Here are some more incredibly strong (bringing strong back) photos from the last few weeks. Enjoy your weekends...Let's Go Mets!

Monday night (straight from a day's work at our office) I headed up to Waltham, Massachussets for Tuesday's private signing with reigning NBA Finals MVP (and Steiner Exclusive) Paul Pierce. Lenny (whose name has been mentioned here occassionally) came along to help...which was huge considering the volume of basketballs we were getting signed. Len and I made it up there a little before 10:00. The following morning we finished setting up and awaited Paul's arrival. I found out eventually that a team commitment came up last minute so we had to wait a few more hours to start. Pierce did show up on time (at least the new time) and we got right to work. If you recall a few entries back I talked about the Generation Celts photo. This is that incredible photo of the old big three (led by Larry Bird) and the new big three (led by The Truth). I made sure to frame one of these up for Paul (over the past few months I have hooked him up with all those great Finals photos) and he was extremely appreciative. Some guys give you nothing..no reaction to the great photo or piece. Paul is the opposite as he loves it all and will tell you that. Anyway, Pierce dual signed that photo (and even inscribed a handful "We Beat LA"...which hurt me to say) as well as all the staple photos and basketballs. Over the course of the signing we talked a lot of NBA...mostly about Hall of Famers (who should be in that isn't, who will). I truly had a blast talking hoops with him as I always do. Once Pierce left though, as always, we were left with the daunting task of packing up. With Lenny's help we did get out of there at a semi-reasonable hour but hit a ridiculous ammount of traffic...finally made it home around midnight.

This signing definitely got me excited about the upcoming season (and for Lakers/Celtics up in Boston..no way I am missing that game). Boston should be poised to go back to the Finals as should Kobe and the Lakers. I honestly believe (barring a huge run by New Orleans) that Andrew Bynum will be the difference maker and this will be their year....by the way ESPN agrees with me...but there is a long, long way to go.



That should get us pretty much caught up to this point. We have our moving sale here at Steiner this weekend so, if you have a chance, come check it out. Sunday I will be at Shea for the final REGULAR SEASON game. I am really looking forward to that...let's just hope they somehow have a spot locked up by then so can save Santana for Game 1 of the DS (I better stop there as I am getting way ahead of myself...this past week has been nothing short of agonizing) There will be a lot going on next week too so be on the lookout for new posts.
Have a great weekend! Let's Go Mets!!

A few days after returning from Indy we had two stalwart appearance at the Steiner Sports Store at Roosevelt Field Mall. First and foremost this was the first time I had been at the store in a while. It had been re-done a while ago and looks great There is so much of our wondrous product is on display there. I recommend checking it out. Anyway , that day we were slated to have to celebrities signing for the public. These two could not be from two further sides of the spectrum (surprisingly enough there were many who purchased autographs from both though). The first appearance of the day was with the legendary Yogi Berra. I had not gone to a Yogi appearance in a long time. My presence is basically not needed there as Berra is a machine. He has been doing these long enough and has his system. This time I did want to come as I had not seen him in probably two years. He was looking good (as we all know from seeing him at Yankee Stadium last Sunday) and we talked for a little while about the current team..but mostly about the Mets (Yogi will be there this coming Sunday at the last REGULAR SEASON game at Shea). After spending about forty five minutes signing in private we began the public a few minutes earlier than advertised. I could not believe how long the line was. Yogi signs all the time yet everytime he does you are still guaranteed a big crowd...it's nothing short of amazing. Berra, as always, did not disappoint. He took photos with everyone...despite a few people that held up the line by not knowing how to work their cameras. Once the dust settled Yogi spent another twenty minutes signing in private and was off. That is when it began to get interesting...
Our next appearer was Ray Park. Park is best know as Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace - Star Wars Episode 1. He also was in the first X-Men movie and will be starring in the GI Joe film that comes out next year. Aside from all that Ray is a serious martial arts expert. About two-thirds of the way through the Yogi signing the line began to form for Park's appearance. Many came in Star Wars costumes (it was no joke- I thought I was a big Star Wars fan but I have nothing on these people)
Before the actual appearance there was martial arts demonstration down the hall from the store....and before the quick lightsaber demonstration by Ray there was an exhibition put on by a Jedi acting group (for those of you that weren't there you missed quite a show). The demo itself was awesome for us as it attracted a lot more customers than we originally had for the appearance. Once Ray came back to the store we began immediately. There was a raucous line already formed awaiting him and he made all their days. The one thing I have found when working with actors is that they do spend more time talking with the fans than the athlete. Ray, who was one of the nicest celebrities I have ever met, spent a good five minutes conversing with each fan. He posed for photos and asked all their names. He definitely connected with them in a way I have rarely seen. Once the line was over Park signed some incredibly powerful product in private including photos from the upcoming GI Joe movie and some Darth Maul images with inscriptions such as "Power of the Darkside"...very cool. My day , which began at around 7:00 , was finally over at around 8:30 that evening. Overall it was a tremendous success and definitely an educating eye-opener during the Park appearance.....at one point during the signing I was told that the force would be with me always (hope the guy was right and that it will rub off on the Mets this weekend)

The day after the Jeter I flew out to Indianapolis for a private signing with Celtics legend Larry Bird. I rushed all morning to unload a van full of Derek Jeter product and situate myself in the hopes of making my afternoon flight. I did, in fact, make it and found myself in a familiar situation... setting up basketballs and missing the Mets game at the same Indy hotel I have been meeting Larry at for five-plus years. Bird came to sign the following afternoon and knocked it out in no time. This was the first Larry signing in quite some time that we introduced new pieces to the mix. Bird autographed small pieces of the Boston Garden floor (which came out unbelievable) as well as our new Generation Celts photo (which ranks as one of the strongest we have ever done..thanks to AJ). The Generation Celts photo portrays the old big three on the same bench with the new big three. It is seamless and truly looks like they are all sitting together. I will get into this piece even more later on as a few days ago it was dual signed by the Captain and the Truth Paul Pierce. It did not take me too long to pack up the Bird signing..which was a first. The next day I head back to Indy airport and home. I has been going non-stop for a few days so was definitely looking forward to some rest...which was short-lived.
Check back later for more on last weeks craziness.

Usually when there is a lack of posts for over a week it is for one of three reasons- either there is nothing going on (which is rare other than a few isolated summer weeks), I am being lazy (has happened on occassion) or it a incredibly busy. These past two weeks have been the latter. Over the next day or so I am going to try to get you all up to speed so we can go into the playoffs with a clean slate (just like the Mets...bullpen withstanding). Two weekends ago we had a private signing with the Captain, #2 Derek Jeter (the signing was exactly a week before the final Yankee Stadium game). This was our first signing with Derek in quite some time so it gave us a great opportunity to get some new items autographed as well as stock up on some staple pieces. I am going to get into the whole Yankee Stadium thing a little more later in the day (after I get caught up on the signings) but I must talk a little bit about some of the stellar game - used items that Derek signed. Aside from our usual array of spectacular photos (including a new image of his passing Mantle on the All-Time Yankees hit list) Jeter autographed bases, balls and line-up cards from this final season at the Stadium. These pieces have been going fast so, with not many more game used Stadium pieces coming our way, I reccomend picking something up.
Interestingly enough the day of the signing Jeter tied Lou Gehrig on the all-time Yankee Stadium hit list. A few days later he broke that record so be on the look-out for some incredible new product commemorating the last great Yankee Stadium moment.
Keep checking back throughtout the day as there are a lot more posts to come..

Last Thurday morning ESPN's own Dr. Lou...legendary Notre Dame Coach Holtz came up to our office for a private signing. We have been working on an incredible project over the past few weeks...a 1988 Notre Dame National Champion multi-signed product line. While I was a not a part of the bulk of the signings for this (which was handled like the the pro he is by Jeremy W...he is actually getting better than me at this) I did finish it up strong with Coach Holtz. I was vaguely informed that Coach would be arriving "early". Early is such a strange term as it means something different to practically everyone. Did he mean 6:00, 7:00, 8:00?? I took a gamble on it meaning not before 8:00 and I was right. Coach buzzed in at a little after eight and away we went. After signing for about an hour and a half Holtz was nice enough to give a few minutes of his time to give a little pep talk to our sales group. I listened to most of it and must say I wish I heard it all...very inspiring.
After the speech we jumped right back into signing and, after talking some baseball, politics and NFL , finally got around to talking college football. I only bring this up because Dr. Lou did happen to make one bad pick this weekend as my Maryland Terps shocked the world and upset #23 Cal!! Anyway, once Holtz was finished that meant the end of our 1988 project. It is now complete and is as tough as any we have ever done. All the images should be up on this site by now so be sure to take a look. The product looks amazing.
Later today I will be recapping yesterday's Derek Jeter signing so be sure to check back.

A mere hours after returning home from the Daniel Murphy appearance I headed over to LaGuardia to catch an early morning flight to Atlanta. I was flying out there for an appearance with Rockies star (and Steiner exclusive) Troy Tulowitzki. Atlanta was the closest city to New York that Colorado would be playing at the remainder of this season so we welcomed the opportunity to do a signing with Tulo down there (much better than going all the way out to Denver). There was a flight delay (as always) but I did make it to the team hotel with about twenty minutes to set up for the mammoth signing. Somehow I did manage to get it all out and ready to go in time..still have no clue how...and was pretty much all set for Tulo when he called. This was actually the first signing I have done with him since right before the World Series last year. I was shocked he even remembered me (I don't consider myself very memorable let alone to someone who meets thousands of people a year). He is definitely an extremely interesting guy to talk to. We got into it about football and NL baseball for most of the signing. Tulo knocked it all out pretty quick despite the bulk of the pieces being jerseys which take a little bit longer to sign. When all was said an done it took about an hour and I was left with a mess to clean up...that is why I hate doing jerseys alone. If you have no one there to help you expedite it you wind up with mounds of jerseys everywhere. I must say though that these Rockies jerseys are an awesome item ... we were able to get four different styles signed including an incredibly stalwart and affordable replica jersey.
So, with a quick pack-up behind I headed back to my least favorite airport (ATL-Hartsfield is awful despite popular opinion) with high hopes of catching an earlier flight back to civilization. After a bit of arguing with some airline workers (They wanted to charge me an exorbitant penalty for the flight change. I ended up pointing out case by case examples of canceled flights due to mechanical and flight crew problems that I have experienced over the past year adn then referenced the extra airport parking I had to pay for over time due to these delays) I did , in fact, get on a earlier flight and arrived back in New York at around 9:00 PM. While, in theory, it seemed like a stout idea to do the Atlanta trip back and forth in one day I do not recommend it and will try my best not to do it again. I was wiped out by the time I got home....and that was only Tuesday. It looks to me like close to a signing a day for the foreseeable future so check back later for more on last week's festivities.

Last week was our public appearance at Last Licks Scarsdale with Mets rookie phenom Daniel Murphy. I know it has been some time since my last post but, as you will see over the next day or so, I have been quite busy knocking out signings and running around. Anyway, Murphy has been raking since joining the Mets earlier in the summer. He has taken the NL by storm and it the veteran players seem to really feed off of his infectious energy. Dan and fellow rookie Nick Evans have played huge roles in the Mets late summer surge. These accomplishments obviously have not gone unnoticed by the fan base as there was a huge line on hand to await Murphy in Scarsdale. The kid definitely did not dissapoint. He fielded questions all night (pretty much everyone asked him if he will be playing second base come opening day at Citi Field in 2009...his answer was he just wants to hit so wherever they put him is fine with him) and took photos with every kid (and adult). Overall the appearance was an overwhelming success. It seems to me that these are the kind of players you guys want in our stores (more affordable, younger athletes...more geared towards kids than anything else)- Feel free to email me or comment at any time on players you think we should have appearing as I am very curious to see if I am right.
Keep checking back throughout the day for more on a very busy second week of September 2008.

Last week I had the privilege of conducting a private signing with Giants running-back (and Steiner exclusive) Brandon Jacobs. Brandon was in New Rochelle to do a guest spot on the Brandon (Steiner) and Brandon (Tierney) radio show. The show broadcasts live from Mo's New York Grill (Mariano's restaurant) about once a month. It happens to be a pretty entertaining show and a lot of fun to be there in person...definitely try to make it down for the next one. Anyway, before the show Jacobs came up to our office to sign. Brandon, Super Bowl ring on finger, signed for about a half hour. Over the course of that small signing we talked a little about the upcoming season. Jacobs is extremely excited to build on last year's success. There is no doubt that we have no even seen the best of him yet...he is a very special player. The one thing that always strikes me when talking to Brandon is that he really, really seems to dislike the Cowboys (I love that). It is not a manufactured hatred or a company line...he does not like those guys (which is awesome). During that small signing we were able to re-up on some staple Jacobs pieces (such as NFL footballs and Giants mini-helmets) as well as some classic photos (like the 4th and 1 from the Super Bowl in both 8x10 and 16x20).
To get back to the Mo's thing...I actually spent quite a lot of time at the resturant last week. Aside from the radio show we had two separate events there. The first was with Mariano himself and Andy Pettitte. I mention the Pettitte thing because a funny story (at least to me) came out of it. Before the event I was talking to Andy about the craziness of this current season (by the way Pettitte is one of my favorite players to work with and talk sports with). I made sure to remind him (as he knows I am a completely out of control Mets fan that has spent quite a bit of time discussing Games 1 and 5 of the 2000 World Series with him) that the Mets blew a seven game division lead with seventeen games to go. The moral of that story is that anything and everything is possible in the unpredictable world of Major League Baseball. Anyway, Sunday morning I noticed a few quotes from my boy Pettitte's post game interview from Saturday. To make long story short- when asked about the Yankees chances one of Andy's responses was that somebody told him that the Phillies made up seven games with seventeen to go last year to win the division (meaning that miracles and crazier things have happened than the Yankees making a run over these last few weeks)....I thought it was relatively cool that I was that "somebody".
Back to Mo's....for any of you that have not eaten there you should definitely go check it out. The food is outstanding and the walls are covered with some ridiculously prodigious photos (as well as some personalized pieces "To Mo's" collected by yours truly).
These next seven days should end up being just a busy as the last seven. We have a private signing with Archie Manning and a few tremendous appearances coming up on Monday (including one with NY Met Daniel Murphy- who has been raking over the past month or so). Then on Tuesday I am off to Atlanta for a private signing with Rockies phenom Troy Tulowitzki.
Check back for updates.

The day after the Jed Lowrie signing I headed over to the Red Sox team hotel for a private signing with their injured ace Josh Beckett. I must tell you there is nothing I hate more than bringing a lot of product into a Manhattan hotel to get signed by a current player at the team hotel (especially when he plays on a team as hot as the Red Sox). Hotel elevators are not meant for luggage carts loaded up with game used bases, pitching rubbers, and homeplates. There is always a crowd of fans waiting for the players to try to get autographs (and they always seem to want to help me carry my stuff...wonder why?)...and, lastly, because NYC hotels conviently do not allow you to carry your own boxes (union rules...they not only charge you by the box but you need to take care of the person bringing it up and down for you). Anyway, forty dollars and an elevator alarm later, I made it up to my small (and when they say small they really mean small) meeting room. I got set up in no time and Josh ended up walking in right on time. Beckett banged it out pretty quick and within an hour I was ready to pack it all back up (and go through the same process to bring it all back down to my car)....the car thing is a whole other story- Hotels will tell you to call a half hour in advance for them to pull your car around. I go ahead and do this yet when I get downstairs it is another fifteen minutes until my car finally arrives. So, it is fifteen minutes of me standing around guarding two carts of bases, pitching rubbers and homeplates (surrounded by that same crowd of fans waiting for Josh and his teammates to come out). Suffice to say there are awkard moments. Regardless, I finally did get my car back and made it back to the office pretty quick. The funny this is, as always, it took four times as long to pack up, unload, re-pack and bring back then it did for Josh to sign the product.
Anyway, we did get some relatively potent product signed including those game used bases, 2007 World Series balls and MLB baseballs. Once I got back from the signing I went to check out Beckett's post-season numbers...they are insane. He could arguably be the most money big game pitcher ever.
Check this out (all post-season): 1.73 ERA, 6-2, 3 complete games, 72.2 IP- 82 Ks, 14 ERs, 40 Hits
'Nuff said- that is ridiculous (no wonder all my Yankee fan friends hate him so much)

Check back later for more from the final week of the summer of 2008.

Last week (when the Sox were in town beating up on the Yankees) our newest exclusive athlete Jed Lowrie came up to our office for a small private signing. While this was Jed's first signing as an exclusive it was not actually his first Steiner signing. You may recall another small signing I did with him in Ft. Myers this past spring training. Anyway, it was great to have him up here to really get an understanding of what we do. Despite trading away Manny Ramirez (the greatest hitter of his generation) the Sox have barely missed a beat. They are rolling right now and that is due, in great part, to the play of Lowrie. Not only is he getting it done with that bat but Jed and Dustin Pedroia (another Steiner exclusive) will definitely be one of the best double play combos in the league for the next ten-plus years. Aside from re-upping on MLB baseballs Lowrie also signed some splendiforous photos (in both 8x10 and 16x20). We also got a few pieces signed for our auction site..so be sure to check them out.
Check back later for a recap on another Red Sox signing from last week...told you it was about to get busy around here.