Would you like to hear about my weekend at Cubs Con?
Sure you would.
Two things up front: One) I didn’t go to any panels because I was too busy standing in line for autographs. Twitter kept me informed of what I missed, thought. Two) Since this was only my second Cubs Con, I wasn’t devastated by the change of hotels. The autograph voucher system worked fairly well, though sometimes the lines could be a crush and a cluster, but that was mostly when the more popular guys were signing.
Here are the highlights from the weekend–
-Friday, while checking into the hotel, I got to meet Casey, who recognized me from Twitter. For a moment, I felt quite famous. Ha! Casey is a really cool guy and I’m sorry we didn’t get to hang out more while I was there.
-I managed to meet up with my partner-in-crime Harry and this time got to see the Opening Ceremonies. Since there was no balcony, they did a red carpet where the players walked down and slapped hands with kids. It was cute, but you know soooo many germs were exchanged right then.
-After the ceremony, we said hi to Vince (Hi, Vince!), and then decided to try out the autograph hunt. We ended up with Steve Trout, who was quite nice. I didn’t expect him to be my first autograph at the con, but things get wild and crazy sometimes.
-Harry gave me the cutest Cubbie bear for my birthday. I got him an autographed Joe Mather card. In-jokes are the best.
-Saturday, I braved the new autograph system for the first time while waiting for Harry to arrive. I decided to go for Travis Wood. He was supposed to be signing after Ernie Banks, but Mr. Banks wasn’t quite through when his hour was up, so they stuck Wood at the same table as Michael Bowden, who didn’t have much of a line. Many people were doing a two-for-one. Just as I get up there, intending to do the same thing, Mr. Banks finished up and they moved Wood to his own table. Curses! Travis Wood was very pleasant, though. I’m going to assume his mullet was in the bar.
-People staying in the hotel received an autographed picture of Anthony Rizzo and Brett Jackson. I gave mine to Harry to make up for the fact that it was likely he wouldn’t be able to get their autographs.
-Firmly in my debt, I made Harry go with me to get James Russell’s autograph. Let’s ditch the pretenses here. I’m quite fond of him and have been since his rookie year. I gave Harry one of my cards to get signed so I could get two cards signed in one go. During my little chat with Russell, we both admitted that neither of us were as hungover as we thought we’d be.
-Harry and I checked out the memorabilia display. It was pretty impressive. Very neat.
-Harry and I split up so he could get Jeff Samardzija’s autograph and I could get Keith Moreland’s. While waiting for Mr. Moreland, a couple of us in the front of the line talked to Steve Clevenger when he wasn’t signing. He joked that Josh Vitters signed his own jersey. Mr. Moreland was very sweet and had very high praise for Pat Hughes. He was quite amused when I told him I loved when they did the trivia question in the late innings.
-Our last autograph for the day was Brooks Raley. I’m used to making a bit of small talk when I get autographs. Hi. How ya doing? I try to pay them a compliment (or discuss the results of too much alcohol). Raley was surprisingly chatty, asking me questions. He wanted to know if I was having a good time (I was and so was he) and if it was a long day for me (yes, much standing in line). I left feeling quite fond of Brooks Raley. I’m so easily won over by manners and pleasantness.
-I ended up going to the Cubs Sockhop solo that night. People tend to slag on it, but I had a blast drinking and watching the kids and the drunks dance. I would have danced, too, but I was afraid Ronnie Woo Woo would get me.
-Semi-inebriated ironing may have occurred once I got back to my room after the Cubs Prom.
-Sunday, I was only planning on getting one more James Russell autograph, but when I got in there, I saw that Michael Bowden didn’t have a line worth mentioning, so I vindicated myself and got the autograph I was denied the day before. And I told him so. I’m sure he was happy the weekend of crazy people was coming to an end.
-I had Russell sign my shirsey. It’s a beat-up thing that I’ve had since 2010. He seemed rather impressed that I’d had it since then.
-In conclusion, I wound up sitting by Bobby Dernier in the lobby while I was killing time before I had to catch my train.
And so goes Cubs Con 2013. I don’t know about you, but I had a good time.
