Brief, unsuccessful Jay Hopson interview
so: I'm at Briarwood doing Christmas shopping when I walk by a guy who looks familiar. It then occurs to me: is that Jay Hopson?
It is at this point I realize that I actually said "Jay Hopson" aloud. Shit. Hopson asks me what I want, because he's a linebackers coach and undoubtedly not used to getting recognized in the mall. Have I abducted his child? Am I asking for ransom? What does this wild-haired terrorist want with me? Etc.
Panicked, I manage to ask him if he's going to be the defensive coordinator. "Man, I don't know," he scoffs. Then he winks and moves on with his life. I feel like a huge tool. That is all. At least I didn't say "hey, your wife is hot."
December 23rd, 2008 at 8:00 AM ^
While I rarely went to Ricks, because as a graduate student these things are not done, every time I was in the bathroom someone was vomitting.
The first time I went there I was new in town with 2 buddies from elsewhere and we stumbled in already loaded. One guy immediately went to the bathroom. When the waitress came the other dude asked if there were any specials. Turns out it was 'dollar pitcher night.' This was something we'd never heard of so my buddy asked, "for how long?" Of course, the answer was "all night." So, we ordered 3. The dude that was in the bathroom returned with a pitcher in each hand. Smiling he said, "guess how much I paid for these 2 pitchers?" So, we had 3 drunk guys and 5 pitchers of beer. Just another night at Ricks American Cafe.
December 23rd, 2008 at 10:08 AM ^
"Hipster bigfoot" is possibly the greatest comment I've ever read on this blog.
December 25th, 2008 at 4:04 PM ^
somebody recognizes my genius!
December 25th, 2008 at 9:20 PM ^
I met Jack Nicklaus, and immediately got on the ground, bowed to him repeatedly and said "I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy." (this was around the Wayne's World days) He smiled politely and gave me an autograph. My parents were less than thrilled. This was at the PGA Championship, and my dad was a rules official, so he was pretty embarrassed to say the least. yikes....
December 25th, 2008 at 9:47 PM ^
Random airport encounter: Was on a flight once back to Detroit with Muhsin Muhammad. (I know. Wrong university.) Muhsin Muhammad is kind of a random pretty decent NFLer that's not particularly recognizable because like most NFLers he spends most of his time in the public eye behind a face mask, but it was clearly Muhsin Muhammad because he was traveling with a HUGE, HUGE family in tow - like, probably 30-35 relatives - and all the ones under the age of 12 were wearing Panthers #87 jerseys and calling him Uncle Moose.
My only encounter with a (pro) football personality, except for the time when our high school won a contest that brought Bobby Ross in for an afternoon.
December 26th, 2008 at 2:07 AM ^
Wait, did you win or lose the contest?
August 21st, 2009 at 9:36 AM ^
I once walked by former NY Islanders defenseman Dennis Potvin at the Ren Cen. I said, "Mr. Potvin." No response. After the third "Mr. Potvin" he turned around and said, "WHAT!?" I felt like an idiot. I said, "Forget it" and walked away.
I also ran into Former Red Wing Paul Woods at the Oakland County Courthouse. I said hello, and then asked what he was doing there. His lawyer glared at me and said, "He's taking care of some personal business." Felt like a dumbass.