I couldn't help but wondering, though, if players restricting their signings didn't play into the hands of the greedy collectors with the laws of supply and demand. Thank goodness that bowling isn't like that, though. I came home late last night, and looked at all the signatures I've collected over the years from professional bowlers. I've attended, I've only had a couple of encounters that I would even could consider as less than positive. And sometimes folks just have bad days.
Pro bowlers sign it quickly and with a smile.
A child wants his shirt signed, and the players take time to small talk with the fans while signing. They must sign their names a couple of hundred times a week during a tour stop. The only value that a bowling signature has is to bowling fans. All the memorabilia is important to me, but more so to my son, so they adorn his room, with no fear on my part that he might ruin something with a value comparable to his college fund. Signed pictures and posters, a T-shirt covered in signatures, an autographed bowling ball he received from a player on a telecast, and a duckpin ball signed by the entire Brunswick staff.