Later today I will be doing the last official signing of 2007. Appropriately enough it will be with the Yankee Captain Derek Jeter. Aside from Mariano I have probably spent more time with Derek over the course of the year so it will definitely be fitting that they last two athletes I worked with this month were Jeter and Mo (I was over at Mo's house yesterday working on a few charity things....you would all be surprised at how much time I actually spend with Mariano aside from what I post here) I have decided to post the Jeter photos next month when I return from my vacation as I plan on using some of them for the new (improved) 2008 blog graphics. I have a ton ideas on how to make the blog even stronger and am always looking for suggestions (so keep the emails coming)
Anyway, I am now hours away from beginning my twelve day vacation (Yes, I do count Saturdays and Sundays as vacation..as I should considering my typical schedule). As is the norm for my vacations I am going absolutely nowhere for the next two weeks. I plan on hanging here in New York. I have been away from here so much over the past twelve months so I am really looking forward to spending some time at home. I actually considered going away but what would be the point in going to Florida when I will most likely end up spending the better part of a month there between Red Sox and Yankees Spring Training. In what has also become tradition I will be doing the whole three show Govt. Mule New Years run at the Beacon Theater (lower balc for all three..check me out if you are going.).
2007 was the first full year of the blog. It took me all over the country. I have spent more time in Massachusetts and Indiana than in New York (ok, that a little bit of an exaggeration but I have been to those two states a lot). Just as I did last year I have compiled some interesting personal statistics for this year (I was inspired by the Grateful Dead shirt that states 36,086 songs, 2317 concerts, 298 cities...you get the idea...I miss Jerry)

-236 signings (teams signing count as one)
-73,560 miles (traveling to and from our office doesn't count)
-20 states
-Somewhere between 200 and 250 hours on airplanes..hard to tell with so many flight delays...somewhere between 8 and 9 full days total

Anyway you look at it that is a lot of traveling. Over the course of those 73,560 miles I have learned a lot. So here are a few random thoughts and observations that I have had along the way (in true Lupica style)
-Hotel pillows are awful. They compensate for how bad the pillows are by giving you a lot of them.
-Most flight attendants don't know how to open the door to a plane once it has landed.
-Sharpies must not look like markers when they are seen through an airport security x-ray machine. My bag is searched practically every flight I take.
-Boston is not as close to New York as it looks on a map.
-Even Bruce Springsteen's worst album is still much better than most artist's best work.
-Home plates are the heaviest thing known to man.
-Any flight out of South Bend Regional Airport is on an automatic three hour delay (sometimes longer).
-People complain about flight delays yet take their time when de-planeing...makes no sense.
-Hotel food is the only thing worse than airport food.
-Airport food and hotel food are the only things worse than the food in Boise.
-Boise is not as boring as it sounds.
-Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings...it's true. (thank you to Sipps for that one)
-Never stay at the Howard Johnson's in South Bend..NEVER..trust me.
-Paint markers on leather never dry.
-Remember when we were young and the flight to Florida was only two hours door to door...when and why did that change? It takes longer now to get to Tampa than it did to fly to Miami in 1999.
-Albert Hammond was wrong...once in a while it does actually rain in southern California (i have seen it)
-Strong is the greatest adjective ever. I have tried other descriptive words over the past few months but none of them are stronger than strong.
-A seven game lead with seventeen to go is not a free pass to the post-season.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading my stuff over the past twelve months. Before ending this I would like to give a special thank you to the legendary Joe Cancel for being there on the front lines for years turning balls and making things happen.
2008 will undoubtedly be even busier and more exciting than '07 so hopefully you will all continue to support the blog.
Happy New Year!

Last night we had two special football appearances at Last Licks Scarsdale. The first was with Bengals superstar Chad Johnson. Ocho-Cinco has become one the biggest names in the NFL and has really turned into a fan favorite all over the country. This was never more evident than yesterday where Chad arrived at about 5:00 to a nice size line. As I have said in the past it is always interesting to see how an out of our market athlete (a non-New York celebrity) does at a public signing. I was amazed at how many fans were there and especially how many of them were actually wearing Johnson jerseys. Overall Chad was extremely gracious with the customers. He took photos with everyone and even talked some Cincinnati football with a few die-hards. He did take a short break to eat some pizza half-way through the appearance. The second Johnson walked in he immediately asked for pizza. We, in New York, definitely take for granted that we have the best pizza (and basically everything) here. Anyway, Chad was finished at about 6:00 and we began breaking down the Ocho set-up and got ready for the next signing.



Giants stars Aaron Ross and Derrick Ward began signing for the public at around 8:15 (45 minutes later than expected). While Chad Johnson got the best of New York in the pizza- Ross and Ward got the worst in the brutal George Washington Bridge to 87 traffic. Both guys were awesome with the fans. Since we have had so many Giants appearances lately (LT, Bavaro, McConkey) I am starting to recognize a lot of the same faces. A lot of fans have some strong multi-signed pieces that they have been working on. I think the fact that a few fans have added Ward and Ross to these projects shows a lot about the potential those two have. While Ward is on the shelf I (and all Giants fans) are looking for a big game from Aaron on Sunday in Buffalo ( we are going to need it!) After the public and the milkshakes were done (they had several shakes) both Aaron and Derrick signed some serious pieces in public including Giants mini-helmets and photos. We even got a handful University of Texas mini-helmets signed by Ross (some with National Champs and a few with "Hook em" inscriptions..very strong!) The signing ended at about 9:15 at which point the store was totally mobbed with ice cream customers (they do have the best frozen yogurt in Westchester). Overall a nice job by the cast at Last Licks Scarsdale (Boof, Sipps, Will, Sara) for the final public signing of 2007.
There is one more signing for the year and it is taking place on Friday.
Check back for a recap of the final signing day of '07.

It is 10:39 Monday evening. I just returned from a quick in and out trip up to Boston. The focus of this trek was a private signing with "Big Papi" David Ortiz. I left New Rochelle at 5:30 this morning as to avoid traffic (for once I actually did miss the traffic). Unfortunately I realized about an hour into the drive that I left my camera at home (so there are no photos this time...you can go back to the archives to check out a ton of great Papi pics). Once I arrived at the hotel I unloaded the van and headed up to the meeting room. It was pretty amusing that every bellman at the hotel remembered me. I wasn't surprised as I did have a two week residence there in November.... but it was funny none the less. David walked in a few hours later and we immediately began the signing. Over the course of two hours Ortiz autographed some incredible pieces including jerseys (home, road and the alternate red...the reds are so sick!), 07 and 04 World Series baseballs, photos and batting helmets. Not only did David sign those items but we were also able to get his new game model bat. It truly is one of the strongest bats I have ever seen.
Once Ortiz finished the pack-up began. I was anxious to get back on the road but was not in as much of a rush as usual. This was to be my final Boston trip on 2007 so I kind of reveled in performing my last pack-up and reload of the year
(does not take much to make me happy). I did (of course) hit a little bit of traffic on the ride home. I finally did arrive back at our office at about 9:50. I unloaded the van and headed home. That brings us to right now.
While there are less than two weeks left in the year we still have quite a few signing. Tomorrow we have signing with Osi Umenyiora, Michael Strahan, Aaron Ross and Chad Johnson..not bad for one day.
Check back Tuesday evening for a recap.

Yesterday, upon returning from Indianapolis, I jumped right into a private signing with Red Sox legend Jim Rice. I have worked with Jim in the past and have always enjoyed conversing with him. He still works for the Sox as a studio analyst for the NESN network so he is extremely knowledgeable about the current team. That, coupled with my recent time in Boston, made for some interesting conversation. We spent the majority of the signing arguing the pros and cons of trading young position players for Johan Santana. Anyway, Jim signed some spectacular product including inscription baseballs (Red Sox Cpt, '78 AL MVP), MLB baseballs, bats and a handful of mini-batting helmets. Bottom line is that the guy belongs in Cooperstown. He put up unbelievable numbers consistently for one of the greatest franchises in the game. Hopefully next year the Hall gets it right.




A few hours after Jim completed the signing I began another autograph session. This one was with my man Darryl Strawberry. I have known Straw for several years and we have become pretty good friends over that time. He and I share a common bond in that his son went to my alma-mater University of Maryland (so we are both Terps fans). In an ironic turn of events DJ Strawberry is now backing up my boy Steve Nash in Phoenix. Anyway, Straw is doing awesome right now. He seems to have truly found his calling with all the charity work he is doing. The Darryl Strawberry Foundation is raising money for people who suffer from autism and their families. It was great to see Darryl doing so well and doing such important work.
We got some tough product signed including inscription baseballs (ROY, '86 WS Champs) and a few Shea Stadium/Willets Point Subway signs (with the '86 WS Champs inscriptions...strong!) After the signing Darryl headed over to our Last Licks Armonk store for an hour of public signing. While I was not there I feel the need to relay a story from the event. One of my friends was over at the store. The guy is a huge Yankees fan and felt the need to ask Straw which team was better- '86 or '96 (if you need to ask what teams I am talking about you probably should not be reading my stuff). My boy Darryl , without flinching said '86 (not that the '96 Yankees were not great). I'll end this one right there.
For more on Straw's foundation Click Here.
I encourage you all to check it out.

Here are some more strong photos from the past few weeks.

Earlier today I got back from my trip to Indianapolis (which has been replaced by Boston as my second home). I was in Indy for a private signing with Super Bowl 41 MVP (and Steiner Exclusive) Peyton Manning. I flew into Indiana Monday afternoon. My flight was hours late (which I come to expect at this point). I urge you all not to fly US Airways to Indy (flying back is ok but LaGuardia to Indianapolis is always a nightmare). Anyway, I finally arrived at the hotel at about 6:00 and began setting up shortly after. This was actually one of the easier Peyton signing (if there is such a thing). It was comprised of mostly footballs rather than full-size helmets so it was a pretty quick set-up. After my day's work was done I headed up to my room to watch the end of Monday Night Football.
Peyton walked in at about 10:15 the next morning. He stayed for a few hours and knocked out everything. He was great (as always). Honestly every signing should be as easy as the ones with the Mannings. Eli and Peyton are so easy to deal with (which is a credit to Archie). The commercials don't lie..the whole family is awesome. Anyway, this was our final Peyton signing until after the playoffs. I truly believe that the Colts (led by Steiner Exclusive Tony Dungy..that was probably the most self-promoting/indulgent thing I ever said on the blog but it had to be done) are the NFL's only hope of beating the Patriots. They have a good shot as they played them so well last time. If Peyton has Marvin Harrison and his receivers back they should shock the world and knock the Pats out in the AFC Championship game.
With this being our last Peyton signing for a while we stocked up on those classic Super Bowl photos, footballs and even got a new impressive photo signed. The new image is probably the best Manning one yet.
Once Peyton was done I began boxing up the product and prepping it to ship back to New York. I finally finished late in the afternoon and tried to catch a flight back home (my flight was actually early this morning but I figured it was worth a shot...it did not work as the one direct flight to NY was overbooked already).
Instead I flew back on my original flight early this morning (which landed late...shocker there). I immediately headed straight to the office as I had not one- but two signing to knock out today.
Check back later for a recap of today's signings.

Yesterday was our appearance at Last Licks Massapequa with Giants legend Lawrence Taylor. LT is, as we all know, the single greatest defensive player of all time. The guy completely changed the way the game was played and, in the process, put two Super Bowl rings on his fingers and smiles on the face of all us Giants fans. Lawrence, at first glance, is just as intimidating on the outside as he was on the football field. He honestly though is as nice a guy as you will ever meet. He arrived at the store at about 10:45 (for the 11:00 signing) We knocked out a few items in private and began signing for the public right on time. It turned out to be one of our most successful football appearances in quite some time. The line (for those of you familiar with the store) wrapped all the way down to the end of the shopping center and then far back around the side of the building. LT was awesome with the fans. He talked golf with a few customers and basically did everything short of holding babies for photos (Lawrence flat out said that he doesn't hold any ones baby because that's the one thing he could break that money can't replace) Despite Taylor's positive demeanor he did put on a pretty good game-face for a few of our employees (he basically scared a few people with a strong straight face while barking orders..it was all in good fun though). Anyway, once the line was finished Lawrence began signing items in private. I was a little nervous about having enough time to get the pieces done but LT was gracious and stuck around for an extra hour. During that hour Lawrence signed some dynamite product including jerseys (a handful of which actually has the Super Bowl XXV patch...that's tough!), mini-helmets and footballs. Overall it was a tenacious job by the staff at Last Licks Massapequa and an impressive turnout by the Giants faithful.
This should be another exciting week. Tomorrow I am flying out to Indianapolis for a private signing with Peyton Manning. Check back for an update from Indy.

Monday evening I headed back up to Boston (which has become my second home) to begin an exciting new project. The 1999 USA Women's World Cup Championship team was in town for an event so we started a special team signed product line. Since this project is not yet complete I will get into much more detail on it in the weeks to come. I have to say that I am really looking forward to completing it as it truly is the strongest product I (personally) have ever gotten signed (In the past I have probably thrown that statement around a few times but this stuff really is, by far, the best) Here are a few photos from the past few days to hold you all over until the pieces are complete.

I awoke Sunday morning to the first snow of 2007. Personally I find it very relieving for December to be cold and for there to be snow on the ground. Eventually we will probably have no more seasons so it is great to see that we are still years away from that. The only negative aspect of the snowfall was that the immortal Roger Clemens was supposed to sign at Last Licks Scarsdale at 12:00. At about 8:00 AM I found our that Roger's flight was delayed (due to the weather) and that he would not be at the store until about 1:30. I alerted Last Licks but they already had a decent line outside. I headed over the store at about 11:30 to check out the scene and begin setting up. There was a huge line wrapped around the shopping center. It was freezing out yet the fans braved through it for hours (that shows a lot about how much Clemens means to the Yankees fan and to the game as a whole). Roger finally arrived at about 1:20 and signed for each and every fan on line. Even though he was pressed for time (had a prior commitment after the signing) he took photos with a lot of customers and took the time to ask each kid their name. Once the public portion concluded Rocket signed for about a half-hour in private. The guy is an obvious first-ballot hall of famer so we are extremely excited about some incredible Clemens product in stock.
The day after the Clemens signing I headed back up to Boston to begin a new amazing project. Check back later for a preview

Last Saturday was our appearance at Last Licks Thornwood with the legendary Yankees closer Mariano Rivera and future great Robinson Cano. I had the privilege of picking up Mo at his house before the appearance (last time he was in Thornwood he got a little lost so we figured it would be better to just pick him up). The car ride gave us an opportunity to catch up a little as I had not seen Mo in quite some time. We made it to the store right on time (12:00 sharp) and Rivera immediately began signing for the public. Mo is one of the all-time greats when it comes to appearance. He takes photos with everyone and really tries to give each customer some face time (instead of pushing them right along). I have never heard of any fan walking away dissatisfied from a Mariano appearance. We finally got through the line at about 1:30. Due to the lack of time I actually had to go back to Rivera's house on Monday to get some of our private items signed. (Check out the photo- Mo is wearing a Steiner Marketplace shirt!)


Robinson Cano began his public signing at 2:00. Cano must have learned from his teammate because he was just as great with his adoring fans. People are so excited about having this guy on the Yankees for the next ten years or so. He, along with Jose Reyes and David Wright, are going to be New York baseball for the next (hopefully) ten years or so. Robinson finished signing at 3:00. Afterwards he made sure to have some ice cream (he loves the Last Licks Vanilla- as do all the athletes). Overall it was a huge appearance with an even bigger one coming up on Sunday.
Check back later for a recap of the Roger Clemens appearance.

A few days ago I did a private signing with Yankees star second baseman Robinson Cano. In this time of crazy trade rumors (Santana, Bedard, etc..) there have been a few players that have deemed absolutely untouchable. Cano is one of these. He seems to be well on his way to being a perennial All-Star and winning his share of batting titles. I am very happy that he is a Steiner Exclusive as I have known him since he first broke into the majors. Anyway over the course of the three hour signing Robinson autographed some amazing product including MLB baseballs, 2008 All-Star balls (with the Yankee Stadium logo..very strong!) and bats. The day after the private signing was Cano's public appearance at Last Licks Thornwood where he would be following the great Mariano Rivera (who was slated to appear earlier in the day). Check back later for a recap of the event.