Gridiron Greats -- Chicago

this is how the ditka show used to do it. the admission line was very short, i think it was $10. then you got in the autograph ticket line. you got a sheet of paper with all the names and ticket prices on it. you filled it out with how many of each you wanted. then the line branched out into cash or credit card. the cash line was a little faster, but not much. after you paid they had high school football players filling the ticket orders behind the table. the autograph ticket line was very very slow, something ill always remember about the show. in the show, you just got in the line you wanted, there was always so many guys signing, nobobys line was real long except ditka, sayers and hampton. if you have ditka, you may want to get in his line early. i dont think i ever saw anybody sell out. however this year its under a new name, so they may go by #'s.
 
That makes sense. I signed up for the fantasy football event before it also. So, for $19.95 (pre-sale price), I got admission to the fantasy football session, the draft on ESPN site, admission to the autograph show, and I believe a random autograph ticket. I'm sure Ditka will have a monster line but it is for 3 hours so what's the big deal?

They also said that the tickets are tax deductable. I'm trying to get more information around that since I'm not the most versed in tax logistics since I graduated but if I pay $50 for a Ditka autograph and have the ability to essentially get $25 back in taxes, then it's definitely win-win.
 
Hey, Pabs...who will be at the Fantasy seminar? I was considering going to that for $20. I think Mark Schlereth will be there, but I am not sure about anyone else.
 
In terms of actual ESPN personalities, I thought I heard that John Clayton will be there. That might not be the case, and they may have sent a fantasy person instead, but I don't think any former NFL player personalities will be there other than Stink Schlereth and possibly Ditka
 
Any news on the show tomorrow? I may go after all if there are dealers there with photos.
 
Here's the update on how things went. In my opinion, there could have been a lot of improvements. First of all, since I did the fantasy event they gave me a free autograph ticket at random, which happened to be Deacon Jones (score!). Problem is that I heard he's cancelled the last year or two so I didn't buy a mini for him, thinking there would be stuff to buy there. In the main room, there were only Gridiron Great stuff to get signed so I bought a mini helmet for $20 and had him sign it. There was a mall a block away with a Sports Authority so I should have bought something there. They only had about 10-20 Bears mini helmets and 10-20 Redskins mini helmets, along with sporadic 8x10s of random players. Thankfully, I did have everything for the main guys in advance.

Ditka was awesome and at $50 a pop, I got him on 2 16x20s, a Super Bowl XX poster, and a bears throwback mini helmet, all with HOF and/or other inscriptions. Line for him was no more than 3 minutes.

Sayers was also really fast and signed my 16x20 and my KU throwback mini with the Kansas Comet inscription. $40 for each.. well worth it

Stan Mikita had hands down the longest line and at $20 each, it makes sense. Problem was that dealers would come in with 40-50 photos and clog up the line. They should have them sign at the end so that people can get their couple items done first. Waited about 40 minutes. I got some help but I got 1 16x20 and then 4 pucks signed.

For future years, I'd have everything in advance and not plan on purchasing anything there. If anyone else has any questions, shoot em over and I'll answer. From what I saw, no one really cancelled except Chris Weinke. Darn.

Paul
 
i didnt go last night, but ive been there almost every other year. i would also advise people to bring your own items, in the past the selection of photos have been poor. sounds like from your post above, the crowd might have been a little weak. every year ive gone ditka has had a few hundred in his line. just curious, how many were in line for leroy butler?
 
Didn't seem like too many at all. I was the last draft that finished so people were already signing when I picked up my tickets. Butler at $50 is pretty steep in comparison to someone like Deacon Jones for $40. It's possible that a lot of the lines died down by the time I got to the signings. I believe they started before 4 and I was shocked that there was no line for Sayers when I was there. He was next from Ditka so I just hopped back and forth in about 2 minutes. If it weren't for a dealer in the Mikita line, I could have been in and out in less than 30 minutes.

I'll definitely do it next year and load up on my own items. The players were friendly and I'd even be more inclined to get autographs I normally wouldn't since it's for a good cause.
 
Poorly Organized overall. I was happy though because for $20 I got Stan Mikita to sign a hockey stick for me. Really worth it especially since it goes towards Charity
 
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