Tell Us Your Best Athlete Run-Ins, And Win A Book! - Deadspin Comments

Tell Us Your Best Athlete Run-Ins, And Win A Book!

the WB — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 17:19:31 EST

This was really an encounter of our own idiotically drunken making, and like many such episodes of my youth, it should not, by rights, have ended so well. It wa a summer afternoon in 1990, and my friend Paul and I were taking in a Portland Beavers game at Civic Stadium. We drank several beers before going into the park, and a few more into the fourth inning, when we realized his girlfriend and her friend hadn't joined us as we'd agreed that morning. We were stupidly drunk, and decided we'd try to have them paged, a reasonable tactic in the pre-cellphone age. We got a little turned around as we headed off to try to find someone who could bellow Paul's long-suffering girlfriend's name over the loudspeaker, and eventually realized we were down in the bowels of the ballpark. We wandered around a bit, hearing the crowd above us, but we really had very little idea how to get back topside. So, when we saw a bit of light toward one end of the long, dank space we were staggering through, we headed for it, and broke the surface pretty dramatically, wandering into the Beavers' bullpen as several picthers were warming up. In our brief, confused encounter with the AAA relief corps of the Minnesota Twins farm club, we were gawked at, laughed at, and guided back to the stands by a bemused cohort of largely forgettable middle relievers, including Larry Casian, Rich Garces, Gary Wayne and Mike Dyer, all of whom did pitch in the big leagues. Considering we'd crashed into their office, they were really very nice about it, and we eventually made it back to our seats where, unsurprisingly, there were no girls waiting for us.

the WB

Tell Us Your Best Athlete Run-Ins, And Win A Book!

Larry Bird Flu — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 21:44:02 EST

Back in the late '90s, probably around 97-98, I was in the Gap in Northern Virginia when I saw Matt Turk, then-punter for the Redskins, buying his girlfriend a new wardrobe. He was peeling off $100 bill after $100 bill of a wad of cash about 3 inches deep. It was then that the economic disparity between pro athletes -- including a guy that makes all of 4-5 plays per game -- and real folks like me with my $21,000/year job was made clear. Man, that's a lame sports run-in. Sorry.

Larry Bird Flu

Tell Us Your Best Athlete Run-Ins, And Win A Book!

Planet B — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 15:24:04 EST

In Europe it's considered rude not to sit down on the loo... but I think that's because, like football, they're not allowed to use their hands. BTW, no sports star stories from me but any number of people I know in Chicago can attest to the reasoning behind the moniker "No Tippin' Pippen".

Planet B

Tell Us Your Best Athlete Run-Ins, And Win A Book!

gavinrobinson — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 15:02:22 EST

this is less of an athlete run-in, and more of a celeb-posing-as-an-anthlete run in. but a few years ago, i attended a road race in dallas, tx and i got to go down pit row and meet a bunch of the racers because we were there with a team sponser. well, one of the cars was being raced by a not-so-skilled craig t. nelson (of coach and the district fame). after he passed the reins off to another driver, my dad and i went to get pictures and all that jazz and he couldn't stop talking about just how bad he had done in the race. i had a hearty laugh.

gavinrobinson

Tell Us Your Best Athlete Run-Ins, And Win A Book!

stan — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 14:58:30 EST

man, if my run-in with wendell kim was at all interesting, this contest would have been in the bag. such is the power of "wave em in wendell."

stan