OT: Your best celebrity encounters?
- Thread starter MtNittany
- Start date
Houston Final Four probably 12-13 years ago. I am catching an extremely early flight out Sunday morning. Hungover and sleep deprived. I Get on one of the subway trains heading to my terminal. I get on, head down, turn left and stand looking up towards the front. I hear a shuffling behind me from the back of the car. Turn around to see Bob Knight. He and I were the only ones in the car. Walked back and shook his hand. Talked central Pa fishing a bit, asked him whom he thought would win Monday night. He gave me nothing on a winner, but talked a bit about the incredible advantage the team that wins the earlier semifinal game has, in terms of scouting, player rest, etc.
I helped run the Philadelphia 300th anniversary festivities in '82 at Penn's Landing and when I was taking a leak-break who was at the next urinal but Walter Cronkite!
Larry Holmes lives a few blocks from me. Super nice guy. Don’t see him very often any more.
Bumped into Mario Andretti at the Verizon store at the mall. He was not pleasant.
Saw Sandy Koufax at the grocery store a couple years ago. Apparently lives in Bethlehem in the summer.
A friend of mine is a secret service agent. I met Obama once at public event through him.
Met the guy who played the principal on Saved by the Bell, Dennis Haskins while waiting for a table at Planet Hollywood at Disney.
Personal favorite, my brother in law and I saw The Guess Who at the Zodiac Club in Allentown. Early 90s. It was like a Wednesday night and the place emptied out after the show. Brother in law was a night owl and wanted to stay for one more beer. The band came out and sat with us and had a nightcap too.
Bumped into Mario Andretti at the Verizon store at the mall. He was not pleasant.
Saw Sandy Koufax at the grocery store a couple years ago. Apparently lives in Bethlehem in the summer.
A friend of mine is a secret service agent. I met Obama once at public event through him.
Met the guy who played the principal on Saved by the Bell, Dennis Haskins while waiting for a table at Planet Hollywood at Disney.
Personal favorite, my brother in law and I saw The Guess Who at the Zodiac Club in Allentown. Early 90s. It was like a Wednesday night and the place emptied out after the show. Brother in law was a night owl and wanted to stay for one more beer. The band came out and sat with us and had a nightcap too.
Not a direct interaction with the celebrity, but a with the paparazzi he attracted…
October 1987, we boarded a flight from DC to LA, with a 1:05 layover to catch a flight to Santa Barbara…pilot finds a gauge not working right and has someone come aboard to check it out… it’s OK and we’re off…exactly one hour behind schedule, which leaves us with…five minutes to catch the next flight !
The airline was all over it, stewardess came and told us they were aware of our schedule, would let us off first thing, even before the first class passengers, and they would hold the small plane for a few minutes, but we were to RUN to the gate at far corner of the terminal.
Halfway across the country, my wife notices two men standing in the aisle talking, one is taking notes on what the other says…she says “That’s someone famous, isn’t it… is that Reggie Jackson?” .. I said “No, that’s not Reggie… that’s…JESSE Jackson”, who, we later learned, was on his way to speak a a rally the next day….
We land, and the attendants escort us to the door, and as soon as it opens we bolt down the jetway, I’m carrying both of our carry ons, and my wife carrying our one year old daughter…
We get to the end of the jetway, and run into a WALL of reporters and photographers, packed in like sardines, three or four deep, waiting for Jesse…I say Excuse me, but they all ignore me, even though I know they see me because they’re craning their necks to see around me, looking for Jesse… I say EXCUSE ME WE HAVE TO CATCH ANOTHER FLIGHT… they don’t budge, so I put my hand on the closest one and shoved, he and the ones packed in behind him stagger back enough for us to squeeze through, and we take off running again… with our daughter laughing her head off! Fun times!
We get on the plane and we’re off!
Our checked luggage did NOT match our five minute mile… was delivered to our hotel much later in the day!
October 1987, we boarded a flight from DC to LA, with a 1:05 layover to catch a flight to Santa Barbara…pilot finds a gauge not working right and has someone come aboard to check it out… it’s OK and we’re off…exactly one hour behind schedule, which leaves us with…five minutes to catch the next flight !
The airline was all over it, stewardess came and told us they were aware of our schedule, would let us off first thing, even before the first class passengers, and they would hold the small plane for a few minutes, but we were to RUN to the gate at far corner of the terminal.
Halfway across the country, my wife notices two men standing in the aisle talking, one is taking notes on what the other says…she says “That’s someone famous, isn’t it… is that Reggie Jackson?” .. I said “No, that’s not Reggie… that’s…JESSE Jackson”, who, we later learned, was on his way to speak a a rally the next day….
We land, and the attendants escort us to the door, and as soon as it opens we bolt down the jetway, I’m carrying both of our carry ons, and my wife carrying our one year old daughter…
We get to the end of the jetway, and run into a WALL of reporters and photographers, packed in like sardines, three or four deep, waiting for Jesse…I say Excuse me, but they all ignore me, even though I know they see me because they’re craning their necks to see around me, looking for Jesse… I say EXCUSE ME WE HAVE TO CATCH ANOTHER FLIGHT… they don’t budge, so I put my hand on the closest one and shoved, he and the ones packed in behind him stagger back enough for us to squeeze through, and we take off running again… with our daughter laughing her head off! Fun times!
We get on the plane and we’re off!
Our checked luggage did NOT match our five minute mile… was delivered to our hotel much later in the day!
Almost forgot about Newt Gingrich. Very interesting guy. He and several other politicians came to visit our site to tour the facilities and so forth. Newt had to take a call right before the tour started. I stayed back and waited for him to finish his call. We were about thirty minutes behind and just talked the entire time until we caught up with the group. He was quite interested in what we did and asked very inciteful questions. We also did just some general bs-ing. Very easy going, easy to talk to...............then we caught up with the others and local TV media were there. We got out of the truck and were swarmed by reporters. I got away from the mob and watched Newt transform himself to the political persona that you see on TV. It was truly amazing to watch him turn it on
Rob Gronkowski nocked on my door once.
The right side of his face was completely covered with abrasions and scabs.
He said he’d been in a bike accident.
Oh, and he was 7 and wanted to know if my son wanted to come out and ride bikes.
The right side of his face was completely covered with abrasions and scabs.
He said he’d been in a bike accident.
Oh, and he was 7 and wanted to know if my son wanted to come out and ride bikes.
My favorite ... About 50 years ago had drinks with Manny Sanguillen and Bob Robertson (former Pirates) at a hotel bar. I was on an audit and they had an autograph signing event. It was sad speaking with Manny about Roberto. I first ran into Manny outside Forbes field after a game ... think it was his first season. Stargell had hit a ball over the right field roof that day.
He was a lot like you see on TV.
Also was an honest, hardworking kid. Despite the fact that his dad owned a chain of fitness centers, he and his brothers woke up early on wknds to deliver the Buffalo News. He broke one of our garage lights and took responsibility for it, rather than running away.
Also was an honest, hardworking kid. Despite the fact that his dad owned a chain of fitness centers, he and his brothers woke up early on wknds to deliver the Buffalo News. He broke one of our garage lights and took responsibility for it, rather than running away.
About 1979ish my friend and I were driving a couple of blocks away from the Johnstown War Memorial looking for parking before the professional wrestling match we were going to watch. Had about 15 minutes to go before the matches were going to start. I had the window down riding shotgun and this guy yells, "Hey, how do I get to the War Memorial." It was "Gentleman" Jerry Valiant. He was wrestling "The Polish Hammer" Ivan Putski that night. Pro wrestling may not be real, but it was real enough for Jerry to die from Alzheimer's brought on by post-concussion syndrome.
They die from all kinds of things...blows to the head, steroids, abusing prescription drugs....etc.
So we went to a wedding where the bride was in some odd fundamentalist church and before dinner they did this mini good vs evil, angels vs demons play for the congregation, I guess they had to send a message to us catholics. So the reason I'm specifically replying to your post is that I had the privilege of taking a piss next to Satan after the performance.
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Tough to top Satan.So we went to a wedding where the bride was in some odd fundamentalist church and before dinner they did this mini good vs evil, angels vs demons play for the congregation, I guess they had to send a message to us catholics. So the reason I'm specifically replying to your post is that I had the privilege of taking a piss next to Satan after the performance.
It was the middle of the afternoon early in my freshman year at PSU, and I’m walking alone from East Halls down Bigler. Suddenly I hear a voice from behind me politely ask for my attention—a voice I’m instantly and keenly familiar with. I turn around and ask the man, “Are you Reynolds?” The man replies, “Yes, Harold Reynolds.” And he proceeded to ask me where the Penn State sports museum was. At that point, I had no idea where it was but gave him my best guess. Turns out he was in the area to cover the Little League World Series with ESPN and wanted to check out the PSU campus. Nice guy to chat with briefly.
I sat next to Bruno Sammartino on a flight from Pitt to NY lagurdia. What a piece of luck! Very friendly and fun to talk with.
Worked out with Franco in a hotel gym in Vegas. Asked him if he played HS ball in New Jersey. Golfed with Ben Roethlisberger in a tournament in Georgia. All we talked about was his podcasting. Chatted with Arnold Palmer on the veranda at Laurel Valley. He graciously signed a print for me. Hit balls at the range with Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Dan Mullen, Julie Inkster, and Kirby Smart. All friendly. Chatted with Duke's Shane Battier on the putting green and at a golf grill (a most gracious gentleman). At a lunch with Kirby Smart, witnessed a gentleman approach to advise coach that he had donated $1 million dollars to the program and claim he had a few suggestions to discuss at a later date. After the gentleman left Kirby said a million dollars does not buy someone much these days.
There are a few different Franco mentions in here. Back in 2021 I was in a luxury box for a PSU game and road the elevator up with Franco. I didn't say anything to him because I imagine he doesn't want bothered in an elevator. He was a huge dude.
That same day Blair Thomas hung out with us in the box. He was super outgoing and wanted to take pictures with everyone. And last, and certainly the least, that same day Graham Spanier was hanging out in the box as well. I have no idea why but I had no interest in talking to him.
Amen Brother!So we went to a wedding where the bride was in some odd fundamentalist church and before dinner they did this mini good vs evil, angels vs demons play for the congregation, I guess they had to send a message to us catholics. So the reason I'm specifically replying to your post is that I had the privilege of taking a piss next to Satan after the performance.
Myron Copes daughter used the same shop I did for hair services.
Dennis Quaid at a gala type thing. He was pleasant enough and gave me a moment as I introduced myself. He was walking out with his wife.
My son and I got our picture taken with Mark Cuban a few weeks ago. Seems like a good guy.
My son and I got our picture taken with Mark Cuban a few weeks ago. Seems like a good guy.
Words are hard for you, huh? That's okay champ, we believe in you!
