Sports Column

Roy's gaudiest stat is $40 for his autograph

Fair Game

By kerry eggers

The Portland Tribune, May 22, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (14 Reader comments)

ROY

Maybe you were one of the lucky ones who got Brandon Roy’s autograph at a signing at the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday.

Or maybe you arrived at the museum and did an about-face when you learned the cost of the signature of the NBA’s rookie of the year.

If you had an 8-by-10 photo for him to sign, the price was $40. If Roy’s people provided the photo, it was $45 for an 8-by-10, $65 for a 16-by-20. Sign your basketball or jersey? No problem, for $50. Add $10 if you wanted the autograph personalized (“To Jason, best wishes, Brandon Roy”).

Rich Altman, a Californian whose business is setting up autograph shows for athletes, called me a couple of weeks ago, looking for publicity for Saturday’s signing. He bragged about past clients, including some NBA stars. When I suggested I might come out and do a story the day of the event, Altman’s reaction was, “Well, that doesn’t help me.” I never heard back from him.

Roy didn’t return my phone calls, so I can’t tell you what his arrangement is with Altman, who says his contract with the Blazer guard ends in July.

I can only hope that Roy’s share of the profits goes to charity. And that he might think about how bad it looks for a player earning nearly $3 million last season to be charging those kinds of prices of the fan who, in effect, is paying his salary.

• Then there’s Ime Udoka, whose recent $5,000 donation to the Portland Parks Foundation comes on the heels of several other philanthropic donations in recent months. This from a guy whose one-year contract (at just above the NBA minimum) ends July 1. Here’s hoping he sticks around the league long enough to win its J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award.

• Among the many world-class events at the 33rd Prefontaine Classic on June 10 at Eugene’s Hayward Field: the women’s javelin, with four of the top 11 throwers on the planet.

Leading the way is the world’s No. 1 performer, Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic. There also will be Denmark’s Kristina Scherwin (No. 6), now living in Eugene; Spain’s Mercedes Chilla (7), and Kim Kreiner (11), who recently set the American record of 210 feet, 6 inches.

“We haven’t had a women’s javelin since the early to mid ’90s, when they still used the old javelin, so this is like a new event for us,” says Tom Jordan, in his 24th year as meet director. “If we’re going to have the event, we want it to be the best it can be.”

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