Vince charging for an autograph? Oh the shame!

There are SO MANY Vince Young threads, and I didn't feel like looking through all of them to see if this was posted.

Here is Justice's take on Vince being in a signing show this Sunday. I don't have a problem with him charging for his signature, as I will be getting a jersey signed ($99) and putting it on e-bay.

http://blogs.chron.com/sportsjustice/archives/2006/01/vince_charging.html

Vince charging for an autograph? Oh the shame!
If you want Vince Young's autograph this weekend, you're going to pay. You're going to pay to get an autograph from Brad Lidge, Roy Oswalt, Wade Boggs and dozens of others, too.

But it's Vince Young charging for an autograph that seems to have gotten people's attention. Some of you believe your hero has turned into another money-grubbing athlete.

He's charging between $79 and $99 for a signature at this weekend's Tristar Collectibles Show at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

He's charging more for a photo-op, but those are sold out.

(I'm told neither he nor the other players set the prices.)

He's not the highest-priced guy there. Wade Boggs will cost you between $79 and $129; Barry Sanders between $129 and $149; Roy Oswalt between $59 and $99.

There are free autographs: Troy Patton, Koby Clemens, Josh Barfield.

Before judging these guys, wait a couple of weeks and see how many of those Vince Young autographs are for sale on eBay. It won't be a small number.

And this is the way athletes see it.

They believe this is business. There's signing for little Johnny after batting practice. That's one thing. And then there are these massive shows, in which (they believe) a huge number of autographs are being resold for profit. So why shouldn't they profit?

This is a complicated issue. Most of these athletes - Young included - have signed hundreds of autographs for free. I've seen Young do it after countless UT games.

Does that make charging for an autograph right? We all have different views.

If you go to Cooperstown, N.Y., on induction weekend, you'll see retired players lined up on both sides of the street charging for autographs. When players aren't charging, people will ask them to sign three pieces of something and not personalize it. That tells the player the item will be on eBay within 24 hours.

Cal Ripken had another solution: he signed so many autographs that he hoped his signature would have little value. He signed for 30 minutes a day, at least.

(I've heard one late Hall of Famer who was signing memorbilia up until the final days of his life at the insistence of his kids. This wasn't for little Johnny down the street, either. He knew his final signatures would become a valuable part of his estate.) Funny story. One year in Cooperstown, people were lined up in the rain to get Pete Rose's autograph. Pete signs balls for $10, small pictures for $12, large pictures for $50, etc. If you don't have something for him to sign, he'll sell you a ball or a picture.

He has made big money doing this. It may be his chief source of income.

I watched this scene in Cooperstown for awhile (Pete is also talking to me and another sportswriter while signing AND chatting up the people he's signing for--he's amazing in the area of customer relations) and I call up a columnist from Cincinnati. I tell him he has to walk over and check out the scene around Pete.

He comes over, surveys the area and says: ''My only surprise is that I assumed everyone in America who wanted Pete's autograph already had it.''

I'll bet Pete--OK, bet is the wrong word--is somewhere this weekend charging money for his autograph.

On the Tristar web site, there are upcoming events in which you can have a video made of yourself and, say, Pete Rose. A real personal moment.

I get countless notes from people who complain about the Astros or Rockets not being available to sign autographs enough. I'm always told of players treating someone badly.

In defense of them -- and this is weak -- they're asked constantly for their autographs. They, like you or me, get tired of it. They know (I think they do) that signing autographs is part of the job. They understand meals are going to be interrupted at times.

The huge majority are happy to do this. They understand the perks of the job far outweigh the negatives. Some behave like jerks.

I'm sure Young, now being flooded with financial opportunities, was told: ``Come here, sign for a few hours with Roy Oswalt, Brad Lidge, etc., and you'll make a bundle.'' He decided that sounded like a pretty good deal. I've personally never understood the whole memorbilia craze, but I also see how it's big business. On both sides.

In case you're interested, Roger Clemens will be appearing Feb. 4. In Las Vegas. It won't be cheap.