Best & Worst Experience Meeting An Athlete

[ronniehatesjazz]

I'm sure this has probably been done on here but I couldn't find anything in the search. Would love to hear stories about best/worst interactions with athletes/celebrities. I'll start...

Best:

Johnny Bench (Nashville show in ~96)- Very generous with me. Took picture with me at the booth he was signing at. Later that day, after he was done signing, I saw him wandering around looking at some cards. It looked like he was just killing some time. I went up and talked to him for about 5 minutes. Nicest guy in the world and I remember being impressed with myself that I didn't get that nervous speaking with a baseball legend (was only 11 at the time). He talked so casually about baseball that it was like talking to one of my teammates dads and not a celebrity. Really great experience.

Eddie Taubensee- Signed for hours every game I went to when I was growing up. Not a superstar but still was always excited to get his autograph and he was great with the fans. Thomas Howard was also really good in regards to signing at games.

Okay:

Enos Slaughter- Met him in Cooperstown when I was 9 or 10. Was real nice the first day I met him on that trip. Was signing for like $10 at one of the shops up there. Saw him the following day at a restaurant and got his auto again. Was real grouchy but signed the ball I had. Could have been the fact that I asked him while he was at lunch. He was by himself though, not eating, and the place was dead. Usually I wouldn't have asked but it was so low key I thought I would go ahead and do it. All in all not that bad.

The Worst:

Walter Payton- This one isn't even close. Huge jerk. Met him at the same show I met Johnny Bench at. Got an 8x10 signed by him in a Bears black jersey. The guy signed with a black sharpie on the black jersey. Could have signed anywhere but specifically did it to be a jerk. Was super arrogant and wouldn't even look at people. Kind of surprised because I've heard good things about him but my experience with him was just terrible.

[kailes2872]

Interesting about Bench. I have never met him but have met guys who have who gave very poor reviews. Second hand, of course, so take it for what is worth.

Met Dave Parker at Pirarefest a frw years ago. He was a childhood hero. He was set to sign and the line was forming. My oldest (13-14) at the time walked up with a ball and asked to sign. Dave said, I’m getting ready to sign for the next half hour over there but okay. My younger son then held out the ball - he was 10 at the time and did not like to approach anyone but Conner insisted that Cam ask as well. Parker signed his. At that point a crowd started gathering and the Pirate rep said no more autos - if you want one the (long) lime forms over there.

Always loved the cobra

[seanofjapan]

Best:

Brett Butler - in 1990 I was among a throng of kids next to the Giants dugout during BP before a game at Olympic Stadium. I gave him my card of him (1990 Donruss) and my sharpie. He signed it, then looked at the card and noticed that my pen was running low on ink and his signature didn't look too good. He said "hold on", walked over to the dugout, grabbed a new pen, signed the card again and gave it to me with a smile on his face, saying "I think you need to get a better pen, this one is running out of ink." It only took about 10 seconds, but he gratuitously gave me those 10 seconds even though he could have walked away and I've always thought the best of him since that. Also I have a cool 1990 Donruss card that has been signed by Brett Butler twice!

Honorable mention: Brooks Robinson was super nice when I got his autograph at a show, letting my friend and i come behind the table to pose for pictures with him and chatting with us a bit and just being an awesome guy.

Worst:
My worst was with Hank Aaron, whose signature I got at the same show Brooks Robinson was at. After the great and personal experience with Brooks, my friend and I (we were both 15 years old at the time) went over to Aaron's table. We weren't allowed to have any interaction with him at all, I was told to give the ball I wanted him to sign to some guy sitting next to Aaron (maybe his agent? Don't know who), who would then give it to Aaron. After Aaron had signed it, he gave it back to the guy sitting next to him without so much as looking up at me, and that guy handed it to me.

It was such an impersonal experience my buddy and I both walked away feeling kind of jilted, especially when we looked at our balls and noticed his signature looked like "Stan Aaron" because of the way he wrote his first name. Also we paid 25$ for his autograph (this was in 1992) and only I think 5 or 10$ for Brooks. We both walked away with diminished opinions of Aaron, but as huge fans of Brooks Robinson. (in fairness I should note that Aaron's table had a much longer line than Brooks' which might explain the different treatment more than any differences in their character, but it still left a bad taste with me!)

[Baseballcrazy62]

Had the privilege of having Kareem Abdul Jabbar tell me to F off at a charity event fundraiser. There were a group of Police Athletic League kids there and he never signed a single autograph the whole evening. The organizer of the event spent half the evening apologizing for his ( Kareem's) behavior.

[bbcard1]

Lots of good ones, but the one that you might find surprising was Jose Canseco. He was back stage at an appearance (with ankle monitor) and he was nice and talked to my son at length (he was probably 10 at the time). Signed a nice legible sig and encouraged my son to continue to play baseball.

Worst may have been Tommy Gregg, former Brave. I asked him to sign my baseball encyclopedia when he was coaching in the minors and he not only blew me off (which happens) but growled and kind of asked it I wasn't kind of old for that stuff.

[ronniehatesjazz]

Originally Posted by Baseballcrazy62

Had the privilege of having Kareem Abdul Jabbar tell me to F off at a charity event fundraiser. There were a group of Police Athletic League kids there and he never signed a single autograph the whole evening. The organizer of the event spent half the evening apologizing for his ( Kareem's) behavior.

Never met him but he always kind of gave me that vibe. Not a big fan of his for other off the court reasons as well. Sorry he treated you that way.

[oldjudge]

I used to put on dinners with famous ex athletes for my company's customers. Among the best people that I ever dealt with were Roger Staubach, Jim Brown, and Wilt Chamberlain. They were friendly, gracious and a pleasure to deal with. Of all the people I worked with the only ones I don't remember favorably were John Riggins and Richard Dent (too quiet-almost shy) and Lynn Swann (a real jerk).
However, at card shows by far the nicest guy I ever met was Pete Rose. He appeared at a show in Central Connecticut in the early 1990s and I took my five year old daughter with me to the show. I had a baseball so I decided to get his autograph. Julie was excited by this so when our turn came to get an autograph I told Pete that Julie was a big fan of his. He talked to her for a minute telling her that he had a daughter just about her age. Then he reached under the table, grabbed his briefcase, and pulled out pictures of his daughter to show her. While the line behind us was probably wondering what was going on Pete spent about five minutes with my daughter. What a nice gesture on his part.

[bbcard1]

Universally as a category, professional wrestlers are great. The reason is simple...they are closer to the money. Baseball players depend on owner who depend on the revenue of teams, a part of which is paying fans. Wrestlers' livelihood is directly related to the fan reaction to them. I remember when my son was six or so Bam Bam Bigelow offered to shake his hand and after my son did so Bam Bam grabbed his hand and asked him, "Why did you squeeze so hard! You're strong!" Made my son's day.

[savedfrommyspokes]

Dave Winfield and Ronde Barber were the two nicest well known professional athletes I have met. While at a game when I was 10, Dave took time to talk to me during BP ..... he talked for so long, I can remember running out of questions to ask him. He could tell and started asking me questions...IE what position I played, my favorite position, etc. At a work conference about a decade ago, Ronde Barber was signing and out of the 1000 people attending they were all into one of the other guests, so as he was alone I talked with him for 20+ minutes, could not have been nicer a nicer guy.



There are two former MLers who live near me in my neighborhood...they both have kids about the same age as my kids. Through my kids playing around the hood, I have run into them and while our kids have played, I have shot the breeze with them and both could not have been nicer.

[drcy]

My dad, who's about the least likely to like rap music, saw MC Hammer being friendly to fans in the airport, happily allowing them to have their photos taken with him. My dad always thought rather highly of him after that.

His funny story is, as an undergrad science geek student, he got to meet Niels Bohr-- which for a physics student was on the order of getting to meet Joe Dimaggio or Charles Lindbergh. While Bohr spoke English, his Danish accent was so thick my dad didn't understand a word he said.

[Fred]

I didn't exactly meet him but...

At a Padre game, long, long ago... there was a player named Chris Gomez. As most people that attend MLB games know, the players warm up before the ball game and some will sign autographs and toss balls to the kids.

I was with my son, he was fairly young at the time. I was watching Gomez play catch with another player. I always bring a glove to a game (never know when a foul balls coming) and had it with me. Chris Gomez motions to me to raise my glove. He's at least a second to home throw away from the stands (it was just a bit further). I put my glove about head high and about a foot and a half away from my head. He throws a strike into the glove. I didn't have to the glove an inch. Tipped my hat and said thank you and nice throw.

Ok, here's one when I was a teenager. Mid to late 1970's. Dale Murphy is a rookie. Before the game starts, I asked him if he cracked his bat during the game if I could have it and he replied yes. Early in the game he cracked one however he was pulled from the game before the fifth inning. After the game I figured he'd probably headed back to the clubhouse. Instead, he had a bat in his hand and was looking around until he saw me. He then handed me the bat to which I said THANK YOU!. Turned out he was using a Phil Neikro bat that day. In that same series Biff Pocoroba cracked three bats during the series and gave them all to me. Dang, it's not hard to understand how a kid can get hooked on the game and the players.

Last one - Dave Winfield (yeah, he was a Padre at the start). I think I got 4 of his bats (nice black LS with a cork handle) in one season. Before and after games he'd sign. There were times he'd sign anything but then again there were times he was just human and having a bad day and didn't bother and may have seemed like a dick. I think it's timing. Sometimes you find a player in a good mood and at other times maybe the guys wife just let him know she found out about his girlfriend.....

I've got tons of fun stories and memories from when I was a kid going to MLB games.

[Fballguy]

Best: Kurt Warner and the 1999 St. Louis Rams. It was the last week of the season in Philadelphia. They had home field throughout the playoffs wrapped up. The game meant nothing for them except to avoid injuries. I stayed at the team hotel and staked out the bar in the restaurant...Shula's Steakhouse. It was the Saturday before the game and the bar went from empty one minute to what seemed like a private St. Louis Rams party the next. The whole team filed in eventually...Warner, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, Orlando Pace, Az Hakim, London Fletcher, Kevin Carter, Rickey Proehl, etc. All the coaches Vermeil, Mike Martz, Jim Hanifan, Frank Gansz, Wilbert Montgomery. Ron Jaworkski was there too. I spent hours drinking beer and talking to everyone. The mood was light. They were in the midst of a dream season. Warner was like a rookie. Gracious to everyone. Posed for pictures. Signed everything. It was a really, really, good time. I have dozens of signed polaroid pictures from that night.

Though there was one experience I cherish even more than that. 2008 NFL season. Rams staying around Hoboken to play the Jets...can't remember the name of the hotel, but it was by far the least special hotel I'd ever seen them stay at. They were in the midst of a "least special" season and that weekend would be their "least special" performance of that "least special" season, trailing the Jets 40-0 at halftime in a game that was never a contest. Anyway, rewind 18 hours earlier. Saturday afternoon around 5:00 or so...who walks into the bar but none other than Jim Hanifan, who was retired from coaching at this point but working as the color commentator on Rams broadcasts. He sat on the bar stool next to me and we talked football and watched college football to nearly midnight. He told story after story after story. I love that guy. It was a night I'll never forget.

Post script...The access to the team changed dramatically after the 1999 season. Once they won the Super Bowl, security was much tighter. The team more secluded. I had a connection so I always knew what hotel they'd be at and because I was a paying customer, the hotel let me do what I wanted. I still got to meet and talk to many players, coaches and TV guys but it wasn't the same. From 1999 to 2001, Warner (and many other Rams) went from regular guys with easy access to Armani wearing celebrities you had to hope to get a glimpse off. By the Super Bowl season of 2001, Warner was no longer signing in person. He was handing out prayer cards that he had signed in advance and you could only get one if you happened to be at the hotel when the team arrived. Otherwise you never saw him again.

Worst experience...I don't have many but one stands out. 2001 Season...Rams are in Newark to play the Giants. I'm in my usual spot in the hotel bar waiting with my trooper of a wife. No one in the place at about 2:00 PM on Saturday. Sitting a few seats away from is none other than Lawrence McCutcheon, the one time Rams all time leading rusher. By himself. Drinking a beer. Watching college football. Against my better judgement, I thought it would be ok to go over and chat. I introduced myself. Told him I was a Rams fan since the mid-seventies. It was nice to meet him. He looked at me like I just farted. Never said a word. Then turned around, grabbed his beer and continued to watch college football. I felt like a tool. i was always very cautious and smart around the team. Never wanted to seem like a fanatic. If someone seemed approachable...you know the queues...I'd talk to them. If someone's body language indicated it was a bad idea, I wouldn't. Totally misread this one and never made that mistake again.

But my experience was mild compare to some I've witnessed. I used to work security at the Greater Hartford Open. The celebrity pro-am day was always a lot fun...especially if you got to work the after party that night. One year, at the party they stationed me at the end of the tent which happened to be right next to the porta potties. Ken Howard...aka The White Shadow...went to take a leak and as he approached he said "hi" then asked if I was guarding the "shitters". LOL I thought it was funny. Another time, I got my picture taken standing next to Bob Hope...unintentionally...was just doing my job as he walked by...and unbeknownst to me until the picture appeared on the cover of the Hartford Courant the next day. But as for bad experiences...One year I was working by the putting green and a father made the mistake of lifting his small son...couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 over the fence so the boy could go up to Lawrence Taylor and ask for an autograph. When the boy approached, Taylor told him to get the "F" away from him. The father had to be held back from climbing over the fence. Taylor then started to berate the father and the two stood nose to nose screaming at each other as we tried to diffuse the situation. That was a bad scene...

Another that comes to mind. As a Rams fan, it pains me to say it, but Marshall Faulk was an absolute jerk to fans. Never to me. I knew better than to even try to talk to him. But my wife and I would watch as others went down in flames. One guy in particular comes to mind. A middle aged guy, wearing a Rams jersey...Approached Faulk as he was chatting with two smoking hot girls in the bar of the Hyatt Regency in Jersey City. The guy professed his love of the Rams and told Faulk how great a football player he was. Faulk just stood there and said one word...emotionless...expressionless...he said "ok"...in a tone that easily could've translated to "get lost" or worse. A long, awkward pause ensued. Faulk said nothing. The girls acted like it was the most humorous thing they'd ever seen, while unsuccessfully acting like they didn't want to show it. The guy, undoubtedly feeling very embarrassed just skulked away. Faulk and the girls then proceeded to make fun of him. I was sitting about five feet away and was disgusted. I stopped being a Faulk fan at that point.

[chlankf]

Met Yogi Berra and Lou Dials at a show in St. Louis in early 90s. I had recently seen Berra on a Pringles commercial, it was hilarious, so I brought an empty can for him to sign. He got a kick out of it saying he had never signed one before. I had heard stories of him playing harmonica and that he carried one with him. I asked about it, he smiled, stood up and addressed the crowd to be quiet and began playing. The promoter quickly came over, upset to stop him, and Yogi brushed him off and spent 5 minutes having fun. It was a totally incredible experience.

At the same show, Lou Dials had a table set up with a few negro league pics, pics of himself and a few books. All day Friday people just walked past him paying no mind and oblivious to who he was. Saturday noonish, same situation as Friday. Seeing this I walked over to meet him. He offered me a seat and I joined him for a conversation. I spent the remainder of the day with him. We talked about everything; baseball, girls, what America was like growing up - both our generations sides, college - his opinions and experience & degree. Memories I will never forget. I never asked him for an auto, can't believe I forgot. My dad was not happy I abandoned him at the table but understood. Sunday Lou comes walking to my table with a signed ball for me and thanked me for the company. My father and Lou chatted for a while and went back to his table.

'97 Triple A All-Star game in Des Moines, I was excited to see Paul Konerko play. I had seen him in Az, college for both at the time. During field time for players, he was exorcizing with other players. As he was walking off, many players stopped to sign for people. Paul just ignored fans and tried to get a few of the players to follow him. For 5-6 minutes he stood there rudely saying he wouldn't sign. Witnessing this I became upset. When he walked past, my smart ass youthful mouth shot off. I called him an a-hole and stated I always wanted his auto but was a broke college student and had to watch him play from A mountain. He turned, looked at me and walked over asking if I went to ASU. I acknowledged I did. He grabbed the ball I was holding and the pen, signed my ball, smiled and patted me on the shoulder and walk past everyone then off the field. All I could think was what a prick, however, I clutched my treasure and walked away with a story and a smile.

[MartyFromCANADA]

Sent this photo to my childhood hockey hero, Shayne Corson,, 15 years ago.
He sent it back beautifully signed and personally inscribed.
corsonauto.jpg

Finally met him at the last Toronto expo. Great Guy.
Says he remembered signing the Zamboni photo.
ShayneCorson.jpg

[Griffins]

Worst- Johnny Bench. It was 1983, I was 22 I was photographing him for a charity ad. He asked me if I knew anything about baseball, and I replied that not only did I follow Baseball closely but that he was my favorite player, and when I was a kid I’d sent him a get well card after his lung surgery in ‘72. He blew up and said I was trying to make him feel old. Total dick

Best was Kareem. I was shooting an ad for a friend of his and he dropped in and chatted for half an hour. I’d been around him before and knew he was pretty reserved so I mostly let him talk, and we had a pretty amazing conversation

Being a photographer is like having a backstage pass to the world. When you deal with people like Kareemm or Jerry West or Eric Gagne it’s the best job in the world. Johnny Bench and Tommy Lasorda not so much

[Dewey2007]

As a kid I don't remember to many bad experiences. Some guys were jerks but most were good.

As an adult it has been a whole different experience. I have gotten a few autos at shows in person and it has been weird. Nothing that the players have done to make it that way but as a 40+ year old adult I have found it very awkward asking another adult to sign an item. I am cool with things through the mail or sending an item in to get signed but doing it in person has been an unpleasant experience from my end.

My most recent experience was with Jimmy Rollins this past November. I help coordinate our high school athletic hall of fame ceremony and J-Roll was in attendance since he was introducing his old coach. I spoke to him briefly before the show and worked up the nerve to ask him if he wouldn't mind signing a couple of things after the ceremony but just couldn't go through with asking him to do it afterwards.

[thetruthisoutthere]

Originally Posted by MartyFromCANADA

Sent this photo to my childhood hockey hero, Shayne Corson,, 15 years ago.
He sent it back beautifully signed and personally inscribed.
Attachment 302363

Finally met him at the last Toronto expo. Great Guy.
Says he remembered signing the Zamboni photo.
Attachment 302362

Very cool, Marty. I am a huge Rangers and hockey fan and I have always appreciated the tough guys on the ice (my second favorite Ranger being Nick Fotiu).

[Chris Counts]

When I was a kid, I used to hang around the hotels in Anaheim looking for autographs when the various American League teams were in town to play the Angels. I was inside one hotel when a particularly unfriendly security guard cornered me and another autograph hunter and read us the riot act. Just then, Yankees pitcher Dock Ellis comes around the corner and puts himself between us and the security guard, flashes a smile, and says, "Don't mess with these guys — they're my friends," before signing all our stuff.

The same day, I saw Billy Martin walking across the lobby toward me, and he was wearing a cast on his left hand. I believe he had recently injured it on somebody's face. I really wanted Billy's autograph, but the cast seemingly made it signing difficult, so I didn't say anything. But Billy strolled right up to me. "Would you like me to sign your ball?" he asked. I had a baseball with me, and I was getting it signed. I said, sure, and I handed him the ball, which he placed between the cast and his chin, and he signed it, surprisingly very legibly ...

[MK]

I lived in Kansas City in the early 80's and always attended an annual card show which featured a different autograph guest each year. The years I attended they had Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio.

Mantle was my boyhood idol and I was so excited about getting to see him up close and receive his autograph. The line was unbelievable and it took 3 hours before I finally arrived in front of The Mick. He had a beer in one hand, and a sharpie in the other, talking with Hank Bauer. He never looked up, never acknowledged anyone, and could obviously care less about the whole thing. By this time in my life I knew Mantle was not a role model and had many issues, but it was still a disappointment.

Joe DiMaggio on the other hand was a true gentleman. He wore a suit and tie, acknowledged everyone he signed for, shook their hand, and thanked them for being there. What a contrast.

[50sBaseball]

I have had some great experiences interacting with MLB players.

TED WILLIAMS: As a 13-year old kid at Fenway Park in 1959, I asked Ted if I could take his picture. Kids' cameras back then had two settings: on and off. He was a little further away than I wanted near the batting cage, so I asked him if he could move a little closer. Though he did not do so, he did speak to me and said: "Take the picture, kid, I gotta go hit." I treasure that picture to this day.
In 1999, 40 years later, Ted came to the Chantilly Show to sign autographs in commemoration of his 30-year anniversary of managing the Washington Senators. I had my picture taken with him and shook his hand. He signed a picture of him that I had bought at Fenway Park 40+ years earlier. Ted was not in the best of health then, but I ventured to speak with him, and told him, "Ted, I think that you are the best hitter who ever lived" (which is how he wanted to be remembered). He looked at me and after a moment said in his still booming voice: "why do you think so?" I said: "You hit for average and you hit for power." Perhaps he would have liked to have heard that he never swung at a ball out of the strike zone!

FRANK WHITE: KC Royals 2nd Baseman. Was at a spring training game in Florida with our young sons in, I think, 1979. He signed autographs for the boys, but then stayed a bit and talked with them. Asked them how they liked baseball, etc.
He was super-friendly to them.

1960 MILWAUKEE BRAVES/HANK AARON&CHUCK COTTIER: At a spring training game in Bradenton, Florida between the Braves and Pirates, chased down a foul ball during BP and started to get Braves' autographs. Aaron and a few others were playing Pepper down the third-base line, and their ball came over the chain-link fence and I got it. One of the players said, "hey kid, throw our ball back." I said: "OK if you will sign my ball." And 4 or 5 players signed my ball right there and posed for photos!! Later, I threw my ball over the fence only to have it land on the slanted roof of the dugout. Chuck Cottier, a utility infielder, saw what happened, and suggested to one of my older brothers how to get the ball, and it worked. And then Cottier signed it as well. 3 HOFers signed that ball: Aaron, Mathews and Spahn.

[rainier2004]

So a little o/t, but I think it belongs.

Miles Bridges is the star on the Men's basketball team at Michigan State. He very surprisingly came back for his sophomore year and turned down millions to be a college kid for another year.

During the summers local players from MSU, UM and other D1 schools play in the moneyball which is an eight team round robin at a local complex that is free and all of 5 minutes from my house. I decided that I wanted to go at the last minute as I want to see Bridges play before he leaves us for the NBA. Id heard how this year would be different and he would be as hospitable signing things as he has already done this for a year, blah blah blah.

I actually walked in with Bridges, got a smile and a hello and we parted ways. He spent the next 30 minutes signing everything for everyone to the point it definitely affected his warm up. After the game I stayed for another hour watching the next game and he was still on the sidelines signing, getting pics taken and just chattin it up. All smiles for the entire 2.5 hours I saw him...its easy to root for guys like this and I will definitely remember that day even though I got nothing signed.

[KingFisk]

Kelsey Grammer is two tables over from me right now...what should I do?

(Of course I am going to leave him alone)

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Fred]

Here's a fun one -

Anaheim Stadium at an Angels game. Got great seats for the game. Field level by third base.

Before the game there are quite a few people milling around the field. Andre Agassi is part of that crowd. Everybody is trying to get Andre to come to the railing and sign. He signs a few and then heads back towards the field. I figure if Andre is there then Steffi Graf might be there. Sure enough there she was and NOBODY recognized her. I wasn't too far from the railing and asked her to sign a baseball. She smiled, signed the auto and then said, "do you want the old man's too"? I said no thank you, I just wanted hers. She smiled and walked over to Andre and had him sign it too. Such a great memory.

[howard38]

.

[Throttlesteer]

Best in order:

Tony Gwynn
Brooks Robinson
Bob Feller
Stan Musial
Duke Snider

Worst in order:

Jose Canseco
Steve Young
Rickey Henderson

[Collectorsince62]

Curt Flood was my favorite player growing up. I met him at a card show and he was wearing a WS ring. I asked if it was '64 or '67 and he takes it off and hands it to me to hold. He also addressed the crowd before he began signing and thanked the fans for supporting him throughout his career. Class Act all the way.

Stan Musial. Growing up in St. Louis, of course I idolized The Man. I went to his STM offices one day to drop off the two scorecards from his 5 HR doubleheader to be signed. He happened to be there at the time and his staff asked me if I would like to meet him and get the autographs in person. Uh, yeah. Not only did he cheerfully sign the scorecards, he wrote "5 home runs" on each one and started telling me about that day. He laughed and said "I should have had 6 - Mays caught one at the centerfield wall!" We opened the scorecard and sure enough there it was. He said he never tried to hit homers but he really wanted one in his final at bat and popped out to first. Again, there it was. Such a genuinely nice man who made this lifelong Cardinal fan feel like we were old friends.

[CurtisFlood]

Originally Posted by Collectorsince62

Curt Flood was my favorite player growing up. I met him at a card show and he was wearing a WS ring. I asked if it was '64 or '67 and he takes it off and hands it to me to hold. He also addressed the crowd before he began signing and thanked the fans for supporting him throughout his career. Class Act all the way.

Stan Musial. Growing up in St. Louis, of course I idolized The Man. I went to his STM offices one day to drop off the two scorecards from his 5 HR doubleheader to be signed. He happened to be there at the time and his staff asked me if I would like to meet him and get the autographs in person. Uh, yeah. Not only did he cheerfully sign the scorecards, he wrote "5 home runs" on each one and started telling me about that day. He laughed and said "I should have had 6 - Mays caught one at the centerfield wall!" We opened the scorecard and sure enough there it was. He said he never tried to hit homers but he really wanted one in his final at bat and popped out to first. Again, there it was. Such a genuinely nice man who made this lifelong Cardinal fan feel like we were old friends.

Exactly what Flood said to me when I met him in Palma Majorca, Spain in summer of 1972. After drinking rum and coke and chain smoking with Curt for about 3 hours he asked me if I wanted his autograph since we were "old friends". Almost 46 years ago and I remember that clear as yesterday. What an amazing guy to talk with and being a Cardinal fan made it even better. Only autograph I have that is not for sale.

[Vintagecatcher]

I grew up just west of Worcester, MA and was a huge Bruins fan.

Bobby Orr was my favorite player.

When I was about 13, Bobby Orr and some of the Bruins did a benefit game in my home town of Auburn, Ma, but unfortunately, I had to go to CCD.

On the way home from CCD, my dad spotted a limo going to the banquet center near our house. He followed the limo into the parking lot, and sure enough several bruins players including Orr were heading into the Yankee Drummer Inn to eat.

My dad, my twin brother, and I waited for what seemed like an eternity for the Bruins to come out. Our patience was rewarded when Bobby Orr stopped and talked to my brother and I for what seemed like 10 minutes.

He couldn't have been any nicer. We were awestruck! Just wished we had had something for him to sign.

Feel fortunate that my childhood hero lived up to his reputation.

Patrick

[rocketman]

No bad experiences, but several really good ones:

Met Wayne Gretzky 5 times - signed every time, more than one photo a few times. Once while working as an intern for the NY Islanders, I sat and talked to him for 15 minutes and then sat next to him while he was interviewed by the NY times. The only thing he ever said no to was when I asked him for a game used stick.

Basically every hockey player I've ever met has been great - and I've met hundreds. Every single Islander from the glory days (80-83) would sign for anyone at the practice rink or in the parking lot after the game.

played golf with Colton Orr 3 times - nice but soft spoken.

If you haven't met and hung out with Denny McClain you're missing something. he is a regular at card shows and he is the nicest funniest guys you would ever want to meet. one time I spent over an hour with him.

Met OJ in parking lot at Shea Stadium in 1974. Still have the card signed in ball point pen. Super nice even though he had to catch the bus - took the time.

Met Dr. J in vegas - did not ask for autograph or picture but spoke to him for several minutes - drunk but friendly.

Pete Rose was great - talk forever. This was at memorabilia shop in Vegas.

Derek Jeter - Was in Vegas for fight right after 2009 WS. Lucky enough to get into HBO pre fight party. Jeter walks in with his parents. Sudden hush in the room like Jesus just appeared. Everybody was intimidated and no one approached him - except me. I used my favorite line which basically nobody can turn down -"Hi Derek, my name is Rich and I really appreciate the opportunity to say hello." He had been keeping his head down and was giving off the stay away vibe, but I got him to stop. He shook my hand, perked up and genuinely became very friendly. I told him I am a die hard Met fan but always admired him and the way he played. We chatted for a few more minutes, I thanked him again, shook hands, and let him on his way. No one else approached him. the Yankee fans I was with were, and still are, in awe.

At that same party I met both Mayweathers - both great, Sr. was bombed but spoke to everybody. Also Jerome Bettis, CC Sabbathia, and the cast of Entourage. All as friendly as could be. only DB at that party was Will Farrell - too cool for everybody.

Bobby valentine - several times, remembers your name and will talk baseball all day.

Omar Minaya - super nice and will talk baseball all day.

Have more stories but you get the idea - I think it's all about being polite.

[Runscott]

Best: watching Bobby Valentine during his rookie season, jog along the outfield fence and smile and wave at all the fans when they acknowledged him. Things changed with him, but he had that time when things were good.

Throwing a program out to Juan Marichal, over the outfield fence, and having him sign it and throw it back up in the stands. Actually, any exchange with Juan Marichal - great guy.

Meeting Roger Bannister - one of the truly great gentleman athletes of all time.

Worst: Pete Rose and Willie McCovey. No one came close to either of these for bad experiences.

[CMIZ5290]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Best: watching Bobby Valentine during his rookie season, jog along the outfield fence and smile and wave at all the fans when they acknowledged him. Things changed with him, but he had that time when things were good.

Throwing a program out to Juan Marichal, over the outfield fence, and having him sign it and throw it back up in the stands. Actually, any exchange with Juan Marichal - great guy.

Meeting Roger Bannister - one of the truly great gentleman athletes of all time.

Worst: Pete Rose and Willie McCovey. No one came close to either of these for bad experiences.

Reggie Jackson and Greg Maddux, pricks big time....

[ceast]

Best: Warren Spahn at a small local card show in the 90s. He was very personable and chatted with me for several minutes. Auburn Heisman Trophy winners Bo Jackson, Cam Newton and Pat Sullivan...all three took the time to interact with my kids at the photo op. I also had about a 30 minute conversation with Sullivan at a civic event a few years earlier. About 5 years ago Dale Murphy at a small meet and greet took the time to visit individually with everyone there (going to see him at another event tonight).

Virtually everyone at AA Montgomery Buscuits games from 2004-2011. My kids got tons of pictures, balls and bats from Evan Longoria, James Shields, David Price, Wade Davis, Stephen Vogt, and a ton of other current/former players.

Worst: Mike Mussina after an exhibition game. Completely blew everyone off, including me even though he had told a mutual friend he would take a minute to speak to me and sign a jersey.

[Michael B]

I had been pondering this for a while as I had several long responses to the question. To me the best overall are Olympians. I have met hundreds of Olympians over the last 35 years and, as a rule, they can be some of the nicest and most accommodating athletes. Unlike pro athletes it is even better when you are familiar with their careers or saw them perform at some small event where few people attended. I have also befriended quite a few Olympians. Hilary Smart, who won a gold medal in sailing in 1948 with his father as his crew, was a member of my Olympic collectors group. Whenever he saw me at one of our shows he would say 'Let me sign some autographs for you to sell and make some money". He also sent me signatures of his long deceased father for my collection. I collect original photos of Olympians and have a very large archive of over 8,000 images. When I am going to meet someone I usually have photos to sign. I always make copies for them as they usually have not seen the photos before. They are very grateful that I can share with them. There are a few that can be cranky - Cheryl Miller and Mia Hamm come to mind, but they are in the minority.

One interesting aspect of getting autographs of Olympians is the reaction of professional athletes who were also Olympians. When you tell someone you want their signature because they competed in the Olympics it usually catches them off guard. Hockey players Jim Nill and Mats Naslund both signed better than usual signatures and added their teams; Team Canada 1980 for Nill and Tre Kronor with three crowns for Naslund. World Champion boxer Amir Khan is another. I met him at the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2016. He was just signing his name, which was fairly illegible. I told him that I wanted his signature because he was an Olympian he signed his name, spelled it below and added '2004 Silver Medal 2004 Athens Olympics'. One last one is Kurt Angle. He was doing a book signing for his first book. You never know how a book signing is going to go, but I brought along some Olympic items - ticket, photo and poster. He signed the book, photo and ticket rather easily. When he saw the poster, a 1996 Olympic logo poster already signed by about 60 or so 1996 Olympians, he asked if I really wanted him to sign it. I told his sure since he was a gold medalist at those games. He was quite humbled.

I will add one or two more stories, probably tomorrow, including one about a player that many people so far have said is one of the worst.

[btcarfagno]

Originally Posted by Michael B

I had been pondering this for a while as I had several long responses to the question. To me the best overall are Olympians. I have met hundreds of Olympians over the last 35 years and, as a rule, they can be some of the nicest and most accommodating athletes. Unlike pro athletes it is even better when you are familiar with their careers or saw them perform at some small event where few people attended. I have also befriended quite a few Olympians. Hilary Smart, who won a gold medal in sailing in 1948 with his father as his crew, was a member of my Olympic collectors group. Whenever he saw me at one of our shows he would say 'Let me sign some autographs for you to sell and make some money". He also sent me signatures of his long deceased father for my collection. I collect original photos of Olympians and have a very large archive of over 8,000 images. When I am going to meet someone I usually have photos to sign. I always make copies for them as they usually have not seen the photos before. They are very grateful that I can share with them. There are a few that can be cranky - Cheryl Miller and Mia Hamm come to mind, but they are in the minority.

One interesting aspect of getting autographs of Olympians is the reaction of professional athletes who were also Olympians. When you tell someone you want their signature because they competed in the Olympics it usually catches them off guard. Hockey players Jim Nill and Mats Naslund both signed better than usual signatures and added their teams; Team Canada 1980 for Nill and Tre Kronor with three crowns for Naslund. World Champion boxer Amir Khan is another. I met him at the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2016. He was just signing his name, which was fairly illegible. I told him that I wanted his signature because he was an Olympian he signed his name, spelled it below and added '2004 Silver Medal 2004 Athens Olympics'. One last one is Kurt Angle. He was doing a book signing for his first book. You never know how a book signing is going to go, but I brought along some Olympic items - ticket, photo and poster. He signed the book, photo and ticket rather easily. When he saw the poster, a 1996 Olympic logo poster already signed by about 60 or so 1996 Olympians, he asked if I really wanted him to sign it. I told his sure since he was a gold medalist at those games. He was quite humbled.

I will add one or two more stories, probably tomorrow, including one about a player that many people so far have said is one of the worst.

Speaking of Mia Hamm, I have a feeling that she may be one of those Willie Mays type of personalities. She had a fundraiser for youth soccer in New Jersey where she held a dinner for those who raised money and then went on an indoor field to play a pickup game with the ones who raised the most. My daughter was one who raised in the top ten in the state so she and my wife got to sit at Mia's table to eat. Now...Mia was also like seven or eight months pregnant at this point as well so I'm sure that had to add to the grouchiness as well for sure. She was nice enough during dinner but seemed very shy and "to herself", like she had to force speaking with those around her, even the kids. Not unfriendly just pretty uncomfortable.

Then it was time for the pickup game and she stepped on to the field like a completely different person. She completely changed and was talking and engaging and high fiving and laughing and even talking some minor smack with some of them. Even as pregnant as she was when she was on the soccer field she was wonderful with the kids. It was like she stepped over that line and was in her element again.

So I completely understand the Mia Hamm cranky thing. But we saw a different side of her in the same day.

[cool-vintage]

I've never had a bad experience meeting an athlete then again I've only met athletes as a young teen and child so maybe there aren't many athletes who are going to be a jerk to a kid. In my life I've meet a few Royals minor leaguers from years ago at a signing before a Royals game, Jason Ruff when he played for the Kansas City Outlaws a former minor league hockey team, and my favorite one with a great story was meeting football hall of famer Bobby Bell at the post office.

This was in mid-December of 2010 I was 14 at the time, and I was at the post office shipping a package. Behind me there is an older man so he decides to talk to me he asks what a want for Christmas, so I'm thinking this is just going to be a normal conversation with someone. (Anything to pass the time waiting in line.) I reply with the first thing that came to mind which was some CD's he then asks how much that would cost, so I panic and just say $20. He then reaches into his pocket and pulls out $20 and tries to give it to me. I of course was unaware of who he was at this time, so I didn't feel okay taking money from a stranger. After the bill was passed to each other for a few minutes he finally gives up, however he gave me something before he left. As I am paying he hands me a (new) tube of chapstick with a picture of a Chiefs player and the name Bobby Bell on it. He told me not to sell the chapstick on ebay. (Since I still didn't know who it was I was like why would I sell this?) When I got home I finally connected the dots... A football hall of famer tried to give me money. I still have the chapstick to this day.

I would like to know though what was his limit? What if I wanted something that was $100?

[JollyElm]

Two that come to mind as being extremely friendly were both sort of local heroes on Long Island, so they won't matter much to most people outside of NYC, but they are both quite memorable to me.

Gerry Cooney, 'The Huntington Heavyweight,' ambled into the gym I use to train at, making a huge splash as everyone ate it up. A couple of us 'sparred' a bit with him and, man, did we look out for that left. A monster of a human being. What a great attitude he had, and this was really at the pinnacle of his (pretty short-lived) fame, so he was very much in demand as millions of New Yorkers were rooting for him like crazy. He left a great impression on everyone.

Over the years I ran into Jets RB legend Freeman McNeil a whole bunch of different times at a local 7-11 (which, strangely enough, was way off the beaten path, but it was near his home). He would be standing there sipping his coffee with a slight smile on his face, just sort of minding his own business, like he was in no hurry to go anywhere. So once I said, "What the heck?" and went up to him and introduced myself and said what an honor it was to meet him. He whipped out a huge smile and we got to talking football for a long while. An absolutely incredibly friendly and nice guy, but it was sad in a way, because it was late in the afternoon and he told me that due to all of the injuries he suffered playing football his entire life, every day it took until the afternoon for him to feel like he had any sort of 'normal' mobility at all. He didn't say it in any way like it was a complaint, just a fact of life for him. After that day, each time I'd see him he would give me a smile and a knowing nod and sometimes we'd chat for a bit. I frickin' love that guy!!!!!!

[BruceinGa]

I should add another good experience. About 10 years ago while playing in a local softball tournament I was surprised to see former Atlanta Braves pitcher, Terrell Wade, pitching for the opposition. He was friendly and after the game even stopped by out dugout to speak to everyone. Btw, I believe I went 4 for 4 against him .
A year or two later he played on our league team.
He seemed like a "good" guy.

[slipk1068]

Great experience. These folks were so nice I would give them the shirt off my back:

Lou Brock
Phil Rizzuto
Mickey Rivers

Neutral:

Johnny Mize. I asked him a question. He ignored me, so I repeated my question. Still no response. In hindsight he was 80 years old and maybe hard of hearing and didn't hear me.

Yogi Berra. Almost bit my head off for asking which World Series ring he was wearing. I guess I was supposed to know he always wears 1953. Maybe it was just the tone of his voice, but he didn't seem happy with the question.

Not nice. I wouldn't give any of these players 2 bits for their autograph:

Hank Aaron. Not nice to any of the fans. Didn't seem happy to be collecting $30 each to scribble his name on 4 my baseballs. If you don't like the fans, do only private signings. people can send in their stuff and you don't even have to acknowledge them.

Whitey Ford. A kid asked if he could take his picture. Whitey said sure and didn't even look up for the photo. Just kept signing stuff. Same as above, stick to private signings.

John Franco. Signed my card in water soluble ink. It was a Mets Booster Club Banquet. He was introduced and came out signing for folks with his own marker. I handed him card and tried to force my sharpie on him but he refused it. I went to my table dipped my finger in water glass and erased the signature. Then my wife took the card and sharpie and grabbed his marker as he was about to use it again and forced him to use my sharpie. Hundreds of autos he signed that night that are junk today. I don't believe for 2 seconds that this was anything but intentional.

Lee Mazzilli and Ralph Branca. Both smudged the autograph. I believe it was intentional. Branca even went as far as to say I am gonna hate him. Hate is too strong a word.

[dodgerfanjohn]

Best - Steve Garvey. Sat directly behind him at a Dodgers game about 20 years ago. Understand that I was 7 in 1979 when I attended my first Dodgers game, so Steve Garvey was a real big deal to me. Through the first 5 innings, Mr. Garvey must have signed 100 autographs from fans approaching him. Even though I was seated directly behind him, I was iffy about asking for an auto just because he was there with his family and dealing with so many people asking for auto's. I eventually ran to the souvenir stand and got one of those cheapo team logo balls and waited until the inning finished. Mr. Garvey was extremely nice and we were able to talk for a short bit. Still have the ball displayed:



In person I always address the signer as Mr..... Even though I'm mid 40's and some of the signers are younger than me, I've found being polite and a bit formal goes a long way. My other really positive experiences were Pee Wee Reese, Ernie Banks, Orel Herschiser

Shawn Green, who was extremely nice and has a very distinctive and elaborate signature:



And even 90 year old Tommy Lasorda who was a surprise replacement for Scott Alexander at Fanfest this past Saturday. A boisterous "Good afternoon Mr. Lasorda!" worked wonders. FWIW, his time was supposed to be 2:50pm to 3:40pm, but he stayed until 4:30 until he had signed for everyone in line:



Worst ever was Dave Winfield. I was still a kid...around 22 when I got his autograph at a show. Wouldn't look up or acknowledge me at all. Signed off center badly on the ball...just not a pleasant person.

[jsq]

as a huge fan of the yankees it is said to hear that slick was a "*ick!

ironically i saw a dick cavett interview of mickey and mickey was laughing about billy martin being traded because he was identified as "the" bad influence. micky laughed and basically said it was whitey who was the influence.

glad you had some good experiences with some of the others

Originally Posted by slipk1068

Whitey Ford. A kid asked if he could take his picture. Whitey said sure and didn't even look up for the photo. Just kept signing stuff. Same as above, stick to private signings.

[jsq]

since most of the above are focused on baseball players i will list a few pleasant experiences (wife was with me on all of these so that certainly helped) mainly with other sport athletes:

enjoyed hanging out with Edmund Hillary at his house on remuera dr in auckland, walked his den on the lower level with him, literally history on the walls! he used a small amount of oxygen to climb everest but most of his other adventures were oxygen free, and those other adventures were and still are legendary in climbing and exploration circles - now thats a pair of lungs. he was strong as a bull also.

Edmund was very quiet and humble guy. especially so for someone whose picture was, at that time, adorning his countries currency in circulation. the 5 pound note as i recall, i still have several notes somewhere which he autographed for me (it was me who asked for the autograph, he was embarassed to be asked).

-------------

peggy fleming was most gracious and very pleasant, we were at a party after a tv skating show which she was a commentator on. she has a vineyard and we discussed that a bit.

----------------------

mickey mantle, excellent and treated both my wife and me excellent. he was totally sober. i was a bit tongue tied on this one, one of the rare times in my life. (along with gehrig, mickey is my favorite ball player. after hearing some tales about his treatment of fans when drunk.... very glad he was sober!!)

------------

joe dimaggio, met him in atlantic city and made small talk about how the tables were treating him. lots of smiles and quite gracious.

------------

bob feller, another favorite of mine. good experience. what an arm!!, can you imagine playing pro ball and THEN going back for your high school graduation ceremony! what a life.

-----------

we stayed with the new england patriots at their hotel in scottsdale for the 2008 super bowl. after the loss the hotel was like a morgue. we had expected to be up all night. lots of us went to bed early.

on a plus side we met up with reggie bush who had been a big noise with his heisman win a few years before and was about to have a super bowl appearance the next season, and his high school teammate alex smith. both were quite pleasant and we listened to them for quite a while and had a good time in spite of the patriots loss.

i am not a small guy, but you really get perspective on large humans when you get into an elevator with a few of the patriots linemen.

--------------

a group of 30 of us had the owners suite (kfc - yum brands suite) at the kentucky derby the year the queen of england was attending. we had by far the best seats in the house. brown and forman suite is the only thing that compares. richard petty had an all access pass and as a result could get up to our floor. he came in and was a hoot. he told us he wished he had as good a seats as us and generally made us all feel ten feet tall.

speaking of ten feet tall we met a several of the jockeys the days leading up to the race. they were short of stature but tall in graciousness and courtesy explaining stuff to us.

---------------

on the friday before the indy 500 we were guests of mari hulman george in her owners suite for the friday races.

the next day wife and i took a hot lap with one of the friday race drivers, the friday race is kinda the minor league to get to be a indy 500 driver, its called the "indy light series" or ILS.

sebastian saavedra, who some years later did drive in the big race, was our driver. a very nice young man from colombia. with hot laps they take you for a ride in a genuine race car from the ILS series, we did 130 mph on the wall going into the curve, pretty cool. you are literally about 2 or 3 feet from the wall on the curve with him - coming out of the curve we were still doing 100 mph. i am a former gearhead and i've done 120 straight away on public highways with my 1960's street car and wife is cool so it was very unique and a lot of fun going into a curve on the wall at 130 mph. we talked to sebastian for a while afterwards, he was driving for the andretti team and had big hopes for the future. great guy.

we had an all access pass for indy day and got to walk the track and the pits right up to about an hour or so before race time. about an hour before the race started we were talking to one of the pit crews and i noticed them handling the tires like they were nothing, the tires are much larger then street tires. i was perplexed at how strong they must be?? much to my surprise he handed me one, this is a tire to be used shortly in the race mind you, it weighed nothing. they are filled with a special chemical which helps make the tire very light. either that or i was suddenly very strong for just that day.

****also too a person we never met so many nice people as at that race in terms of race day drivers and pit crews. they totally understand it is the fans that pay for all the hoopla. nicest group of professional athletes you could hope to meet. *****

------------------------------

while surfing met some former low level pro surfers, they were ok, which considering what you hear about surfers was a major surprise.

-------------

played a pickup basketball game with former chicago bulls center bill wennington. patrick kane of the blackhawks was training at the facility and joined us along with patricks sister who was a college athlete as i recall. patrick and bill were very nice and it was a fun game.

a different time we got to ride the zamboni during the blackhawks game and meet the team - good people.

----------------

many others but these were some of my favorites.

------------------------

one oddity i will mention, but not the name. wife and i were at the after party for the american music awards. a former minor league baseball player and long time espn sports guy, with a show on espn, and his wife, were sharing a standup table with us having drinks. she was great, a real good looking lady and an extremely pleasant and conversant person. the espn guy couldn't say much of anything. for a guy that talks for a living we found that kinda funny.

[baseball tourist]

The absolute best:

1) Mike Myers of Austin Powers movies etc. fame. Met him in Toronto bar on a quiet night in April and - as I was hanging out with other SkyDome Hotel (now Rogers Centre) colleagues and a now infamous hotel guest and Blue Jays trainer
and alledged steriod go-between for Roger Clemens, Brian McNamee - a few hours of drinks and amazing interaction and laughs turned into a pick up game of baseball at 2am, on the field at the stadium with borrowed Blue Jays bats and gloves. A night I will never forget. Fast forward 2 years and I share the same subway car with Mike who looks at me and immediately places me - saying with a wink that “I was the worst shortstop he ever played on a MLB field with”. Total
Class Act. Truly.

2) Wayne Gretzky:managed his named restaurant in Toronto for 2 years in mid-90’s and met him and his family several times (Wally is the best too!). Had the pleasure of backing Wayne up on the bar a few times as he attempted his best impression of Tom Cruise in “Cocktail” - bottles flying and crashing everywhere!

3) Hank Aaron - multiple interactions over 2 days as he was a guest in the Hotel and as I was the Concierge on duty. Shared advice, stories, rode a golf cart together to the Jays clubhouse, gave me his biz card (VP with Braves) and said to contact him when in town. Amazing!

Very positive, lengthy interactions (mostly during private tours of the SkyDome/Rogers Centre and/or Hotel events or check ins): Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, Warren Spahn (at the HOF in Cooperstown), Dave Winfield, Carlos Delgado, Robbie Alomar, Shawn Green, Paul Beeston, Joe Carter, Paul Konerko, Shaq, Vince Carter, Roger Clemens, Pinball Clemons, Doug Flutie, Tracy McGrady, Kobe, Chauncey Billups, Dr. J., Hakeem, David Stern, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, John Travolta and Kelly Preston, Pat Tabler, Ed Sprague, Lloyd Moseby, Cito Gaston, George Bell, Tom Henke, Kelly Gruber, Sugar Ray Leonard (in Vegas), Jack Black (drinks at the an airport bar the day before my stag night in Vegas).

[sycks22]

I've had some good experiences in the past couple days with NFL stars in down for the Superbowl. Ladainian Tomlinson / Drew Brees were super nice guys to have a quick chat with and get their autos. Terrell Davis said "I respect the perseverance you guys have for autographs" He went on to ask "What do you guys do with these autos?" It was also awesome seeing Rodgers / Montana within 30 minutes of each other. Last night Jim Brown walked by and his handler wouldn't let him sign anything, but we shook his hand. Best part of the night was having two older guys from Boston take a picture with a guy who was a sleep on the lobby couch.

[Snapolit1]

Met my childhood hero Darryl Strawberry and both times he was down to earth and just a nice guy. And once was on a 630 am flight. Ouch.