5th Avenue
It might sound weird, but Kim Kardashian fascinates me. Don’t worry, I’ll try to explain.
This is what we know about Kim Kardashian: she is the daughter of the late attorney, Robert Kardashian, her claim to fame was a sex tape with R&B singer Ray J, her family has multiple reality television shows, she has dated Reggie Bush, Miles Austin, and is now engaged to Kris Humphries, she has very large…assets (which were revealed to be real on last Sunday’s episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians), and she has zero real skills.
She is a non-actor, non-singer, non-model, that happens to be the lead-dog of a family that pulled in an estimated 65 million dollars in 2010.
Fascinating.
I was asked on my personal blog whether I would rather meet Kim or Joe Mauer (well played, Mauer). If you think it’s a weird question, don’t worry; I think so too. But my answer is Kim Kardashian. I, a person that lives for sports, would rather meet a person that I’m not attracted to and has no legitimate skills over a player that has been an MVP, three-time Batting Champion, and three-time Gold Glove winner? Yes.
Fascinating.
This question got me thinking, however, about the most memorable encounters I’ve had with athletes. Remember, the most memorable, not the most accomplished. Otherwise, Armando Rios would be on this list.
LeBron James – Two years ago, my cousin, Grant, and I went to New York to visit my brother who was living in Connecticut at the time. LeBron James was having a book signing at Barnes & Noble on 5th Avenue to promote the story of his high school basketball team. If you’re looking for something entertaining to read over the summer, don’t read this book. Anyway, the book signing was at noon. Grant and I got in line for the signing at 2am. Crazy? Yes. But we thought LeBron James in New York City, before “The Decision,” before he was a villain, and during the peak of the “LeBron to the Knicks” hype, would be even crazier.
There were probably 40 people in front of us when we got in line. It was 2am and there was nothing to do so I started reading LeBron’s book. A few pages later, I was passed out on the sidewalk of 5th Avenue. Two hours later, there were only a handful of people behind us in line. As the sun started to rise, there were only a handful of people behind those people. Was getting in line at 2am necessary? Absolutely not. But can you say that you’ve slept on the streets of New York City?
Meeting LeBron James was memorable because of the way it made me feel. The anticipation of meeting him built up for ten hours. When ten o’clock rolled around, I was nervous. 11 o’clock, I couldn’t stay still. When it was finally time to give my book to LeBron to be signed, all I could say was, “Wh-wh-what’s up, LeBron?
I then tried to take a picture of him as I was leaving, even though it was made crystal clear that no photographs were allowed. I got thrown out of Barnes & Noble by a security guard a la Jazz in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Okay, actually I was just escorted out of the signing area by a security guard, but me flying like Jazz is a better story.
After the signing, Grant and I went to go eat at McDonalds (I’m 87% sure it was McDonalds) and all I can remember was us repeating, “I can’t believe we just met LeBron James.” I’ve never felt like that before. I’ve never been that starstruck.
Dwight Howard – I saw Dwight Howard in Sacramento when the Magic were in town to play the Kings. As he was signing autographs, somebody walked by and asked Dwight who he was. Dwight responded, “I’m nobody important. I’m in adult films. My name is Wesley Pipes.”
Joe Montana – A couple weeks ago, I volunteered at the Keena Turner Golf Tournament that benefits the Tracy Boys & Girls Club. One of my responsibilities was to take care of anything that Joe Montana needed. My first job was to take some things to his car. As I was walking to his car with his belongings in hand, all I could think about was, “Oh my god, these are the keys to the Shape Ups guy!” (Sidenote: I find it fascinating that two people I’ve talked about are Shape Ups endorsers.) Just kidding, I know who he really is. I may not be old enough to remember him winning Super Bowls with the 49ers, but I know the legend.
When I got to his car, I put his things in the backseat and saw a couple water bottles. I thought, “I wonder if Joe would mind if I took a sip of some of his water.” I then thought, “I wonder if Joe would mind if I sat in the driver’s seat.” I didn’t drink any of his water, but I may or may not have sat in his driver’s seat for 20 seconds. I’m not creepy, trust me.
I walked back to the clubhouse and gave Joe Montana back his keys. He said, “Thanks a lot, Scott.” Joe Montana remembered my name??? That’s good enough to land him a spot on the KNBR Guest Blog.
http://www.knbr.com/Blogs/KNBRGuestBlog/tabid/1580/Default.aspx
