Six Degrees of FOFC

[mrsimperless]

I have often been intrigued by the idea of six degrees of separation. It seems somewhat exciting that you could link yourself to famous people fairly easily. (Yes, I'm easily excited.) It got me to wondering how close some of us FOFCers might be "related". I'm sure there are some of us who are related through just one or two "degrees" and we'd probably be very surprised to discover it. I tried to think of a way that I could turn this into a forum game, but I suck at that kind of stuff. So I decided to just post the celebrities that I can link myself to fairly easily. Most of these are linked through my girlfriend or a friend. I am a loser and personally know no celebrities.

If you can link to any of my celebrities go ahead and do so and then post some of your own. Maybe we can link up all of FOFC through our very own celebrity network.

Trista (The bachelorette) - was my girlfriend's friend in college. (She has pictures with her in them)

Reggie Miller - Is a friend of my girlfriend's ex-boyfriend.

Kenny Irwin (deceased NASCAR driver) - dated a friend in college

Ryan Newman (NASCAR driver) - went to Purdue and was friends with a friend of mine

Jeff George - he went to my high school and his mom was friends with the mother of one of my friends growing up

Brian Evans (former IU b-ball player) - dated my girlfriend's friend in college. We also spotted him at a restaurant a couple of months ago.

[Airhog]

My best friend is directly related to bobby knight.

My girlfriends parents are good friends with someone who is good friends with race car driver mark martin.

[Kodos]

Calbert Cheaney spiked a volleyball on my foot.

Reggie Miller stole my seat in an Indianapolis bar.

Mike Dumas (safety in the NFL) was in one of my sociology classes.

My fiance knew actress Gretchen Mol when she was younger.

I have a trout in my ... swimming pool.

[cuervo72]

Originally posted by Airhog
My best friend is directly related to bobby knight.

My girlfriends parents are good friends with someone who is good friends with race car driver mark martin.

My in-laws live in the same fly-in community as Mark Martin (and Mike Skinner).

[RPI-Fan]

My dad had Joey Juneau in one of his classes in college.

He also had the nephew of one of the owners of the Carvel Ice Cream company in a class.

Joe Juneau helped my friend's family build a barn years ago. (late 80's).

[TroyF]

I've met John Elway a few times. My best friend had a 30 minute conversation with Tiger Woods once.

I've met almost all of the television media in OKC (which probably means Cam and I are pretty close)

I've met Bucc and Mizzou, so anyone on this board who has met them instantly is with two degrees of me.

I figure that between Elway and Woods, I've pretty much got the United States pretty well covered. :)

TroyF

[Bee]

I played 2 seasons of Division I football at WVU (ok, I sat on the bench ;)) so I've come into contact with quite a few NFL players.

I have a cousin who played with Vick at VA Tech. I've met Vick once when I went down to visit my cousin.

Outside of football, my wife briefly dated John Malkovich before I met her (I don't hold it against her). I think they went out two or three times.

I also have a good friend who was in a couple of "B" grade movies (Zombie stuff) and had a bit part in "The Last Temptation of Christ". He's now producing "off" broadway shows in NYC. So I could link myself to quite a few people through him.

[FishFan]

I've caught passes from Rex Grossman.

I've played golf with Bobby Knight.

I've dined and wined with Tony Dungy and Bill Cowher.

Curtis Strange called me an asshole and told me to fuck off.

I've served beer to Jermaine O'Neal (w/o checking his ID).

I failed miserably trying to guard former Hoosiers, A.J. Guyton and Jared Jeffries, in pickup games.

I spilled a beer on Peyton Manning.

I bumped into Dominic Rhodes in a bar

[JHandley]

Originally posted by TroyF
My best friend had a 30 minute conversation with Tiger Woods once.



I fixed Tiger's laptop when he was staying in our hotel in Seattle.

Side note about Tiger. His bio (http://golfnews.augustachronicle.com/bios/bio184.shtml) says he is in the neighborhood of 6'1"-6'2". The only way he's 6'2" is if he's in 4 inch platform shoes. I'm about 5'9" and he's maybe an inch or two taller than I am.

[VPI97]

I played high school ball against Billy Wagner (Astros)

I had a friend in college who was a Virginia Tech cheerleader...I met Jim Druckenmiller (QB - 1st round draft choice) and Brad Clontz (former MLB reliever) when she was dating them.

My cousin, Chad Beasley, was a starting DT for VT and is now a backup OT for the Browns. My uncle, Tom Beasley, is a member of the VT Hall of Fame and has 4 Super Bowl rings from his time with the Steelers and Redskins.

I had a couple of classes with Antonio Freeman in college.

I've had beers with a number of pro wrestlers...(including Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Disco Inferno, and a host of other WCW guys)

[FishFan]

Originally posted by VPI97
I played high school ball against Billy Wagner (Astros)


That reminds me...

I caught a line drive off the bat of Scott Rolen that broke two bones in my glove hand.

[Radii]

I played basketball with Donald Williams(Final Four MVP when UNC won the national title in 1993) when he was a senior in High School in Garner, NC. I imagine I can link myself to all my Tar Heel childhood heros in 6 steps through that, Jordan included of course.

Went to Campbell Basketball camp in the late 1980s and had training sessions from Chris Corchiani, Rick Fox, King Rice, and Bobby Hurley, and George Lynch. Tons of NBA links there as well.

[Draft Dodger]

people I've spoken to through my job...

John Tesh
Jimmy Kimmel
Gene Shalit
Greta Van Sustren
and some guy who makes gay porn DVDs

[sabotai]

I dated a girl once (a long time ago) that had a cousin who roadied for Green Day.

My ex-girlfriend's sister's boss lives next door to Bon Jovi (note: I also spotted Bon Jovi in the crowd at a Poison concert....my gf made me go.)

A girl I know is close friends with Philip Anselmo

[Buccaneer]

Radii, no need for 6 steps.

I had Michael Jordan in a summer class I TA'd for (yes, I told him he was a slacker).

Helped Brad Daugherty in a couple of geography classes.

Knew the student rep who coordinated the, ahem, welcoming committee when Jeff Lebo visited the campus during the recruiting period.

Shot hoops with Kellen Winslow.

Met scores of sports stars in the early 1980s when I was working card/autograph shows (Marcus Allen particularly).

Talked with James Burke (Connections) for a few minutes.

Knew Sean Salisbury at HS when he was a freshmen and I was a senior.

Had a colleague whose sister dated Larry Mullens Jr in Ireland.

[RPI-Fan]

Talked with James Burke (Connections) for a few minutes.

Aside from that fitting quite well with this topic, I'm curious as to what type of guy he was? Did he just have story after story after story, or was he pretty 'normal'?

[heybrad]

Off the top of my head...

I was friends in Junior High with Damion Easley (formerly of the Tigers... not sure where he's playing now)
I was an invited guest of Jimmy Kimmel to the premiere taping of the Man Show and the after party. I had an all access pass (backstage) and which led to meeting Adam Corolla, multiple Juggies and at the after party I spoke with Bobcat Goldwait.

[Honolulu_Blue]

My uncle's (through marriage) brother is Kevin Costner's best friend.

A girl I work with dated Billy Zane (actor) for a while.

[TLK]

Here we go-

-My friends ex-girlfriend "blew" the lead singer of the Ataris, who I also met this weekend at the Warped Tour

-I had an run-in with Charlie Batch while working at the EMU Rec Center

-I met Edwin McCain at a concert where he was the opener. I ran into him in the bathroom, where I shook his hand directly after I had used the urinal

-I met Derek Grant, drummer of Alkaline Trio, in the lobby of the hotel we were staying at in Cleveland at 4:30 in the morning

[FrogMan]

I dropped the puck for quite a few face-offs between Joe Sakic and Mats Sundin.

I separated a fight between John Kordic and a no-name (okay, I just picked up is gloves and stick, the fight was over :) )

This and a few more happened when I was a linesman at the Quebec Nordiques' training camp (early 90s).

FM

[Draft Dodger]

forgot - I work with the brother of Phil Bourque (ex NHLer...won a Cup with the Penguins).
also, I work with a guy whose wife is somehow related to Keith Tkachuck

[Draft Dodger]

Originally posted by FrogMan
I dropped the puck for quite a few face-offs between Joe Sakic and Mats Sundin.


you are officially now my favorite FOFC poster.

[Ryche]

My 5th grade teacher was Jesse Ventura's brother-in-law.

My mother-in-law is close friends with Ragnar (which means nothing except to Vikings fans)

And I've at least met pretty much every Republican politician in Minnesota.

[sony]

Originally posted by FishFan
I've caught passes from Rex Grossman.

I've played golf with Bobby Knight.

I've dined and wined with Tony Dungy and Bill Cowher.

Curtis Strange called me an asshole and told me to fuck off.

I've served beer to Jermaine O'Neal (w/o checking his ID).

I failed miserably trying to guard former Hoosiers, A.J. Guyton and Jared Jeffries, in pickup games.

I spilled a beer on Peyton Manning.

I bumped into Dominic Rhodes in a bar This is hilarious!! Especiially the Curtis Strange incident. :D :D :D

[Buccaneer]

Originally posted by RPI-Fan
Aside from that fitting quite well with this topic, I'm curious as to what type of guy he was? Did he just have story after story after story, or was he pretty 'normal'?

Very, very funny and an excellent speaker. Quite charismatic too, one that you hang onto every word. He seems to really love to be doing what he does/did. I told him how much I loved his first series (usual celebrity chit-chat) and wondered if he still had that 70s-style biege suit. He laughed. By the way, the original Connections is my most proud possession in our DVD collection. (Hey, is that rap or just bad poetry?)

[mrsimperless]

Originally posted by sony
This is hilarious!! Especiially the Curtis Strange incident. :D :D :D

Yeah, a story like that is begging for details.

[Vince]

Pat Burrell went to my high school.

Troy Aikman grabbed my mom's ass at an airport once.

My dad grew up as really good friends with Kevin Pollack (A few Good Men, The Usual Suspects). I've hung out with him often, and my dad has been on the set with him more than a few times.

I grew up with the Tillman boys (you might have seen them on the ESPY's a few weeks ago...Pat Tillman was a Safety for the Arizona Cardinals before walking out on a multi-million dollar contract to become an Army Ranger). Richard, the guy that accepted Pat and Kevin's award, is my age, and we played sports together all through childhood.

My roommate played basketball against Gilbert Arenas often in high school. According to him, Arenas wasn't nearly the rounded player he is now back in the day, although he still balled my roommate's ass up :)

John Elway's twin sister was the mother of a student at the school my mom teaches at. Sadly she died of cancer last year.

My dad used to be in a band (he's a drummer) and he's opened for the following people (whom I've met): Pat Travers, Starship, Styx, Montrose, Rascal Flats. There's others I'm not remembering...but he also got me backstage at a Dave Matthews Concert once...that was pretty cool :)

Wow...I didn't realize I had quite the spread I do :)

[Draft Dodger]

"Troy Aikman grabbed my mom's ass at an airport once"

this can't be true. Troy Aikman is gay.

[thesloppy]

I played golf with Tim Allen and Alice Cooper...at the same time.

I chatted with Bob Seger at my aunt & uncle's wedding.

Pops was a roadie for Iggy Pop and the Stooges, and the MC5.

Rusty Hilger (4th rate QB for the Lions in late 80s) slept on my aunt's couch and ate her food for a season.

Hung out and shot the proverbial sh*t with Vinnie Johnson (the Microwave of the Pistons Bad Boy era) during a Wings game.

Steve Yzermans dogs mauled my uncle's golden retriever.

Sat accross from Joey Harrington on my most recent flight back home to Portland from Detroit. Gabbed a little....super shy kid.

My uncle is a Detroit DJ (Ken Calvert) and has met just about every 'classic rock' celebrity you can think of, as well as a million sports figures during his talkshow days.

[clintl]

I interviewed Ray Bradbury.

My brother and sister-in-law met Joe Montana, and have a picture of both of them with him.

In college, I knew the son of NFL defensive coordinator Floyd Peters.

A friend of mine played a round of golf with Willie McCovey.

One of my good friends once worked for Steven Spielberg (providing one of the voices for the animated film Balto).

The same friend is a member of a traveling theater company that once had another member who went to school with Heather Locklear.

I have met and corresponded with ex-Dream Syndicate front man Steve Wynn, whose band opened for R.E.M. on one of its tours in the '80s.

The wife of my 4th grade teacher was one of Karen Valentine's high school teachers.

The father-in-law of another good friend of mine won an Oscar for his work on Patton, which starred George C. Scott.

[Sloan]

I've fixed computers for Kirk Gibson and Sarah Mclachlan.

I accidentally pushed Kid Rock down in a bar one night.

I rollerbladed over the foot of Flozell Adams.

[SackAttack]

I graded one of Kyle Boller's chemistry exams in high school. Also played some pickup football with him in junior high.

I met Don Cheadle at the local Best Buy while working there.

A couple of the original Power Rangers used to live on my street.

My uncle wrote a screenplay that was later read by Tom Hanks.

And, finally, I met and had a brief conversation with Dodger manager Jim Tracy.

[Hammer755]

Michael Jordan tried to steal my date... you may have read about it.

[Buccaneer]

I forgot to mention my in-laws. My wife's parents and her sister's family have lived in the north part of Palm Beach Co. for a long time. They have met and know most all of the celebrities living in the Jupiter area. These include Greg Norman, Joe Namath, Perry Como, Frank Gifford, Burt Reynolds and others, including some of the famous St. Louis Cardinals as they trained there (like Tony LaRussa).

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by thesloppy
Pops was a roadie for Iggy Pop and the Stooges, and the MC5.

man... he must have some serious stories to tell!

[cthomer5000]

I know a ton of people who are good friends with actor Danny Tamborelli. He's the young Pete from the Adventures of Pete & Pete... best show ever BTW.

Another really good friend went to high school with Tara Reid.

I refused to pay Pat Wilson of Weezer after his side project (the Special Goodness), cut their set very short at a concert I produced at Rutgers. I got into a fairly serious argument with him and his 2 other band mates (one being ex-Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh). We eventually settled and I (well, the organization I was acting on behalf of) paid them about 3/5ths of the originally agreed upon amount. I still have 2 working Pat Wilson email addresses in my address book.

[WussGawd]

My brushes with fame:

Former NHL/WHA Center & Head Coach Rob Ftorek once asked my dad for an offseason job. He also spoke to my boy scout troop based on a request of my dad, showing us his silver medal (he was a member of the '72 US Olympic Team that won the Silver in Sapporo Japan) it was quite a thrill at age 11. He's a great, unassuming guy, soft-spoken, and friendly.

A place I used to work at was frequented by the following:

The late Senator/Presidential Candidate Barry Goldwater (he was as down home a guy as you'd ever want to meet. A great man, even if I did disagree with much of his politics).

Willie Mays

Gar Heard

My wife spoke at some length with Ichiro a couple of years ago. He bought a Cadillac at a dealership here in Phoenix during spring training where my wife does some MIS work. This was his rookie season, before he became quite as big a story as he was during the year.

My dad's business (pest control) had among its clients:

Glen Campbell
Amanda Blake
the local ABC-TV affiliate, where he once met, and got an autograph signed for me from the late Howard Cosell (a man we both admired).

In my own encounters, I've spoken with the following:

The business manager of Darren Woodson

Two people who worked for me in another job reserved cars for:
MJ
Keanu Reeves
Shane Stant (This one was in Detroit for the trip when the guy went medieval on Nancy Kerrigan's kneecap on behalf of Tonya Harding).

[Ben E Lou]

Hmmmm.....

Well, I know Glenn Hubbard, first base coach of the Braves, so I'm sure there are tons of current MLB players and coaches in that line.

I also know Mack Strong, the Seahawks' long-time fullback, so there's plenty of NFL contacts in that line. (We grew up in the same neighborhood. He's two years younger than me, so I ended up driving him to school pretty much every day my Jr and Sr year.)

Bebo Norman, who was a performer at this years' Dove Awards, (the highest awards in Christian music), is a long-time friend. He now knows all the big boys in the bidness such as Michael W. Smith, Stephen Curtis Chapman, etc. I'm sure there's some crossover into pop as well.

The bass player on my CD, Byron House, played bass on some major acts' projects, including the stuff by Dolly Parton, Hank Williams Jr and The Dixie Chicks, among others.

Hall of Fame tackle Tony Munoz visited a Young Life camp while I was there, and I had a 30-minute conversation with him.

I've also had an extended conversation with Craig Ehlo (one of Jordan's famous dunks was over him).

Steve Largent served my table at a Young Life staff conference. He is on the local Board of Directors in his home town, and they volunteered to come and serve us for a conference.

....and ten years from now, I'll be able to say I knew Thomas Brown back since he was just a sophomore in high school. ;)

[Draft Dodger]

Originally posted by SkyDog
....and ten years from now, I'll be able to say I knew Thomas Brown back since he was just a sophomore in high school. ;)

I was browsing your post, thinking..."when is he going to mention that RB he keeps pimping".

[Nyarlahotep]

I've met tons of musicians at concerts and promotions.

Like Bucc, I met a bunch of athletes when working sports card/ autograph shows (mine were in the early 90's though)

Got yelled at by Skip Holtz for trying to shoot my friend with a pellet gun.

Got dunked on by Shawn Kemp in high school.

Probably have some more I haven't thought of, but my memory sucks.

[damnMikeBrown]

Originally posted by Kodos

Mike Dumas (safety in the NFL) was in one of my sociology classes.



I hung out with Dumas at one of our fraternity parties. I was with him for a while, and quite honestly, don't remember a single thing about him. He was quite non-descript. Oh, he was a lot smaller than I thought an NFL safety would be.

Hall of Fame tackle Tony Munoz visited a Young Life camp while I was there, and I had a 30-minute conversation with him.

He lived in my neighborhood & I saw & spoke with him a few times. Used to run up at our HS track a good bit.

I played HS ball with/against a bunch of Div I scholarship types, so probably some links there, especially into the Big 10.

Played HS ball with a guy who's Dad won 3 or 4 Super Bowl rings with the Dolphins in their early 70's run. His name was Cruzan, was a T for them.

Played Jr. High football with Adam Hyzdu, who then turned traitor & went to Moeller. He's playing for the Pirates now. He could throw 80+mph in the 8th grade.

I rode with Greg Lemond (cyclist), who was a very nice guy.

Raced against many US pros (cycling), so there's that link. Missed Armstrong by one year up at Super Week.

Dated a ball-girl (insert joke here) for the ATP Tennis tournament in Cincinnati.

Edit: I forgot my retail experience.

Paul O'Neil, Dave Parker and Tim Krumrie. Krumrie was the fiery DT of the Bengals that so gruesomely broke his leg in the Super Bowl. Sold him some Oakleys. He lost his old pair on the highway, riding his Harley. He has a huge ass colliflaur(sp) ear frm wrestling I guess.

O'Neil was nice. His wife was AWESOME. She was an engaging conversationalist. I'd stopped into the bike shop(bicycle) as I was doing a long ride. It was maybe a month before they reported to spring training, his last one with the Yankees. I joked with him, saying he looked alot like Paul O'Neil. . . I didn't recognise him at first, but I knew he was somebody. He's like 6'6" with a 28" waist and broad shoulders. He asked me the fastest I'd ever been on my bike and acted suitably impressed when I told him :) They bought their kids some bikes.

Parker I met in passing. He sat there & was talking to one of the guys for well over an hour though, just shooting the shit at the bike shop.

[Samdari]

The night of the 1996 NBA draft, Donovan McNabb greeted me at the sports bar I had chosen to watch the draft. We spent about 5 minutes debating the draft. I assured him Kobe Bryant would be a bust, and John Wallace (the TRUE mvp of the 96 NCAA tourney) would be the star of the draft. I nailed that one!

[FishFan]

Originally posted by mrsimperless
Yeah, a story like that is begging for details.

This was several years ago at a major down in Louisville (Valhalla Golf Course, I think). Anyway, I was drunk off my ass and we were following Strange's group at the time. Not sure who he was with, but oafter one of his drives, his ball ended up in a divot. I yell out, "Hey, Curtis! That's a might Strange lie you have there!" He responded by saying something like, "Will someone shut that asshole up?" I responded, "Well it is, isn't it?" Then, he told me to fuck off. Really not that funny, but taken out of context it sounds cool.

[FishFan]

Originally posted by damnMikeBrown
[b]Played HS ball with a guy who's Dad won 3 or 4 Super Bowl rings with the Dolphins in their early 70's run. His name was Cruzan, was a T for them.


I met this same Dolphin at a charity golf event in Bloomington, IN. Even got to try on his '72 undefeated Super Bowl ring (it was a little loose to say the least). I want to say his first name is Doug.

[damnMikeBrown]

He was a very cool guy when it came to the trying on of rings. I slept over at his house one night, after I got a speeding ticket of 90+ mph with his son in the car. .. At any rate, it was pretty much standard fare for every visitor to go see the rings & try them on if they wanted to. A lot of people, I'd think, wouldn't want anybody to touch them. He was very generous about letting all the kids see 'em. I suppose for this very reason, to give us something to think kindly upon now that we're older.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by Draft Dodger
I was browsing your post, thinking..."when is he going to mention that RB he keeps pimping". Hey, I couldn't help it. When I made that post, I had JUST walked in the door from watching football practice. We've gotten a new kid who moved here from Oklahoma who looks like he'll be good enough to start in the secondary as a sophomore :eek:, which means that Thomas is working almost exclusively with the offense. Right now the defense is ahead of the offense, except for that ridiculously fast tailback who kept all the observers amazed this evenin', and kept the defense honest.

....besides, in a few years you'll all feel like insiders since you knew about him before the rest of the country. ;)

[PineTar]

My grandparents lived next to Chris Berman's in-laws.

One of the guys I roomed with in college is a nephew of 70's era Dolphins DE Vern Den Herder.

I went to junior high school & played ball with the son of Mariners hitting coach Lamar Johnson.

My old boss went to college w/ Chris Farley and at least one of his brothers.

A high school classmate, Ted (Theodore) Witcher is the screenwriter for the film Love Jones.

[Buccaneer]

One of our longtime posters has a well-known PGA golfer as his in-law, but I forget who. He told some great stories a while back. Anyone remember who it was?

[Swaggs]

Hasn't anyone here ever met Trent Green?

[JeeberD]

I went to high school with a guy named Ray Brust. He went to Oregon on a football scholarship and player either tight end or fullback (or maybe both) for them. So he played with Joey Harrington, and that leads to loads of other people...

John Elway, LaPhonso Ellis, and Scott Hastings all came through the drive-thru of the Burger King I worked at in high school.

I have waited on Dat Nguyen, Ron Stone, Derek Ross, and Larry Allen at OG.

I saw Denver mayor Wellington Webb at the Bellagio in Vegas (with a woman who wasn't his wife).

Former UTEP and current Puerto Rican national team basketball player Sharif Fajardo was my suite-mate at UTEP.

[Simms]

My first cousin is married to Doug Gilmour (yes, I attended the wedding).

Kirk Maltby broke my nose in a Junior Intercounty baseball game (he laid down a bunt and my pitcher hung me out to dry at first base).

In the same game, I got a hit off of Jason Gooding, who later became a stud pitcher at Texas Tech and last I checked is still bumping around the Royals minor league system.

As a 15 year old, I played on the same Toronto little league (baseball) team as Manny Legace. He quit the team early to go play Junior C hockey in some remote Ontario hick town.

My sister dated (very briefly and not at the same time) Boyd Devereaux (currently with the Red Wings) and Ryan Pepperall (flameout one-time Leaf draft pick) when they played junior in Kitchener.

My dad wrote Ernie Whitt's (ex-Blue Jay catcher) autobiography.

My grandfather is a well-known Canadian composer and conductor who was given the Order of Canada a few years ago and who wrote the original band arrangement of the Hockey Night in Canada theme song (among many many other things). He did NOT, however, compose the tune itself...that was some British chick whose name escapes me.

I played college baseball with the son of former SF Giants pitcher Greg Minton.

My brother was in the first Toronto cast (which later became the first US touring company--pre-Broadway) of Mamma Mia!

[Scholes]

-My cousins (sisters) are married to Todd Bouman, backup QB for the Saints, and John Randle, you've probably heard of him. We get together every Memorial Day and New Year's Day if their schedules are open.

-I've played darts with Luis Rivas (Twins 2B)

-My cousin went to acting school with Tobey McGuire, his wife danced with Paula Abdul, and they lived with the spoiler from the recent show "Fame" for six years. Allison Hannigan (American Pie, Buffy) asked my cousin on a date.

-"Animal" from the Road Warriors wrestling tag team is a very good customer of the store I manage. His son plays hockey.

-Ditto for former Twin Juan Berenguer.

-I went to high school and was casual acquaintances with Jim Brunzell, son of former wrestler "Jumpin" Jim Brunzell.

-I live next door to Hobey Baker Award winner Brian Bonin, who currently plays in Switzerland.

-And a stretch, I worked for a volunteer group, and my coordinator was NHL defenseman Chris Dahlquist's mother.

[sabotai]

"My dad wrote Ernie Whitt's (ex-Blue Jay catcher) autobiography."

Wouldn't that make it a biography, not an autobiography? ;)

[TredWel]

I am directly related to <a href="http://us.imdb.com/Name?McGrath,+Bob+(I)">Bob McGrath</a>, who has played Bob on Sesame Street going on 150 years now.

My mother's college roomate dated the one of the memebers of REO Speedwagon (can't remember which one offhand) during their University of Illinois days.

One of my professors attended a party at Cindy Crawford's house.

Ex-NBA Head Coach (I have no idea where he's a bench coach nowadays) P.J. Carlissimo attended my high school.

Once spent several nights renting a condo purported to be Bobby Knight's. With all of the oddball and rare Hoosier memorabilia that lined the walls and shelves in that place, I wouldn't have doubted it.

[Craptacular]

My mom's old boss's cousin created "Nightcourt."

My brother bumped into Paula Abdul at the Dunes in Vegas.

I handed a take-out dinner to Paul Molitor.

My friend hit Donna Shalala with a marshmallow. This same friend has "shot the shit" with Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Ken Starr, Bob Dole, and other political big-wigs.

I sat behind Chris McIntosh in my Public Utilities class ... when he was there.

Pete Dye insulted the golfing abilities of me and my playing partners at the site of the 2004 PGA Championship.

The guy who was killed in prison with Jeffrey Dahmer ran for county supervisor and sat on our couch. I've also sold beverages to Dahmer's attorney and Sal Bando.

[Craptacular]

Originally posted by Scholes
My cousin... his wife danced with Paula Abdul

There we go!

[JasonTobiasIV]

I used to get bullied by Pat Tillman.

I egged Brent Jones home on the south side of San Jose.

I ran into Michael Irvin in San Fransisco at a burger joint at 2 am.. (in the drug free zone where the drugs are sold)

I sold Mike Tyson a 40 oz bottle of Old English and some zig zags when I lived in Las Vegas (working at the gas station/liquor store)

My best friends dad is one of the first black freemasons.

I screamed profanity at Eddie Murphy when he was in SF filming 'Metro' - Truly horrible movie.

I accidentally tripped over cables connected to video equipment that was being used to film an episode of 'Nash Bridges' - On mission & sixteenth st. on the way to see 'Enter The Dragon' at the movie theatre right there. (revival, or something)

I am Jason Tobias, intergalactic cult of personality.

[Simms]

Originally posted by sabotai
"My dad wrote Ernie Whitt's (ex-Blue Jay catcher) autobiography."

Wouldn't that make it a biography, not an autobiography? ;)

In a sense, yeah....although the jacket officially said "By Ernie Whitt with Greg Cable". :)

So, it went on record as being Ernie's autobiography even though my dad did all the writing. It's not like it was unauthorized or something.

[Samdari]

Ernie Whitt felt his story needed to be told?

[condors]

i got smoked in the penn relays by "the rocket" played at notre dame, radiers (not sure he is still in the league) rahib ishmael(i believe that is his name), the kid was way fast his younger brother was very fast quadry ishmael but i never ran against him though (this was at the penn relays)

[Simms]

Originally posted by Samdari
Ernie Whitt felt his story needed to be told?

In 1989, sure. :)

fwiw, the book is still one of, if not the best-selling book in Canada about Toronto sports. Plus, he succeeded in securing Joe Brinkman's personal grudge against the organization for life. :D

[scooper]

I once got knocked unconcious by the same Adam Hyzdu from damnmikebrown's post. It was during football practice. He was a senior, I was a sophmore. I never saw him coming.

My cousin dated Anthony Munoz's son.

I once lined up against Dan Wilkinson, recently cut by the Redskins.

My mom shook George W's hand once, further down the line, my wife (who is pretty short) was squatting to get a view of him because she couldn't see over or through the crowd so instead crouched in front of the crowd. When a set of legs stopped in front of her, she got upset at what she thought what a secret service man blocking her view. When she looked up, she realized she was in position to become the republican Monica.

I once posted on the same message board with a senator, a cornerback for the Miami Hurricanes, an Oklahoma radio personality, and a dead ringer for Darius Rucker. :D

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by scooper
My cousin dated Anthony Munoz's son.Bingo! Connection.

Oh...I thought about another one.

I used to routinely beat Frank "The Big Hurt" Thomas at foosball at the East Columbus Boys' Club. Frank and I were there pretty much every day during the summers for 3 or 4 years around ages 9-13. (I couldn't beat him in anything else though....)

[cuervo72]

Hmm, let's see.

My father-in-law used to fly press charters for the White House on occasion, and has a photo of him shaking hands with Ronald Reagan.

I was high school teammates with Mike Frederick (played for the Browns, Ravens, Titans & Jets, was also in one of my study halls) and Cornelius White (WR for VTech, I think he's now in the arena league). Played against Ron Powlus in a scrimmage.

My aunt's ex-husband was somehow related - cousins maybe? - to Stacy Keenan (My Two Dad). As I had mentioned before, I sat near Brian Billick at a Don Pablo's, and saw Ray Lewis at both Blockbuster and Giant.

My wife went to the same school as A-Rod and Brian Griese, and worked at a bank which I guess NBA players would use once in a while (she recalls Chuck Person having come in).

[Buccaneer]

It seems my wife's family has all of the connections. Her nephew's wife is a private physical therapist in Tampa and has some of the Bucs as clients, including Keyshawn. Her best friend is John Lynch's wife.

My father-in-law, which I have talked about before, knew many of the leading Midwest mobsters in the 1950s and 1960s.

I was in a small CompuServe BBS with regulars Sid Meiers and Brian Reynolds in the early/mid 1990s during Microprose heyday. For example, I witnessed, through the forum, the split to form Firaxis and the many posts with them about that and future games, just like we do here.

[CamEdwards]

you know, besides talking to people on the show (which I don't count), I haven't had many brushes with fame.

I lived in the same dorm as Bryant "Big Country" Reeves (formerly of the NBA) and R.W. McQuarters (of the NFL).

I once hung out for an evening with Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of the Posies.

When I was eight years old I had to go to a family reunion in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. The only thing to do there is swim at the public pool. While I was there, Mark Gastineau (at the time with the NY Jets) showed up in a skimpy Speedo. He wouldn't talk to anybody but my rather busty 2nd cousin.

My best friend's college roomate is about to become a published author (with a book on how to build Lego trainsets).

That's about it... except for the elevator ride I shared with Sarah McLachlan. God.. what a hottie.

[cuervo72]

Originally posted by CamEdwards
That's about it... except for the elevator ride I shared with Sarah McLachlan. God.. what a hottie. [/B]

Oh great Cam, now I have that "Angel" song stuck in my head. At Hopkins I worked next to a woman who kept her radio on one of those soft listening channels, and they'd play that song about every hour. Drove me ape shit! :mad:

[JeeberD]

Ooh, a couple more...

When my dad was an RA at UTEP he routinely had to tell Nate "Tiny" Archibald to turn down his music.

A young UTEP (actually it would have been Texas Western at that time) student named Sam Donaldson once complemented my mother on her singing in the church choir when she was a young girl...

[Leonidas]

I went to high school with a dude who ended up doing a Donohue show about wanting a sex change. They had his best friend on (whom I also knew) and Phil asked if he ever had any inkling about it and he mentioned the one Halloween the guy showed up to school dressed in drag and I remembered it too. Blue dress and lots of lipstick. He was on the wrestling team. Thank god I played basketball.

I also went to school and was neighbors with a girl 60 Minutes did a story on about how a convicted murderer in Florida was parolled and then stabbed her 37 times to death a few weeks after he was let out of jail. He was parolled after serving one of those "guaranteed" life sentences death penalty opponents always favor.

[tucker342]

- I'm related to the guy that founded the state of Pennsylvania, William Penn

- My Grandfather was friends with the guy that discovered Pluto.

- I'm related to the doctor that delivered Buffalo Bill

[T.C.M]

Living in Las Vegas you *almost* regularly spot and sometimes meet celebrities. From time to time you can even hang out with them if you are at the right place and/or know the right people. Here is just a few of my connections...

I partied and spent quality time with 7 time World Champion rodeo cowboy Ty Murray and his then fiance Jewel. The REALLY quality time was spent directly with Jewel. :D

I sat at a blackjack table with country music star Tracy Bird for over an hour. He played double deck and bet an average of $10 per hand. I don't think he was really wanting to win (or lose) much money but he really seemed to enjoy the free Crown and cokes.

Speaking of Crown Royal and country stars a good friend of mine sat with George Strait on the tailgate of Strait's Ford truck while watching a rodeo. During the rodeo my friend got up and mixed George several Crown and cokes. While mixing he also matched George drink for drink and the bottle of whiskey belonged to George.

I once worked with a man here who used to be Mike Tyson's sparring partner. When Tyson signed with Don King he no longer needed him, because the King camp includes a group of trainers, sparring partners, etc. I forget the amount, but the guy was paid VERY, VERY well (like four figures plus per week) for his 3-5 rounds per week with Tyson. That is not a bad salary for less than 30 minutes of work each week. Yes, the guy is a big friggin giant of a man.

I was once involved and am still good friends with a very attractive blonde female singer. I must keep her name anonymous for many, many reasons. Most importantly because right now she is working on a larger and better contract with a new record label. She also has some endorsement contracts. These companies are picky about bad press, rumors, and tabloid like junk. I know this kind of stuff is never found on the internet, but I can't take chances. Sorry.

One of my former girlfriends and I met Little Richard after one of his shows in Laughlin, NV. He autographed his name "Little Dick."

T.C.M

[Ben E Lou]

SWMBO was flipping the channels last night, and I heard Denzel saying "We're gonna change the way we block! We're gonna change the way we tackle! We're gonna change the way we WIN!"--and I realized I forgot the connections related to that movie... (A good bit of it was filmed right here in DeKalb County, GA.)

1. Walker Jones, who was involved in Young Life at Tucker High School at the time the movie was filmed, has a speaking part in the movie. He is listed in the credits as "White Kid #1," which of course became a point of teasing for him. He has two lines: "You messin' with my girl?" and "Looks like you went to the zoo and made some new friends, Bertier." Walker happens to be the son of Ben Jones--aka "Cooter" from Dukes of Hazzard.

2. Another kid I know very well, Patrick Ouzts, got a decent amount of "face time" in the football camp segment of the movie. He is standing right behind Denzel during the Gettysburg scene, and seated to Bertier's right in the dining hall scene where Denzel challenges them all to get to know each other. (He has no speaking parts, and is not listed in the credits....)

3. There are several kids I know who were used in crowd shots, and got to meet Denzel during filming.

4. Kip Pardue (the actor who plays "Sunshine") went to Dunwoody High School, which used to be part of my YL responsibility. I don't know him, but I know several ex-club kids who know him. Kip started at safety at Dunwoody, and was the backup QB. He played football at Yale as well, incidentally.

5. (This one isn't a person, but it is pretty cool...) The outside-the-school shots that were supposed to represent T.C. Williams High School (like when the buses roll up and the parents are protesting) are actually filmed at Druid Hills High School, again here in DeKalb County. Right around the time the movie was filmed, I was getting YL started at that school.

[Cringer]

i have never met anyone famous and do not know anyone who knows anyone famous. But i see famous people all the time on TV....... :D

[SplitPersonality1]

These are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

I once shook hands with Dave Winfield and didn't have a clue who he was at the time.

My sisters went to high school with Prince and Terry Lewis (of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis fame). One of my sister's talks to Terry Lewis at least once a month. She once got into an argument with him back in 1983 when he said he was producing an album for Michael Jackson's little sister. She told him that the album wouldn't do well and that Janet was never going to be big....The album was "Control" which went multi-platinum and really launced her career. Oops.

My uncle sang and played percussion with what was left of the original Platters.

I met both Robert Urich and whats his face that ended up being Benjamin Sisco on Deep Space Nine. They were filming an episode of Spencer for Hire at my fraternity house in Boston. "Sisco" and a cameraman ate dinner with us. Robert Urich was too big at the time to hang out with a bunch of MIT students. "Sisco" was a very nice guy. The cameraman was kind of an ass.

A good friend of mine sat on an airplane next to the drummer from the Talking Heads. This was back in the 80's when they were fairly big. The conversation went something like this:

Her: "Are in a band or something?"
Him: "Something like that."
Her: "Anybody I would have heard of"
Him: "Maybe. The Talking Heads?"
Her: "--------little squeaking noises-------"

[cuervo72]

SP - that would be Avery Brooks (Hawk, Sisko).


I forgot one - my friend and I once had Howard Eskin fill in an all-star ballot for our MicroLeague Baseball league (that won't mean much to anyone outside the Philly area :) ).

[SplitPersonality1]

Thanks Cuervo, I'm getting very bad at remembering names in my old age. :)

[John Galt]

Originally posted by Swaggs
Hasn't anyone here ever met Trent Green?

I once posted on a board with a guy whose name was IMETTRENTGREEN, but he never really met him - but that was a long time ago. ;)

[Senator]

I cannot play as I would ruin the curve on this thing. It is amazing how many people we run across in our lives.

[Butter]

All I've got is I went to high school with Peerless Price. He was an OK guy. He never looked all that awe-inspiring on the old HS team, though.

The thing that always annoyed me the most about him was that we shared the same last name. He was 1 grade behind me, though, so confusion didn't come up too often. Especially since I was/am a nerdy white boy.

[Daimyo]

I think you guys have the US covered pretty well, so here are some international ones:

My wife had the same dance instructor as Zhang Zi Yi (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon).

My uncle-in-law is a personal physician to the president of China

One of my wife's college classmates is Jet Li's neice


A more local one I just remembered that is kind of relevant given recent events:

My parents went to high school with Kobe Bryant's lead attorney in the Colorado cases.

[Ben E Lou]

I keep remembering...

I mentioned driving Mack Strong to school for two years. I forgot to mention that his mom, Rose, worked on the first Bush's transition team, and was a Bush appointee during his administration, and she also worked with Dubya and Cheney, so technically

Speaking of politics, when SWMBO was in college, she lived in the sorority house (Tri-Delta). One of her "sisters", who lived in the adjacent room in the house, was Katherine Perot, daughter of Ross. She met Ross several times.

[QuikSand]

I am connected to Nicolas Cage by a common former girlfriend. (She dumped him, but not me!)

[Maple Leafs]

Originally posted by Simms
My first cousin is married to Doug Gilmour (yes, I attended the wedding).The cute one (Amy), or the old bitter first wife?