It was in Monroeville at a club. Got to think of the name. Did this wild dance with no panties on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OT: Brushes with greatness, who are some famous people and athletes you have met?
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It was in Monroeville at a club. Got to think of the name. Did this wild dance with no panties on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, I served Kirk Herbsteit and Chris Fowler at the Tavern. Haha and yes, I know of all the jokes about famous people at the Tavern, but this really happened.
Personal encounters: Dan Quale - played several games of basketball with him on new years eve (1990) in Saudi Arabia during Desert Shield/Storm. Game was filmed and broadcast by CNN. Dick Cheney (then SECDEF) and Colin Powell (then chairman, JCS) several times to review logistics preparations preceding the operations to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Senator John Heinz (PA). Was his personal escort in Saudi Arabia to visit soldiers and marines deployed in support of Desert Storm - same encounter with Senator Pell. Hillary Clinton. Brief encounter in the Pentagon when she was 1st Lady. Then shared a podium with her in NYC to honor 5 Korean War Vets that received belated awards. She presented me an award (as corporate rep) for our corporate support to soldiers (Sears supplemented the pay of reservists/National Guardsmen working for Sears when activated for deployment). Then walked in a parade with her (about 1 mile). My wife and I then had dinner with her. Many senior Military to include: Gen Swartzkopf Cdr Centcom, LTG Luck, Cdr 18th ARBN Corp, LTG Barry McCaffrey ( Armor Div CDR during assault on Kuwait and later Pentagon liaison to the white house - you may recall he was the soldier that was verbally abused by the Clinton staff for saying good morning and then was relieved of duty because he shared that experience with others. He then was Drug Czar during Bush administration - Great soldier. Several members of the Saudi royal family i.e. Prince Turki (dinner in one of his palaces) , son of the Minister of defense and aviation who was brother to the king. Others; direct but not personal: Jeannie Kilpatrick, Newt Ginrich (brilliant), Muhammad Ali airport (jerk), Bill Russell airport, Guy Rodgers (basketball camp), Rev Billy Graham - Easter (Good Friday) presentation at the Pentagon.
Saw Danica from about 3 ft away at the Indy Car race at Mid-Ohio (a really cool track)--she is very petite.
Met Buster Douglas once at a Columbus Crew charity event (I was once a volunteer for their foundation). He is a very nice man--almost too nice to be a boxer.
Met Buster Douglas once at a Columbus Crew charity event (I was once a volunteer for their foundation). He is a very nice man--almost too nice to be a boxer.
This is a before they were famous. Played Legion ball with Bruce Sutter...future Cy Young/Hall of Famer, at Mt Joy. Made being a catcher easy!.
John Wayne,John used our C-130, plane while making the movie "The Green Beret" in 1967..Also met,spent 2 weeks with Jim Hutton ,Aldo Ray,David Janssen.. Good times..
My wife and I were flown out to LA by the Tonight Show to be in a segment on on one of Jays last shows. Got to meet Jay (obviously) Jimmy Fallon, Betty White, Bonnie Rait and Stuttering John.
I also sat behind John Voigt on a flight out of State College that was delayed on the runway for an hour...nice guy.
I also sat behind John Voigt on a flight out of State College that was delayed on the runway for an hour...nice guy.
I met Wanny on a few occasions. I actually went to a Pitt banquet one year as one of my buds who is a lawyer is a Pill Alumnus, Wanny was standing near the door and this guy went over and talked to him and introduced me and said I was a Penn Stater, Wanny laughed and actually had a few great things to say about PSU and Joe, Joe was still coaching at that time. I also met Wanny at a Pirates game about 5 years ago.
Wanny is actually a great guy.
I shook hands with Bill clinton at an event in Pittsburgh, One of my friends golfed with him down in Arkansas and said he was pretty cool and funny, but was hitting on every chick there which is pretty funny itself.
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I've met a sort of eclectic mix through happenstance, travel, charity events and business:
JoePa
JayPa
Lou Holtz
Franco Harris
Lydell Mitchell
Ron Jaworski
Bob Costas
Tony Dungy
Colin Powell
Alan Greenspan
Van Cliburn
EJ Dionne
Roger Crozier (old timer hockey fans may remember him)
Louis Freeh (way before the Sandusky scandal)
James Carville
Joe Dinardo (famous to yinzers)
Don Tollefson (I did not purchase a charity benefit trip from him)
Ivanna Trump
Joe Biden
Frank Abagnale (the real Catch Me if You Can guy)
Met a bunch of guys from the early 80's PSU football team that became fairly famous via the NFL.
I never met Donald Trump but I have a tangential relationship to him. In his book "The Art of The Deal" he writes how he got the Wolman Ice Rink in Central Park built after the city spent millions over a decade and got nowhere with the project. About a year before he took over the project, the engineering firm I was working for had contracted with the city to design a new refrigeration system for the ice rink. He mentioned our firm in his book in a derisive way. I was a young engineer working on the project.
JoePa
JayPa
Lou Holtz
Franco Harris
Lydell Mitchell
Ron Jaworski
Bob Costas
Tony Dungy
Colin Powell
Alan Greenspan
Van Cliburn
EJ Dionne
Roger Crozier (old timer hockey fans may remember him)
Louis Freeh (way before the Sandusky scandal)
James Carville
Joe Dinardo (famous to yinzers)
Don Tollefson (I did not purchase a charity benefit trip from him)
Ivanna Trump
Joe Biden
Frank Abagnale (the real Catch Me if You Can guy)
Met a bunch of guys from the early 80's PSU football team that became fairly famous via the NFL.
I never met Donald Trump but I have a tangential relationship to him. In his book "The Art of The Deal" he writes how he got the Wolman Ice Rink in Central Park built after the city spent millions over a decade and got nowhere with the project. About a year before he took over the project, the engineering firm I was working for had contracted with the city to design a new refrigeration system for the ice rink. He mentioned our firm in his book in a derisive way. I was a young engineer working on the project.
My wife and I were sitting at the table next to them, but we had a different waiter. You were far more attentive than our server.
Front room. There were so many people along College Ave who were peering through the windows that the Manager had to close the blinds. Am I right?
I've met and still know some former athletes - mainly PSU and former Philly professional athletes. People outside of the sports world - George Herbert Walker Bush (bizarre story there), Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev (very impressive woman), Colin Powell (fine gentleman) and a few others.
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That's funny. I did meet Kirk Herbstreit too at Damon's after the 63-14 game in 1994. Our friend's cousin was with us and a big Buckeyes supporter. He knew both Herbstreit and Jim Karsatos, who were there waiting to sit down. At the time, they did the OSU games. Anyway, he introduced us to them. We spoke with them for a few minutes. They were both cordial and Herbstreit said, "That is the greatest college offense of all time."
Was Raisa as big of a knock-out as we've heard? Not MILFilicous, per se, but a true "Russian Beauty"?
Worked for Fran Tarkenton when he was CEO of an Enterprise Software company in Atlanta. Smart guy - knew exactly how to play his role when selling to CIOs of Fortune 1000 companies.
Graduated from high school with Terry Francona, and was on the golf team with him. Used to make me mad that he'd play baseball all summer, not touch his clubs at all, and then come out and shoot 74 in the first practice round in the fall, while I was struggling to break 90. Nice guy - one of the best pure hitters (golf and baseball) I've ever seen - had a .769 batting average (not a typo) his junior year in high school and probably averaged 74 in his golf matches.
Graduated from high school with Terry Francona, and was on the golf team with him. Used to make me mad that he'd play baseball all summer, not touch his clubs at all, and then come out and shoot 74 in the first practice round in the fall, while I was struggling to break 90. Nice guy - one of the best pure hitters (golf and baseball) I've ever seen - had a .769 batting average (not a typo) his junior year in high school and probably averaged 74 in his golf matches.
Lunch as a kid, across from my favorite play by play announcer of all time, the one and only, and truly GREAT Fran Fisher, and of course George Paterno.
She didn't strike me as a great beauty, but she was trim and well attired. It was in Oct. of 1996. She 64 at the time and died in 1999. What I most remember is shaking her hand. She looked at me directly with focus and intelligence, seemed quite sincere, and shook my hand with a strong grip for a small person. Afterwards, I remember saying to my host, "She is not someone to be trifled with." Very impressive.
Many years ago I was a guest of Electrolux at a Road America event in Elkhart Lake, Wi.
They sponsored Michael Andretti, so got to go up on the grid while the Indy cars were warming up and lining up, then stood behind the fuel guy in the pits. After the race , at the hospitality bus/tent got to met Mario Andretti and Paul Newmam. I was reaching in the cooler for a Bud and said "hey Paul you want a cold one" to which he replied "sure". So now I tell people Newman and I were drinking buddies!
They sponsored Michael Andretti, so got to go up on the grid while the Indy cars were warming up and lining up, then stood behind the fuel guy in the pits. After the race , at the hospitality bus/tent got to met Mario Andretti and Paul Newmam. I was reaching in the cooler for a Bud and said "hey Paul you want a cold one" to which he replied "sure". So now I tell people Newman and I were drinking buddies!
It's such old hat for a hogen-mogen like that. Anyway, celebrities would be listing him in response to the same question. He's a big deal! It's happening on the McAndrew Alternative Reality Message Board.
My first day on campus I walked by Joe Paterno and he said hi...I thought that was pretty great.
When I was a kid Bob Feller was in my house...my dad was doing some work with him.
I met Jack Lambert at a bar.
I tried to buy Mike Ditka a drink at a restaurant, but he told me he doesn't drink.
When I was a kid Bob Feller was in my house...my dad was doing some work with him.
I met Jack Lambert at a bar.
I tried to buy Mike Ditka a drink at a restaurant, but he told me he doesn't drink.
I was on the sidelines for a Steeler game in the early 90's. O.J. Simpson, who was working as a sideline reporter for NBC that day, came over at halftime and talked to me and a friend of mine. He was as nice as can be. He shook our hands before going back work. It was cold that day and he was wearing leather gloves...
That same game, Gary Brown who was playing for the Oilers at the time, noticed me behind the Oilers' bench. I was wearing a leather Penn State jacket. He called me over right in the middle of the game and asked me if I wanted him to sign my jacket... I felt kinda like a jerk telling him "no thanks"
That same game, Gary Brown who was playing for the Oilers at the time, noticed me behind the Oilers' bench. I was wearing a leather Penn State jacket. He called me over right in the middle of the game and asked me if I wanted him to sign my jacket... I felt kinda like a jerk telling him "no thanks"
Two that stand out for me:
Joe Frazier
Joe Klecko
Both were awesome, but Klecko was one of the coolest dudes i ever got to hang around. The guy never forgot his roots and was just "level." He was more interested in learning about the people around him then answering questions about himself. But some of his stories about his days prior to the NFL. And his first two years in the league were awesome.
Joe Frazier
Joe Klecko
Both were awesome, but Klecko was one of the coolest dudes i ever got to hang around. The guy never forgot his roots and was just "level." He was more interested in learning about the people around him then answering questions about himself. But some of his stories about his days prior to the NFL. And his first two years in the league were awesome.
Haha yeah, that's exactly right! I believe it was Halloween weekend and everyone was walking by in their costumes. Several stopped when they realized who was in the window and were tapping on it so the host closed the blinds. I still remember the order. Chris Fowler ordered a NY strip steak, med-rare with a glass of cabernet and a salad. Kirk Herbstreit ordered two double grey goose and tonics, a grilled chicken for himself, a lasagna to share with the table, and bunch of the sides. For dessert, Herbstreit ordered an apple pie with chocolate milk. Chris Fowler said, "What are you, five??" Hahaha.
It was Halloween weekend (vs OSU?) I recall there being 2-3 others at the table with them, but I don't remember who they were.
So who was my crappy waiter? I can't believe I left him a more than fair tip relative to the level of service.
It was Halloween weekend (vs OSU?) I recall there being 2-3 others at the table with them, but I don't remember who they were.
So who was my crappy waiter? I can't believe I left him a more than fair tip relative to the level of service.
The other two gentlemen were producers for the show who none of us would recognize. And yeah, it was OSU weekend. Haha I am sorry for your poor service--I don't remember who else was working that night. I do remember that everything was moving so slow that night because I was back in the kitchen trying to move their food along ahead of the other meals (sorry...haha).
This has been a good exchange...you and I got to recollect a highly-entertaining evening and it proves that my brain has some gray-matter remaining.
Thought I saw Ken Frazier and CR66 once, turns out it was just a weasel with another weasel's head stuck in it's backside.
I recently met his niece and nephew. They are in their late teens. Last name was Klecko so I had to ask. They were a little surprised I mentioned their Uncle Joe.They have the blonde hair and are the big athletic types. Stud genes in the family. Great kids too.
I met Jack at the Pittsburgh airport , we were both flying to Wilkes-Barre Scranton. He had a flannel shirt and jeans, and looked like a blue collar guy. By his booming voice, I knew immediately it was him. Strong build( his Oscar one handed push-ups), and a strong grip when I shook his hand. Cordial down to earth guy.
