The unintentional sports report, and a political report

Sports and politics are two sectors I rarely engage in, yet my last two rounds involved both those (albeit the sports one being unintentional). 

First we have a cold day in January. There was an event with tons of celebrities, yet only a couple were known to the public. One of those was Beyonce. Even though I didn't think there was a high chance to successfully score her, I figured "gotta play to win" so I would try. 

So I waited in the car so as to keep as warm as possible, then when the time was right I began to freeze my ass off waiting along with other reporters and paparazzis. 

People go in. Kal Penn was an asshole. Then a car pulls up and who is there? Samuel L Jackson and Magic Johnson! 

I couldn't believe it! Sadly Samuel was an asshole and said "hell no" to a photo op and I could not get to Magic due to the crowd. I also see Janelle Monáe‎ one on one (by then everyone had left) but I had a photo op with her already. There were also other ways to enter the spot and as I found out later Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Beyonce, and many others showed up. 

So far all that time waiting in the cold was for nothing

I debated with myself, do I cut my pain and suffering short and go clubbing, or do I wait in the hopes that I can, at the very least get Magic Johnson and Samuel L Jackson. After much soul searching I decided to wait. 

Going out I first get a Rachel Ray photo op. James Taylor goes out but I already had him. Then Samuel and Magic go out. I try for Samuel first of course and he goes "ohh hell no". What a horrible feeling to have Mace Windu right by me, only a handful of people present, and by pure 110% chance no less (since no one knew he was coming), and yet not be able to get him  This marks my first A level failure for 2014. So now it's up to Magic Johnson to salvage the evening. While I am not a sports fan, he is a name I actually know who he is and is actually a want of mine. I ask him and he agrees to the photo op. Since he is tall I hand my camera to someone who COULD NOT FUCKING PRESS THE BUTTON TO TAKE THE SHOT

 I then follow him across the street and try to call for others to come with me but others are not as resilient as I am 

I beg him for the shot and take it, but it came out blurry  I then plead my case further he says last one till and I'm in the car! I took the shot and thanked him, and upon looking at the shot my reaction was this face  I got a good shot and my evening, while not what I would call extravagant was officially not a total waste (thanks to some begging and pleading of course)

Of course, if I had gotten a Samuel photo op that would have made it ultra worth it to freeze out in the cold. But sadly he decided to be a all the way through. 

Billie Jean King came out. I went up and asked for a photo op and she looked at me with silence for a second, her expression was kind of this face then she goes "oh you mean with me? Sure!" And I got a photo op. Looking at her bio on wikipedia that's a pretty huge score.

More people were expected to be out, but the fact that there were like three other ways for people to exit (one of which included driving out) and the fact that it was like 2 AM and freezing cold, I decided to call it a night. Making this report a major sports report, albeit unintentionally as I wasn't venturing to get them (but glad I did). 

Magic Johnson

Bille Jean King

Full list of photo ops 

Next round would take place the warm indoors and in my favorite setting, the airport. I had flights for two possible presidential candidates, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. Rubio from all I heard is ultra nice and signs multiples. 

It was me and one other grapher. I made a pact with him that I would get my photo op first then he would ask for autos after which I would ask for autos. Ted exits, I ask for a photo op. He marks out over my camera and I get a photo op. When the other grapher asks for autos he declines. We of course follow him outside and he says "look I don't mind signing on the street but you guys are at the airport waiting, and you will sell them, etc etc". Both of us beg and plead our cases till he breaks down and says "I'll do one each" and we each score an auto. 

Next up is Rubio. Made the same pact with the grapher. While waiting Nancy Pelosi randomly comes out! And WTF, she is doing photo ops! All the times I've seen her it's pulling teeth to get her to sign anything and I've NEVER seen her do photo ops. So I approach and ask and she does it! I could not believe it! The shock wasn't even from scoring someone I really wanted a photo op with, but the fact that I scored that particular photo op. 

Moving on, Rubio comes out and I ask for a photo op which he happily does. When the grapher asks for autos he goes "sorry not today my hands are full and I'm busy". He did have luggage with him and his two kids, but dammit I wanted autos. He says to "come back Thursday" referring to his outgoing. This is the first time I've ever seen the target actually tell us when his next flight is. I followed outside to attempt for graphs but he politely declines saying he has an interview to get to. I stuck around till he entered the car with his kids but he had no change of heart. 

While autograph wise this round was sub par as I was expecting more from both, photo op wise I got all I aimed for and then some. 

Ted Cruz

Nancy Pelosi

Marco Rubio

Ted Cruz autograph