Brushes with Greatness

Well, just got back from my week-long Testosterone Tour in Arizona and Vegas. Had a blast. Lots of stories. But I'll just start with the famous (some not quite) folks we met along the way:

• Woody Harrelson ... OK, we didn't meet him, but my buddy Andy was convinced he was one of the twosome we got paired with for our first golf outing in Tucson (he was actually a local printer who had enjoyed about 18 beers before we even started playing).







• Vinny Castilla ... At the Rockies/D-back Spring Training game, Vinny was helping out on the field and signing autographs. I got my picture with him and he was very cool.






• Dick Hoerner ... Read his stats on the link. He was a running back for the LA Rams. We met him at a restaurant in Harrahs in Vegas. We were rather intoxicated and talking with all of the folks at tables nearby and Dick chimed in. He's a very nice guy and even gave us an autograph and pic. (That's Randy with Dick up above).






• Lee Smith ... He's now No. 2 on the all-time saves list and trying to get in the HOF. But he was happily signing autographs and pictures (for a fee which is why my pic is from far away and he's not recognizable). He was working with Fergie Jenkins. And I was too lazy to adjust the image beforehand so tilt your head and look for the blob in the middle, that's Lee.




• Eric Idle ... Monty Python alum and creator of "Spamalot." We probably never would have seen him except there was a screw-up at the play (it was only the second night in Vegas!) and he came up from the audience to aplogize and did about 10 minutes of stand-up that was awesome. The picture is the glowing man. Apparently British actors emit a glow when shot with a crappy camera phone.




• Chris "Jesus" Ferguson ... For those who don't know who he is, click on the link. I saw him as we were leaving "Spamalot" and I got a picture (actually some woman offered to shoot it and she didn't know what she was doing so it didn't come out at all) and an autograph. I was amazed at how friendly and courteous he was to all of us poker nerds who wanted a memento.


• Michael Boatman ... Michael is good friends with TT member, Andy, and he met us with Andy's other friend, John, in Vegas. Michael is a very cool guy who earns his money acting (he was in LA shooting Grey's Anatomy) but he also loves writing and I love talking to him about it. He is a heck of a lot more disciplined about it than me.