your brush with greatness

[papazoid]

did he try to kiss you?

 

 

lol...no.....story #3, i met suzy kolber at another event (prior to joe's kiss), it was in baltimore the venue was the Ravens stadium. Suzy, Ron Jaworski and Merril Hodge were the featured entertainment so to speak, they did a show together at the time on espn. there was a meet and greet with pictures and they also did their show/schtick and took questions. anyways, at the meet and greet, it was business casual, i had a buffalo bills logo'd polo and hit up jaws right away about buffalo. lots of laughs, so i try to pin them down on a their predictions of who would be in the superbowl, ron and hodge answer pretty quick and suzy is hedging, so the boys really start needling her. some funny stuff, just remember none of them picked the chalk/favorites and they were all good sports.

[uncle flap]

i have a ton of brushes with bills and sabres, although many of them at public promoted events.

 

i've also been fortunate enough to bump into and/or see bills and sabres out at the bars.

 

best bar story - my friends and i saw a few of bills out on chippewa a few years ago. mcgahee was one of them. usually when i/we see athletes at the bar we leave them alone or just give them a "let's go buffalo." but my friend just absolutely had to tell willis a long winded story about a pipe that he had that broke but he was able to put back together. since the pipe reminded him of willis (reconstructed knee) he named it "mcgahee." i guess it was one of those "you had to be there" stories, but it was surreal and hilarious. too bad mcgahee turned out to be a d-bag.

 

speaking of d-bags, my best non-bar story involves dominik hasek at a card signing. this was when the sabres first acquired him, and there weren't even any cards with him in a sabres uniform yet. i had a score "top prospects" card of hasek in a hawks uniform. his name printed on the card was "dominic hasek." so when he autographed he crossed out the "c" and wrote a "k" above it before he autographed it. i don't remember what he said about it (i was pretty young) but some old guy was like, "that's gonna be worth some money someday."

 

actually, i have to add one more. that same hasek day, i saw brad may at jubilee before i went to the card signing at hearthstone manor.i told him i was going to see hasek, bob sweeney, and some one else like jason dawe or phillipe boucher -i dont even remember. but brad may told me to tell bob sweeney that he said he's a blockhead. a night or two before sweeney missed an open net by shooting the puck clear over. i dont remember the play being consequential- pretty sure they won anyway but it was still really cool to be 10 or however old i was and delivering a message from one sabre to another.

 

i lied, one more - jim kelly and kent hull gave me peanuts at the sabres game once, and bought me a pop another time. and said hi to me a bunch of times since my dad had seasons kind of near their seats.

[freeagentqb]

in 1965 while working at a gas station on Porter ave near the peace Bridge entrance I put gas in Cookie Gilchrist's car and also sold him a can of Spitfire. On another day, I put gas in Jack Kemp's car. He said to me "Fill it up".

 

On a related note, Al Hirt once stopped and asked me for directions to Kleinhans Music Hall.

Edited January 12, 2011 by bobm

[3rdand12]

Its cool you remember stuff like that i think.

[BillsPride12]

No cool Bills stories, I did meet Marv Levy before but it was at a staged book signing , but my best brush with greatness was shaking hands with and getting an autograph from Dave Chappelle at a Knicks game at the garden. In fact he autographed my ticket stub. Dude looked higher than a kite

[truth on hold]

Just before this season I had a conversation with Jumbo Elliot. He is a man who turned his life around. He now owns businesses and contributes to local charities.

 

Jumbo talked about how intense it was to play against Bruce. He said that if he was of balance for a second, Bruce would beat him. He made it pretty clear however that he wasn't physically afraid of Bruce.

He also said that he coached Jason Peters. I raved about Peters strength and he implied that when he played that he was stronger than Peters as well, and I have no reason not to believe him.

 

This was fun, but not as much as the time Raquel Welch actually stopped walking, turned around, and winked at me approx. 25 years ago. She was SO freaking hot that she froze me. I couldn't move for a few seconds and my forehead started sweating. I saw her laughing as she turned around and walked away. Even then she wasn't young. Just 100% beautiful. Raquel Welch was true greatness.

I met Jumbo about 10 yrs ago. When I told him I was from Buffalo he said "Buffalo, didn't they have a kicker named Nor-wad?" he was totally joking, it was funny. he's a good guy. credited Bellichek's game plan on defense for the Giants Super Bowl victory, never mentioned Tuna

Edited January 13, 2011 by Joe_the_6_pack

[Kiwi Bills fan]

I'd just like to say how much I've been enjoying reading these stories.

 

Keep them coming!

[Haven Moses]

Whan I lived in Chicago, I had a buddy who worked on the ice crew. He had a son the same age as mine, and they were about 9 at the time. Before the game Barnaby slid them a couple of practice pucks. After the game, just about all of the players stopped to give the boys their autographs. Hockey players are pretty down to earth nice guys. Chelios, Roenick, Amonte, Carney, Barnaby, McKee, Warrenner, and even Dom signed autographs for the boys.

 

Danny Gare is a super nice guy too.

 

And through the magic of twitter, I got a "fathead" Thurman Thomas signed for me. Thurman and Patty are hilarious on twitter. Andre Reed, and Darryl Talley are on there too. Fun to read their comments while they are watching the same games as you.

[freeagentqb]

Being a recently discharged Vietnam veteran at the time, I was hired by the Veterans Administration as a contact representative at the VA office in Philadelphia. The supervisor who hired me was a WWII Marine by the name of Carlton Rouh. I never knew at that time that he had been awarded the Medal of Honor for actions at Iwo Jima. I later transferred to the Buffalo office and had spent time working at the VA Syracuse office that was headed by Forrest (Woody)Vossler who had also been awarded the Medal of Honor during WWII. I never knew it at the time but found out years later. I also had the opportunity to work on the claim of the only WNY area Vietnam Medal of Honor winner.

[tennesseeboy]

Being a recently discharged Vietnam veteran at the time, I was hired by the Veterans Administration as a contact representative at the VA office in Philadelphia. The supervisor who hired me was a WWII Marine by the name of Carlton Rouh. I never knew at that time that he had been awarded the Medal of Honor for actions at Iwo Jima. I later transferred to the Buffalo office and had spent time working at the VA Syracuse office that was headed by Forrest (Woody)Vossler who had also been awarded the Medal of Honor during WWII. I never knew it at the time but found out years later. I also had the opportunity to work on the claim of the only WNY area Vietnam Medal of Honor winner.

Now that's a real brush with greatness. When I first came down here I was meeting with a physician faculty member on legal stuff and noted a handsome young green beret photo. I thought he had aged greatly, but since I had been in Vietnam mentioned. The young man was his son who had won the Medal of Honor in Vietnam.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Holden_Doane

 

I remember when I used to post on PPP how a right wing non combat person whined how medals were given cheaply in Viet Nam. Wonder what Dr. Doane would think of that comment.

[Glory Bound]

My dad was a sportswriter for the Buffalo News…back then it was called the Buffalo Evening News. He used to get me on the Bills sidelines when they played at the old Rockpile. I was about age 10 to 12 years old at the time. He did this by saving his passes year after year & matching up the colors of his sideline pass with an with an old pass, then taping my old bogus pass face down on my coat. Nobody said anything to him because of who he was & the fact that I behaved. Many thought I was coach Lou Saban’s son.

I have many more stories (all true) if anybody’s interested…including my mom being responsible for the swirling winds in Rich stadium by turning the stadium sideways…& I also cooked for lunch for O.J. & 12 other Bills one day…including Ahmad Rashad …I lived in a apartment complex with 13 Bills that my mom managed. I definitely had an interesting childhood!

[Just Jack]

…including my mom being responsible for the swirling winds in Rich stadium by turning the stadium sideways

I'd like to hear that. I had heard it was because it was easier to turn the layout rather than move the cemetery that is over by Gate 8-9.

[Glory Bound]

I'd like to hear that. I had heard it was because it was easier to turn the layout rather than move the cemetery that is over by Gate 8-9.

You got it! My mom used to joke she had enough careers for several people. During the period when the plans were being laid for the stadium, she was editor of the Hamburg Photo News. She caught wind that the original plans for the stadium meant for it to be built on top of that burial ground & she wrote a story about it. The article caused quite a stir & due to the impending law suits, the stadium officials had no choice but to change the plans of the stadium construction. I remember her joking that she was responsible for the swirling winds & the kickers probably hated her for writing that story.

Some time later she became manager of Lake Heights Apartments in Hamburg, the adjacent suburb to Orchard Park where the stadium is. (I graduated from Hamburg High in '72). I'm pretty sure it was the first year O.J. came to Buffalo, he & 12 other Bills contracted to live there for a period, & on lease signing day they all arrived. My mom put me in charge of making them lunch...Italian sausage hoagies with peppers & onions. My memory of O.J. was the size & muscles in his thighs...huge! (he was wearing shorts). I think it was either Jim Braxton's or Ahmad Rashad's apartment that they all trashed one night during a party...did considerable damage & my mom was ticked over that.

Once my dad got me in the dugout of the MLB allstar game when it was being played in Buffalo. I was in the dugout with Mickey Mantle & Roger Marris! I remember Marris puffing on a cigarette. It wasn't too long after that I started smoking...quit a long time ago though. Kids do indeed mimic their heroes.

[mousetrap08]

Mark Kelso use to come to our our post game tailgate party's and he even took a kids Bills helmet into the locker room to be signed by all the players and coaches for my disabled nephew who was only 3 or 4 at the time. My nephew just turned 23 and still has that helmet. That was very appreciated by us and will never be forgotten

[RevWarRifleman]

I've had 2 occasions where I've met Jim Kelly. As some of you know Jim's brothers live here in Richmond and Jim built a house here but decided not to move because of Hunter, etc. Anyway, I knew he was in town playing in a charity golf tournament on a Thursday and that he would probably be staying in town to watch his nephew play HS football that Friday. I was right - my Dad and I went to the game, were hanging around by the track and Jimbo walks to the concession stand. My Dad says "Hey Jim, how you doing we're from Buffalo". To which Kelly snidely responded "I'm sorry" and kept walking. We stood our ground and he did stop by on his way back from the stand to exchange pleasantries.

 

2nd time - I was in the Richmond airport checking in for a flight to Rochester of all places. My wife had driven me and went in to the terminal. I'm in line and I hear her say "James" (my name is Jim) and I looked back and she motioned to show me that Jimbo was checking in at the first class counter. I happened to be wearing a Bills shirt, so we exit our lines at the same time, he comes up to me and says "nice shirt" and shook my hand. I went on to ask my wife why she called me James (she never does) and she said "I didn't want to yell out 'hey Jim' and have him think I was a groupie."

 

Hey RichmondBob, would that nephew be Shaun Kelly who was the quarterback at Monacan HS? He later played some defensive back for the Spiders? And Jim's house down here was along a certain lake? I live in Richmond and am a big Bills fan. Grew up in Niagara county. Moved down here after graduating from Oswego State. Oh by the way, I have no "brush w/ greatness". Just wanted to share some Richmond stuff w/ a fellow Bills fan. RWR

[Phlegm Alley]

my son ran a restaurant outside Saratoga and was always calling me with guys who had come in for d drink and I got a kick out of talking with a couple of guys from The Sopranos, David Cassidy from the Partridge family, Doug Flutie, etc. The most "celebrity" call he hit me with was Bill Parcells who apparently is a bit of a horse fan and owns a place. Nothing special as to the conversation, just seemed pleasant enough. I still blame him for our losing our first superbowl...but I was polite.

 

 

He owns a house in Saratoga in a development called Interlocken. Huge multimillion dollar homes. He plays gold at this really nice, fairly new course called Saratoga National. On father's day back in 2007, my father, my brother-in-law, and myself went to play some golf at the National. It was a real treat because greens fees were over $100 there, so we decided to full advantage of the amenities there. We got there early and they have a really nice driving range where you can hit balls before your round. My old golf coach runs the driving range there and he happened to be there that day. We were talking to him for a couple of minutes and he points subtly to a guy hitting golf balls by himself....it was Parcels just drilling driver. He is a lot bigger in person and his hair was pristine white.

 

We didn't go over to say hello or anything, because the golf course is probably an escape for him. But it was a great encounter.

[truth on hold]

I once got Gil Perrault's autograph at a staged session at KMart. Gil was up on a little stage and a line of hundreds of kids were waiting. He didnt look happy. When it was my turn, I asked him to address it to me and he just grunted. LOL

[CowgirlsFan]

since the bills are toast and there are only so many times i can read about andrew luck, i'm curious to hear about your encounters with bills past and present. here's mine:

 

around ’87-‘88 my friend, sarks, his dad and I went to see jim kelly at some boat dealership on grand island. the appearance must not have been heavily promoted because the place was empty. jim was leaning against a boat, talking shop with some of the employees. The salespeople sighed as we entered – our zubaz and bills sweatshirts made it abundantly clear we weren’t there for a boat.

 

i was around 12 at the time and jimbo was my hero. I had only seen him on tv before so this was like meeting a god. he seemed impossibly tall, towering over all of us. he wasn’t as muscular as i expected but the dude certainly carried an air of gravitas. maybe it was his acid washed jeans. maybe it was his perfectly feathered mini-mullet. he just had it.

 

we were silent as we approached him, too nervous to speak. jim smiled and, still leaning against the boat, did a sorta playful roundhouse kick into my chest, accompanied with a friendly “hiya, buddy!” unsure how to react, I just held onto his foot, thinking, “this is jim kelly’s foot and i’m holding it.” I also remember thinking, “i wonder if jim likes the karate kid?” it was an auspicious beginning.

 

i guess the boat folks were embarrassed by the low turnout because no one wanted us to leave. The salesmen had apparently run out of stuff to say to jim since they just started asking us about school. i remember grimacing a little when sarks told jim that he was his favorite player. It was an outright lie. sarks’ favorite player was montana and favorite team the 49ers – he was there strictly for the autograph. sarks’ mom was expecting at the time and jim talked to us a long time about that. he even signed a couple of magazines for “baby bill” (his words, not mine). the baby turned out to be a girl and wasn’t named “bill.”

 

we ended up just hanging out for like half an hour, during which time no one else entered the store. The highlight was when jim started tossing the ball around with us (sarks had brought along a football). i’m not sure if the boat folks approved of a couple kids running out patterns in their store, juking out bayliners, lunds and monteray sport boats like hapless db’s, but who were they to argue with jim? sadly, the fun ended when i pass rushed sarks and his errant toss smashed into one of the boats. a salesperson snagged the ball and handed it over to sarks’ dad saying, “you know, that’s a $15,000 boat.”

 

we took our leave, piling into the car and heading back to the falls. as we made our way across the grand island bridge i remember being overwhelmed – real life jim had far exceeded my high expectations. i knew with all my heart that a super bowl victory would soon be ours.

 

[epilogue: many years later after the final dallas super bowl loss, I would cross paths with jim again. at that time i worked summers as a waiter at the niagara falls country club. jim was there as a guest of a member. as part of our service, we would always place a basket of popcorn and chips on the table. as I approached the table with the snacks, jim called out “keep that stuff away from me! i’m on a diet!” he then ordered a light beer and chicken sandwich.

 

it already seemed too late though. this wasn’t the same jim as before. his hair was in fast recession, his stomach a little fuller, he carried a more wearied air. as i delivered his chicken sandwich (sans cheese and mayo), i knew our super bowl run was over. my childhood hero was diminished.]

 

My Bills brush with greatness doesn't involve a player. I flew from Cleveland Ohio to Buffalo on 9-11 and Trent Edwards's TWO Aunts were on the flight too! One of his aunt's noticed my Dallas Cowboy game gear and remarked that Dallas wasn't playing Buffalo on Sunday. I said you are right but I'm going to see my best buds team play the Dolfins in their home opener!! She asked if the name Edwards meant anything to me and I said YES!!

[bbb]

Here's one for the older guys. I'm in a bar in NYC in 1987. We see this woman who looks like she's still trying to look hot even though you can see she has a ton of wear on the tires. I said to one of my friends that she's trying to look like Joey Heatherton (my friend didn't even know who I was talking about - we were 25 at the time). A minute or two later, the guys next to me, not hearing me or anything, said You know that woman is Joey Heatherton.

 

We ended up talking to her for a little bit but it didn't seem like the lights were totally on........A few months later or so, she was busted for coke!

[3rdand12]

I feel guilty about ruining a very nice thread thing. Any possibility of righting the good ship lollipop?

I was at the Houston Frank Reich game. The whole game