Webmaster's Encounter
Ok, here's what happened. Well, I'm going to skip the really boring part about getting lost and almost being late, so I won't go into that.
When we got there we knew we were close, but not as close as we thought we were. We thought we were in the front row. We were in the front row, front row on the floor! So we got to use the basketball players entrance which was cool by itself. We got to our seats and we were right next to the high bar. Two steps and I would be on the mat. Of course there was a blue and white fence stopping us. Being it was at Penn State that's why the colors. Anyway, we were really happy because we saw the tour on tv and we KNEW that the guys came out shirtless on that side. Well, I can't really remember what happened, but I'll tell you the highlights. Well, we saw Mary Lee and me and my sister wanted to say hi to her, but we didn't want to. She looked busy. So my mother, being the outspoken person that she is just said "Mary Lee". She looked over at us and in a panic we all waved stupidly. We must have looked like morons to her. Then Svetlana Khorkina walked right past us and we didn't get an autograph. *sighs* Oh well. When the boys came out to the high bar, my sister was screaming for Steve(McCain) and he smiled at her. I screamed for John a couple thousand times. This one time Sean was doing his p-bar routine and I screamed "GO SEAN!" Since our crowd was very, VERY quiet, there was no way he could have NOT heard me. The show itself was rather good and I wish they would come back soon. Then sadly, it all ended. There is still some good left in this encounter.
My sister had made this fan book for Steve and so she really wanted to give it to him. She explained about how his family and fans sent letters to her to put in this book. His response: "That's awesome. Thanks!" He said that after I practically yelled at him to come over to my sister. So we were tracking down a Hamm. We didn't know which one it was and then we realized that is was Paul. So we were in a mass of people trying to find a open spot to get Paul's autograph. Finally these little girls moved(I know I'm pathetic, but I really wanted Paul's autograph)so we stood there and waited for him to come down to us. So he finally got to us, my sister handed him her paper and he signed it. Then she asked for a hug. After a pause he said "Sure." My sister got that hug and ws on cloud nine because Paul hugs tight and she felt his strong biceps. I still hate her. LoL! (BTW: I also got Paul's autograph.)
Anyway, Now starts the chase for John. John was on the other side of the arena. When he started walking to my side, I realized that he was leaving. We were pushing people out of the way. Then I was stopped by a guard when I was 5 steps away from John. I was so mad. So I waited until he stopped talking to these people. He was about to walk away, but I called his name. He turned around and he saw me standing there. I asked if he could sign this thing I made. He said "Quickly." I was yelling at my sister to give me a pen because he didn't have one so I ripped the one out of my sister's pocket. The one she was looking for. I wasn't going home until I got John's autograph. He was smiling at the thing I made and then he pointed to one of the pictures and said "You do know what this is right?" It was the picture where his finger broke during the Olympics. I nodded my head really fast like an idiot and he said "Yeah because people say, 'Oh, look he's pointing.'" I smiled because I knew what it was and I found the pointing thing funny. Then my mom handed him
the letter I wrote to him. My mom told him I wrote this letter and he was like "That's sweet." By this time there were a lot of people talking to him. I started a trend. :o) I left and I put a protective cover over the autograph asap. I was so happy! I was a little upset that I didn't get Sean Townsend's, but looking at the John collage I made, knowing John liked it and signed, it made me VERY happy.
My sister got almost the entire the men's team. She got John, Blaine, Paul and Steve. I don't know why I didn't get eveyone's autograph, but I don't care. Well, that's it. There's my encounter. I hope you liked reading it!
I have three pictures of my encounter. I have a really good one of Paul and a picture of Blaine. If I get the time, I'll try to scan those too.
Ticket
Picture of John
*Note: Yes I took this picture....photographers error....I think not.... BYW: If you look at his hand you can see the thing I made.
John's Autograph
*Note: There is it. All that work for something SO worth it.
