Second of all, athletes and all famous people don't OWE everyone anything. Fans pay to support the sport but that is true about absolutely every one or our jobs. "people" pay us to do them. Does that mean they own us? Does that mean we should have to make ourselves available to them for whatever they want, whenever they want it? Even if it's flattering, don't most of you have moments in your life, say, after a fight with your spouse or something, where you wouldn't want someone to come up and ask you for something?

So stop judging this dude. And stop acting like anyone with success owes everyone in the world. They don't. They're just people. You don't know them or what goes on in their lives so stay out of it.

huh, i hadn’t thought about the contract keeping them from signing autographs. good point.

you’re not late to the party. join the winner’s circle. lol.

Back to sports. Contracts in sports are very complicated, especially for a player with a little bit of fame, no matter how little. If they have fans, that is really the litmus test. These contracts are very specific about a lot of things. Behavior is one, on and off the field, as well as a role in sponsership, the job of not just PLAYING the sport, but preserving the image of the sport. Baseball is not like the NFL, or the NBA. Ballplayers can drink, they can party, they don’t have to wear a suit and tie every time they go out, and there is no clause that states every kid gets a signature. It is closer to this with regard to signatures: Some ballplayers DO have a clause about signatures, but it nothing to do with children. One, these signed balls are worth money, and often, a star player will be tasted to sign a bunch of them for auction, generally this is for charity, so non profit. The second, is related to sponsership. If you are sponsered by Reebok, you don’t get a fucking tattoo of a Nike logo on your ankle in a way that is more prominant than the sponser’s product. In my example’s case it would be the shoes. Since pro footware usually doesn’t have a bunch of bullshit written all over it, the logo that everyone that looks down at his feet is going to be a Nike logo. That is just something you don’t do. Contracts are binding, and tyou are obligated to actually comply with them.

Someone stated the entire story is not known. Damn right. The person holding the camera, other people milling around, the before and the after, do we see any of that in detail? The kid that is 15, which is freshman highschool age, got denied a signature. It happens ALL THE TIME. It happened well before douchebags began using ebay to sell their wares. What if Tiger Woods signed his name all over Titleist? You thinik Nike is going to be happy with what may come of it? I doubt Nike is encouraging such things. For all you know, the TEENAGER was asking the player to sign some shit that would piss of the guys that do have his contract, we don’t know.

I am an American, and I am often ashamed that more people are not objective. This is what I saw: Teen asks for autograph, player says no and moves on, some other guy calls him names and instagates a man that could beat him senseless if he wanted to with is bare hands (only in pro sports can you usually heckle a guy that could literally kill you with a few blows from a fist), then, since he can’t go kick said ass, he tells him to fuck off. He doesn’t tell the teen to fuck off, he tells the guy causing the commotion to fuck off. I would do the same and why? Fuck is just an arrangement of 4 letters. Why is this combination of letters a problem with frak, frick, F (procounced “Eff”), screw, scram, bug, slag, (hell, even SEX, or make love, if it was used in that way) or any other combination of letters that MEAN THE EXACT SAME THING… why is that ok, but FUCK is not? Someone explain this to me. Why? Apply it to the other words people apply this logic to. It makes no sense, but going back to when I was a freshman in high school, it is not possible to avoid the word. A smart kid, by the end of middle school, already knows every damn one, how to use them, and on top of that, they know how to kill people, what do do when it comes to foreplay and how to fuck. They have been around the bases, or at least, know what those bases are and what fucking words to use that mean exactly the same thing.

Protecting children? From what, exactly? A combination of letters that he already knows anyway? The fact that athletes are not role models, but people like you and I, and so they have shitty days like the rest of us, and on a bad day we just want to get home and decompress to be ready for the next day, or, in his case, the next game.

Barry Bonds won’t sign shit, takes massive amounts of roids, and people still idolized him. It isn’t about memorablelia, it is about being at the ball park and watching a game. The father, in my opinion, should be standing outside somewhere to meet someone that actually contributes something tangible to our lives, making them better. Wait outside the NASA space center to get the signature of Buzz Aldren, get Stephen hawking to tap out a robotic message of appreciation, as these men actually did things worthwhile to the entire globe. Find Al Gore and ask for his Autograph, hell, Barack Obama took his time in the middle of a conference to write a note to a kid’s teacher on why she skipped class that day to see him speak.

Rois walked out after doing his Jay Oh Bee, his JOB. Not a very good one that day, but it is still what he is paid to do, and to sign random products that could clash with his OTHER contractual agreements because he doesn’t know from where said product came from, is fine. Not wishing to be the role model for a teen is fine. The person with the highest IQ on the planet will personally write you an e-mail to answer a question you might have on just about any topic, and even publish them in her column if the questions are interesting. Is Rois in the process of solving any of the global issues we face? I am not bashing ballplayers, and I am not even bashing their money. (hey, if it there, I would take it too). I am trying to say that he had every RIGHT t osay no. He may have even been obligated to do so.

Ever seen a book signing, or even a comic writer’s signing? To use the “Twilight” example above, what if Tim Duncan doesn’t want to be associated with the author? More to the point, you do not walk up to Stephen King with a copy of the latest Danelle Steele novel and ask for his john hanckock.

Usually, a sports star has a contractual obligaction to sign so many things as they are often used at charitable events in auctions or contests. They can sign a kid’s ball if he wants to, or he can say no. The kid didn’t take it any further because the kid was 15, and he probably shrugged it off, but as usual some PC dick has to step in and take things further. If the kid was really that pissed he would say something himself. Why, in effect, put words in his mouth? Why be the represenitive of a kid you don’t know? Did the kid ask the guy to call him a bum? No!

At 15, the kid is old enough to stand on his own, but also old enough to defend himself verbally. He was not pissed enough to say anything, so the wishes of the kid should have been respected. Period. Both parties DIRECTLY involved parted ways without an issue, it was someone else that brought in the shit. You want to teach a kid about the real world, its not going to happen if the guy stopped to sign or not. It is going to be done by the actions of those around him, those he is, most likely, going to be more like as an adult since so few ever even make it to the minor leagues.

If it was me, and he didn’t sign, I would simply say “fuckyou very much” and walk away, allowing him to wonder if he heard fuck you or thank you, then look for someone else that is more willing to sign my chunk of pro sporting gear.

I still can’t stop laughing at the idea that a 15 year old kid still needs protection from a combination of letters, and that FUCK is worse than any of the other words that mean the exact same thing in every context. Hypocrate parents allow this all the time. Say fucking and you are yelled at, say “effing” and no big deal. That is smart parenting right there *rolls eyes*. The practical solution would be to teach the kid that the word is not obcene, or at least, any more than the 20 substitution words used without issue. If more people were educated in this way, the fucking superbowl wouldn’t be ruined by 2 frames out of 29.7 FPS that show a blurry nipple.

Oh well, I had fun. And now I will probably be the last one to comment on this fleeting story.

LOL!"

Impressive.

"Wow! I think I have an impossibly short attention span and use it as an excuse to get out of rather sticky situations!

LOL!"

And then you post again "rebutting" me, so obviously you did read it. Do you think acting like an ignorant bitch looks good for you?

it's not like rios cussed the kid out. he was obviously heading somewhere and if he doesn't want to sign an autograph, what are you going to do? apparently, most of you think you should take the matters into your own hand, because it's oh-so moral and heroic of you. here's something: don't be an asshole when he turns down an autograph and he won't cuss in front of a kid. quit with the ponyland crap. seriously. it's stupid.

sandra ran out of arguments and rebuttals to dan and sapincher. then she says some stupid shit about her wealth, which has nothing to do with anything. way to make it not personal. don't wonder why people call you out for being a self-important, self-righteous snob of a person.

Man I really hope you both are no older than 16. This woman was talking about ideas and you go straight for the personal attacks. Straight to the Bitch comment and the sex put downs. No wonder she's laughing at you both. This is why women think that overall we're just stupid. As soon as most guys feel like they can't hold their own they go for those insults. Dude seriously these are the kind of come backs I heard when I was in high school. I never saw her slinging personal insults and it was below a true man to go there. Comebacks like that shows the measure of a man and his mind. As a man I'm embarrassed that you couldn't come up with something better or at least keep it about ideas. I'm thinking at least Mandy didn't bother to read the rest of the thread and the deal with her girl. So back to what the blog is about. I'm just wondering if the dad was there, because if I was that girls Dad celebrity or not I would have told him where he could shove his autograph. To see a little cry for hours like that only says one thing about this Duncan guy but Ill leave it to the imagination I don't think taking 5 seconds out of 4 hours to sign whatever she had would hurt. No these people don't owe anybody anything but maybe as a decent person knowing you could make some kids day especially a little girl, you would want to and whether kids hear cussing or not it doesn't make it right and that's never a good excuse. As public people we know were held to a higher standard and that's something we k ow and choose when we sign the contract and no its not in the contract but its understood. So what Rios did at the end of it all its just wrong. Wrong for his image, and bad for the team and I'm glad he was man enough to apologize.

Dan seriously I didn't mean any disrespect to you about your age. My 14 year old kid always says failtacular so just figured you were the same age.