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Somehow, it never occurred to me or Brilliant Husband that "signing autographs at the game" meant "signing autographs until fifty-five minutes before the game." We aimed to arrive by 3 for a 3:55 game to get the autographs of Amanda Tapping, Damian Kindler, and Robin Dunne. Okay, really just Amanda Tapping, but we'd have taken the other two and been quite gracious.
I suppose it's good to know even our plan wouldn't have worked; it's not as if we just missed them or just didn't count on traffic properly. We were twenty minutes later than planned due to heavy traffic and slow parking and a slow ticket office, and they were long gone. We weren't the only ones. Other people were looking for them. Their name signs were still at the table, but there was no one there, and another group apparently looking for them found out they'd ended at 3. We went to our seats.
Brilliant Husband did get some photos of the three of them throwing out the first pitch(es)--simultaneously. He went over to another section for a better (much closer) view. We had his field glasses, but about all I could see was that they had jerseys with their names on the back, and that one was a woman with long dark hair and very long legs. I couldn't see her face at all. I did give Small Child the field glasses for most of it, though, and she was very pleased.
The announcer said something in the present tense about them signing autographs, and I swear he said, "during the game," but he must have been misinformed. I went out after the first inning and checked the table, then asked at Guest Services. "No, they ended at three," I was told. "They're gone."
Well, frell. It was a good game, honestly. It was close (okay, a little high scoring), but our Tampa Bay Rays won in the bottom of the ninth inning, ten to nine. But I spent the first hour or so trying very hard not to say any bad words out loud. And I succeeded. I didn't go for a baseball game. I went to see Amanda Tapping. I saw her back. I thought I'd actually get to say hello. I get autographs not because I treasure the autographs (I have a number in boxes somewhere and don't even know where), but because I like to say hi to the actors.
I'm disappointed and more than a little angry. Maybe we should have called. Maybe everyone else knows "at the game" (in the paper and on the official Rays website) means "be more than an hour early to the game". We were at that table thirty-five minutes before the game started (twenty-five minutes before they threw their pitches; I didn't know that would be ten minutes before game time, either).
That's enough whining, I suppose. But we spent five freaking hours at Tropicana Field, and I tried to suck it up like a good mom and not make my family miserable, and I did it. They both enjoyed the game, though Small Child got tired and wanted to leave one inning early. I kind of enjoyed it too. At least we got cheap seats.
BH says she'll be on the con circuit a long time, and we'll see her another time. I hope so.
I'll try to post the photos tomorrow.
I suppose it's good to know even our plan wouldn't have worked; it's not as if we just missed them or just didn't count on traffic properly. We were twenty minutes later than planned due to heavy traffic and slow parking and a slow ticket office, and they were long gone. We weren't the only ones. Other people were looking for them. Their name signs were still at the table, but there was no one there, and another group apparently looking for them found out they'd ended at 3. We went to our seats.
Brilliant Husband did get some photos of the three of them throwing out the first pitch(es)--simultaneously. He went over to another section for a better (much closer) view. We had his field glasses, but about all I could see was that they had jerseys with their names on the back, and that one was a woman with long dark hair and very long legs. I couldn't see her face at all. I did give Small Child the field glasses for most of it, though, and she was very pleased.
The announcer said something in the present tense about them signing autographs, and I swear he said, "during the game," but he must have been misinformed. I went out after the first inning and checked the table, then asked at Guest Services. "No, they ended at three," I was told. "They're gone."
Well, frell. It was a good game, honestly. It was close (okay, a little high scoring), but our Tampa Bay Rays won in the bottom of the ninth inning, ten to nine. But I spent the first hour or so trying very hard not to say any bad words out loud. And I succeeded. I didn't go for a baseball game. I went to see Amanda Tapping. I saw her back. I thought I'd actually get to say hello. I get autographs not because I treasure the autographs (I have a number in boxes somewhere and don't even know where), but because I like to say hi to the actors.
I'm disappointed and more than a little angry. Maybe we should have called. Maybe everyone else knows "at the game" (in the paper and on the official Rays website) means "be more than an hour early to the game". We were at that table thirty-five minutes before the game started (twenty-five minutes before they threw their pitches; I didn't know that would be ten minutes before game time, either).
That's enough whining, I suppose. But we spent five freaking hours at Tropicana Field, and I tried to suck it up like a good mom and not make my family miserable, and I did it. They both enjoyed the game, though Small Child got tired and wanted to leave one inning early. I kind of enjoyed it too. At least we got cheap seats.
BH says she'll be on the con circuit a long time, and we'll see her another time. I hope so.
I'll try to post the photos tomorrow.
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But, yes, at least you got to see a good game (believe that coming from a non-sports fan - or is that non-fan of sports?) and yes, she (and they) should be on the con circuit for a while, so always a new opportunity on the horizon. :-)
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I wouldn't have thought it meant an hour before the game...unless there was specific times mentioned on the website.
At least you had a nice time at the ballpark, though.
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I'm still kind of disappointed, to tell the truth.
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Glad it was a good name and, hey, you might have breathed the same air as AT! That's something!
(she's currently scheduled for the Vancouver Con in April which might mean she's doing the 2009 Creation tour)
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You did very well with small child as we took TJ to the Footy and he wanted to go before the game started. (He's six and it was very noisy.)
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I think that's worse! I had tried not to get my hopes up, but of course by the time we were in the car, headed there, I was really excited. And then I was disappointed, but then the announcer said they'd sign during the game, so I kept some hope alive until the very end--four and a half hours after we'd arrived. I think it would have been better to know the signings were all over and we weren't going to see them again.
Is "footy" football/soccer, or Australian rules football? I don't know much about sports. (As we walked to the stadium, Small Child asked loudly how long a quarter was in baseball. I know more than her, obviously.) SC is seven, and the stadium was pretty loud; I was a bit surprised she took it as well as she did.
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*hugs*
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I'm not sure if you want to read someone else's meeting with them before the game or not, but someone shared their experience. http://forum.sanctuaryfans.com/showthread.php?t=3291&page=4
You are right Rays played well, doesn't get much more exciting then that. :~)
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Obviously, in the future we'll make a lot more inquiries. But honestly, I'm not sure we'll ever have a chance like this again. We don't have the time to travel to cons; we've been to two Vulkons in Florida, and even those were a few years ago now.
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*hugs you*
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