A pair of surprising successes!

Who woulda thunk it? Not just one but two requests sent more than a full year ago arrived in my box on the same day. I couldn't have been more surprised to see J.J. Redick's request arrive from Orlando, FL, where he's currently a member of the Orlando Magic. Redick set the NCAA record for most three-point shots made in a career and the ACC record for most points in a career, among many other marks.

Also arriving on the same day was former Colorado TE Quinn Sypniewski's request sent last summer. He is now with the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL, and like Redick's request, his was also sent from his professional team's headquarters.

Finally, I also received my 11th hoops success of the year from UCLA's Arron Afflalo. That request took 19 days, as the Bruin returned both index cards I had enclosed.

2006 STATS - HOOPS
-------------------------------
RECEIVED: 11
SENT: 45
% RECEIVED: 24.4%
AVG # OF DAYS: 12.5
PRICE PER SUCCESS: $4.00

More hoops successes in the box!

Add a trio of hoops successes to the list, all arriving in one day! Alabama's Ronald Steele and Jermareo Davidson each returned both index cards, as did Georgia Tech's Thaddeus Young, a true freshman. I found it interesting that Young's request, unlike basically every other one I receive, came back in a GT Athletic Department envelope, as opposed to the self-address stamped one I enclose with every request.

Davidson's request took 17 days, while the other two took 19 days. With the recent successes, I'm now below the $5 per hoops success rate and nearly to the 25% success mark.

2006 STATS - HOOPS
-------------------------------
RECEIVED: 10
SENT: 45
% RECEIVED: 22.2%
AVG # OF DAYS: 11.8
PRICE PER SUCCESS: $4.40

Football successes continue to trickle in

Two more college football successes have arrived in the mailbox this week, one from West Virginia RB Steve Slaton and the second from Texas A&M QB Stephen McGee. Slaton's request took 80 days to return, while McGee's took 81. Both requests were sent to the player's school, and both players returned the two index cards I had enclosed.

With those two recent successes, I've now slipped below the $3 per football success mark and have almost reached the 35% success rate plateau.

2006 STATS - FOOTBALL
-------------------------------
RECEIVED: 35
SENT: 103
% RECEIVED: 34.0%
AVG # OF DAYS: 26.7
PRICE PER SUCCESS: $2.86

From the Mailbag

This is a new segment I'll update every now and then with various questions I get via email. Hopefully this will decrease the number of repeat questions, but as always, don't hesitate to contact me if you've got any questions.

Q: Who do you send the requests to? I would like to mail a couple. What do you say you do, send a card or a picture?

A: Most requests I send (unless otherwise noted) are directed to the athletic department the player's school. I tried a brief experiment sending about a dozen requests to players' home addresses this summer, but it turns out the success rate with that small experiment was less than the success rate as a whole.

As far as what I actually send, I always include two index cards. An example of these can be seen further down on the page, but just for reference, I include a photo of the player on the left side and then include the player's name and team on the right-hand side, being sure to leave enough room for the athlete to sign.

More successes: 2 Hoops, 1 Football

It was another successful day at the mailbox, as I reeled in a pair of hoops successes and an additional football success. BYU QB John Beck returned both index cards signed in 77 days.

Meanwhile, both Indiana's D.J. White and Creighton's Nate Funk returned both index cards signed as well. White's request took 13 days, while Funk's took just a dozen.

All three requests were sent via the players' university athletic department. With those recent successes, here's how I stack up:

2006 STATS - FOOTBALL
-------------------------------
RECEIVED: 33
SENT: 103
% RECEIVED: 32.0%
AVG # OF DAYS: 23.5
PRICE PER SUCCESS: $3.03

2006 STATS - HOOPS
-------------------------------
RECEIVED: 7
SENT: 45
% RECEIVED: 15.6%
AVG # OF DAYS: 9.0
PRICE PER SUCCESS: $6.20

Hoops successes rolling in!

Three additional college hoops success arrived in the mailbox on Monday, each taking just nine days. Colorado's Richard Roby and Connecticut's Hasheem Thabeet each returned both index cards signed, while LSU's Glen "Big Baby" Davis signed just one of the two index cards. Already my cost per success is well under $10.

2006 STATS - HOOPS
-------------------------------
RECEIVED: 5
SENT: 45
% RECEIVED: 11.1%
AVG # OF DAYS: 7.6
PRICE PER SUCCESS: $8.80

Hoops success #2!

Al Horford from the University of Florida became the second hoops success of the season. His autograph was returned to my mailbox on Saturday as it took just 5 days, possibly the quickest return time I've ever had. (It was actually quicker than yesterday's success, Acie Law, because Law's request was mailed last Saturday and Horford's was mailed just this past Monday).

2006 STATS - HOOPS
-------------------------------
RECEIVED: 2
SENT: 45
% RECEIVED: 4.4%
AVG # OF DAYS: 5.5
PRICE PER SUCCESS: $22.00

First hoops success in the mailbox!

It took just six days for Texas A&M's Acie Law to return his autograph request! That is almost shockingly quick but a great way to get the college hoops season started. Law returned both index cards.

I've failed to mention my total expenses for the college hoops project, so I can do that now. The total amount spent to send out the 45 requests was $44, including the price of stamps, paper, envelopes, etc.

So with that in mind, here's a look at the college hoops season stats thus far:

2006 STATS - HOOPS
-------------------------------
RECEIVED: 1
SENT: 45
% RECEIVED: 2.2%
AVG # OF DAYS: 6.0
PRICE PER SUCCESS: $44.00

Hoops requests out the door...

The complete set of 2006-2007 college hoops requests have been sent! I sent about half on Saturday and followed up with the second half today. There are 45 total, 40 of which I've highlighted previously. Below are the final 5 I added.

Hoops Send-To, #41-45: Julian Wright (Kansas), Hasheem Thabeet (Connecticut), Jason Smith (Colorado State), Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (UCLA), Nick Young (Southern Cal)

I generally don't expect any reponses in less than 7 days, and it usually is around 10 days before any successes begin to roll back in, meaning it will likely be sometime next week before I can expect to see anything in the ol' mailbox.

Football success #32!

Arizona State RB Keegan Herring is the latest college football success, #32 of the summer. He returned his request in 58 days, signing both index cards I enclosed and sent to the ASU athletic department. I'm now nearing the $3.00 per success mark. Cheap hobby, eh?

2006 STATS
-----------------
RECEIVED: 32
SENT: 103
% RECEIVED: 31.1%
AVG # OF DAYS: 21.8
PRICE PER SUCCESS: $3.13

More names on the hoops list...

I previewed the first portion of the college hoops send-to list last week and will now take a look at the second half of that list today. I plan to send out these requests around mid-September so that the players receive them several weeks before the busy practice schedule begins.

Hoops Send-To, #21-40: Jeff Green (Georgetown), Brandon Rush (Kansas), Caleb Green (Oral Roberts), Jermareo Davidson (Alabama), Jarrius Jackson (Texas Tech), Nate Funk (Creighton), Roy Hibbert (Georgetown), Al Horford (Florida), Carl Landry (Purdue), Josh McRoberts (Duke), D.J. White (Indiana), Jamont Gordon (Mississippi State), Charles Rhodes (Mississippi State), Carl Elliott (George Washington), Ekene Ibekwe (Maryland), Mustafa Shakur (Arizona), Micah Downs (Gonzaga), Greg Oden (Ohio State), Kevin Durant (Texas), Thaddeus Young (Georgia Tech)

Hey, we made the news!

I was interviewed by Robbi Pickeral of The News & Observer out of North Carolina earlier this month and was quoted in her article discussing the art of collecting sports autographs. Below is a link to the article:

The art of the autograph

Success #31 on the 31st!

Didn't get a chance yesterday to post my 31st success of the season, TE Clark Harris of Rutgers. His request took 52 days, obviously the longest to date. With that success, though, I'm now over the 30% mark and have slid below $3.25 per autograph received.

2006 STATS
-----------------
RECEIVED: 31
SENT: 103
% RECEIVED: 30.1%
AVG # OF DAYS: 20.6
PRICE PER SUCCESS: $3.23