Almost Famous

I see famous people.
The other day, my job was to drive to Portland, wait around, talk to Abby Wambach, drive home and write a story about it. It was as matter of fact as that.
As I thought about the assignment that day, I realized that it really didn't faze me in the least that I was interviewing somebody famous. Wambach is one of the premier soccer players in the world. The only thing that made it different than interviewing somebody else was that I had to go through PR people to arrange to talk to her. Other than that, we sat down and chatted for a few minutes and went on our separate ways. She was a great interview and very nice. I even heard a commercial on TV the next day touting soccer, and I recognized her voice before seeing her face on the tube.
In my line of work, I talk to famous people somewhat regularly. At least a couple times a year, depending on various assignments. In fact, the place I interviewed Wambach was the same spot at Hadlock Field in Portland where I interviewed Olympic wrestler Rulon Gardner a few years ago.
It's a funny thing this job is. Because of my employment, I can walk up to people and ask them questions. Sometimes the people answering the questions are famous. If I had another line of work, it probably wouldn't be acceptable practice to walk up to Abby Wambach and talk to her about the future of Women's Pro Soccer or ask Terry LaBonte about how his car is running or ask Sidney Crosby about the game that night. When I interviewed Crosby, while still a player in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, he was surrounded by fans, autograph seekers and gawkers. Yet, I was the only one in that bunch he was talking to. Same with Denny Hamlin. He had won a race the night before and rushed to Maine for the T.D. Banknorth 250. After waiting for his security guy to let me talk to him, I took matters in my own impatient hands and stalked him to the concession stand and forced myself through the crowd of fans to talk to him. Talk about the power of the pen.
Sometimes, I even get to ask stupid questions. Like, asking Kyle Bush how he handled the lobster he had at lunch or asking Adam Vinatieri how well he can kick wearing L.L. Bean boots. (he didn't know, he'd just gotten the boots that morning). I even got to ask Deion Branch about his opinion on Robert Kraft's dancing. I even got to ask the Hanson brothers (the Slapshot guys) serious questions.
Whenever I get these kinds of assignments, I can't help but think how ordinary fans would envy me. When I've talked to race car drivers at Maine's biggest car race each summer, fans will be hovering around various pit garages waiting for autographs and pictures. There I am being escorted through the ropes to talk to Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth or whoever. I remember the year Kurt Busch was there to race. I hung around his garage the day before the race as he practiced and tinkered with his car. A photographer and I stood around discussing how they had sent "Dumb and Dumber" to cover it. Not sure which one I was. Neither of us had ever heard of Kurt Busch a month prior to that, yet there we were hanging out around his pit crew, something real race fans would love to do. One year, I was even stationed trackside with Kyle Busch's pit crew during the race.
When I was covering the Portland Pirates and pro hockey, I dealt with hockey players all the time. They're the greatest. They're all down to earth and most I've talked to have been pleasures to deal with. To me, Olaf Kolzig isn't the NHL goaltender. He's Olie the goalie, the guy I met while he was trying to photo copy his taxes.
At the NHL All-Star game in Boston many years ago, I was down there to do a story on former University of Maine star Paul Kariya. Then I was working on a story about a potential Major Junior League team coming to Maine. So I talked to a number of players that once played in that league like Denis Savard, Martin Brodeur, Ray Bourque and Mario Lemieux. Many of them were very cooperative and interested in discussing the potential of that league in the United States.
There have been some that haven't been so great to deal with. One of the first times I went down to an NHL game in Boston, I was hoping to talk to Wayne Gretzky about his team's goaltender, who had played in Portland in previous seasons. I didn't bother with the media cluster around Gretzky in the locker room, hoping I might catch him for a one-on-one later. That didn't happen. I ended up chasing him down the hall, but he was rushing out of the building. Such is the case with stars of that caliber. I might still have it all on tape. Me trying to get his attention, and him saying "I got to go. I got to go." I think I even put that on my answering machine once.
The worst had to be former Cincinnati Red George Foster. He was part of a barnstorming baseball team. I tried to talk to him following a game at the University of Maine. He stood by his locker cracking jokes, trying to act tough and cool in an attempt to avoid me. I gave him a disgusted look as if I was saying "Hey, are you willing to talk to me or not?" I asked a question or two and then walked away, figuring I'm not going to waste my time with him.
Most big names aren't like that. You don't have the trust and report you might have with a local athlete or coach, but the famous athletes know the game as well. They know if you talk enough and say what we might want to hear, we might get what we want and leave them alone. They know if they're respectful of me, I'll be respectful of them.
That's why interviewing a personality like that usually isn't that special. Famous people are just people - that are famous. I have to treat them as such and vice versa. I can't go in all giddy and awe struck because I'm talking to some celebrity.
When I had that interview with Rulon Gardner, earlier that evening our intern photographer asked to have her picture taken with him. I couldn't help but cringe. I want to be professional, ask good questions and not make myself look like an idiot. But, that's usually my goal with whoever I deal with. Sometimes I'm even three for three, but something looking or acting like an idiot comes naturally.
If anything, maybe they should be excited to talk to me. Afterall, there's only one Poison Pen. I thought getting interviewed by me might have made Abby Wambach's day, but then I realized that she had met Slugger the Sea Dog and had her picture taken with him. Unfortunately, we all take a back seat to Slugger in that regard.