Sports
Related: About this forumOk.....what's your claim to fame with a sports figure??
Last edited Wed Sep 18, 2019, 09:46 PM - Edit history (1)
Ive got two......got Mike Holmgrens autograph on a Harley Davidson T shirt.....and I did change the Badgers football coachs dipper one time. My husband and I were on the Packers Harley Davidson ride around the Green Bay Area with Super Bowl coach Mike Holmgren. When we came to one of the stops of the ride, I got in line to get Mikes autograph, which I did. Paul Chryst and his family lived 6 doors down from my family. My sister was the regular Chrysts baby sitter, and one time she was unable to do the job, so I was available, and during my night of babysitting the Chrysts, I had to change Pauls dipper.
TruckFump
(5,812 posts)We are both from Ohio and when we were young kiddos, before he was famous and before I never was, we played in a junior golf tournament.
unblock
(51,974 posts)Years later though.
Grew up across the street from his personal assistant.
randr
(12,408 posts)Great guy.
Also have met Bill Walton at Dead shows.
a kennedy
(29,462 posts)bmbmd
(3,088 posts)with Martina Navritilova. Also with Grant Teaff. Also with Noah Wylie. So elevators are my big deal.
luvs2sing
(2,220 posts)In the late 70s, when he was just the Austrian body builder guy. He was friends with a guy who worked on my floor and would stop by if he was in town. It wasnt unusual to see him around. Someone told me they started the big bodybuilding competition together during those days.
a kennedy
(29,462 posts)luvs2sing
(2,220 posts)luvs2sing
(2,220 posts)in the 70s through a friend who played for them. And I cant remember the guys name, but a friends cousin was a pitcher for the Cubs in the 80s. I met him after his career was over at my friends annual Halloween party.
Dagstead Bumwood
(3,524 posts)For obvious reasons. Who amongst the Bengals did you know? I once met Kenny Anderson when he was opening a Menard's store, nicest guy ithe world.
I once was close to Paul Newman at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was Carburation Day and I was in waking through Gasoline Alley, and he and Rick Mears appeared. Shook Ric's hand, but Paul turned to talk to someone. Probably best that I didn't talk to him, I would have been all Chris Farley with him.
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luvs2sing
(2,220 posts)Pete Johnson, Chris Bahr, Marvin Cobb, a few others Im not recalling now. Yeah, Ken Anderson was a really nice guy. It was a different world back then.
Ive managed to meet a lot of fairly famous people, especially people in music through my husband, because I have the ability to not act like Im star struck. I once had a wonderful, long conversation with Vince Gill without even knowing who he was. Heck of a nice guy!
I did go a little fangirl when I met Connie Smith, who has been my favorite country singer since I was five. And I declined a chance to meet Rosanne Cash after a show because I was so moved by the show that I knew Id sob all over her.
wasupaloopa
(4,516 posts)While waiting at the refreshment stand I started a conversation with a tall thin guy next to me.
I said you look like a baseball player. He said he played professional baseball in the past. I asked what team and he said Cincinnati.
I told him I was from Dayton and was a Reds fan most of my life. He said I would not know who he was. I asked him what was his name and he said Bill Bonham.
I told him I remember seeing him pitch in Cincinnati.
I made his day. He got a big smile on his face.
a kennedy
(29,462 posts)House of Roberts
(5,120 posts)He was a first baseman for the Oakland A's in 1972 and had the World Series trophy in a special display at his trophy shop.
ProfessorGAC
(64,413 posts)PBA Hall of Famer Jim Stefanich drilled my first bowling ball.
Many years later, I played golf with he and his wife Pam at the course I played at a few times. His wife was the younger sister of a guy I bowled against in tournaments in HS
House of Roberts
(5,120 posts)The PBA held a tour stop here in Huntsville in the summer of 1968, and I was waiting for Stefanich to arrive from the airport, to get his autograph. I got it between his car and the front door of the bowling center, followed him inside, and watched him warm up for the pro-am, and bowl a 267 in the first game. I was 11 and it was the most awesome thing I ever saw in person at a bowling event.
ProfessorGAC
(64,413 posts)Played a couple years on Sr tour.
The course where I first broke 70 was where he held the course record at 9 under!
luvs2sing
(2,220 posts)His mother was a court reporter in Cleveland, and her best work friend was the wife of Luke Easter. The Easters spent a lot of time with my husbands family so he got to know Luke well. My husband has a baseball from one of the All-Star games that Luke gave him, autographed by Joe DiMaggio among others. Luke was murdered in a robbery in 1979, but his children attended my mother-in-laws funeral in 2014.
a kennedy
(29,462 posts)mopinko
(69,804 posts)isaiah thomas. had his autograph on his graduation program.
also, the 2 of us were at the last night at comisky park. we had a bunch of fireworks shell fragments.
safeinOhio
(32,527 posts)basketball games with Buba Smith.
Guilded Lilly
(5,591 posts)while I was waiting for my big brother to meet my flight-or is that way too common an occurrence .
If so, how about André Agassi helping me pick out a tee-shirt for my then 4 year old daughter from the Sonesta Beach Resort gift shop during the 1990 Key Biscayne (then the Lipton International) tournament?
(My family crossed paths with Agassi for several years while we followed the non-Grand Slam tennis circuit and he was always a complete and total gentleman and very kind to my young son and daughter)
a kennedy
(29,462 posts)so happy to hear hes a good guy.
dawg day
(7,947 posts)If genetics control, these ought to be the greatest tennis players ever.
Of course, they'll probably all rebel and become French horn players.
Guilded Lilly
(5,591 posts)dawg day
(7,947 posts)So disobedient.
Brother Buzz
(36,212 posts)a kennedy
(29,462 posts)Brother Buzz
(36,212 posts)SCantiGOP
(13,856 posts)in a bar fight.
He asked me not to tell anyone.
OilemFirchen
(7,143 posts)Morgan Fairchild nudged me awake to tell me all about it.
OilemFirchen
(7,143 posts)After they retired, my mom and late stepfather included in their travels an annual trip to French Lick, Indiana. One year, while bowling, they met Larry Bird and ended up spending the rest of the day with him. After that, until they were unable to travel, they would let him know when they were planning a trip there and he would always arrange to get together with them.
As for me, I went to high school with Edwin Moses.
dawg day
(7,947 posts)Baked Potato
(7,733 posts)Talked to Al Lewis, Grandpa Munster, at a Phoenix baseball card show 2000ish. He was sitting by himself behind the Convention Center smoking a cigar. I said Hi and thanks for all the laughs. He said have a good day and take it easy.
sprinkleeninow
(20,133 posts)On a plane to LA with John Ritter. Smiled as he passed by to take his seat. 😍
tblue37
(64,979 posts)dawg day
(7,947 posts)I hope you'll say, "Ball control" and not "history of the French Revolution". <G>
tblue37
(64,979 posts)Gooden: just "Introduction to Poetry."
Permanut
(5,436 posts)Wayne Cooper, Jerome Kersey, Clyde Drexler and Kevin Duckworth got on my elevator at Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, on the way to visit the kids. I'm 6 foot 2, and that was the first and last time I was the shortest person on the elevator.
pangaia
(24,324 posts)brewens
(13,393 posts)guy you had to hold under 20 points in basketball if you hoped to win.
dawg day
(7,947 posts)that he took his lesser sport... to the Super Bowl.
brewens
(13,393 posts)high school varsity team so we didn't play against him. Our jr high was a three year school as was our high school. His high school was a four year school. They could put freshmen on our high school team but they never did. We had a couple wrestlers with the high school team at times though.
He was a pretty good QB I think, but that didn't matter against us. We had a freakish junior high football team and he didn't stand a chance.
sprinkleeninow
(20,133 posts)Awright. This prolly don't count...
Guilded Lilly
(5,591 posts)dawg day
(7,947 posts)Okay, it was a big awards dinner, and there were 200 others. But he gave me his autograph and listened patiently as I listed a few of his great accomplishments. (A fan here.
That's about it. Oh, Larry Bird bumped into me once at a Pacers game. He really does always look grumpy, in case anyone thought he actually was hiding a warm congenial nature. (But he did apologize.)
RGinNJ
(1,018 posts)It was at the Detroit auto show in the Late 70's.
Runningdawg
(4,494 posts)redstateblues
(10,565 posts)applegrove
(118,011 posts)anything. I always go blank with anxiety around famous people amongst others.
FuzzyRabbit
(1,958 posts)and I went to an exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum many years ago.
Well, we didn't go together, but I noticed that he was in line behind me as we walked past the paintings. The exhibit was paintings by Jacob Lawrence. Lawrence was considered to be one of America's best artists and one of my favorite artists.
yonder
(9,631 posts)Last edited Thu Sep 19, 2019, 01:09 PM - Edit history (1)
was my Judo instructor. This would've been about 1968. He was a member of the 1964 US Olympic Judo team which was the first year Judo became an Olympic sport. I think former Democrat but switched Republican Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell was on that team also.
For anyone that asks who?, Sensei Harris was a soft-spoken, kind, gentle giant who deservedly earned much respect, both on and off the mat. I'm glad to have known him those many years ago.
For Sensei Harris, you helped shape my life:
Buzz cook
(2,470 posts)Grandpa was the team captain of the high school team but never made it past the minor leagues.
https://calltothepen.com/2017/07/25/baseball-history-hugh-bedient-strikes-42-batters/
Justitia
(9,316 posts)Had dinner in a private home with David Robinson, we had a mutual friend. I watched him eat an insane amount of lasagna.
Baseball player Jack Clark was my neighbor & our sons were good friends.
Justitia
(9,316 posts)Bird's wife was his co-worker.
kozar
(2,029 posts)at the time and went out for a couple drinks after work to a place called Bob Gibson's. was 330 or so in afternoon,very quiet and lo and behold HOF pitcher Bob Gibson sat down with us and bought our drinks. I got to try on his WS ring!
Koz
Cartoonist
(7,297 posts)As a kid, I stood in line to get Bobby Hull's autograph on a 8x10 glossy. I had a very brief conversation with him about curved blades on hockey sticks.
snowybirdie
(5,190 posts)called me to apologize for keeping hubby out all night bar hopping. And to not worry, he was sleeping at his place!
underpants
(182,271 posts)I had, at one point, several sets of autographs from pretty much all the Cincinnati Reds players. I don't know if we knew someone or if we just knew where to go but I remember on several occasions standing in a parking garage and all of them coming out of the elevator. Morgan Concepcion Griffey Foster and yes Pete Rose. Bench was rare because he probably was still in the ice tub or meeting with Sparky. At least 4 sets of signatures from some array of them.
They were all really gracious. I remember maybe 20 people - kids and parents - who would wait on this one level of a parking garage. Seeing Pete Rose, to me, was like being in the presence of God as a 5-7 year old.
We left Ohio in 1975 and we moved a lot. I ended up throwing the signatures away somewhere along the way. They were just memories to me and there really wasn't a market for them or they weren't a "thing" so
nitpicker
(7,153 posts)https://nursing.indiana.edu/about/news-events/newsletters/bloomington/2018-winter/remembering-dr-anita-aldrich.html
(a leading physical educator of the day at Indiana University)
((who might be spinning in her grave about all the desk fries and couch potatoes letting their fingers doing the walking...))
Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)Jerry Glanville and some of his players and coaches asked for a ride on our boat when we pulled up to the Omni in downtown Miami for more beer (they were in town for a game). Took them around Biscayne Bay. He then sent us a box of Houston Oiler swag.
I used to see Don Shula at church sometimes. He went every day. I went sometimes.
Auggie
(31,060 posts)and Franklin Muili (former majority owner of the Golden State Warriors). Also with Harris Barton and Keena Turner (49ers), and Chris Mullen (Warriors).
A variety of advertising projects TV and print. Lots of fun.
On edit: Forgot I once sold a Coke to Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
JonLP24
(29,322 posts)If no one knows who he is he was a lineman for Nebraska and Arizona Cardinals.
Outside of that I got autographs from the 19997 Cardinals team.
ProfessorGAC
(64,413 posts)Got Ernie Banks' autograph on 2 occasions when I was a kid. Neither time was at the ballpark. I still have those baseballs.
Even better for me; my dad was a loyal Buick guy, but was mad at the local dealer, so we drove to Harvey IL to Bauer Buick.
While there, I saw a salesman's picture, and was flummoxed. Told dad "There's a sales guy here named Billy Williams, and he looks just Billy from the Cubs" (Billy was my fave player for nearly my whole youth)
Dad told me that was Billy. But he wasn't there
When we went back the next week, Billy was there and had volunteered to entertain me while my parents did all the paperwork. He sat me at his desk and talked baseball with me for around 20 minutes. Signed a picture of himself in uniform. Unfortunately, that pic got lost somewhere in parents' house. They're both long dead, so no finding it now.
Last one, was I bumped into BJ Armstrong at the China Club. Just said hi, and thanks for his contributions to a great team. He invited wife & I to his VIP table for a couple drinks. Extremely pleasant guy, as was his wife (might have been fiancée at the time)
twogunsid
(1,606 posts)...I've met and talked with Jimmy Johnson, Michael Irvin, Gino Torreta, Benny Blades and many more. Also, I known several horse trainers that would be considered famous in both the Harness and Flat racing games.
a kennedy
(29,462 posts)GaYellowDawg
(4,443 posts)One was a first-round NFL draft pick and is currently a commentator on ESPN. Another student was an Olympic gold medalist. I also met Boomer Esiason and Anthony Munoz when I was a hotel front desk clerk. They were in town for a charity golf tournament. Munoz was great. Esiason was a prick. I also literally ran into Garrison Hearst (UGA and 49ers RB) at a Georgia spring football game. He bounced right off of me (I weighed about 330 at the time). Never seen someone look so surprised.