Autographing Arms

In my latest quest to be the greatest and most dedicated and original Caps fan, I have come up with what might be the way to be a memorable fan in the eyes of the Caps players. Throughout the years, I have wondered about what I could do to stand out among the thousands (if not, millions) of Washington Capitals fans.

In the past, I have sent Valentines to the entire team every Valentine’s Day; I’ve gone to the team practices and player signings; I’ve worn a jersey I made from a t-shirt; I’ve been to a few players’ birthday parties; and I’ve even “stalked” the players after games as they drive home. While all of these instances seemed to have put me beyond your average fan, it still seemed like I was just another fan to the team. I knew that to truly be remembered I had to do something above and beyond the normal fan’s call of duty.

So I did some thinking about how I could stand above all other fans. I concluded that if I got the players to sign something unusual every time I saw them, then that would be memorable. The first time I thought of this, I was waiting for the Caps after a game, but I didn’t have anything for them to sign. The first thought I had was that they could sign a part of my body. Most ladies would opt to have their chest signed by such famous guys, but I didn’t want to take that route. I didn’t want to make wives and girlfriends jealous or angry and I didn’t want to reveal myself to the players in such cold, winter temperatures. So I decided upon my arms. Signing my arms is pretty unusual, as I’ve never heard of anyone asking for their arms to be autographed. The first time I tried out my idea, I was able to get two autographs: Matt Bradley (left) and Nicklas Backstrom (right).

That was a few weeks ago. Eventually, the autographs washed and wore off which was a little sad, but I was still able to document it. When I went to the Caps game this past Wednesday (5-1 victory over the not-so-mighty Ducks!) I got my arms autographed again. And after meeting Tomas Fleischmann at the ESPN Zone last night, my arms are now tallied at four autographs:

clockwise from top right: Mike Knuble, Matt Bradley, Dave Steckel, and Tomas Fleischmann

I’m going to the Caps game tonight too, and if it’s not too freezing outside, I’d like to get even more autographs on my arms! (They’ve got to remember me now!) While arm-space might be hard to come by, I’m sure that the players will have to remember my now-famous arms.

Many people have even commented to me that I should get their autographs tattooed on, but I like that this is less permanent. As you can see, they are written with a red Sharpie to rock the red for the Caps too. In addition to having such an intimate autograph, the added bonus of getting my arms signed is that I have my arms signed as well as the picture to prove it! -Double the fun!

Eric Fehr at ESPN Zone

I wanted to originally write about this yesterday, but I needed a day to recuperate after the toll it took on my emotions. Two days ago on Wednesday, my friend and I went to the ESPN Zone to see my new favorite Caps player, Eric Fehr. I recently decided that I loved Eric more than the other players (or at least he’d be up there with my current, long-lasting favorites on the team: Brooks Laich, Boyd Gordon, Mike Green, and of course Alex Ovechkin).

My friend and I got to the D.C. area ESPN Zone shortly before Eric was to arrive for the Q&A/Meet and Greet/Get To Know Eric Fehr night o’ fun. We ordered our food/drinks and were seated behind a rather large and impeding pillar, right in front of where we soon found out Eric Fehr would be sitting. [How could the waitress do that to us?! I should have asked to be seated somewhere else.]

[Side note: I started my new year’s resolution with my first new beer of the year, a gluten-free one called, Red Bridge. I’ve never had a gluten-free beer before, and missed the yeasty foam the beer lacked. Other than that, it basically just tasted like a normal, uneventful beer. It had more flavor than say, a Bud Light, but about the same boring, lack of excitement.]

Well, due to our unfortunate seat placement, there was no chance of seeing Fehr, but thankfully we were able to see him on the many TV screens around the restaurant. My friend and I were giddy with excitement during the introductory interview type session with Steve Kolbe (Caps radio personality) and Fehr. My friend had never seen Eric Fehr up close before and noted that he looked like a “down to earth, good, mid-western boy.” I corrected her by explaining Fehr was actually from Canada, but agreed that he definitely had charm and charisma.

I was totally smitten with Eric and was gleefully taking cute pictures of Eric as seen on the closest TV monitor. I couldn’t take my eyes off him as he joked around with Steve Kolbe and the audience. Fehr seemed like he could be such a cool, fun guy to hang out with. We were joking about asking Fehr what his muscular arms’ circumference is, during the Q&A, but I was way too embarrassed to ask in front of the audience.

During the night, I learned some fun facts about my newest Caps love interest. First of all, I learned that Eric and I were meant for each other, since he has his own radio show! Unfortunately the show is only available to his hometown of Winkler, Manitoba, since it was a way for him to stay connected with his friends and family back home. I also learned that Eric has a Twitter account. (While I am kind of anti-Twitter, I would definitely take this new information into account, to join just to follow Eric and in a very stalker-like manner, find out what he’s doing all the time. Listen, I’m not a stalker, it’s just that social media that is making stalkers out of everyone, but that’s a different topic…)

Anyways, in the television monitors I had to resort to seeing Fehr through, the screens were kind of small and bright, so it was hard for me to tell if Eric Fehr was wearing a wedding ring. This was a very important thing to find out for me, since it would determine a possible future with my crush. After taking a few photos, I noticed a metal band on his ring finger. My friend could ell I was getting a little disappointed and offered up that it could be a “Promise Ring.” I felt that for someone as cool as Eric Fehr, wearing a Promise Ring would b e much too lame, although I tried to stay hopeful.

After the Q&A was over, the audience was invited to line up and take pictures and get autographs with the man of the hour. I was so excited and tried to plan out what I would say to Eric, without completely acting crazy. I was nervous with excitement and was joking about how I thought it could be cool to be able to faint on cue.

When it was my turn to go up to Eric, I asked him if he’d been back to Good Stuff Eatery and gotten his signature, Very Delicious Eric Burger (which he created for a fun little cook-off with Mike Green and then-Capital, Donald Brashear). Eric told me he has yet to go back, but that his wife has been pushing him to go. (He apparently hasn’t gone back because he doesn’t live nearby.) When he mentioned his wife, my heart instantly sank. Of course, it was too good to be true.

Well, I got autographs and both my friend and I got our picture taken with Eric. When my friend went to get her picture taken with Eric, she said she was a fake Caps fan, to which Eric replied, “Well hopefully I can make you a real Caps fan!” (That’s what HE said!) I also asked Eric where he got his super cute shirt. Although it had a penguin on it, he said he was not actually a Pittsburgh Penguins fan. He informed me that there were other designs, too, and that and that it was from Nordstrom’s.

All in all, it was a pretty great night. While I was completely crushed that Eric Fehr (who is the same age as me!) is married, I can still love him. I did start out completely gushing over Eric, only to be brought to the cold, hard truth that he’s so not available. [Look at him, brandishing his wedding ring in the above picture! Ugh.] But that’s ok. Last I heard there were still some remaining single guys on the Caps, so there is sill hope!

Caps’ Matt Bradley at ESPN Zone

Yesterday I got my first brush of fame for the year 2009. The ESPN Zone in Washington, D.C. was hosting a nifty Q&A Session with the Caps’ Matt Bradley. I’ve been to a past “meet and greet” thing like this in the past for Brooks Laich which was pretty amazing, so I was expecting an equally fun evening. 

After the Q&A with the audience asking Matt some questions, they opened it up to autographs and picture taking with the star himself. (I had wanted to ask Matt a question, but didn’t get to during the  more formal session, since I was sitting in an awkward place off to the side. Yes, I know, not prime paparazzi placement, but I had to work with what I was given).

Anyways, when it was my turn to approach Matt Bradley, I did ask him my question. “Last season, I read that you were introducing recycling into the locker room. I was wondering how that’s been going.” 

Matt  Bradley told me that it’s been a successful campaign. He told me that he’s trying to aim more to re-use than to recycle, since he pointed out that re-using is better anyways. He said that for example, the Caps have been using reusable water bottles and what also seemed to be that they are re-using/conserving their water in the bathrooms. Cool! I asked him if he’s like, “Mr. Recycle” now because of his efforts. He laughed and said that a few of the guys tease him about it. But I think that’s cute. And really great. Good job, Matt Bradley!

On a separate note, while waiting in line with a friend to get an autograph/picture, I took some candid photos of the man himself. For all those gossip journals out there: Matt Bradley doesn’t wear socks with his shoes! I’ve got the photos to prove it. Enjoy! And of course, let’s go CAPS!!!!

 

Matt Bradley

 

Matt Bradley

Look, Ma! No Socks!