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08-31-2009, 04:26 AM #1
Underdogs to Wonderdogs - Contest Entry
Underdogs to Wonderdogs
by Anthony Ledesma
Where were you when College Baseball’s greatest Cinderella story captured the sports worlds’ heart?
………………
Okay, maybe not all of the sports world’s heart, but definitely all 600,000 of Fresno, CA. In a year when they started 8-12, lost their ace of the staff for the season, and a starting infielder quit the team in the middle of a game, the Fresno State Bulldogs were crowned 2008 College World Series Champions. At that moment I became a baseball collector.
Two days after staving off elimination twice and defeating Gordon Beckham’s Georgia Bulldogs, our Bulldogs were in for a surprise of their lives! Eight thousand strong crowded Beiden Field that only had room for five thousand. I arrived at the gates 6 hours before the gates would open to be sure there wouldn’t be any doubt I was first in line. My father-in-law brought back an official College World Series Bulldogs jersey as a souvenir of his trip to Omaha and I was determined to be one of the lucky few to get it autographed during the 30-minute autograph session.
With local TV cameras and reporters in my face asking me how long I had waited and how excited was I to see the Bulldogs, I barreled right by, wife in tow, to what I thought would be the start of the autograph line. Entrenched in my “I’m the start of the line” stance, people flocked to take their place in line behind me. My wife, being the smartest of us two, suggested that we should also start a line on the opposite end of the tables that were set up for autographs. I didn’t think it was necessary. After all, I was first at the gates and now first in the autograph line. People would respect that, right?
NOT AT ALL!
Shortly after my wife snaked her way to the other side, the masses followed her lead. Thirty minutes into the split after countless people had switched their line preference, the congratulations ceremony for the Bulldogs began. Unfortunately all who were in line were unable to view the field where all the action was taking place. However, little did the thousands in the stands know that there was plenty of drama just outside their view.
The next hour would pit Line 1 against Line 1A. Each side had his representative who would get an update from a nearby staff member every five minutes as to which line was “the” line. Trouble is, each line representative was getting the same news that his or her line was “the” line. This made for a false sense of security for both parties. Each line seemed pretty content with the news until one guy came out and announced that his line would go first. Pandemonium broke. Security officers and staff members alike made it a point to avoid the situation until one of them would have to lay down the law later that night. At one point, the Mayor of Fresno was passing by and everyone was lobbying for him to make the executive decision, but to no avail. For once the people joined forces and collectively booed Mayor Autry for not having the testicular fortitude to put the madness to an end.
By now, you might have guessed that nothing would be solved and it would just have to be a free for all when the players sat down at the autograph tables. I would not fault you for believing this, but fifteen minutes prior to the session, both lines came up with a solution. Each line would send 10 people at a time through the autograph session and first dibs would be determined by a single coin flip. This eased the tensions a bit until the staff manager came by to play God and make his fateful announcement. There would only be one line and if you were not in that line then you were just plain out of luck.
Have you ever heard the old adage that you can wish something true? Boy did I wish. I wished on all that was good and perfect in the world that he would select our line to be “the one”. I even made some hollow promises to boot. I promised that I would never again bust packs past my budget if I hadn’t received the box hit I was hoping for. I promised that I would put my obsession for Derek Fisher Super Collector status on hold for a while. I guess none of that mattered because the man in charge picked the other line. Ouch! I felt like I let my line down. The language from everyone behind me would have made even a sailor blush.
Downtrodden heart in place, I sulked my way away from the autograph session, envious of those in “the line”. As I made my departure I looked down at my vibrating phone and received one of the best text messages of my life. My wife was still in line! I thought she would have been long gone by then. Little did I remember that she was in line with me for 6 hours before we were even let into the stadium. She was not about to let me go home empty handed. Like a quarterback sneaks his way through the trenches to gain a first down, I too fought and clawed my way over to the chosen ones in Line 1A. My wife was third in line. The players had made themselves comfortable in their seats at the tables. Five at a time we were let through. I was a part of the first wave, which by the way helped with the autograph clarity, and shook hands and took pictures of each player who signed my jersey. Fifteen minutes later I was at the end of the line with my most precious sports item of my collection in my hands. To this day I see it every day I enter my Mancave to reorganize my card collection. I also deal with the pressure of a local sports bar owner who frequents the restaurant I work in to try to convince me to sell him my collector’s item. I know it would look mighty fancy in a sports bar, but I digress. I could never let those memories go.
Whether it’s the first card from the first pack you opened, a legit Jordan RC, or like me, a team signed jersey, we all have fond memories of this wonderful hobby. I can only hope that everyone will experience what I did with my autographed jersey saga or will be a part of a community when a local team wins a national championship. Good luck to everyone on their pursuit of the white whale in our hobby known simply as “satisfaction”.
[IMG]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f176/ShtHairMcGee/P6260933.jpg[IMG/]Last edited by ShtHairMcGee; 08-31-2009 at 04:41 AM. Reason: added pictures
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09-01-2009, 01:10 PM #2
Where were you when College Baseball’s greatest Cinderella story captured the sports worlds’ heart?
Okay, maybe not all of the sports world’s heart, but definitely all 600,000 of Fresno, CA. In a year when they started 8-12, lost their ace of the staff for the season, and a starting infielder quit the team in the middle of a game, the Fresno State Bulldogs were crowned 2008 College World Series Champions. At that moment I became a baseball collector.
Two days after staving off elimination twice and defeating Gordon Beckham’s Georgia Bulldogs, our Bulldogs were in for a surprise of their lives! An 8000 strong crowd descended on Beiden Field that only had room for 5000. I arrived at the gates six hours before the gates would open to be sure there wouldn’t be any doubt as I was first in line. My father-in-law brought back an official College World Series Bulldogs jersey as a souvenir of his trip to Omaha and I was determined to be one of the lucky few to get it autographed during the 30-minute autograph session.
With local TV cameras and reporters in my face asking me how long I had waited and how excited was I to see the Bulldogs, I shot right by, wife in tow, to what I thought would be the start of the autograph line. Entrenched in my “I’m the start of the line” stance, people flocked to take their place in line behind me. My wife, being the smartest of us two, suggested that we should also start a line on the opposite end of the tables that were set up for autographs. I didn’t think it was necessary. After all, I was first at the gates and now first in the autograph line. People would respect that, right? Not at all!
Shortly after my wife snaked her way to the other side, the masses followed her lead. Thirty minutes into the split after countless people had switched their line preference, the congratulations ceremony for the Bulldogs began. Unfortunately all who were in line were unable to view the field where all the action was taking place. However, little did the thousands in the stands know that there was plenty of drama just outside their view.
The next hour would pit line 1 against line 1A. Each side had his representative who would get an update from a nearby staff member every five minutes as to which line was “the” line. Trouble is, each line representative was getting the same news that his or her line was “the” line. This made for a false sense of security for both parties. Each line seemed pretty content with the news until one guy came out and announced that his line would go first. Pandemonium broke. Security officers and staff members alike made it a point to avoid the situation until one of them would have to lay down the law later that night. At one point, the mayor of Fresno was passing by and everyone was lobbying for him to make the executive decision, but to no avail. For once the people joined forces and collectively booed Mayor Autry for not having the guts to put the madness to an end.
By now, you might have guessed that nothing would be solved and it would just have to be a free for all when the players sat down at the autograph tables. I would not fault you for believing this, but fifteen minutes prior to the session, both lines came up with a solution. Each line would send 10 people at a time through the autograph session and first dibs would be determined by a single coin flip. This eased the tensions a bit until the staff manager came by to play God and make his fateful announcement: there would only be one line and if you were not in that line then you were just plain out of luck.
Have you ever heard the old adage that you can wish something true? Boy did I wish. I wished on all that was good and perfect in the world that he would select our line to be “the one”. I even made some hollow promises to boot. I promised that I would never again bust packs past my budget if I hadn’t received the box hit I was hoping for. I promised that I would put my obsession for Derek Fisher Super Collector status on hold for a while. I guess none of that mattered because the man in charge picked the other line. Ouch! I felt like I let my line down. The language from everyone behind me would have made even a sailor blush.
Downtrodden heart in place, I sulked my way away from the autograph session, envious of those in “the line”. As I made my departure I looked down at my vibrating phone and received one of the best text messages of my life. My wife was still in line! I thought she would have been long gone by then. Little did I remember that she was in line with me for 6 hours before we were even let into the stadium. She was not about to let me go home empty handed. Like a quarterback sneaks his way through the trenches to gain a first down, I too fought and clawed my way over to the chosen ones in Line 1A. My wife was third in line. The players had made themselves comfortable in their seats at the tables. Five at a time we were let through. I was a part of the first wave, which by the way helped with the autograph clarity, and shook hands and took pictures of each player who signed my jersey. Fifteen minutes later I was at the end of the line with the most precious sports item of my collection in hand. I see it every day I enter my “mancave” to reorganize my card collection. I also deal with the pressure of a local sports bar owner who frequents the restaurant I work in to try to convince me to sell him my collector’s item. I know it would look mighty fancy in a sports bar, but I digress. I could never let those memories go.
Whether it’s the first card from the first pack you opened, a legit Jordan RC, or like me, a team signed jersey, we all have fond memories of this wonderful hobby. I can only hope that everyone will experience what I did with my autographed jersey saga or will be a part of a community when a local team wins a national championship. Good luck to everyone on their pursuit of the white whale in our hobby known simply as “satisfaction”.
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09-01-2009, 01:24 PM #3
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09-24-2009, 03:23 PM #4
Underdogs to Wonderdogs Contest Entry
Hi, brain, looks like a dedicated email addy for the contest, so Id agree, send the synop and chapter as attachments. Make sure the attachments are labeled with your entry title and that you put the entry title and your full contact info in the body of the email.Good luck
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