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)