Matt Barnes & Snoop Dogg Athletes vs Cancer Charity Football Game 8-18-13

I decided to go check out the First Annual Athletes vs Cancer Charity Football Game hosted by Matt Barnes and Snoop Dogg. The game took place at Palisades Charter High School. Admission to the game was $15 and the doors opened at 1:30 with the game being played at 3. All proceeds from the event went to cancer research. I thought it was cool of Matt to host this event in dedication to his mother who passed away from cancer a few years ago. It's always nice to see athletes and celebrities give back.

Matt announced the roster via Twitter and each team roster was stacked with celebrities along with athletes. Headliners included HOFer Warren Moon, Marcellus Wiley, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Brandon Jennings, DeMar Derozan, Nick Young, Metta World Peace, Snoop Dogg, DJ Quik and Warren G. Initially I wasn't planning on attending this event due to the distance but I couldn't pass it up once I found out Warren Moon was going to be there. It's rare to have NFL graphing opportunities in LA since we don't have an NFL team here so whenever I get the chance it's a must go for me. My goal today was to get Warren Moon's autograph along with Snoop Dogg's autograph.

As soon as I arrived to the event I noticed Gilbert Arenas was checking in. Since I had everything I wanted signed my Gilbert at the Drew League I decided to get his autograph today on a floorboard. As usual Gilbert was cool and signed my floorboard for me.

Next up was former Laker Kareem Rush. Since I didn't prepare a photo for him I also had him sign a floorboard for me. The floorboard is a new thing for me. I plan to get each one signed so I can form a wall of autographs of current and former NBA players in cases where I don't come prepared with an item like a photo or when I've already gotten players on photos already just to mix it up a bit.

Matt Barnes then rolled through and signed a photo for me.

Afterwards Warren Moon checked in. Surprisingly there weren't that many graphers at the time. Initially I asked Warren Moon for an autograph and he replied by telling me in a minute. I wasn't completely sure what he meant by that. I was just hoping he didn't mean he would sign inside because the set up on the football field wasn't good for graphing as the field was separated with a track and a fence. It was just me and two other graphers. As soon as he checked in he was walking toward the entrance of the football field so I politely asked again and luckily he signed my football for me.

I missed out on Warren a few years ago at the NFLPA Rookie Premier football event so it was nice to finally add his autograph to my collection. He was also nice enough to inscribe HOF without me even asking him. That pretty much made my day.

Next up was Marcellus Wiley who is part of the Max and Marcellus Show which is one of my favorite shows on the radio. Marcellus was cool as usual and he signed my Chargers mini helmet for me.

Afterwards both DeMar Derozan and Nick Young checked in. I've met these guys numerous times over the years at the Drew League and they are always good with the LA fans. I didn't have anything prepared for them so I decided to get my floorboards signed.

Finally Snoop Dogg aka Snoop Lion showed up. He had his personal security around him so I thought I wouldn't be able to get his autograph today. However I called over Snoop to sign for us and Snoop was cool about it even though his security was giving everyone a hard time. Snoop signed his album cover for me and was nice enough to take a photo with me as well.

By that time it was already 3:40 and the game didn't even start yet. Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan showed up late and they were escorted by security so they ended up not signing. That basically meant the day was over for me as I decided I wasn't going to wait for everyone postgame since it was a far drive for me to get to Pacific Palisades. I've gotten Blake and DeAndre's autograph before so it wasn't a big deal to miss out on them today even though it would have been icing on the cake on an already successful day of graphing. From what I know the no shows included Brandon Jennings, Ryan Hollins, MWP, Warren G, Rodney Peete, and Victor Ortiz unless they arrived after I left.

As for my post graphing meal I hit up my favorite neighborhood burger joint called GBurger. Normally I don't blog about food but this was autograph related so I had to post this. I noticed that a new poster was up at the restaurant. It looks like Tommy Lasorda eats here quite a bit.