While Unfortunate, The Ravens Decision Is Still The Correct One

With the Ravens' recent restrictions on autographs and them being made available only for fans of a certain age, many have seen this stance as an insult and question whether they'll return this year to training camp. It has become an issue that has gained some national coverage as it was discussed on ESPN's Pardon The Interruption and while my opinion is similar to that of the Ravens it may be an interesting one. Since a young age, I've always enjoyed memorabilia and whether it be sports or movie related I've always liked collecting them. I am the furthest thing from being cheap so I have never had an issue with purchasing a nice piece of memorabilia and actually would rather go about my collecting this way then retrieving the autographs myself. I would never want to put myself in the position to ask another for his autograph as I feel a personal moment is better reached through conversation or just a plain old handshake. I remember meeting Tony Dungy years ago in a hotel and it meant much more to me to shake his hand then to get his autograph on a photo. I made an exception 1 year during Ravens training camp some years ago as I was one of the adults waiting with a marker and photo for the players to sign. I did so because a friend of mine's fiancé was dying of cancer and at that point his condition was too weak to even attend camp. I promised him I would do it for him and went one afternoon to practice in search for these autographs. That day, I was able to get him Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, and a few other players. As I walked to my car after practice I literally felt on top of the world, and couldn't wait to surprise my friend with the photos. When the signed prints were given to him he was absolutely ecstatic, and in that moment I felt equally as excited as it was gratifying to be able to do that for him. Unfortunately he passed a couple of weeks later, but I was honored to have given him that moment during such a difficult period. Point is, that while the Ravens are absolutely right in their decision, you will have a few guys out there doing it for the right reason as they may have a child at home or they're doing it for a friend much in the same way I was. Unfortunately for them, it's the grown men who go on a daily basis and hound guys for autographs only to put the signed items on eBay who have ruined it for everybody else. While these adults, who claim to be professionals, set up shop and clog up the front of the crowd, there's a father with his son on his shoulders unable to make it to their favorite player. It's unfortunate the Ravens have had to take this road, but these "gentlemen" have made it difficult to conclude with any other rational decision.