Athletes w/ Attitude. Great, Good & Bad

I wanted to start a thread about Pro athletes we know, met, greeted &/or tried to meet or say Hi. And their attitude towards the regular Joe's.

I own a restaurant & my partner is on a national athlete board. Now I know as an owner, they probably treat us with a lot more respect than if I were to approach them at an event, on the street, at an autograph signing etc. , and I do get my fair share of athletes that are regulars when they are in town or local athletes & their wives or families.

Now I want your input to see if maybe I crossed the line approaching them or was a bit intrusive. I can take it!

I'll start with my most recent ( Bad ).

I was at the Final 4 a few months ago. We had excellent seats ( row 11 from the court ). Just saying. As my wife & I were leaving, we run across Warren Sapp from the TB Bucs, Oak Raiders & NFL Network.

I see Warren with a friend & he seems to be texting. Being in a rush I just walk by and say " Hey aren't you Warren Sapp? ". He gives me this look of disgust as in " Don't you know who the "F" I am. It didn't really look like him at first & he gives me the F'ing brush off. When I approach athletes in this manner I always follow with a very positive comment ( I really enjoyed watching you play, you had a great season, you are one of my favorites etc. ).

Warren didn't even give me a chance to just say what a great player he was ( & he was ). Now I understand ALL athletes are NOT nice, cordial, approachable ( Deion Sanders a lil later ), or wanna be F'd with out of the blue, but he does understand he is at the Final 4 ( Final Game...what a bore ) & he may run into a fan or 2. Should'nt he prepare himself to sign a few autographs, take a picture or 2, or just take a compliment. I am not an autograph hound, just a fan of all sports that wants to express his gratitued to some athletes I may run into.

Any how, Warren Sapp was a major asshole that day, he was mentioned by Marshall Faulk ( NFL Network CO Host ), at his Hall of Fame Enshrinement. First thought in my head was Warren Sapp - Asshole. And he may be the reason I am starting this thread.

Now we have some Really funny SOB's on this site. Let it rip.

I will be adding more Pro Athletes & now that I think of it just Famous people in general. So open it up to all or any famous people.

Thanks!

Saw Roger Clemens at a golf club north of Toronto (the National)many years ago.  Not surprisingly he was the biggest A-hole ever.  Treated everyone there like crap and threw a big hissy fit because him and his buddies weren't being comped the round!  A-hole.  He was screaming things like "Do you know who I am??"  Total A-hole. 

Saw Mike Keenan sitting at the bar at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto many years ago.  I went to the bar to get a drink and he actually struck up a conversation with me.  We chatted for about 10 minutes.  Really cool guy....which surprised me.  I was expecting him to be an A-hole. 

Saw Bruce Smith at a Bar in Toronto (forgot the name) many years ago.  He was just standing at the bar with a couple of protectors who were even bigger than him.  I went to say hi and he completely ignored me.  Just looked at me then turned around without even acknowledging me.  Big time A-hole.  (The guy was huge by the way). 

Jerry Rice.....As nice as could be.

Ed Belfour....Funny son of a bitch

Wayne Gretzky...All-time asshole. still thinks it's 1984.

Dominic Hasek...Good guy

Eric Lindros...Good guy

Joe Thornton....Class act

Patrick Marleau....Class act

Gordie Howe....The best.

Chris Berman...Douchebag. box.

Joe Theisman...Hell of a nice guy. Played craps with him. bought me a beer.

Ditka....Acts just like you see him on tv

Well let's see...A. Who's asking them to be a role model? They fuck up at the same percentage we do ( 90%- 10%) . Is asking them to be cordial too much? Smile, say Hi & move on with your buisness if you don't want to be asked anything. Any decent public person can handle that.

B. Tony Danza, Rudy Giuliani, Regis Philbin, James Avery, John Lithgow etc. but I will get to those in time. Gotta sort em out.

Deron Williams ( NBA )  came in with Ronnie Brewer & C.J. Miles of the Utah Jazz a few years back. All 3 were very nice & took photos with a few guests. Became regulars when they came into town & even brought in their training staff. They offer us tix to games when they come in. Very cool Guys in that organization, and I grew up hating the Jazz.

Gary Payton was a bad MoFo. Too bad he never won a championship in Seattle. I still see Shawn Kemp running around the court house here. I think he has custody issues. The Sonics always killed us in the playoffs. I disliked all those guys, but those brothers could play. Glad to see GP was cool, he was a smooth player.

Kevin Kolb was and is a great guy. He always remembered me when we spoke. I hope he does well in AZ. Class act.