Epic OT: Most famous person you ever spoke with?

[nomar]

The winner of this thread will be the person who's met the lead singer of Faith No More.

 

[alexd]

Aaron Hernandez - Charlotte Airport
Several CT Governors, Senators and Congressmen
Rod Laver - World Team Tennis match
Elvis Costello, Brad Pitt, Robert Duval, - Independent Film Producers Awards
Ron Francis - when I worked at a racket & health club in Farmington.
Scott Burrell - UCONN fieldhouse pickup game
Susan Tedeschi (some music fans might be impressed)

 

[Uconnrick]

Arnold Palmer- as nice as he seems on TV, he's nicer in person. Played 3 holes with him at a charity tournament. Showed me how to hit a low hook which I still only hit by accident (usually when I need a high cut).
Eli Manning-reserved, but nice
Shaun O'Hara-Giants Pro Bowl Center- great guy
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill at a benefit in Nashville- very nice AND very generous.
Otis Sistrunk- Raiders fame. He was on the semi pro team in Hartford prior to his NFL career. I practiced with them a few times. Otis scared the ever lovin #*&^ out of me.
Johnny Bench- turd
Chris Collinsworth- bigger turd
Pete Rose- biggest turd of all (still belongs in the HOF though)
Anthony Munoz- great guy. Hell, his whole fam is great. Played BB with him and I had to guard him (I'm 6' on a good day) because I was the only one who would bang with him.
Diana Taurasi- love that kid. One of the most charismatic people I've ever met.
Chin Diesel..............meh

 

[Jerry1714]

UConn wise: JC, Ray Allen and Kemba
Sports wise: Lawrence Taylor and Jim Brown
Politics: Jimmy Carter and Al Gore
Celebrity: Ben Affleck

 

[Onions]

Were you the fourth?
Bridge or golf?

All work related. There were many others but those three stood out in my memory.
They were all champs.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I totally forgot my one "famous" super attractive female. Carol Grow (nee Hovencamp at the time).
She became Miss Kansas, did well at Miss USA. Was a Venus swimsuit model and was on one of the ESPN fitness shows.
I don't recall what she wore the first time I met her, but the second time was a black leather bikini at a Halloween party. She was indescribably beautiful...better than she looks in pictures and on tv.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Two years before the Hepburn encounter, I was working retail at Sam Goody in Playhouse Square Westport. It was Christmas Eve 1977, ten minutes from closing time. A guy with sunglasses and dark razor stubble asked for some help and bought a cassette of James Taylor's "JT." Co-workers swarmed me afterward, as it was John Travolta during the year of "Saturday Night Fever." In the moment, I'd missed who it was, but then instantly recalled the deep cleft in his chin and his smile.
Also at Sam Goody: Robert Redford.

I definitely bought some records from you at Sam Goody!

 

[RichZ]

Jared Fogle

Hope you were over 10 at the time.

 

[James]

Bill Clinton, Ken Griffey Jr... when I lived in the city I shared brunch with Bette midler lol doubt that counts. And by shared I mean sat table away and shot a glance at, she's one of those celebs that doesn't like being oogled. I've met JC and KO as well, other uconn coaches. Not sure they count as celebs same as players

 

[Pudge]

Mine are memorable for me ... but happened so long ago. Recent ones impress me; but, aren't the celeb status.

When in High School, I found myself hanging around with Spike Lee. We both were part of a Statewide council on High School issues.
When at UCLA in Westwood, I was regularly hanging out at a bar ... and talking to Michael J. Fox who had not made a big splash yet on Growing Pains. He was a really nice guy.
Also ... same time period (different bar) ... I talked to Troy Aikman semi-regular.

And YES ... I thought all of them were conversational and quite cool as it was really before any of them (particularly Lee) ever got fame. Aikman was a high-profile LA QB on a team that was quite fun to watch. Fox was just on the cusp.

OH ... and played basketball with Howie Long in Manhattan Beach. My UConn friend Dave heroically hustled for a ball that was leaving the court; turned and aimed for an opposing player; threw it right at Howie's crotch.

Maybe I don't remember recent ones because of Alsheimers

 

[UCONNJACK]

Mary Travers - Peter,Paul and Mary
Stanley Tucci - Actor
Robert Vaughn - Actor
Harvey Fierstein - Actor
Joe Namath
Thurman Munson
Gail Goodrich
Cyril Ritchard - Actor- Captain Hook
Mike Lupica
Ron Howard

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Aaron Hernandez - Charlotte Airport
Several CT Governors, Senators and Congressmen
Rod Laver - World Team Tennis match
Elvis Costello, Brad Pitt, Robert Duval, - Independent Film Producers Awards
Ron Francis - when I worked at a racket & health club in Farmington.
Scott Burrell - UCONN fieldhouse pickup game
Susan Tedeschi (some music fans might be impressed)

That's awesome, it's amazing how she isn't more famous. She's got some unreal pipes.
Going to see her and Trucks at Mohegan.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

I can't really top the occasions Tyler Olander was at my house...but

Played against TheGOAT himself at a camp, I made a shot over him(!)
Saw Pope Benedict speak while in Italy on Ash Wednesday.
Attended a Trump rally, what a spectacle that was.

 

[Devland]

Has anyone ever met and spoken with someone and not realized they were famous? I was in staying in Bethlehem PA and went down to the hotel bar to watch some football. I was talking football with these two guys for about a half hour and had no idea who they were. They got up and left and the bartender asked me if I knew them. I said no we just struck up a conversation. He said they were the Giambi brothers and one played for the Yankees and the other was with the Red Sox. They were there to sign baseball cards at some show. I don't follow baseball so I had no clue.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Mickey Mouse in Orlando. Just about everyone on the planet (no matter how old) knows Mickey, lol.

 

[Waquoit]

I was at an alumni reception before an away game and out of the blue Lew Perkins comes up to me, sticks out his hand and says, "Hello Waquoit, Lew Perkins." I reached out but before I had a chance to shake he was gone, leaving me with an outstretched hand and a dumb look on my face. Just then, I hear my brother's voice in my ear, "Congratulations, you just got better dealed by Lew Perkins!" Since I never got a chance to speak, it doesn't qualify for this thread. Lew Perkins.

 

[Stinger92860]

Muhammad Ali on 51st and Madison in NYC.

 

[Matrim55]

Pele

 

[husky8273]

Lawrence Taylor
Chris Pronger
Adam Oates
Kevin Nealon
Dan Reeves
Leslie Nielsen
Yogi Berra
Roger Clemens
Frank Viola
Jim Calhoun
Ray Allen
Richard Hamilton
Bill Walton
Tommy Heinsohn
Frank Gifford
Chris Berman
Bam Bam Bigelow
Bonnie Blair
Sean Burke
Adam Oates
Steve DeOssie
Chad Everett
Carlton Fisk
John Hannah
Ivan Lendl
John Rowland
Joe Theismann
Jonathan Kraft
Dwight Evans
Bruce Hornsby
Bill Murray
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
John Calipari
Kerry Collins
Kemba Walker
Rebecca Lobo
Shabazz Napier
Walt Frazier
Joe Morgan
Jay Bilas
JC, KO, Geno, HCRE, HCBD

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Aaron Hernandez - Charlotte Airport

That's for the most INfamous thread.

 

[intlzncster]

My sister's dog peed on Ryan Reynolds. He laughed. Does this count?

 

[RichZ]

The ongoing lifespan of this post made me kick start my increasingly temperamental memory, and I realized that I left a whole slew of folks off my earlier response.

Calvin Murphy. He was either just about to start HS or go into his sophomore year, and I was either going into senior year or it was the summer after I graduated. He just showed up with his cousin from Bridgeport one Sunday at the Washington Park court where we used to shoot hoops. The cousin played for either UB or Fairfield, if my memory isn't completely failing me. Murphy didn't play in any of our games, but did put on a dribbling exhibition on the sideline that made us stop playing and watch. His cousin brought him along to challenge the local half-court set shot legend, who didn't actually show up that day. But Murphy made like 8 out of 10 straight up jumpers from half court before they split. One of the local hotshots knew his rep. and I still remember him saing that if only he could grow to 6 feet, he would be a shoe-in for the NBA some day, but at his height (I seem to recall that he might only have been about 5-5 then) he was more likely to play for the Globetrotters.

Met Clinton while he was still Gov of Ark. (Hillary was there, but I didn't actually meet her). I watched them get out of their limo to appear at the weigh-in at a bass tournament in Ark. They were both dressed in business suits and speaking normal English with no noticeable accent. Twenty minutes later on stage, they were both wearing flannel shirts and jeans, and he had a truckers cap on and was yallin' and drawlin' like a good ol' boy. My wife was in the front row, and took an instant dislike to him. She said he reminded her of a vacuum cleaner salesman.

Didn't actually meet him, but William F Buckley Jr. and I exchanged nasty looks when he stepped out in front of me on Route 41 in Sharon. I was towing a boat and it was raining. Had all I could do to keep from jack knifing after I swerved to avoid hitting him.

Took Eric Montross fishing on Candlewood just before he started with the Celts. He was supposed to be an avid and very experienced angler. Seemed kind of clumsy handling his tackle though, and was a borderline d*head.

Speaking of ACC big men, I've met and talked with Mike Gminski once. I played in a rec league with his father a couple seasons, Mike's last year of college and first year with the Nets. Mike stopped by the gym to watch him when he was visiting home. For what it's worth, the old man wished he could have convinced Mike to concentrate on baseball instead of basketball. He was a hell of a pitcher in HS. Both were nice guys you wouldn't mind spending an afternoon shooting the bull with, even without the BBall connection.

And finally, not that he was really famous, but I met Durwood Kirby a couple times. For what could only be called a low level celebrity, he seemed to expect everyone to be wowed by his presence. Except his wife. She called him Homer or Hector, I can't recall which, but evidently it was his real name, and he hated it. His on screen persona was very sociable. At least with me, in real life he seemed anything but. Back in the 70s and 80s when I serviced business equipment for a living, I used to have to go to his summer house and fix her typewriter every now and then. She always seemed to have a drink in her hand and he always seemed to have a stick up his butt.

 

[Deepster]

Of the 5 pages in this thread, the only story I care to hear is the guy who met Seka.

 

[Towney007]

I'm a pretty spoiled kid. Well kind of. Mom's family is over the top, old money. Dad's family are garbage truck drivers...

-My grandmother used to be chairwoman of the Toronto symphony and used to throw these freaking monster bashes in Toronto. Sean Connery was there every year until I was like 10. Seiji Ozawa - the asian conductor with the crazy hair was there... then over the years i've met a ton of people..

-Ray Allen was my coach at UConn hoops camp when I was a kid. I feel like i've met almost everyone worth meeting in the baseball world.

-I'm actually *friends* with Andy Card from the Bush White House...

-I have Mick Foley's cell number, was John Cena's RA and RD at Springfield,

-Met John Callipari at a friend's 50th birthday party in Hadley, MA and got smashed with him.

-Carried MA Governor Charlie Baker back to his car after he got blitzkrieg'd at a bar in Springfield after an event.

-My best friend took Enrique Iglesias' sister to the prom

-Mamie Gummer - who is Meryl Streep's daughter, was part of my group of friends in high school.

-Meryl Streep was our swim team's team mom when I was like.. 10.

-Jane Curtain's daughter took riding lessons with my little sister for years. She was (still is) really close with my Mom.

-Roseann Scamardella - who was the lady who Gilda Radner made fun of with her Rosanne Rosanna Danna skits in the 70's - was my advisor in prep school.

-I met John Gotti because my dad worked on his horses at a race track in NYC (My Dad was a horse dentist). He had a lot of celeb accounts at the time... Linda Blair, the Bloombergs, Michael Chricton (he was TALL), Kevin Bacon and Keira Sedgewick, and a couple of others. I met a few, not all.

-Prince Ali of Jordan- who was almost President of FIFA - was my prefect in Prep School.

-And probably the weirdest/best fish story I guess - is Lily Rabe (of American Horror Story) was my girlfriend for 2 years. Probably my most serious relationship outside of my eventual wife.

So those are mine..

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

The winner of this thread will be the person who's met the lead singer of Faith No More.

Ha...Mike Patton. I met him in Northampton after a show in 1996.

I've also met Ronald Reagan and Bill Murray.