Phil Simms, Todd Frazier, Frankie Edgar, Carl Banks and Alexei Kovalev........

I've done a few signings in the past few weeks, 2 free and 1 paid.
On Super Bowl Sunday Empire City hosted a free signing which featured Phil Simms and Dhani Jones. For those who have never heard of Empire City, it is a Casino that is located in Yonkers, NY.  Empire City is a relatively new. It is an add on at Yonkers Raceway, which is a horse track. Many horse tracks have added video gaming.
For those who do not know who Phil Simms is, He was a QB who played his only career with the NY Football Giants between 1979 and 1993. He won 2 Super Bowls with the Giants and was the Super Bowl MVP in SB XXI. Simms was also a 2x Pro Bowler and is in the Giants Ring of Honor.
Simms currently is on CBS on Sundays for there NFL Show.
I had known about the signing for some time. But, only knew about Phil Simms. I was not prepared Dhani Jones. Not to bothered on missing out on Jones.
Expected a large crowd for Simms and I got to Empire City at noon for a 6pm signing. I grabbed some food and found out were the signing was at about 1pm and found that there was already a handful of people waiting.  Not wanting to stand for 5 hours. I hung around the area till the group of us got kicked out of an area that was reserved for the VIP group for the event. I ended up being around the 15th person online. As always, I always run into people I know and then I meet new graphing friends.
Time came for the signing and we were told Simms would only sign for 100 people. Not knowing how many he would sign. I had my Giant Stadium Seat Back I've been working on and an 8x10 patch card from Super Bowl XXI.
Simms was cool, he took photos with everyone and signed 2 per. Simms is the 25th autograph on the seat back. I can probably add a few more before I retire the seat back.
I had ordered a 1986 Giants Yearbook, Which had Simms on the cover. But, It had not arrived via the mail on time.

 I'm sought of on the fence on whether I should get more 86 Giants on the piece or not. 


Next up was a paid signing at the Steiner Store here on Long Island.
Former NY Ranger Alexei Kovalev and current Ranger Pavel Buchnevich.  I was only interested in getting Kovalev since I do not paid for active athletes assuming I can get them for free.
Alexei Kovalev played for the NY Rangers, Penguins, Canadians, Senators and Panthers between 1989-2014 and 2016-2017 and also played on the Russian Olympic team that won the Gold Metal in 1992. Alexei was on the Rangers in 1994 when they won the Stanley Cup and was a 3x NHL All-Star. Alexei was also the first Russian born player to be drafted in the first round of the 1991 draft.



Next and last event was this past weekend at a car dealership in Lakewood, NJ. The same dealership at a similar event last year. Last season featured Todd Frazier, David Tyree and Christine Rampone.
This years event featured Todd Frazier, Frankie Edgar and Carl Banks.
This year I drove down to Lakewood with a graphing buddy from Long Island. We got to the car dealership 2 hours prior to the start of the signing. I was surprised to find a pretty large crowd waiting online.
Similar to last year, each player had their own line. Frazier's line was 3x as long as Banks and Edgar.
We started with the Frazier line and there was probably 75 people already ahead us.
One thing different about last years event was each player was to only sign 1 item at a time.
Frazier was the only player to stick with that rule. I ended up getting back online for Frazier again after I had gotten Banks and Edgar.
I think everyone knows who Todd Frazier is. Todd's big league career started in 2011 with the Reds. He played for the Reds till 2015 when he was traded to the White Sox in a 3 team deal in the offseason. Todd spent a season and half till he was then traded to the Yankees during the 2017 season.  Todd is a 2x MLB All-Star and won the Homer Run Derby in 2015
A few days earlier Frazier signed with the Mets as a free agent.


Frankie Edgar who I was not familiar with at all is a UFC and MMA Fighter. Edgar has won numerous UFC Championships. Not a fan of UFC and MMA, the only reason I got Edgar to sign two 8x10's is he was at the event for free.
Edgar and Frazier are both from Toms River which is a short drive from Lakewood. Edgar was cool and took pics with everyone.


The blue deco popped real nice on these

Carl Banks was the 3rd athlete signing autographs. He was not to interested to take a photos and some people walked off line complaining he was not very nice.
Carl Banks was a 1st rd pick in 1984 by the NY football Giants. Carl played for the Giants from 1984-1992, Redskins 1993 and the Browns 1994-1995 and was a 2x Super Bowl Champion with the Giants


.I started the 1986 Giants Yearbook that was intended for Phil Simms. I will add to it next year when the Stop n Shop free Giants autographs start again

As of today I have no public signings planned.

Thanks for Reading and Check Back Soon!!!!

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