Bartman offered 25k to sign 1 autograph
 

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big...?urn=mlb,95542

Wednesday, Jul 23, 2008 3:23 pm EDT

Cubs fan Steve Bartman offered $25K for just one autograph
By 'Duk
Sportsbuy.com and the National Sports Collectors Convention sure have devised a way to get a lot of marketing without ever having to pay a dime.

As you might have read on Deadspin, they're offering infamous Cubs fan Steve Bartman a cool $25,000 if he shows up to their memorabilia show in suburban Chicago and signs just one picture of him destroying the World Series dreams of Cubs fans everywhere getting tangled up with Moises Alou in Game 6 of the '03 NLCS.

From the Orlando Sentinel:


To collect the cash, all Bartman has to do is show up at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., at 1 p.m. on July 31, prove his identity and sign a photograph of the infamous play. It will then be auctioned on the Web site with the proceeds going to a Chicago-based charity, according to a news release for the publicity stunt event.

"No one in sports memorabilia history has ever been paid $25,000 to sign one autograph — not Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, or any other athlete,” said Mike Berkus, co-Executive Director of The National. "Steve Bartman has been a recluse for years, but we’re hopeful that he will accept our invitation and generous offer to appear ... We have personal security to provide to Steve at The National and to a destination of his choosing.”


It's an ingenious marketing plan, really, because I'm sure the organizers know they're dealing with probably the only man on Earth who wouldn't simply sign his name and then collect $25K. In the almost five years since his name became synonymous with the Billy Goat curse, Bartman has turned down every single interview request that has come his way and no doubt also said no to numerous book-TV-movie deals that were worth much, much more than what a bunch of baseball card dealers are offering here.

What's worth noting, though, is just how much attention just the mention of Bartman's name in a press release can draw. Can you imagine what it'd be like if he actually showed up for one of these stunts?

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Entertainment Society FTW!

I am still in awe of the fact that this guys life was essentially ruined by going to a baseball game. Fate is a bitch sometimes.

Alou wouldn't have caught the ball. Any Cubs fan still mad at Bartman is an idiot. The Cubs did plenty on their own to blow that game.

That does suck. Heck, other people around him were reaching for the ball too. Now he is in hiding and they want to bring him out by offering the cash.

Yeah, sure. The 25K will go to the sniper they'll have there waiting for him. DON'T DO IT, BART MAN.

If I were him I'd already have built an underground shelter to live in.

We'll never know if he would or not

Most of them are still mad at him, and yes, most of them are idiots.

Damn shame, too. By all accounts, Bartman is a very decent guy. He was a little league coach and die hard Cub fan.

If I was him, I'd show up wearing Sox gear and sign 1,000 of them.

**** that, after they turned on him, i would just move to the i think it was the Cardinals right? Become a fan of theirs and live the rest of my life being a hero. lol

Well the incident happened in the NLCS against the Marlins and I think I remember people offering him a free place to stay down in Miami after it happened.

I'll never forget the day after that. Prior to that game, everybody and their friggin dog had Cubs stuff on. Everything was World Series this, World Series that, curse is over, we rule, blah blah blah.

Then came the collapse.

They still had a game left. It was being played at Wrigley. The Cubs had the advantage.

But it was like the city already knew it was over. I think I saw, perhaps, ten people wearing Cubs gear during my 10 block walk between Union Station and my office. The previous day, that number had been in the thousands. It felt like I was walking through a crypt.

I, of course, loved it. :evil:

It's sort of been that way this week, too. Not seeing much evidence of the Mighty Cubbies on the streets of Chicago this week. Sure doesn't take much losing for those blue hats to find their way to the bottom of the hall closet. :)

Well, hell, Miami then. Nice place alot of beautiful women. Win win.

That game 6 was just unreal. The Cubs on the verge of heading to the World Series and the epic collapse that followed Bartman's goof. A play that most baseball fans will never forget. The life was sucked out of Wrigley that night.

Five outs away....

I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard that phrase uttered in a whiny voice. LMAO