Disastrous brush with a celebrity?

Story of my life wrote:

So this is a story about a friend of mine, but nonetheless it is quite funny.

So my buddy was in the airport and saw Christopher McDonald, aka Shooter McGavin from Happy Gilmore, with his wife and kids. As he walks by, my friend says something to his friends to the effect of "Hey, it's Shooter Mcgavin, etc." So McDonald turns around, comes up to him, and just starts freaking out, saying stuff like "I've done all these award-winning movies, and all I ever here is Shooter this, Shooter that."

This guy is naturally taken aback, and McDonald turns around to walk off with his family. As my friend stands there in stunned silence, Mcdonald turns around, shoots the finger-guns at him and goes "Shooter!" Just like in the movie when he makes his putts.

This just made my day.

A certain US Senator, since voted out in 2006, currently about to declare his run for the Presidency in 2012, came to help commemorate the opening an emergency disaster program at the hospital where I worked around 2005.

There were maybe 30 people at the outdoor program, which lasted about 15 minutes. When he took questions, I was the only one asking, and had lots. They were favorable, friendly softball issues. I was even wearing one of his campaign pins from his first election in 1994.

After, I went up to talk more about some important local issues. He listened for like ten seconds, commented favorably on the pin, and then gestured to his assistant to intercept me, and proceeded to go over to chat up a group of young nurses who weren't even really interested in the whole thing. They were probably just outside on break.

Lost respect for the guy.

The race in question (1985 Oak Harbor Invitational) happened in spring of 1985, but to set the scene properly, we need to go back a year to 1984. Scott Fry and I were both juniors; he at the then AA school of Sandusky Perkins, and me at the then AAA school Perrysburg; so we didn't race each other often (as if my getting killed by him would be racing him). Scott ran 9:11 that day to win the 3200. His teammate came in second in 9:44. I came in third.

On to 1985. Scott's teammate is now graduated, and Scott runs the 1600 in 4:10 to win. I come in second. Scott then runs the 800 in his LIFETIME PR of 1:57 to win. I did not run the open 800.

It's now time for the 3200. I hadn't lost a 3200 all season, but I was prepared to do so today as I am always realistic. The weather that evening was absolutely perfect for running. We toe the line. Scott jumps the gun and is DQ'd. He is so pissed he immediately jumps the fence and reportedly runs through the streets of Oak Harbor, and many disgruntled fans boo and start to leave as the meet is just about over. I win the race by a fair margin to chants of "YOU SUCK, YOU SUCK, YOU SUCK"! My coach turns to the crowd and says, "Come On, he's just a kid!" Some fat guy with a beverage in his hand yells, "Well, he SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKSSSSSSS!", and I swear he spilled a little bit when he said that.

I still have the little medal hanging off the blue ribbon today. It SHOULD belong to one Scott Fry.

don't consider them much ... celebrity but one was (very) little bit country and the other was (very) little bit rock n roll. The lil bit country one ran into my daughter's SUV in a mall parking lot. She goes ballistic yelling about lawyers and law suits and that she's this and that - not being to paper roses. Absolute bonkers. My daughter just waited for the police and they took over - daughters SUV was fine and she learned all about feelings and behavior of entitlement. Some years earlier 'rock n roll' comes into a retail store I had. ordered merchandise and took about 9 month for him to pay - after numerous, numerous phone calls. Never considered them too talented and this only confirmed how tiny they really are.

One time, I was running in Central Ohio, minding my own business, and this short, bald, glasses wearing fat man stopped me and asked how many kids I had. When I said none, he started ranting and raving about me not being a real man. Weird.

The Osmonds? wild!

Mr. Bill wrote:

One time, I was running in Central Ohio, minding my own business, and this short, bald, glasses wearing fat man stopped me and asked how many kids I had. When I said none, he started ranting and raving about me not being a real man. Weird.

I've seen Flagpole many times on the trails. I'm washed up and over the hill now, but run a consistent 7:30 pace once I'm warmed up. Normally I see him ahead of me chugging along at like 9:00 pace, but as soon as he hears me coming, he rushes in an all out sprint because he doesn't like getting passed. It usually lasts 30 seconds before he nearly collapses from being out of breath.

Not Always From One To Many wrote:

Interest Ed wrote:

Dude had his spirit crushed. Let him suffer, you pompous ass.

I'm not sure what you think pompous means, but I do suspect that pompous people enjoy calling other people names, as you did me. I also suspect that pompous people think that just letting someone else suffer is desirable. I think that's an odd way to treat other people, considering who you let suffer, or who to instruct others to let suffer.

The guy had one bad experience. It doesn't need to cast a shadow over his future, or his faith in others.

I'm sorry my friend called you pompous. He ment to call you a douche.

Story of my life wrote:

So this is a story about a friend of mine, but nonetheless it is quite funny.

So my buddy was in the airport and saw Christopher McDonald, aka Shooter McGavin from Happy Gilmore, with his wife and kids. As he walks by, my friend says something to his friends to the effect of "Hey, it's Shooter Mcgavin, etc." So McDonald turns around, comes up to him, and just starts freaking out, saying stuff like "I've done all these award-winning movies, and all I ever here is Shooter this, Shooter that."

This guy is naturally taken aback, and McDonald turns around to walk off with his family. As my friend stands there in stunned silence, Mcdonald turns around, shoots the finger-guns at him and goes "Shooter!" Just like in the movie when he makes his putts.

My wife's maid of honor made out with Shooter McGavin in a Chicago bar once. Actually he was all over her.

The most amazing thing about this story is that you held any senator in high regards or had any kind of respect for any of them, bad judgement on your part, oh well, seems you learned your lesson.

When I was in HS one of my friends was playing on the Arkansas Wings AAU basketball team. He and I were going fishing after his game, so I went the game and was hanging out at the gym. I went into the can to take a leak and someone was in the stall dropping one of the foulest smelling deuces I've ever been around. I was washing my hands and about to escape when the stall opened and Bobby Knight walked out. He looked at me and said, "sorry about that."

mzungu wrote:

When I was in HS one of my friends was playing on the Arkansas Wings AAU basketball team. He and I were going fishing after his game, so I went the game and was hanging out at the gym. I went into the can to take a leak and someone was in the stall dropping one of the foulest smelling deuces I've ever been around. I was washing my hands and about to escape when the stall opened and Bobby Knight walked out. He looked at me and said, "sorry about that."

I'm not buying it. No way Bobby Knight apologizes for anything.

It must have been 1995, Steve Forbes was running for president. I attended an appearance where he gave some remarks and then took questions. I asked if he would consider a moratorium on legal immigration if he were president. He responded with all the usual fallacies about how beneficial immigration was and eventually implied I was racist. That didn't go very well, but I'm content to have had the correct opinion years before it was cool.

My interactions with "celebrities" have been extremely rare and uneventful.

My interactions with celebrities weren't particularly disastrous. Once I was stopped at a street corner and had a copy in my hand of "The Magus," a book by John Fowles that had been made into a movie starring Michael Caine. I sensed that somebody to my right was staring at me and I looked up...and it was Michael Caine.

"Do you remember this one?" was all I could think to say.

"Oh yeah," he replied. "The producer %^&%@ed up the screenplay." He actually wanted to talk about it more but I was tongue-tied.

Another time I was inattentive and started wandering out into traffic. A rather large hand suddenly pulled me back. It was attached to John Madden. I was left there with him embarrassed, so I asked "what game are you covering this week?" It was midseason, and the two teams he mentioned were already terrible. "It seemed like a good choice at the start of the season," Madden sighed.

Not to hijack my own thread, but have you read The Collector? Great book.

When I was a little kid, I was in D.C. with my family on vacation and it was the week of the old timers baseball all star game. All the players were staying at the hotel we were staying at. So I'm running around getting autographs from all the players - Hank Aaron, Johny Bench, and oh yes . . . Joe Dimaggio. Awesome. So Joe D. walks from the check-in desk to the elevator and gets mobbed. All these professional autograph seekers (grown men) are swarming him and I'm getting bounced around a bit. I'm with my mom and she get ticked off and says, "why don't you give the kid a chance". It was directed toward the grown men autograph seekers, but I think Joe D. thought she was saying it to him and looks up right at her and gives her the most annoyed look in the world. And then . . . he takes my notebook signs his autograph and says, "here you go, kid", and turns, and doesn't sign another autograph, and gets on the elevator. Never forget that day - crazy. Only a Mom could do that.

This is kind of an embarrassing memory....I was down in Eugene and went into a local restaurant. I saw Kenny Moore waiting in line for a table. He was with a very hot young blond woman. We started talking and he said that he was shopping for a nursing home for his mother. My mother is in that business so we had a good conversation. As he was about to leave I asked him for his autograph. He said "no...I will give you one when my next book comes out"

I felt about two inches tall. It went from a nice normal conversation to one where I felt like a total loser for asking for his autograph...Of course my perspective changed on the famous from that point..

This is a good one. I was 16 at an anti-war rally in Los Angeles 1969 and Jane Fonda walked through the crowd, saw me, and gave me a peck on the cheek. I haven't washed my face in 42 years ;-)

Not Always From One To Many wrote:

Interest Ed wrote:

Dude had his spirit crushed. Let him suffer, you pompous ass.

I'm not sure what you think pompous means, but I do suspect that pompous people enjoy calling other people names, as you did me. I also suspect that pompous people think that just letting someone else suffer is desirable. I think that's an odd way to treat other people, considering who you let suffer, or who to instruct others to let suffer.

The guy had one bad experience. It doesn't need to cast a shadow over his future, or his faith in others.

Sometimes it is disastrous for the celebrity.

Back in 1989 I was working in the racing industry and providing support at the Trump Castle World Championships of Powerboat Racing off Atlantic City, N.J. Back then Don Johnson, Kurt Russell, Chuck Norris and the like were into that scene and they were there.

At the end of the wet pits dock was the Trump Princess. As I was standing next to our boat, the Donald and his entourage were heading out to his yacht in a big hurry for a meeting. One of his thugs gives me a push as they come by and I damn near end up in the the Atlantic. A near disaster! If only Flagpole had been there to set them straight... but I digress.

Anyway - fast forward to 2011 - The Donald runs for POTUS and I have a long memory. When I threaten to go public and expose what a POS Trump really is... he pulls out of the race with egg on his face.