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Message: [QUOTE="sutomcat, post: 2098884, member: 27"] I don't have a running list in my head of people I have met who are famous, so I am pretty sure I will miss some but here are a few: Christian Laettner Met him at an Empire States Games in Syracuse when he was still in HS, playing for the WNY region. He hadn't verballed anywhere yet. Asked if he was considering Syracuse. He made a face and said 'no, I can do better than that'. Coach K Told this story before on the board. [USER=412]cto[/USER] and I met him at the very first Basket Ball at the convention center downtown. Asked him about GMac, who had just verballed to Syracuse. We knew he had recruited him hard, knew he knew Gerry's talents well, so his comments were of great interest. After a long pause, he said he had never heard of him. His eyes were like doll eyes, black and lifeless. By all accounts, he is a good guy and a good friend to JB...I just think he isn't a fan friendly kind of guy. GMac Sat at my table at a Boys and Girls Club fundraiser dinner just prior to his senior season. Each table was assigned one player, all the kids wanted GMac become he was such a legend. He sat down with his food (it was a buffet style dinner) and a line started forming next to him almost immediately. He said 'just a sec', wolfed down a couple bites of his burger, took a sip from his drink and then spent the rest of the night signing autographs and posting for pictures. He was great with the kids, asked their names to personalize autographs, and blew me away with how good he was to his fans (a mix of local kids and well to do supporters of the basketball program). Jay Wright was very gracious and engaging. Was happy to post for pictures or sign autographs with fans. Seems like a great guy. Jerry West was nice. Made eye contact, answered questions about Syracuse players, was kind of aloof though. Rory Sabbatini was a real jerk. Hit a bad shot. Blamed it on the caddy. Told the caddy he was going to 'fire his ass' and that he was sick of getting screwed by him several times, loudly, so anyone in the gallery could easily hear him. Phil Mickelson was great with kids, signed a lot of autographs, very friendly, spoke with people from the gallery as he played his practice round. I have seen Angel Cabrera, Lumpy Tim Herron, Joey Sindelar, Steve Stricker, Matt Kuchar and Zach Johnson all being great with fans too... Elmore Smith was a 7'1 center who played for the Buffalo Braves when they were in the NBA circa 1972. They came to Syracuse to do a youth clinic. Elmore was really nice. My brother (10 years old) made a 20 foot hook shot on him from the corner and he couldn't have been more gracious and kind to him. Met Rusty Staub at a function when he was on the Mets. Very friendly, went out of his way to put kids at ease and get them to interact with him. Great guy. Chris Christie and Regis Philbin were both very friendly and nice interacting with basketball fans at BET tournaments in the past... And DC and JDub are two great guys to watch a game with. Both want Syracuse to win desperately and love celebrating big wins. I still can't believe what DC did after a big SU win in the BET (I think it was to win the tournament in GMac's great run in 2006). SU had just won. SU fans were gathering on the baseline to celebrate, hugging, high fiving, laughing and just going bonkers in general. A big guy appears next to DC and yells 'DC! My man! Gimme some!'. It should be noted that DC was wearing a beautiful suit that appeared to be custom fit and brand new. And that the big guy now gesturing for DC to hug him was covering in orange body paint from head to at least his belt line. DC hesitated, but caught up in the moment, put a bear hug on the guy, picked him up and spun him once before letting him go. He looked down, saw the horrible damage done to the suit and discretely got the hell out of there. DC moved on to hugging some of the SU players nearby... [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?