Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic
As a kid I met Ric Flair. Well, I actually met several wrestlers that day, but I was maybe 14 and I was a huge Ric Flair fan. My dad knew Bob Geigel? I that was his name. He was some Mid-States Wrestling dude, and I got to meet them in the locker room. It was a match between Bulldog Bob Brown and Flair vs Bruiser Brody and some other guy. I can't remember his name.
After the match I went to the back and Bruiser Brody scared the hell out of me. I don't think that guy ever faked a thing. Ric Flair laughed at me and told me that I was safe as long as I didn't smell like meat or beer, or something to that effect. Flair was really cool, and shook my hand, still drenched in sweat with blood in his platinum hair. I remember he had huge welts on his chest from the slaps from Brody.
I was a huge fan but I could barely get words out of my mouth. I was trying to tell him what a fan I was, and he could obviously see how nervous I was, and he spontaneous let out a Woooooo, and said something like I get you brother, fans are why I do what I do.
It was at old Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. Other than being scared shitless by Bruiser Brody, and starstruck by my all-time favorite wrestler, The Nature Boy Ric Flair, I remember that I didn't realize until I was on my way home that all the wrestlers were just hanging out together. I was 14 and thought that good guys and bad guys, now called faces and heels, only hung out with other good guys, or bad guys, depending on which they were. I had just met my hero, and it took a while to process it, but Ric Flair couldn't have been more awesome.
The other time I met my hero didn't go so well. I, along with every other little leaguer I knew idolized George Brett. He still is the greatest baseball player that I have ever seen. I don't remember the exact circumstances as to how it happened, but my dad's boss, my dad, and the woman my dad was having an affair with (who later became my stepmother but I was clueless at the time) were at I believe the Golden Ox, it was down by Kemper Arena, and somehow I ended up standing on the fringe of a group of adults outside.
As a 10 year old kid (it was 1981) I remember thinking that I had been standing around with nothing to do as all the adults talked for what seemed like literal hours. It was probably 30-45 minutes, but that seemed like forever, especially when you complain about it and are told to just shut up.
But then there was George Brett and all that waiting seemed like it was about to payoff. But as he made his way toward the restaurant some of the adults tried talking to him, and he basically told them to eff off. I didn't understand what was happening, so I tried to say something to him, and he made eye contact with me, and then basically hip checked me without saying a word. I know he saw me because we absolutely locked eyes. Of course, I immediately cried. I was 10 and he was my hero. I wore #5 because of him.
As I embarrassingly tried to stop crying and stealthily wipe the snot from my face, I could hear the adults calling him a drunk asshole, and they were quite upset that a drunk celebrity would basically run over a little kid. I asked my dad about it years later, and he told me that Brett was so drunk that he was belligerent and didn't actually hip check me so much as staggered into me.
My dad then told me something that I never knew, because after the incident at the door with my hero crushing my feelings I kinda blocked out the rest of the night. He told me that the other person who was with Brett (I wanna say Jamie Quirk but my dad couldn't really remember) paid the tab for everyone that had been standing outside, and came to everyone's table and apologized.
Those are the two that truly stick out to me, that were not a result of my job.
I met William Devane (sp?) at the American Royal. He was on a soap opera drama Falcon Crest or some crap.
Later in life I had a job that brought me into contact with Deron Cherry and Joe Montana, who were both in the booze biz, and both super chill and charismatic. And I had a job where I participated in a conference call with Shania Twain. In fact, she actually said my name during the call. I never met her in person, but she was extremely nice over the phone, and knew her business front and back, quoting sales numbers spot on.
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