Piston Boris
Posted June 27th, 2009 by Piston Boris
Tags: Basketball, Detroit Pistons, Featured, , , , , , ,
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Meeting Austin Daye

Piston 2009 First Round Draft Pick Austin Daye appeared for his public debut in the Metro Detroit area today.  Seeing that it was in a local Meijer superstore less than ten minutes from where I live, I couldn’t not go. 

The event was scheduled to run from 11 A to Noon EST.  I arrived at the Meijer store at 11:05 A, found the line for Austin Daye’s table, and waited near the front till about 11:30 A.

The Pistons 2004 Larry O’Brian trophy was displayed on a table (with a “Do Not Touch” sign).  Hooper, the Pistons mascot, showed up in an alternate road red jersey, waving at the kids and being his usual lovable self.  Two ladies from the Pistons’ Automotion Dance team were at another table with assorted merchandise.  And some volunteers were cutting out angel food cake slices for hungry fans.  I declined as I went to the line for Austin Daye’s table.

Austin Daye came in a regular pink long sleeve button up shirt, grayish blue jeans, and casual sneakers.  After a few minutes, I made my way to him.  I wished him well and told him I hope he has a long and rewarding career with the Pistons.  And I said I was looking forward to the Summer League and training camp (which won’t be held far away).

Austin gave me a signed picture, thanked me, shook my hand, and said he’d be working out while at Las Vegas.

Austin strikes me as a down-to-earth guy with a lot of character cut from the same cloth as Joe Dumars.  When I look at game film of him playing for Gonzaga University, it’s easy to see he has basketball skills.  I look forward to watching him grow with the Pistons and helping Rodney Stuckey take the franchise into a new chapter in its history. 

Before leaving, I saw that there was a wheel at the Automotion table with prizes for discounts at a Piston merchandise store, players’ pictures, tickets, etc.  I went in line for the tickets.

When I got to the table, an Automotion dancer asked me what Rip Hamilton’s jersey number is.  I blanked for a second, then pulled “#32″ out of my memory, and spun the wheel.

The arrow landed on a “poster,” which was handed to me.  It features Rodney Stuckey along with his signature (and, like Austin’s picture,  the Meijer store name).

Commercialization…

Anyhow, the picture and poster are nice souvenirs.

If the Pistons hold preseason practices for the fans like they did last year, I will definitely make the time to attend and blog about it.

Hailing frequencies closed.

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  Written by Piston Boris

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