The good, the bad and the...

Martine Gaillard's latest post on her blog at the sportsnet.ca site is an interesting read. Working in the sports media really does give a person a unique perspective on the people so many fans look up to. Most of the folks I've had the privilege of interviewing (especially Regina and Saskatchewan athletes and coaches) have been great. Then, there's the other side of the coin - sports personalities who leave you muttering "What a jerk!" as you walk away. Here's a partial list of the higher-profile folks who've made an impression on me:

The Good

1. Darryl Sittler - I've never actually interviewed the man, but he dated my babysitter while playing junior hockey in London, Ontario. When we met, he treated this little drippy-nosed gaffer with warmth and respect. He set the standard for what I thought all athletes should be like.
2. Paul Henderson - I interviewed the hero of the '72 Summit Series at a golf tournament in Regina a few years ago. Thoughtful, classy and engaging.
3. Lorne Molleken - I interviewed "Mooner" many times when he coached the Saskatoon Blades (for the first time), and then again when we both landed in Regina. I'll never forget the sight of him stumbling out of the women's washroom at a Blades event. To quote: "There's no women here, so why the hell not?" Words to live by, really.
4. Barret Jackman - the former Pats captain was mature way, way beyond his years. I was hosting a Pats broadcast on Access one night, and the intermission guest didn't show up. After a couple minutes of me fumbling and bumbling on-air, who should walk in but the (at the time) injured captain of the Pats! "I heard your guy jammed out on you, so I thought I'd drop in. Hope that's okay?" Uh, yes Barret. That's very okay indeed.

The Bad

1. Wayne Maxner - a former NHL player and coach, "Maxie" was the head coach of the OHL London Knights when I was just a cub reporter in 1988. About an hour before the first Knights' game I covered, I tracked Maxner down and introduced myself and asked if I could ask him a couple of questions. The man looked through me as if I wasn't even there! Then he rolled his eyes, nodded his head and graced me with a couple minutes of his time. He warmed up over time, but that was a hell of a way to introduce someone to the world of sports journalism!
2. "Neon Deion" - Deion Sanders was a rookie outfielder for the Class AA Albany Yankees in the summer of 1989. He almost had to be physically subdued to get him to take part in a scrum with the London media. Then, the player that would go on to be called "Prime Time" could barely string two words together! Suffice to say he got over that problem!
3. Chris Chelios - I landed the opportunity to cover the annual NHL awards in Toronto in 1989. In a room full of the brightest stars of pro hockey, "Chelly" was the only player to blow off my interview request. At the opposite end of the spectrum, then-Flames coach Terry Crisp talked my ear off, and offered me a beer afterwards!

The Ugly

Only one example comes to mind. Saskatoon hosted an NBA exhibition game in the late summer of 1992. The Denver Nuggets took on the Seattle Supersonics. I swung by the Sonics practice to do a few pre-event interviews, including one with star forward (and prolific breeder) Shawn Kemp. A couple of media colleagues asked if they could take part in the interview, which was fine with me. And since I was the only one of the group with any knowledge of the Sonics (or the NBA for that matter), the arrangement worked out well for them too! So, I positioned myself in front of Kemp for the media scrum and started asking questions. Well, I don't know if he was nervous, but Kemp held a very large, and very heavy, warm-up jacket in his hand while doing the interview. Then, he started slowly swinging the jacket out in front of him while talking. Sure enough, that damn jacket lined up perfectly with my......well, let's just say the players weren't the only ones practising ball control that day! And of course my media colleagues, being kind souls, just smiled and enjoyed the show. Talk about suffering for your craft!

So, those are a few of my stories. Have any of you had brushes with greatness that you'd like to share? They don't have to be restricted to the world of sports - musicians, politicians, actors, whatever. Fire away!