October 2010 - The Highlight

Ok....so probably what was one of the major highlights of my trip was meeting this guy....


I don't know how many of you are basketball fans. And I'm really not sure how many of you are fans of the good ol' NBA days with Jordan and Barkley and Magic Johnson.. But this guy right here - well he played with all those guys. This is Clyde "the Glide" Drexler! He was on the original 1992 dream team!!!

And there he was in Athens Greece....on the same tour bus as me! Sitting right in front of me! Actually, when I first got on the bus, I didn't pay much attention to him. Except I remember thinking to my self as I looked forward, "they must be ball players". Him and the girl next to him were just so tall. They had to be.

Yes! I got 2 pictures with him. Don't judge.

I went up to him and said, "Can I be an annoying fan and get a picture." He said of course. And then of course everyone was asking. He's so nice though.

He was with 2 girls that I started chatting with as everyone started taking pictures with him. Turns out they had done the Great Wall marathon the same year as me so we talked about that and other things. They were so nice. Clyde and Sheri were planning on running the 10K and Sheri's sister Raquel was going to run the marathon.


We ended up bumping into them again when we went to pick up our packets. Camille got a picture this time. [Funny thing about this picture.. that blonde girl who I'm guessing was from Russia.. came up to me after she got a picture with Clyde and was like "who was that?" haha. oh people.]

Anyway - I started chatting with Sheri at the expo again while Clyde was working his magic to get into an already closed race. I guess the guy was a Clyde fan so he let them enter.


On Race day - I kept my eyes open for Sheri and Clyde but there were SO many people that I didn't think there was any way I would see them again. But there was a turn around in the race...so we passed each other. They weren't that far behind me. So I took my time at the finish line.....and look at this:



Another awesome picture. Actually - Clyde even had someone take a picture of us 3 on his phone! :) Don't worry - the story gets better!


After the race was over, they asked what I was doing. Since Sheri's sister was running the marathon and all my friends were too... they asked if I wanted to walk back to the hotel with them. Of course I said YES! After I got my stuff from the bag drop.. I walked with them back to the hotel. Clyde and I waited for Sheri in the lobby when she went to her room to get something. Fans would come up to him to talk or get his picture. He would even introduce me to his fans sometimes. "This is Christine". HA! I couldn't believe it.

I asked him if he ever got tired of having to always talk to fans. He said that it can be tiring always having to put on a face and be happy all the time. But that he is grateful for the opportunity. And that he knew that his fans only get a few seconds with him so he has to make sure they have a good experience. Seriously.. He's such a good guy.

They were hungry - so we had lunch in the hotel.. Clyde paid. Clyde took me to lunch. It was awesome to just sit down and talk. We talked about all kinds of things. Oprah, Tiger Woods, Whether he was going to buy his kids a house or not (he said no), lots of random things. I didn't ask him about his career. I didn't want to be an annoying fan. He eventually asked me if I played sports..and when I told him I played bball in HS, i think he was surprised I hadn't already mentioned that.

After lunch we walked back down to the race. And we found everyone. Camille, Beth, Sheri... and then back to the hotel again. It was a pretty sweet experience. That's for sure!!!! Clyde the Glide. Still can't believe it.