PSP photographer Paul Rudderow was at Dave & Busters for Philadelphia Union’s Meet the Team/New Jersey Unveiling on Tuesday night. Here’s a look at what he saw.
A massive crowd was on hand
Leo Fernandes
Maurice Edu
Keon Daniel
Ethan White
Cristian Maidana and Cristhian Hernandez
Vincent Nogueira
Ray Gaddis
Sebastien Le Toux
Brian Carroll signs a young fan’s jersey
Jack McInerney poses with a fan
Fred is back!
Zac MacMath with a young fan
Pedro Ribeiro
Antoine Hoppenot considers what to write
Zach Pfeffer
Jack with more fans
Brian Holt
Aaron Wheeler is sporting a new look
Seba
Maurice and Leo
Sheanon Williams
Fabinho
Danny Cruz
Conor Casey
Carl Cherkin looks on as the new Philadelphia Union home jersey is presented
i didn’t even recognize hoppenot at first, he’s looking pretty wild
I showed up there at 6:10 with my 7-year old nephew. Our number wasn’t called until 7:15, so we only got about 8 signatures before the players left. I don’t care about autographs, but my nephew looks up to these guys and really wanted to meet Seba and Zac, but he couldn’t. I thought it was really disorganized, which was disappointing.
Agreed, there was no real flow pattern and a lot of pinch points.
i think the pinch points were the biggest problem. you could see a lot of time where the players werent even busy really, it was just that there were a couple spots where people were trying to move between sections and waiting on line in the same place so it was just gridlock
You’d think they would have learned from last year. Last year they had the event at Xfinity and it was packed and lines were long…; now they held it in a smaller place and it was still unorganized?!
Yea I agree. I was trying to get from one side to the other and I was gridlocked, yet as you said no one was busy when I got over there. No one knew where to go. In 2011 it was at Play2 in Chickie’s and Pete’s and they had everyone flow in a single line and they kept it moving. You saw everyone, or at least half the team I think, and it was relatively painless. It can’t be a free-for-all or I’ll just wait for a STH-only event later in the year.
So we see Fred, Ribeiro, and Fernandes in these pics. What about Marquez and Kassel … were they there?
marquez was, i think kassel was not
Way too confined of a space in regard to the number in attendance. Rent a large room at one of the city’s hotels, a big box, and set it up w a better flow. PR 101 people…PR.
This is the first time I’ve gone. I’ve been lucky enough to go on the preseason trip, so I haven’t felt compelled to go to this event. Because preseason was so early and we didn’t go, my son wanted to attend last night. We had a good time, but I have to say, I can’t see going back unless it is completely rethought. I also spoke to Jimmy McLaughlin who says he didn’t think anyone went on the preseason trip this year…I would be curious to know what the numbers were. That’s two marketing fails before the season has started.
I took my 10 YO daughter, who was totally overwhelmed by the mass mayhem an asked to leave after about 10 minutes in “the pit.”
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We did go back after playing some of the games, but the players had left. She did get a chance to see Amobi and Mo, who had stuck around well after the event (both clearly good dudes).
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There was a ton of space that could have been used, but was reserved for the almost empty “VIP” area
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This is a great idea, and I understand why they want to have it at a restaurant/bar type of place, but there are some logistical issues that need to be resolved. I’d bet that they could do this in part of the concourse at PPL and open up some of the concession stands.
Exactly what my friend and i were discussing with someone when we were queued-up to see some of the guys, the idea of just having it at PPL Park. It was just rediculous there but somehow i was able to get more signatures than last year…
So, with Fred being there does that mean he’s locked up a position?