Today was a typical Long Island Saturday for me. It began early in the morning at Hall of Heroes where I set-up for our autograph signing with New York Rangers icon Stephane Matteau. Who can forget Matteau's game winning goal against the Devils in 1994? The classic call of "Matteau! Matteau! Matteau!" has become such a big part of the team's history. There was a long line of Rangers faithful waiting for Stephane. Each and every one of them thanked him for that important moment. We got some great photos signed including an image of the on ice celebration of that goal. Stephane had a great time and even did some shopping at the store. He picked up one of our great KISS pieces. Matteau is a big fan of the group.
After the appearance I hopped in the car and headed towards Last Licks in Massapequa. New York Mets relievers Jorge Julio and Billy Wagner were slated to sign after the game. It is always a little crazy when current athletes appear after a game. They usually arrive about an hour and a half after the game but fans start lining up right at the conclusion. Jorge and Billy arrived at about 6 to over three hundred fans cheering them on. Julio had just closed out the victory to notch his first save as a Met(his first save in 2 years). Each fan congratulated him on the accomplishment. I have been watching him closely. The guy has great stuff and, when his location is there, is virtually unhittable. He is going to play a huge role in the Mets success this year. Wagner was unbelivable with the fans. I have done thousands of these appearances and have never seen a current athlete endear himself to the customers like he did. Billy asked each kid if they had seen the game and praised Jorge's efforts. He even appeased a few local high school students by granting them interviews for their school papers. Billy told me how he actually grew up an Atlanta Braves fan. I gave him a free pass on that one because it was the only team he could watch on televion in Virginia. I was amazed by how small Wagner is. It's incredible that such a little guy can throw 100 miles an hour. The appearance went great. I would like to thank metsblog.com for advertising this autograph signing. It's a really great site. You guys should check it out. We have a lot more Mets events happening this year (including Paul LoDuca in two weeks) so keep checking the upcoming signings.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend and let's get the brooms out at 1:10 tomorrow for the Mets/Braves game.