Disastrous brush with a celebrity?

In 2003, I was in New Orleans for the Final Four. I saw Donovan McNabb in a bar, and said, "Yo, Donovan, what's up man?" and initiated, and perfectly executed, one of those complicated 6-part handshakes.

dude!!! that should be POD and QOD ... that is hilarious!! i spit my coffee out at work while reading this...what a way to start that day ..thanks for that hilarious post, you are a genius!

Lorenzo the Magnificent wrote:

Stories of brushes with greatness gone bad?

I was at the sponsors party at the Hard Rock after the 100th Boston and as we were queued in the lobby to get in the security guards asked us to take a step back towards the wall. I felt someone struggling against my back and turned to realize I was crushing Tetla Larope against the wall.

This is a serious question. Why do grown men, who are not collectors, get autographs? I understand pictures, but an autograph on a napkin or piece of paper I don't.

Back in the early 1990's, I heard about this cool little store located just below street level in Red Bank NJ. I dcided to check it out one day before work.

The wind was howling down the street and was even stronger at the bottom of the stairway leading to the door to the store. I cracked the door open with one hand (while holding my hat with the other hand). The door swung so hard I thought it might come off of its hinges and absolutely laid some dude out on his butt on the floor!

I was concerned that I may have hurt the guy. I offered a hand to help him up. As he got to his feet and lifted his head (he was wearing a baseball hat), I almost fell myself to see that I had clobbered...Bruce Springsteen (who lives in the nest town over from Red Bank). He was cool about the incident.

I was speechless. The dude who owned the store was NOT speechless and had some very colorful things to say to me.

In 2004 I had to fly into Tampa Bay for a medical conference. I stopped to use the restroom in the airport as soon as my flight had landed, and I swear I pissed for 2 full minutes. As soon as I zipped up and headed for the sink, who walks in but World Champion coach Jon Gruden....I kind of forgot what was going on.....firstly, that I was in a public restroom, and secondly that I hadn't washed my hands....anyway, I said, "Hey Coach Gruden....what's up?" I stick my hand out and offer a handshake.....he says "yeah, I don't think so." And walks off.

To this day I can't help but laugh. Very appropriate for the circumstances.

One of earliest encounters with celebrities was when I was just about 14 and was attending a summer basketball camp in New Hampshire, a place way out in the woods with very few amenities.You know, the kind of place where dinner is lunch's leftovers stuck in mashed potatoes, and the sleeping accommodations are barracks.

But our guest "counselors," who surely had better living arrangements than us, were Jerry Lucas, Jerry West, and Bob Pettit. Pettit was a real southern gentleman, the nicest of the three, probably because he was the oldest, was nearing the end of his career, and didn't have much to prove anymore. He was on my flight back to NYC on a tiny plane with poor cabin pressure and a flight angle that somehow made the aisle an uphill climb the whole way. Everyone was miserable, but his good nature lifted spirits a bit. And it had to be tough, being a 6' 9" guy in that tine craft.

At a college graduation party, I pushed the Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge out of the way so I could get to the keg.

hurdlethief wrote:

In 2004 I had to fly into Tampa Bay for a medical conference. I stopped to use the restroom in the airport as soon as my flight had landed, and I swear I pissed for 2 full minutes. As soon as I zipped up and headed for the sink, who walks in but World Champion coach Jon Gruden....I kind of forgot what was going on.....firstly, that I was in a public restroom, and secondly that I hadn't washed my hands....anyway, I said, "Hey Coach Gruden....what's up?" I stick my hand out and offer a handshake.....he says "yeah, I don't think so." And walks off.

To this day I can't help but laugh. Very appropriate for the circumstances.

Ha, this reminds me. Years ago I went into a public restroom and used a urinal. I finished at the same time as the guy standing to me left so we both walked over to wash our hands at the same time. I look at him and say, because I thought that I had met him before, "You look really familar to me." He kind of laughs and says, "There is probably a reason for that. Let me know if you figure it out."

Later it dawns on me that it was actor Darrell Dennis.

Sat next to Peter Fonda on a cross country flight once and talked to him for over an hour.

Also have had several conversations with Terry Pendleton from the Atlanta Braves.

When I was a kid, Brett Butler (former baseball player) picked me out of a bunch of kids to do a hitting and fielding demonstration with him for about 10 minutes (filmed by the local TV station).

No real disasters in any of this, though.

I was hanging out with some friends, getting ready to see Mia Farrow speak about some africa-related-nonsense, standing in a circle. I said something like "do you think we should ask her awkward questions about woody allen?" And someone else was like "dude, she's right behind you." I looked behind and sure enough, she was 6 feet away, sitting down. I rearranged my position in the circle and said nothing else. I will never know if she heard me.

Chris McDonald is a cool dude. I saw him at a bar on a Wednesday night and sent a pitcher his way. He asked who sent it and then told me if I was gonna send it I had to drink it with him. We ended up sharing 4 or 5 pitchers and he tells some great stories. He also told me he loves to mess with people who only know him as Shooter. So the airport story definitely makes sense. Funny guy, cool person, not necessarily a morally righteous person though.

I was running in the west village (NYC) probably 2002ish and was coming home along west 11th st and there was traffic in the narrow street forcing me to run on the sidewalk and two guys were coming toward me walking abreast and the inside guy refuses to budge an inch so I shouldered him pretty decently and looked back and it was Paul rudd. Not a big deal but i was surprised he couldn't fall in line even slightly. Douche.

Another time I was at a July 4th pigroast on an island off the coast of Maine and the masked blob/principal actor from Billy Madison was there and was wasted and clearly gay and was either a ton of fun or difficult to be around depending on how you roll.

It was probably 1996, and I was six years old waiting for the New England Patriots to leave the stadium in Foxboro with my mom and a bunch of other people (this was back when Bledsoe was QB and the team got smoked by the Packers in the Super Bowl). Some guys come out and sign autographs and pose for pictures as they drive out, others dont stop.

We are waiting on the sidewalk, and Curtis Martin pulls up in a rush and clips the turn, going over the curb and running over my moms foot. Guy doesnt stop, even though she screamed out in pain. Never forgave him.

Keanu Reeves sat next to me and a big group of friends at the Shining Star restaurant at 78th & Amsterdam in NYC. The whole place fell eerily quiet in his presence, except for my buddy who was contemplating out loud if he should ask KR to bend a spoon with his mind (terrible Matrix joke).

A few months earlier, I was running to Riverside Park and stopped at 78th and Riverside to wait for a light. This tall dude comes up on my right and his dog kinda ambles uncomfortably far into the street... so I lightly snatched the dog's collar and pulled him a bit closer to the sidewalk. When I looked at the guy, I saw that it was Richard Belzar (who I only knew of at the time as, "the Law and Order dude!"). I told him he had a cool dog or something stupid, and then he proceeded to talk my ear off about the famous jazz musician he named his dog after. Knowing nothing about jazz, I just nodded until the light changed and I booked it. The whole situation just left me confused...

Not me, but my sister, who had never flown coach-class in her life, was on a delayed flight. The replacement plane had no first class section. Caroline Kennedy, her husband and then-young kids were on the flight, too. They also had likely never been seated in steerage with the rest of us riff-raff. My sister said the Schlosberg-Kennedys sat with towels covering their heads and faces the whole flight.

Tom Terrific wrote:

I met baseball pitcher Tom Seaver at the pool when I was about 10. I was a huge Reds fan, and asked him for his autograph. He said, "Not now, I'm kinda busy." He was sitting in a lounge chair reading the newspaper.

About an hour later, I ended up kissing his daughter, Sarah, underwater (Tom and Sarah were in Dannon yogurt commercials in the early 80's). It was my first kiss. And it was good.

I didn't get his autograph that summer day, but I did get something much more wonderful. I got the gift of love.

Good for you. And not disatrous,regardless of the kiss.

Seaver is a notorious prick.

Sarah Seaver looks pretty hot on this baseball card. Much respect

http://www.checkoutmycards.com/Players/Baseball/Sarah_Seaver/423503

memorable brushes with fame:

Bill Murray - (walked with him about 5 min.) very funny, creepy with women, dissappointed about that

Jack Lemmon - (caddied for him) super nice, not funny

Ted Kennedy - (he helped host a ribbon cutting) very nice guy, very kind, changed my opinion a bit

Pres. George Bush - (close friend went mt biking with him-not me) very nice; excellent athlete

Matt Dillon - (served him drinks, yrs ago) bit of a punk, threw snoballs at my car one night

Kevin Dillon (yrs ago) - (served him drinks, yrs ago) serious punk

Vijay Singh - (met at golf tourn.) not nice, and I single him out because every tour player I have met has been nothing but nice

Rodgers - terrific, very patient, humble guy

Shorter - very nice

Joanie - quiet, so nice to my daughter

Jonesy - great with my son

Grete - unbelievable lady