Posted By:
JosephNot talkin' BB, but a memorable encounter with a sports star:
Early 1980s, the Mudd Club, a legendary downtown NYC nightspot. I spotted NY Rangers great Rod Gilbert with, as I recall, a couple of fine female accompanists. I'd respected his privacy until I found myself standing next to him at a urinal and, shortly thereafter, washing our respective hands at adjacent sinks in the men's room:
Looking at him, I said, "Aren't you Wayne Gretzky?"
He shot right back, "Aren't you Yvan Cournoyer?"
I couldn't believe I'd elicited such a cool response from Rod Gilbert! I told him he was one of my heroes. He said that nobody ever recognized him in places like that and was glad that I did. He then got very emotional and talked about how he was ruining his life--burning the candle at both ends, so to speak--and really shouldn't be hanging out like he was. This all happened in the time it took us to dry our hands. I went to shake his hand, but in lieu of that, he reached up with both his hands and pinched my cheeks and said goodbye.