Famous People

Through work in sports, had the opportunity to meet a LOT.  It was kinda wasted on me as I was never one to see pro athletes and celebs as anything more than just other people.  Still some cool stories to tell though.

Keeping to six... Ben Crenshaw, Kareem, Rod Laver, Sammy Sosa, Michele Smith, Tony Gwynn

It was wasted on my wife as well... anticipating that I would be entertained by her answer, I just asked her what famous people we had met.  "The golf guy, the tall basketball guy..."  Well, Ben Crenshaw spotted us carrying our 1 yr old (now 35) in a backpack at one of the Shark Shootout events and he came over and shook his hand and spent quite a bit of time talking to us.  We ended up in an elevator with Kareem at one of the NBA All Star games and he talked to us quite a bit as well.  I had lunch with Rod Laver and he had tons of amazing stories about professional tennis in the early days.  Got to go to a Danny Gans Vegas show with Michele Smith and she is every bit the naturally pleasant person she seems to be with her broadcasts.  Sammy... well... yeah he is what he seems to be as well .

I also attended a private baseball Fantasy Camp that had a long list of the greatest from the 70's thru 90's and most were very accessible for long periods of time.  I broke a bat hitting against Vida Blue and still have it somewhere.

OK, over the limit but one more.  I was invited to be part of the on-field presentation for one of Barry Bonds' Gold Glove awards but passed because we were celebrating something for my wife.  I may or may not have mentioned that to her as leverage over the years.

I worked at the Ballpark in Arlington on the grounds crew the first two years of the ballpark.
During rain delays, we would sit in the visiting team's dugout, waiting to take the tarp off the field.
Notable interactions from rain delay's were a solid hour talking with Walt Hriniak about hitting and the mental side of baseball.
Playing the circle punch game with Bo Jackson and the batboy...The batboy got to hit Bo, but Bo didn't want to hit him so my right arm was the proxy target.
Scariest moment of my life, walking down the steps towards the clubhouse and blocking Randy Johnson from entering the dugout. I literally thought he was going to kill me with his eyes.

Also had an All-Star game the second year. Baseball heaven for 2 days. Not only the players in the game, but all the baseball royalty that shows up to watch the game.
Notable memories were my long conversation with Buck O'Neil and watching batting practice leaning up against the shell standing between Reggie Jackson and Cecil Fielder.

Also worked at the hospital down the street from the ballpark during college. Best story of a non-patient that I can tell and shows he how good of a guy he is....
There was a young Puerto Rican that the Ranger's called up in September and promptly broke his collar bone during the game. Spoke no English and was quite stressed.
After the game, Pudge and his wife show up with bags of Sonic Burgers and sit with the kid, help translate and spend the entire night making sure he is at ease with the situation.

Acted with Tom Selleck...actually was an extra on Waikiki beach digging a hole in the sand while he ran to rescue a passed out woman in the pilot episode of Magnum PI, I did shake his hand afterwards. My father knew Jack Lord from Hawaii five-o, but I would be surprised if anyone in Honolulu proper did not know him, through him I met the original DanO, learned later he was booked many times, and the venerable tiny bubbles crooner Don Ho. Outside of the 50th state, I had the good fortune to meet a few  politicians, artists and athletes. My fave of each would be Chuck Schumer (we have a brief history from his days as a Congressman), Jean Baptiste (his spirituality reinvigorated mine) and Eli Manning a funny guy with a big heart and appreciated my fatherly advice now that he is a coach dad for his young children tied with Jesse Barfield, he came unannounced to a local baseball camp my kid attended, he was very approachable and provided me and the soon to be knucklehead some wonderful advice on parenting (me), life and of course baseball

David Robinson-right after he retired from the spurs, i was in vegas with my (now) wife and it was about 1 AM. she was playin SicBo (I have no idea how it's played and i don't think she does, either).  and i was sitting on an empty table watching her.  i felt a presence behind me and this huge dude was watching, also.  we talked for a good half an hour about vegas (we were both wondering what the heck was going on in "SicBo"), Hawaii (I'm from there and he had just bought a house there) and any number of other non-basketball related things.  really nice guy.

John King (CNN reporter)-I was wandering around a suburb of Denver sometime before the 2008 election.  i was there for work and was just taking a walk.  i guess there was an Obama rally going on and he wasn't working it but just wandered up to check it out.  we talked for a while.  i didn't realize it was him until afteward.  also a nice guy

Lia Maivia (the Rock's grandmother and a celeb in the pro wrestling world)-I worked a summer job at the rec center where her wrestling offices were.

Mazie Hirono (Senator from HI)-friend of my parents in college. She used to baby sit me)

Brian Schatz (the other Senator from Hawaii)-went to HS with him

Carrie Ann Inaba (Fly Girl from In Living Color and judge on Dancing with the Stars)-Went to HS with her

Bernie Kosar - Jan 87, the weekend after he lost in the playoffs to the Bronco's. I was at the Limelite Club in Atlanta  with a group of 2LT's from infantry school at Ft Benning. We all had shaved heads and were basically outcasts in this club. Bernie arrived with one of his Miami buddies. They made an announcement in the club that Bernie was in the house, coincidentally at the same time his buddy had left him for some chick. Bernie started to get hounded by the autograph seekers. He proceeded to insert himself right in the middle of our group where he hung out for 20 minutes until his buddy returned. One of the guys offered to buy him a drink, but he turned it down and bought a round for our entire crew (8-9 of us). Turns out he was a great guy. I stereotyped him as the dumb dumb football guy, but he proved me wrong. 

Had lunch with Mike Schmidt, we has an interesting guy very passionate.

Had a Yuengling with John Kruk, anyone who knows anything about Krucker and Yuengling is aware that doesn't make me special but an awesome guy and the best color man on baseball i have ever listened to!! 

Had beers with Julius Erving, actually the rest of us had beers I don't recall him being a drinker. He is very good friends with a friend of a friend and it was golf outing...for those of you who golf you will understand. He was pretty quiet but engaging enough.

Got drunk with Charles Barkley...OMG what a great guy, funny he is welcome anytime!! The TV guy you see only gets better in real life. Luv Chuck.

Shared a cup coffee with Jay Write only a few minutes but the man just is class all the way through. Again that was golf at a PGA event in the corporate area a mutual business associate introduced us.

Had the misfortune to meet Jeffery Laurie Eagles owner, didn't like him from what I knew beforehand, did nothing to change my mind while meeting him, I actually excused myself from him as I just didn't care to be around him any longer.

I guess sports are something of theme in my meetings.

@Good Knight posted:

I also forgot Omar Bradley. I was a young ARMY Captain at Ft Bliss TX. As I walked into the Officers Club I saw his Mercedes Limo out front with 5 stars on the front.

He was getting his hair cut and had a Full Colonel guarding the hall.

But the Colonel got a phone call and stepped away.

I had to try so I walked in and introduced myself and told him my father served with him in WW!!.

He shook my hand and looked over my shoulder and said " I think the Colonel would like to speak to u!"

Got my butt chewed but it was worth it. The last 5 star in the USARMY!

This should have been first on your list just for the circumstances of how it happened. Great story.

We have to limit it to 6?  Impossible!  I hope I don't bore you too much with this:

In no particular order:

• Col. Harland Sanders.  Met him in Murray, Kentucky when he was there at the opening of the KFC there.  He was a nice guy who took time to talk to my dad.
• I once shot basketball with Oscar Robertson.  He was making a presentation in Detroit, Michigan and I was playing is a "World Softball Championship."  I was up early for my morning run and they were setting up a basketball goal at the hotel for him to demonstrate.  I started shagging some shots for him when he told me to go ahead and shoot some as well.  He was a really nice guy and funny.
• Bobby Knight - One of my friends used to be an assistant coach so we would go to the U. of Indiana for basketball clinics when I was coaching basketball.  Bobby would meet us for something to eat and talk about hunting and fishing.
• Roy Acuff and Stringbean - If you are unfamiliar with them, they are country music icons.  My family was in Roy Acuff's House of Music and Mr. Acuff and Stringbean were in there.  My dad, who had never met a stranger, told them that I played banjo.  We played some together.  What a treat.  I was ok but Stringbean had me laughing too much to keep up.
• Pretty much all of the players for the baseball Cardinals for a couple of decades.  We have pictures of my daughter with most of them.
• Harmon Killebrew - Another really nice guy.  I met him at the airport.  I knew who he was and he sat down next to me.  I tried to not interrupt him.  He broke the ice and we talked about hitting.  He was a big ole boy.  Another really nice guy.
• OK, so I am an idiot - There are three guys who I met because I was fanatical about going to their houses.  Again, I am an idiot.  As I mentioned, I used to go to the U of Indiana a lot.  So, one day, I thought that I would drive to John Mellencamp's house.  He was outside.  I walked up and said Hey.  He said hey back and we talked for about 2 min.  He was ok and I understand him not wanting to take to idiots like me.  Since we were in the area, I went to Larry Bird's house.  He was mowing his own grass.  I thought that was odd back then.  Really, I just waved at him.  Maybe I can't count this one.  The last one is Shelby Foote.  He was in a place in Memphis, Tennessee.  I was on my way to Shiloh.  He had some suggestions on what to see when I got there.  He was another guy who was as nice as could be.  I think he liked being recognized.
• Jack Buck and Mike Shannon - Broadcasters for the Cardinals.  Both are nice people.  Mike Shannon owns a farm that is very close to me.
• Allison Kraus - Another country singer.  Somehow, she met my dad when she was young and on one of those music circuits.  My dad was something.  Dad told me I had to meet her because she was going to really be famous someday.  He was right.

Well, this is a good start.  I am certain that as soon as I post this, I will think of someone else.

And right on cue.  I was the Jeweler for the Football Cardinals when they were in St. Louis.  Once upon a time before I became a teacher, I sold jewelry.  I first met Louis Sharpe.  He then brought in Roy Green,  Mel Gray, ...  I made a lot of money off of those guys.  LOL

I played by the original rule of 4, so I will add two more now. Both Dallas icons. I didn’t care for either one.

Tom Landry : was a friend of my (at the time) wife’s employer. I met him at a social function at her place of work and talked with him for 5 or 10 minutes. He was incredibly stoic and not at all engaging. Exactly as he appeared to be while coaching the Cowboys.

Roger Staubach : played pick up basketball the same place I did in the early 80’s. As I recall he was always on the opposing team every game that we were both involved in. Dirtiest player I have ever been on a basketball court with. And that’s saying something. He held, fouled incessantly, and cheated on the score. I saw him throw a basketball into a plate glass wall after being on the losing end of a meaningless game. Was a win at any cost guy in everything he did. Exactly the opposite of his public persona.

Mikhail Baryshnikov spilled his martini on me in a bar in West Hollywood in 1982 and laughed about it. He did it again in 1986 in the same bar. Didn't laugh that time. A true dude. Righteous. This photo was taken immediately after the first spillage. I had just struck him.

The only famous person I've met this century was Barry Obama  who I shared a smoke with behind the Punahou School Chapel in 2004 when he was still an Illinois senator.  His crew kept him away from cigs so he bummed one off me. Said he was glad I smoked Kools. Then he said "Brah, you da smokah wit' aloha." BTW, that's not me in the photo. I have more hair and I no longer own a tie.

Sat immediately behind Roger Ebert in 1998 at the Honolulu Film Festival premiere of "Waking Ned Devine." I was with my wife and our newborn son on our very first night out as a family. (BTW, it is more than a fair question to ask why, of all places, would we go to a film premiere with a month-old baby. Well, 1: we won the tickets as a prize for most closely guessing the weight of our son at birth, a contest our hospital runs every month. Our hospital is quirky that way. We were the July winners, it turns out; and, 2: I honestly don't remember, but, at the time, I know there were two reasons).

As Ebert sat down, he turned to us and asked "Is the baby a critic?" Ha Ha. Fortunately baby slept through the whole movie and when it was over Ebert turned to us again and asked us what we thought of the movie. Two thumbs way up, we said, and our son liked it, too. He said, "Good. I liked it, too, especially the part where that naked old geezer rode the motorcycle around.  I'm going to lead with you guys and your baby when I write about the movie, by the way. Thumbs up on your kid."

Roger

Someone else's baby.

He wore this to CATS, too.

@old_school posted:

Had lunch with Mike Schmidt, we has an interesting guy very passionate.

Had a Yuengling with John Kruk, anyone who knows anything about Krucker and Yuengling is aware that doesn't make me special but an awesome guy and the best color man on baseball i have ever listened to!!

Had beers with Julius Erving, actually the rest of us had beers I don't recall him being a drinker. He is very good friends with a friend of a friend and it was golf outing...for those of you who golf you will understand. He was pretty quiet but engaging enough.

Got drunk with Charles Barkley...OMG what a great guy, funny he is welcome anytime!! The TV guy you see only gets better in real life. Luv Chuck.

Shared a cup coffee with Jay Write only a few minutes but the man just is class all the way through. Again that was golf at a PGA event in the corporate area a mutual business associate introduced us.

Had the misfortune to meet Jeffery Laurie Eagles owner, didn't like him from what I knew beforehand, did nothing to change my mind while meeting him, I actually excused myself from him as I just didn't care to be around him any longer.

I guess sports are something of theme in my meetings.

Met Dr. J.  Was very cool. I should have listed him instead of Ralph Sampson. This is at my son's high school basketball game