I am on the "Philanthropy Committee" for the interns here at the TOYOTA plant in Indiana, and today we had an event where we worked with the local Habitat for Humanity chapter at a subdivision in nearby Evansville where they are building. After our shift they were having a dedication for a recently finished house in the neighborhood, so my wife and I went over to see it. It turns out that the house was sponsored by none other than the Jerry and Bobbye Sloan Foundation, and guess who was there to give the key to the new owners? That's right - good old Jerry. Imagine me going up there covered in sweat and little bits of grass seed and straw (we had been seeding and laying straw in the neighborhood all morning) to shake his hand, in my beloved Pistons ringer tee. Jerry was real nice and laid back. I was up there on the porch with a few other interns, and he was asking us where we go to college and such (he ribbed me a little about the Pistons shirt and thought it was funny that I go to BYU in Utah of all places). One of the funny things he said was when one of the interns told him he goes to Georgia Tech, he told us how he has a player who went there (Matt Harpring), and then, with a laugh, he goes, "That is the most spoiled player you will ever meet." I think he was just joking around. I found out that Sloan went to college at U of Evansville, and now he pays his daughter to run the foundation out of his pocket so that money from the foundation's donations aren't taken out of to pay for the director's salary. Real classy guy. Cool, huh? I thought this could be a good thread to share stories of famous (or infamous, hehe) people we have met. Or even of noteworthy non-celebrities we know.
Sloan looks like he'd be fun to talk to. His interviews w/ the media are always entertaining for the most part. I guess I'll share, although this is not someone I was exactly "happy" to have met I live in NYC, and one of my friends is a bouncer at a club/lounge. I was out with a few people, and we went there just to say hi/keep him company for a minute. He works the "VIP" entrance, and i was waiting for him to be done with whatever he was doing, and realized i was standing right across from none other than nutjob Ron Artest. He was in town because he was opening for some rapper i forget the name of, and he had this huge entourage of scary, sorta grimy looking guys. He started talking to me and we had like a random 10 min conversation. He was surprisingly nice. He actually said Hi I'm Ron Artest LOL. He started talking about his album, and how he plays in the NBA and asked me if i was a fan of basketball (I said i was but i didn't say i loved the Pistons for obvious reasons). He asked if the club was "hot" and my name/if I'm from here. Then he told me he liked my dress and asked me (and my friends) if we wanted go up to VIP with him (at least that's what i think he was trying to ask). The whole thing was slightly unnerving. He's huge in person; not just height wise, but he's built like a tank. He looked alot bigger than i expected; kinda the same thing people say when they meet BW in person. I made up some excuse, i don't remember what, but I'm pretty sure what he was implying was not something i was interested in. He gave me a # where i could reach him which i promptly deleted b/c i know enough crazy people. Anyway, my bouncer friend said he ended up taking his shirt off ? for some reason in the club, and walked around like that all night dancing with random women, himself, etc. It was a strange encounter. He's odd. I mean he's charismatic, and surprisingly articulate but you can just tell the lights aren't all the way on up there.
It is amazing how huge pro athletes are in person. I recently played golf with an NFL punter and even he was a monster live. On the flip side, it is usually equally amazing how tiny actors and other celebs are when you see them in person. It must be really weird when Tom Cruise sees Ron Artest at the club.
Wow. Some athletes are soooo creepy. I wish you saved his number though. It would be funny to crank call him.
When I was in college (U of Mich, 1957), we had a sports banquet and I had the responsibility of introducing our guest speaker who was Sid Able. I got to sit next to him for dinner and then do my introduction. He was a real class person (a Canadian with the "aboot" accent). On of life's great memories!!
I should've, although i think it was the number of a hotel w/ an extension. I could only imagine what Artest's response to a prank call would be . . .
He probably would have run downstairs to the hotel lobby and started beating the #@$% out of the first person he saw talking on a telephone.
Went to the Buick Open this year and while walking the grounds I noticed a guy I recognized standing in the back leaning up against a tree. After thinking about it a few minutes I realized it was Jon Kitna from the Lions. He was at the Open with his son.
These are the ones I can remember that I spoke with at least a tad : Lou Whittaker, Jack Legoff (super nice guy), Mickey Redmond (jerk), Gabe Kaplan (Welcome Back Kotter), Jim Northrup (jerk), Jack Mccloskey, Denny Mcclain, Jim Price (nice), Ben Poquette, Alan Hardy, George Gervin (I think), Vinnie Johnson, Ted Lindsey, Eric Montross (nice), Junk yard dog (nice), Ernie Harwell (nice), Lem Barney (nice), Jim Harrington (jerk), Stu Klitenik. None of them would remember me although I would imagine there is a certain ex-professional quarterback who might remember my wife.
About 5 years ago I had a part-time job as a store clerk at KB Toys in Chesterfield. My boss Perry used to be a manager at a clothing store somewhere. I remember him telling me that one day his boss came up to him and said that Chuck Daly had just walked in and that Perry should give him a free pair of shoes or pants or something (the details are a little fuzzy). Anyway, he did, and was real excited to meet Chuck, but he told me that Daly was a major arse and totally full of himself, like he walked around with this sense of entitlement. Anyone heard anything like that about Chuck?
These are probably my most memorable encounters: I met Magic Johnson in downtown Lansing back in the late 80's one afternoon. My friend and I just ran into him and he started talking to us like we were his best friends. Extremely friendly and nice. Last summer, my son and I ran into Curtis Granderson walking into a pre-season Lions game. Curtis walked with us for about a block, signed a few autographs, and chatted with us. Very positive guy, full of smiles, and very nice. A long time ago, Al Kaline was in my town watching his son play in a baseball tournament. I had him sign an Al Kaline baseball card that I collected. I probably should have kept that card....
I have met some Pistons under controlled conditions at the Palace. I say controlled since they were all public functions. There used to be an extra function that season ticket holders could particiate in called the backcourt club. They cancelled it once the team started winning and they did not have to worry about keeping their holders happy. Anyway. This took place on select Fridays right after the game where a select bench player or semi-starter would come in after the game and mix with the fans. All the players were cordial but you could tell which ones were going through the motions and which ones actually wanted to be there. Few that stood out. Most friendly was Eric Montross ( 7' backup center he had back in the teal days ) . He really made that night. After his required speal and autograph session he stuck around and joked around with the fans. Very approachable and genually nice guy. He made his exit by pretending to run off with someones leather coat. The mood was already upbeat since the team actually won that night, he made it one of the best. Another nice guy was Memhet Okur. Very approachable and really seemed to care. Most charasmatic were Darvin Ham and Michael Curry. Most players chose not to give speaches but those 2 did and they were very good ones. Greg Kelser was another who stood out but not at that function. He once attended a before the season kickoff event that they do every year for all holders. Very approachable and he would stay engaged in the conversation for as long as you wanted him to. Thats about all I have. I am sure there are others worth mentioning that I did not notice. Never been to type to approach a celeberity in public, that is if I ever actually see one.
Interesting, either was here or another forum that somebody mentioned that eric was a real jerk to them, just goes to show you can't judge a person by one meeting.
I mentioned him earlier, but I felt the same way as Max. My friend met him on a plane and he agreed to do this charity thing where I worked at the time. Very down to earth and brought Pistons hats and other stuff. Great guy.
I am always skeptical of fan accounts like that because you don't know the circumstances behind it. Maybe the guy was a jerk to him and Monross was reacting.
