"I Met a Famous Person and Here's My Story" Thread

[The Artful Dodger]

Another time a buddy and I had seats right behind home plate at Skydome for a game against the Mariners. It was a close game and Billy Koch came out to close it. My friend started talking smack to Mark McLemore in the ondeck circle asking him if an old man like him could hit a 100mph fastball. Mark got pissed and turned around and said that he could hit it over the fence. Well he got up and hit a hundred mph fastball and cleared the bases with a triple or a double. He later came in to score and pointed to my friend and said "that was for you". My friend yelled back "You didn't hit a homer. You said that you were going to hit a homer. " The Jays lost.

Ha, brilliant story. I wish I had a like-for-like story, but about 10+ years ago, my friends and I were sitting in the first row of the LF bleachers at Dodger Stadium, directly behind Cliff Floyd. For 6 innings or so, my friends kept heckling Floyd until he looked back and gave us the finger. About 10 minutes later, everyone of my crew but myself were booted from the game. I wasn't completely innocent either as I threw in a couple of insults myself, but I wasn't raining down the kind of insults the other guys were. Luckily I was the one driving and they couldn't leave without me.

A couple of months before that, I was taking driving lessons in preparation for my driver's license. I drove to Manhattan Beach to pick up the next student, as my lesson was ending. The instructor and I stopped in front of a swanky Spanish villa-designed house and some guy at the house told the instructor something to the effect of, "Michael's running a little late, he'll be here in a couple of minutes." A few minutes later, a Lincoln Navigator turns in the driveway and out comes a 7 footer with a track suit on, approaching the instructor with a handshake. I thought to myself, "this guy has to play basketball". Instead of driving the student driver car (a Saturn), Michael opted to have his driving lesson in the Navigator. So, I hitched a ride, needing to get back home and me being my introspective self, I was pretty much silent throughout.

A few minutes on the road and through some little chit-chat between Michael and the instructor, Michael was asked by the instructor as to what he does (not knowing who Michael was). Michael said, "I play basketball." Awkward silent pause. "I play pro basketball with the L.A. Clippers". Then, it dawned on me that the guy was Michael Olowokandi, center for the Clippers (and at the time, a rookie). So, then awestruck, I said, "You're the Candy Man!" and from the rear view mirror, he smiled, nodded, and said yes. The expression on his face was priceless, as if to say "Finally, you know who I am". Believe it or not, 'Kandi didn't have a driver's license prior to this (duh) and he was about 23-24 at the time, but figured that he needed to get one now, seeing how a car is basically the best way to get around SoCal. He was a cool guy and during the 20-30 minute ride home (side streets, no freeway), we talked all about basketball. Things like commenting on the Clippers' 30+ point rout of Utah a few nights before and how it's like to guard Shaq one-on-one. My father had/has the lousy habit of wrongly labeling me as a Clipper fan in jest, and when I told him Olowokandi drove me home, I didn't hear the end of it (of course, the Lakers are the team I only support).

[The Artful Dodger]

My last post would have been really, really long and so I decided to separate them, as I've had a number of run-ins with famous folks.

-The irony about the 'Kandi story is it's now me living in Manhattan Beach these days and it's not so odd to see someone famous living nearby. Luke Walton is about a block away and there's a house not too far down the coast in which Mark Cuban resides when the NBA season is over.

-Speaking of Cuban, I met him at a previous job a few years ago. He's taller and a bit bulkier than I would have perceived of him on TV, which took me by surprise. I was wearing a Celtic jersey that day (Celtic the soccer team, not the Boston Celtics) and he happened to take notice of it. He looked especially at the Carling sponsor and said something like, "Company sponsors on NBA team jerseys is a cool idea".

-I met Ashton Kutcher at work one time. He's an extremely quiet fella, for a guy I always tend to associate as a gregarious boob (i.e. That 70's Show).

-At my bachelor's graduation ceremony, my parents were chummy with Henry Winkler, who was sitting next to my father. When I was looking for my folks, they introduced me to The Fonz and we had a nice talk. Cool guy. New Mexico governor Bill Richardson's daughter was in the graduating class and in a mixer after the commencement ceremony, I got to meet the governor for a minute or so.

-I know Jimmy Kimmel through one of my best friends, who used to be a staffer for Jimmy Kimmel Live. I've hung out with Jimmy a couple of times and he's a great guy. A big-time reefer though and prior to meeting Jimmy, I stayed away from bud for 7-8 years. I can thank Jimmy Kimmel for breaking that streak. He's a pretty decent soccer fan and he's taken some good-natured jabs from me as far as Italy goes or being Italian for that matter. It's also through my friend and Jimmy that I've met Adam Carolla and Sarah Silverman (yum).

-A number of you know I support FC Barcelona (it's still in the blood) and I've met the team three times. In 2006, they were practicing at my alma mater (Loyola Marymount) and through some string pulling, I got to meet Ronaldinho, Messi, Puyol, Eto'o, etc. and they autographed some Barca paraphernalia I had. You might not know this, but I'm a Barcelona shareholder (so is my father and uncle), or what's called a penye in Catalan. When the team came back to L.A. last Summer, I got in on some local shareholder parties where I got to meet the team again on a more easygoing basis. This was a more gratifying time for me because I met one of my childhood heroes, Pep Guardiola.

-When Manchester United came to L.A., I also got to meet the team (Ruud van Nistelrooy, David Beckham, Juan Sebastian Veron , etc.). I've met Becks a few times because he holds an annual soccer academy in my hometown (it's also the home to Home Depot Center ) and sometimes, you'd see him at the local Starbucks. Somewhat shy, but approachable.

-A friend and I saw Kobe Bryant at a local Starbucks a few years back, in El Segundo (which is where the Lakers practice). Other Lakers I've met and talked to before are Michael Cooper (when he coached the Sparks, who practiced at Loyola Marymount), Magic Johnson, and James Worthy a few times.

-That reminds me. A friend and I were playing basketball at the campus rec center and just as we were finished, we saw Kevin Garnett walk by. Then, it was Wally Szcerbiak (sp?), followed by Latrell Sprewell and Troy Hudson. Yes, we saw the Minnesota Timberwolves practicing at our gym, before Game 6 of the 2004 Western Conference Finals. Once we knew who they were, we ran into Flip Saunders and I said to him "Good luck, but we're Laker fans and we want our boys to wrap it up". This game happened to be the Kareem Rush game where he broke out with a barrage of 3-pointers to help the Lakers advance. Kareem Rush's only moment of Laker glory, basically.

-I seldom play at the UCLA rec courts in the Summer, but if I do, odds are good I run into Baron Davis, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce. I get kind of sore about the sight of Pierce and KG, but Baron is a really cool guy. I told him that I pattern my game after him, being a point guard with a relatively husky body, and he gave some good tips.

-At the LA Auto Show about 9-10 years ago, I saw Troy Glaus, Jim Edmonds, and Garret Anderson in the Mercedes-Benz exhibition. I was in the driver's seat of an E-Class and Glaus sat shotgun. Me being the shy type in my teenage days, I just gave him a nod as if to say hello. I nodded back. When I got out of the car, I saw Edmonds and GA walking by.

-When I was a teenager, I studied at the original Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and from time to time, you could see the Gracies (Royce in his heyday too) sparring there.

-I used to play chess before on a scholastic level (don't laugh). My teacher was a master and he ran a nationally renowned club, Chess For Juniors in Orange County. Every now and then, he would have a celebrity student and one of them was Will Smith. He opted for private lessons either at home or on the set of the current movie he's filming, more often the latter. I was lucky to tag along for one lesson on the set of Enemy of the State and he was a really chill guy. The thing I remember mostly about him was him forking up $300 in cash to pay for one lesson. My teacher also instructed Nicolas Cage's son, but I didn't meet Nicolas Cage himself.

-I saw Paris Hilton at the Staples across the street from where I used to work. Why she was there, I'll never know, but when I saw the paparazzi surrounding the store, a few co-workers and I headed down there and sure enough, Paris was there.

-The only celebrity/athlete that I've met who I've disliked is John Salley, who happens to be a best buddy of one of my friends, as he worked as a staffer at Best Damn Sports Show. A few years ago through my friend, I got to attend a local sports awards dinner which Salley was co-MC'ing and during the dancing bit of the evening, he was miffed about folks' little kids dancing on the ballroom. He then got on the mic and basically said, "No little kids on the dance floor, please". The ironic thing was, when I quit from one of my prior jobs, Salley got a cushy job in that same company, which was bought out by one of Salley's best buddies. He's a moody fella, a trait I just don't like.

-My favorite celebrity sighting is Lemmy Kilmister, of Motorhead fame (the greatest band ever, of course). I see him regularly at the Rainbow on the Sunset Strip and normally, he's preoccupied with a beer and video poker, but he's a hoot to talk to.

Off the top of my head, those are the celebrity sightings that stand out the most.

[Munboy]

Garrison Hearst cards are worth money?

I have a couple rookie cards that were worth a couple bucks.

[joejlitz]

In DEC '05, my wife and I are flying back from Hawaii on a Red Eye through the LAX. It's 5:00 in the morning and we're walking to our next gate when I see this [insert appropriate PC word for what we used to just call midgets]. I take a closer look and realize it is the Wee Man from JackAss. We get to our gate and I tell my wife I am going to go confirm the sighting. She thinks I'm crazy, but whatever. It's 5 AM and we just got off a long plane ride. I walk by him and I'm sure it is him, so I go over to him and squat down to eye level (pretty rude of my when I think about it, but I didn't want to draw a lot of attention). Anyway, he is decked out in his finest clothes and has these designer eyeglasses on.

I ask him, "Hey man, you're him, aren't you?" And he looks at me and says, "Who?" And I say, "You know...the Wee Man!" He smiles real big and says, "Yeah!"

At that point, I felt stupid 'cause I had nothing else to say, so I just tell him, "That JackAss stuff is funny as hell." He thanks me and I walk away.

Lesson learned: I'm not approaching anymore famous people except maybe to get a picture - unless I really have something to say.

[Metroid]

In DEC '05, my wife and I are flying back from Hawaii on a Red Eye through the LAX. It's 5:00 in the morning and we're walking to our next gate when I see this [insert appropriate PC word for what we used to just call midgets]. I take a closer look and realize it is the Wee Man from JackAss. We get to our gate and I tell my wife I am going to go confirm the sighting. She thinks I'm crazy, but whatever. It's 5 AM and we just got off a long plane ride. I walk by him and I'm sure it is him, so I go over to him and squat down to eye level (pretty rude of my when I think about it, but I didn't want to draw a lot of attention). Anyway, he is decked out in his finest clothes and has these designer eyeglasses on.

I ask him, "Hey man, you're him, aren't you?" And he looks at me and says, "Who?" And I say, "You know...the Wee Man!" He smiles real big and says, "Yeah!"

At that point, I felt stupid 'cause I had nothing else to say, so I just tell him, "That JackAss stuff is funny as hell." He thanks me and I walk away.

Lesson learned: I'm not approaching anymore famous people except maybe to get a picture - unless I really have something to say.

I could have met Wee Man. He was hosting a party at a the Barracuda here in Portland where a good friend of mine GoGo dances. I guess she hung out with him for a while. The Cuda is just too much of a douche bag hang out for me though so I didn't go. They have burlesque shows there though, I have a couple friends that perform in the shows and I go to those. It's funny because they have these "artsy" burlesque shows from 10pm to midnight, and literally at 12:01 the place starts bumping bump and grind music and it fills up with greasy doucebags "making it rain" and whatnot.

[cardiac cats]

Went to high school with Ben Watson(of the patriots). He was a senior when I was a freshman, I believe.

Also went to high school with Jonathan Joseph(of the bengals). We were in the same grade and had a computer class together.

...and George Bush came to my high school during his campaign trail for a speach, or speech, or whatever

[Metroid]

Chris Issak went to my high school.

[joejlitz]

Chris Issak went to my high school.

Wicked Games has to be one of the all time sexiest videos ever!