Your Worst Experience Dealing With An Athlete

[HENMICK44@OPTONLINE.NET]

So Many Of These Athletes Are Full Of *#$%.all There Interested In Is Money.they Forget We Pay Their Bills By Going To Watch These Primadonas Play Ball.i'm A Die Hard Yankee Fan And Only A Few Of These Present Day Guys Are "good Guys".in The Old Days You Would See Players Signing Items For Fans Before And After The Game,now When People Are Cheering For Them Like They Cured Cancer They Won't Even Look At You In The Stands.some Yankees Today Don't Sign Certain Items,won't Sign On The Sweet Spot,and Some Just Ignore You And Pickup Their Millions Of Dollars For Playing A Kids Game.now I'm Not Bitter,all Of Professional Athletes Get Paid Way To Much But Thats Just A Sign Of The Times,but When Someone Ask You For A Autograph And You Do Sign Something For Them Remember That You Made That Persons Day,and That Should Make You Feel Just As Happy As The Fan.so Many Of These Autograph Companies Have Ruined The Hobby By Giving These Guys Signing Contracts And Giving Them More Money That They Don't Need.good Guys To Mention Goose Gossage,phil Rizzuto,jason Giambi,roger Clemens,paul Oneill.then You Have The $#@%'s Posada,a-rod,roberto Kelly,to Name A Few.

[JasonM33]

Well this isn't exactly what you asked for but I'll chime in anyway. I've been lucky enough to meet all of my favorite thletes nd I had nothing but positive experiences.

I met Jose Canseco at my local gym. He was really cool. He acted like a regular guy. No attitude. This was pre steroid scandaland no we didn't talk about steroids even though we were at a gym. We talked about cell phones.

Mike Tyson actually sat next to me at the movies. Nice guy, very quiet.

Bernie Kosar was the best. I met him at Cleveland Browns training camp. Most of the players barely signed after the long practice. Kosar on the other hand stayed and signed for ever person who waited for him. It was a lot of people. He actually signed two things for me and made people move out of the way so he could sign for me since I was wearing his jersey. That was one of the coolest things that ever happened to me. He's always been a hero of mine since I was a kid.

Tito Ortiz was cool guy. I didn't get to talk to him for very long because there were a lot of people trying to meet him. He appreciated me because I was wearing my Punishment Athletics t-shirt.

Magic Johnson seemed nice but there were so many people around I didn't get to talk to him.

I've met a bunch of other athletes but these guys are my favorites at their respective sports.

-Jason M

[richpick]

Here is a funny experience when I look back on it. It must have been around 1990 and my buddy was dating a Los Angeles Rams cheerleader so the cheerleaders would go where the players were after the games and we would meet her there. On this day I was at Peppers a Mexican restaurant in Garden Grove, Ca and was at the bar ordering beers for our group of friends when I did not notice a gentleman sit down next to me at the bar. As I picked up the order and turned I spilt his beer right into his lap, yes an entire glass of beer in his lap. I apologized and offered to buy him a new beer. He declined. I offered again. He declined. After the third offer he said "just get out of here" so I quickly returned to my group. The guy was Kevin Greene who was quite nice considering that I just dropped a beer in his lap.

[jboosted92]

I had a real good experience at a tri-star show back a few years ago..

it was a rare Tom Brady public appearance (possibly his last that Im aware of) in NJ. This was in the summer of 2003 (post 2001 SB pre 2003 SB)

So outside of New England he was a good leading young QB..in New England he was Larry Bird with a helmet..

Anyway... He had just arrived around 11am flyin in from Cali from the QB challenge..you could tell he was tired as h3ll.. he looked like he had about 3 hours sleep...

He spoke to each person for at least 2 minutes (that doesnt sound long...but it is)..

Real stand up guy..and the best Qb in the league

[metsbats]

Mookie Wilson is one of Mets all time good guys and one of my all time favorites too so this is not a knock on him presonally.

I presented Mookie one of his game used Louisville sluggers which is stamped William "Mookie" Wilson which is the signature he signed with HB and asked him if he would sign it as such. He politely declined and told me he has not signed his name like that in years. I was disappointed as I thought it would have been unique to have his autograph exactly like the stamped signature but respect his policy.

Definitely does not fall under a "worst experience" though.

David

[Kid4hof03]

I had Graig Nettles call me a thief and throw a fit when I tried to have a bicentennial bat and a couple of jerseys signed. He was such a jerk that within 2 weeks I had sold my entire Nettles collection: 3 bats, 2 jerseys, a helmet and a few other items.

Abe

[suave1477]

Mookie Wilson is one of Mets all time good guys and one of my all time favorites too so this is not a knock on him presonally.

I presented Mookie one of his game used Louisville sluggers which is stamped William "Mookie" Wilson which is the signature he signed with HB and asked him if he would sign it as such. He politely declined and told me he has not signed his name like that in years. I was disappointed as I thought it would have been unique to have his autograph exactly like the stamped signature but respect his policy.

Definitely does not fall under a "worst experience" though.

David

MetsBats I was a bit surprised to see you catergorize Mookie as Mets all time good guys. I am not saying Mookie is a bad expeirience, but I have met and been with Mookie in everal friends circles and when it came anything involving autographs well lets just say he wasnt always a pleasant experience for people as I watched him refuse and turn down autographs for financial reasons.

[jake33]

Wow, after reading all of everyone else's experiences, most of them would eb very embarassing moments not just for the athlete but for you, the fan. Amazing how some athletes just don't get the big picture and really how close they were to not even playing pro sports...

[jonpaulmoen]

Not necessarily a "worst" experience, but sometime between '89-91, I had the chance to caddy for Kevin McHale at Golden Valley Country Club in Golden Valley Minnesota. He didn't really talk to me and just gave me $20 for about 4 hours worth of work. He did though let me get a photo of him and I at the end. Damn he had huge golf clubs!

Was at a Twins game in the early 90's when they were playing the mariners. I was hanging out watching batting practice when Ken Griffey Jr. walked by. I was about 15 or 16 yo and was surrounded by a bunch of younger kids who, when they saw him, were of course all yelling "can I get your autograph?" Griffey turned to all of us and in a really cocky kind of way and said, "Not right now." Just the way he said it left a bad taste in my mouth for the last decade or so. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but he wiped the smiles off all those kids faces in an instant.

[Josh M]

This was a few weeks ago. I was at a club and saw Jason Kidd and Vince Carter and a few other various Nets players. My friend went up to Vince and just said "Hey, I'm a big fan, I've liked you since you were at UNC" and just wanted to shake his hand...........and Vince goes "Whatever" and just turns away.

It'd be one thing like the story explained on page 1 of being tired and real late............there was really no one around them and they weren't with anyone. Oh well............