The Quest For The Holy Grail Of Autographs
Brad Keselowski received some attention during the 2014
NASCAR season after he made some comments about not always signing or wanting
to sign autographs for fans. There were some who then made negative comments
about Brad on social media, calling him arrogant, ungrateful and worse. I'm not
a fan of his but I will not only defend him on this, I'll go so far as to say
there were probably a lot of drivers who agreed with what he said. Take a look at every ticket you still have from a NASCAR
race. Nowhere on that ticket does it state that you as a ticket holder have a
right to an autograph from your favorite driver. If you have a used pit pass,
you'll notice that even with the enhanced access it grants you, it still
doesn't give you a right to an autograph. If autographs (or "selfies") are important to you and you've been
fortunate enough to get one, good for you. Enjoy it. If for some reason, you
feel you got snubbed, get over it. In what now seems like another lifetime, I once worked for a
popular country music singer. I worked for him from the time his first single
hit the radio, until he was earning awards for number one hit songs. We went
from club shows with 20 people in attendance (Jackson, MS!) to major arenas and
stadiums. This attitude of fans feeling they deserve a signature is something
I've seen up close multiple times in both the racing and music worlds. A lot of times, both in racing and in music, fans either
don't understand or care about the demands on a person's time. When a brand new
artist with his first single is playing a county fair gig, he probably has
enough time to sign autographs and take pictures with every person in
attendance who wants one. As the hits come and his popularity increases, he
doesn't have as much time as he once had. There are phone interviews to be done
with radio stations to promote future shows. There are in-person interviews to
conduct with local media. He might have a visit to a children's hospital
scheduled or some other charity event to attend. More than likely there's a
meet and greet scheduled with the hosting radio station. He might have a song
writing sessions scheduled. All that has to happen in a day's
time in addition to the sound check and obvious concert. Oh yeah, he
might even like to call home and talk to his wife and kids! Believe it or not,
there might even be days when he's sick or just worn out. The same holds true in racing. It's pretty easy to approach
a typical driver when he's in the truck series or Xfinity
Series. By the time he's achieved some success in Sprint Cup, he has more
demands on his time than most fans can possibly fathom. Besides practicing,
qualifying and the race, he has skull sessions with his crew chief and/or
owner. Add in the media commitments, obligations to sponsors and some charity
work and it makes for a long day at the track. Some fans are just downright greedy. I once spent a couple
of hours with a well-known Busch Series driver and series champion at a Food
City Family Race Night event. He was courteous and gracious to every fan that
approached him for an autograph or picture. Toward the end of the event, he was
approached by a man with at least 30 identical postcards with this driver's
name and picture on them. We all knew the guy wanted them all signed so he
could sell them on eBay. As this driver started to sign them, he told the man
he would sign as many as he could unless and until someone else came up to the
table for an autograph. The man seemed agreeable...until a dad approached with
his two sons who both wanted a signature. The driver handed the rest of the
unsigned postcards to the man and apologized. The owner of the cards stomped
off angry that he'd gotten only about half of them signed, as if getting 15
identical items signed wasn't enough! I can't tell you how many times I saw the same thing happen
on the music side. An artist can sign a hundred autographs but if he has to cut
it short, that one hundred first person is going to go away feeling cheated,
vowing never to be a fan again, thinking that singer is the biggest SOB in
entertainment. When my artist started opening arena shows for other headliners,
he still tried to accommodate as many fans as possible. After shows, while the
rest of the band was able to relax, change clothes or visit with friends, he
would race to a merchandise stand. We would announce to the fans that out of
professional courtesy, he would have to stop signing before the headliner took
the stage. We would continue to announce it as the line moved forward. We would
even go to the back of the line to let those folks know we'd probably run out
of time before they got a signature. They were always good with that...until
the session ended without them getting the autograph they felt they were
entitled to. As we'd walk away and head toward the bus, it was unbelievable how
many of those people would scream they should have their CD signed because
they'd bought it out of support for the singer. They'd yell, cuss and accuse the
singer of not caring about his fans. There comes a point where you think, why
bother? Why subject yourself to that kind of treatment when you were trying to accommodate
as many fans as possible? Just quit signing. Fans can be the same way when it comes to racing. I attended
a Busch Series race in which a driver crashed and ended up with a broken wrist.
The race was over by the time he returned from the care center to his team's
hauler. As he stood by the door of the hauler explaining the wreck and the injury,
complete with a soft cast on his right hand and wrist, a fan thrust a piece of
sheet metal from that driver's torn up race car toward him, expecting an
autograph! I once saw Rusty Wallace jogging from the motor coach lot to
the garage area at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He was on his way to the drivers
meeting. Most fans know you cannot be late to those meetings. You'll start at
the rear of the field if you are. There were about a dozen fans hanging out by
the gate to the garage, including at least two where were
wearing Wallace shirts and hats. Even if they didn't know where he was
going, it was obvious Rusty was in a hurry to get someplace. As they reached
toward him with Sharpies, yelling for him to stop, he continued past and said,
"Sorry guys, gotta go."
Not only did several of them yell at Rusty and call him names, one of the guys
wearing Rusty swag swore he'd never be a fan again after being "brushed
off." Believe me, those aren't the only examples of this type of
behavior I've witnessed. Some might point to Richard Petty and how he was
different because in his day, he never refused an autograph request. I'll say
that was probably possible because the fans were different back then and
probably not as greedy and demanding. If your self-worth is based on whether or
not you got a hastily scrawled signature on an item from someone who doesn't
even know your name, I pity you. Of course "selfies"
have added another dimension to this. Are you at the track to enjoy the race or
to score a quick picture you can post to social media to make people think you
and the driver hung out, had drinks, became friends and swapped phone numbers? I don't care if we're talking about racing, music or any
other form of entertainment. The person you admire does not owe you that
signature or picture. The only thing they owe you is their best effort, whether
it's on the track or on a stage. That's the tradeoff for you spending your
money and taking your time to watch them perform for your benefit. If you get
the signature or picture, enjoy it for what it's worth. If you didn't get it,
try to be understanding although we live in a selfish society. Next time, just
make sure you say please and thank you. They still go a long way.