Who are some sports figures you met in your lifetime....

[giantfan121262]

and what was your impression of them?

 

[milagros317]

This year in Vero Beach, at spring training, I spoke with John Shelby, a former centerfielder for the Dodgers. The incident is related here:
http://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=41900
I'll let you form your own impression of him from the converstation, but I liked his style of humor.

The greatest sports figure that I ever met was also at Vero Beach, back in March of 1988. He was (in what Bill James calls peak value) the greatest left-handed pitcher there has ever been. His name is Sandy Koufax.

He was quiet, unassuming, and serious about his work, which was then teaching pitching to young players. He treated everyone with respect. When he was done working for the day, he spent an hour signing autographs for everybody there who wanted one. My impression of him is that he is fine and decent human being.

 

[giantfan121262]

I remember that thread where you talked about meeting Shelby. It looks like he was very selective on who he values as a fan. I remember that game you were talking about where the Mets and Dodgers were playing. That was the turning point of the series. If the Dodgers lost that game the Mets would have had a commanding 3-1 lead. turns out, the Dodgers win and go on to win it all.

Meeting Koufax must have been a treat. Being a die hard Dodger fan and to meet the best Dodger in their history would be a dream come true for and Dodger fan.

I had the pleasure of meeting Catfish Hunter back in 1977. He was signing autographs with Ron Guidry in Hermans in the Garden State Plaza. He was probably the greatest sports figure I ever met. My impression of him was that he was reserved but was very friendly and had a real good sense of humor. Very self depreciating so it made you feel more comfortable to talk to him. He wanted to relate to the fans and his way (which I thought was the right way) was that he wanted to make you feel like you were talking to a regular person rather than a star on a pedestal (which he was in his own right). When I read his obituary, I only wish that I could hear some of the stories he spun with his teammates. He sounded like a lot of fun to be around.

 

[Mitchell]

I've met several, but the most notable and exciting one for me was Willie Mays. I was in Atlantic City with my parents and a friend in the 80s, and he was a PR man/greeter for the hotel we stayed at. He came over to shake our hands, and we chatted for a bit. Really nice guy. Another thrill, as I've posted on here, was when I got into the Braves clubhouse at Shea in 1984 before a Mets-Braves game, and got to shake Dale Murphy's hand and get an autograph. He was my idol at the time, and he looked larger than life to a shrimpy 14 year old with his 6 foot five inch frame. Murph was a fantastic guy, and great to meet. As I said, I have met other sports figures in my life, but those two meetings were most exciting for me.

Mitch

 

[Moses25]

Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe.

The Great One actually has a bit of an attitude problem, with which I was suprised...

Gordie Howe, however, is the nicest, strongest man you'd ever want to meet. He is the epitome of what Canadians strive to become...

...and he could kick Tron's ass. 😛

Relax, T-man, you know I like to pull your leg. 🙂

Cheers.😀

 

[Mimi]

Dale Earnhardt Sr, Rusty Wallace, Bobby Allison, Ted Musgrave, Matt Kennseth, Dick Trickle (he is from my hometown...his house is just 2 blocks down the street), and both Scott Wimmer and the entire Sauter family (Jay, Jimmy, Tim) are friends of my family. My family is seriously into racing, as am I, so most of the sporting events I have attended thus far have been racing events. Several of the current Winston Cup drivers also spent their rookie years here in central Wisconsin, so we got to know them on a personal basis before they were well known on the racing circuit.

Aside from race car drivers, I have met two wrestlers as well. One is Billy Kidman, and the other was known as Sickboy in WCW. They were both very friendly and sat and signed autographs and posed for pictures for about an hour before heading into the arena.

Oh, yeah...there was that other wrestler too I've met. "Xtreme" was the name he went by, I believe. Whoo-boy what a doll THAT one was. Picked me up in the company car, took me to dinner, then back to his place for a night of tickling and passion. *fans self* Won't likely forget that hunk anytime soon. 😀 😉 😛

Mimi

 

[the_Baron]

during the days that i followed CART indy racing, i was an autograph junkie. my fav was emerson fittipaldi. i also met al unser jr; michael and mario andretti; raul boisel; paul tracey and adrian fernandez.

as a devils' season ticklet holder i met a bunch of the players and took photos with them: martin brodeur; scott stevens; stephane richet and steve thomas.

i loved meeting all of them. what impressed me most was their conviction to the job - it was work for them despite it being a fascination for us.

 

[tommytikl]

I played car racing video games at "Dave n' Busters" in Philly with Jon Runyan(HE IS TALL) and L.J. Smith of the Philadelpia Eagles.
My friend and I were getting ready to sit down and play a car driving game and they strolled by and said "hey, can we join you" and blabbled something about "sure"...
So we played about 3 games of California Cruisin' with those guys and they bought a round of beers for my friend and I.
Great guys!!!
And Jon Runyan again is TALL and BIG!!! WOW...He barely fit in the thing!

 

[Krokus]

I really have only met 2 big names in sports. Troy Aikman and George Foreman.

 

[TicklishSinner]

Travis Lee, Tony Gywn...thats it for me, but i wanna marry travis lee and tony gywn was the coolest guy ever

 

[Limeoutsider]

as a devils' season ticklet holder i met a bunch of the players and took photos with them: martin brodeur; scott stevens; stephane richet and steve thomas.

I hate you 🙂

 

[shooter]

After a lifetime of waiting...i finally met Joe Montana at a benefit in Toledo a couple of years ago...He was great to listen to and to speak with one on one at the end of the event.

 

[desdemona]

Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Boomer Esiason, Ken Anderson

Can you guess where I live?🙄

I've seen all them at one time or another at charity events or autograph signings. I admire each for their versatility. Bench was my all time favorite Reds back when there was a Big Red machine (for those who remember what that was...).

Pete...well, he's an athelete pure and simple. Probably not many brain cells left upstairs after so many dye jobs (why red at his age for Pete's sake...no pun intended). But dodging the bullet...er...question about did he or didn't he bet on the Reds when he coached is sooooo yesterday's news. I still think he deserves his day in the Hall of Fame with the records he set during his career.

As for our poor Bengals...well, both of them made it to a Super Bowl (at least I think Esiason did...I know Kenny did). That's more than we can even hope for nowadays. Ken A. is/was a lawyer here locally. He attempted to coach for the Bengals, but I don't think it was ever his calling. Boomer is very involved with CF charities on behalf of his son. Nice guys.

 

[giantfan121262]

Good responses

I find it interesting when you come in contact with somebody famous.

As far as Gretzky goes, despite all the stuff he accomplished in his career, I still remember the time he called the Devils a Micky Mouse team. Granted they sucked at the time, but it was just not right.

Gordie Howe: He amazed me just by playing such a physical game for as long as he did. He must have been strong to withstand all that punishment.

Not too much into auto racing but there are a few guys I would have liked to have met to talk to them about the sport from their prospective. Andretti, Unser, Ernhardt.

I really like what the Devils have done over the years. Two guys that stick out in my mind of who I want to meet from that organization is Jim Schonfeld and Lou Lamerillo. Scxhonfeld b/c he was the man who taught them how to win and Lou for bringing in the right players.

Tommy, I can't believe that Runyan made it in one of those things. I barely make it in those cars. He is definitely bigger than me.

As far as the Reds, I could do without Rose. I hate the man with a passion. Bench I wouldn't mind meeting though. Boomer IS a nice guy. I know he grew up in Long Island (not too far from where I lived) and he comes back to this area quite a bit. Getting involved with the CF on Gunnars behalf is a very honorable thing he is doing. He works tirelessly in trying to improve awareness and find options. Ken Anderson was always a low key guy who (obviously) still has his scruples from all the hits he has taken.

Keep them coming!!

 

[giantfan121262]

I told you about the greatest person I met in Catfish Hunter, but the COOLEST time I ever experienced was when I met Willie Randolph

I was about 13 at the time and in summer baseball camp. Every once in a while, the coached arrange a player from the Yankees ot the Mets to come and give a little clinic and talk to the campers. Well, Willie came. He was actually closer to our age than the coaches so I think b/c of that he related better to us. Anyway, the day started by him giving a clinic about turning the piviot on the double play. He was really good at explaining it and alot of the kids picked it up (including me and I was NEVER a second baseman in my baseball life). When we broke for lunch, he decided to sit with the kids rather than the coaches. We were all like dumbfounded by surprise. The best was in the PM after lunch. The coach was one captain and he was the other. I was picked to play on Randolphs team. I remember in that game going 5 for 6. Hit two homers, two doubles, and a single. My only out was a fly ball to center which carried about 320 feet (not bad for a 13 year old). After the game, he grabbed me and told me "See you in about 10 years".

As much I would hate to see him leave the Yankees, I think he deserves a chance to manage in the majors. I know how good he is at teaching baseball and I can see him relating well to the players with his laid back, congenial personality. Come to think of it, that could be the problem, ironically.

 

[CurtWild]

lets see......

in the middle of the 93-94 season i met Alex Kovalev and Sergei Nemchinov at a signing thingy.They both seemed pretty cool.

94-95 season i met Pat Verbeek(sp?) and Nicklas Sundstrom....got to shake Pats wifes hand(he hurt his shoulder.both were friendly.

last year i went to a mall on LI and saw Mark Parrish and Mike Peca at the Islander team store.the signing was over and Parrish and his unbelievably hot wife were still in the store but Peca was leaving.there were a few people who stopped him and asked for autographs so i went up to him shook his hand and wished him a speedy recovery(still had the bad knee).he was cool

btw....don`t tell any of my fellow Ranger fans i said that...might get kicked out of the club.

 

[tommytikl]

Re: Good responses

I find it interesting when you come in contact with somebody famous.

Tommy, I can't believe that Runyan made it in one of those things. I barely make it in those cars. He is definitely bigger than me.


Keep them coming!!

I was amazed he fit too...but he did!

 

[giggleygirl25]

i've met a few former buffalo bills players: Ray Bentley,Fred Smerlas,Rob Riddick,Larry Killebrew(at least i think that was his name...it was like 15 or so years ago) and Mark Kelso...they were all very nice guys especially Ray, he signed a kid's book he wrote with another buffalo bill about a dinosaur...it was really cool to meet them.

 

[Knox The Hatter]

"I've met several, but the most notable and exciting one for me was Willie Mays. I was in Atlantic City with my parents and a friend in the 80s, and he was a PR man/greeter for the hotel we stayed at. He came over to shake our hands, and we chatted for a bit. Really nice guy."

Ya broke my heart, Mitch! 😀

 

[giantfan121262]

Most of my encounters have been good ones. However, I will share one that wasn't so good. One night some friends and I went out drinking in 1985. We were sitting at our table and the waitress told us that Rickey Henderson was sitting two tables. One of my friends got the nerve to walk over to say "Hi" and he just totally blew him off. Acted like a jerk in the process. BY that time, any inspiration I managed to muster went right out the window.

As the night went on the waitress was getting more cranky so I asked her if she was OK. She begins to tell me that Henderson was busting her chops all night. He would complain there wasn't enough alcohol in his drink, he would bitch that there wasn't enough ice in his drink, he would ask what took so long over and over again. By that time he had to be getting pretty loaded so he was running up a hefty bar tab. When he went to settle up his tab, he only left the waitress a $2.00 tip. A $2.00 tip on a $150 bar bill, how big of him. The waitress was practically in tears. He was that relentless. When I saw him leave, I just wanted to punch the guy right in the face.

From that time on, I never rooted for him again at anything- whether it would be an individual acheivement or a World Series title (the only exception I made was when he was with the Mets in 1999. Turns out he had no impact anyway. He was playing cards in the clubhouse. What a team player 🙄

 

[pgt1400]

In the 90's I met the great Gayle Sayers when I was living in the Chicago area as well as NFL greats Daryl Lamonica...aka the Mad Bomber of the old Oakland Raiders of the AFL days and QB Craig Morton of Dallas/Denver. Also, many Chicago Bears like Steve McMichael and Ex Bear QB and Eagle QB at the time Jim McMahon...he was a jerk. OJ Simpson before he was a murderer also in Chicago when he was still representing Hertz. And this past year many of the Philadelphia Eagles starters.

 

[Knox The Hatter]

I always thought that Rickey Henderson was the absolute lowest form of life on the planet. Thanks for the affirmation.

 

[R. Davis]

I've met Tommy Hearnes once, seems like a nice guy!

 

[Ticklebell]

Oy, I don't follow sports. All i know is I hate the Yankees (well, I hate Derek Jeter. Bah!) and I get very excited about the Red Sox.

A few years ago, one of the San Diego Chargers was looking into buying my family's house. Dunno which one. He left a cute smart-assed message on my door about my messy room though. I was embarassed in a special way.

When I was I think 7 or 8 years old, I was at a Padres game (one of 2 baseball games i've ever attended, though I see the lights and hear the crowd at Fenway Park frommy dorm window... along with Bruce Springsteen concerts one weekend. Sweet.), and I was in the tunnel where the players come out before the game (I was there to sing the national anthem) and Tony Gwyn stopped and introduced himself and picked me up and hugged me. I was unimpressed. Had no idea who he was, and I was really shy. Oh well. Mwah!

-Bell

 

[giantfan121262]

I always thought that Rickey Henderson was the absolute lowest form of life on the planet. Thanks for the affirmation.

Yes he is!! Where is he now? Playing for the Newark Bears?