who was the most recent person, that you've asked for an autograph?"

SLG; "Eric Desjardins. When I was the 'in-game host' of the Philadelphia Flyers, I needed to get him to sign a jersey for a contest we were doing for the fans."















"What's the 'coolest' thing you've ever been asked to sign?"

SLG; "The coolest thing...hmmm...oh, my torch from Survivor Palau. A lady paid $10,000 for it, with proceeds going to charity!"













That's it folks. I didn't get to ask as many questions, as I did with Hayley Wickenheiser, but I hope you enjoyed reading this. Stephenie was very, very accommodating and seemed to enjoy the couple questions I asked! The answer about her torch, you could tell she was very proud that it raised so much money for the Survivor charity.














Just a quick bio; when Stephenie was a territory sales representative in pharmaceutical sales, she received the call to be cast on CBS Survivor: Palau. She was one of the most popular players to ever play the game (92% approval rating) and was invited back for the very next season, Survivor: Guatemala, where she finished second to the $1,000,000 winner. She appeared a third time, on Survivor: Heroes vs Villains, and was voted off second after separating her shoulder.














Thanks to Stephenie for her time!

Take care,
C!