Most everyone has had some type of encounter with a pro athlete, be it by choice or by accident. I thought it would be really interesting to hear more stories of your interactions with the jockocracy. So I am challenging the Mondesi Nation to use the comment section and share some of your experiences.
Sometimes meeting a player in person can really change how you see them. For instance, after my dealings with Yancey Thigpen, which you can read below, I found it very hard to root for the guy in the future.
Personally, I've had the opportunity to meet a number of players over the years, through work or by chance. I'll kick-start this topic with a few of my stories:
Gordie Howe: I attended the 1990 NHL All Star Skills Competition with my family. We were lucky enough to be sitting in a box that night, and on our way back from the restroom, my dad swore he saw Gordie enter a neighboring box nearby. He knocked on the box door and an older woman answered. He asked if that was really Gordie Howe entering the box, because his sons didn't believe him. The woman replied, "I should know, he is my husband!". Mrs. Howe grabbed Gordie, told him he had visitors, and he quickly appeared and put my brother and I in headlocks. He then signed our programs. Couldn't have been cooler.
Ben Howland and Barry Rohrssen: Now the current head basketball coaches at UCLA and Manhattan, I had lunch with them at a high school basketball banquet in 2000 when they were both coaching at Pitt. Howland definitely has a presence, you'd want to run through a wall after listening to one of his speeches. Both were nice guys.
Dan Marino: Actually met him twice at corporate events in the late 1990s. Very friendly, signed a ton of autographsDerek Bell: Saw him dancing at Donzi's while he was on the DL in 2001. More or less a completely surreal experience.
Frank Thomas: Met him outside a White Sox game in the player's lot in 1993, along with Bo Jackson and Robin Ventura. All were very nice and signed multiple autographs.
Joe Montana: I had heard plenty of horror stories about Joe, but I had the opportunity to work with him at a 2002 YMCA event at Southpointe. He was being honored by his local YMCA at a black tie dinner, and I was in charge of the auction at the event. He was actually very nice, held a small press conference for local media, and posed for a picture with me. Unfortunately, the laptop which held that priceless photo was destroyed by a tragic Diet Pepsi spill.
Mario Lemieux: The ultimate pro, time and time again. Held his elevator door open to sign my Penguins jersey at a game in 1994.
Mark Bruener: Came out to our store in his rookie season of 1995 for a charity signing. Signed for every last person in line, then had a sandwich with us and signed a stack of rookie cards for me while he was eating. Very well-spoken, intelligent guy, will probably be on TV or radio someday.
Tim Wakefield: Had him at our store for an autograph signing in 1992, right after the NLCS when he really burst upon the scene. Raised a lot of cash for charity, but refused to show anyone how to grip a knuckleball.
Troy Polamalu: Very quiet, but nice. I was in attendance at his first private memorabilia signing after the Super Bowl, and he was overwhelmed with what he was expected to sign. Looking at this picture, you can imagine why he might feel that way.
Yancey Thigpen: Probably the worst experience I've ever had with an athlete. We had him booked for an autograph signing in December, 1997 on a Friday night. He was supposed to sign from 7-8:30 for the public, then we would get him for the last half hour to sign items we were going to sell after the appearance, to offset the cost of having him there.
He shows up a half hour late at 7:30, then he wants to leave at 8....he said he had important things to do (translation: party). After being told that he had to sign for the rest of the people in line, he would not look up for photos and generally acted like a boob. Once the public portion was over, it was time for the private part. He took one look at our items and proclaimed he would not sign them.
His booking agent was in full damage control mode and promised that if we packed up all the photos, mini helmets, jerseys, and cards, Yancey would sign them and they would send them back to us. Not only did we never get the items back signed, we never got them back, PERIOD! And then the number of the booking agent went dead.
So that should hopefully get you started and trigger your memory bank...I'm looking forward to some interesting posts from the Mondesi faithful.
