BTW, Brian -- have you been carrying your 2003 Regional Final ticket stub around in your pocket for three years? ;-)
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(July 3, 2006)
"So it's Thursday of last week, a half an hour before I'm scheduled to take a customer out for lunch. I soon receive a call from him telling me that he won't be able to make it. With my customer's cancellation, I now have an hour and a half to burn.
At that point I recall seeing a blurb in the paper that Dwyane Wade was hosting his second annual basketball camp (ironically 15 minutes away from my customer's site). I decide to try it out in the hopes of catching a brief glimpse of the Marquette star in the parking lot or something.
As I pull up to camp, it becomes quickly apparent to me that the task of getting a pic with DWade is going to be very, very, difficult. I calmly get out of my car, grab my planner, and approach the entrance of the building (which is covered by volunteers and a couple police officers).
As I'm walking to the entrance, I still have no idea what I'm going to say until, "Hello, I'm Brian Fuhs from the Marquette Tribune, and I'm here to do a quick piece on Dwyane" pops out of my mouth. I have no idea where that came from?!?
Suddenly, the cop pages the camp director, who then approaches me at the entrance. The guy (Dwyane's brother), tells me to follow him around back, where they'll supply me with the proper media credentials I need. I get fitted with my media pass and am directed to a room with reportersfrom NBC, ESPN, Fox, WGN, etc.
Now I'm thinking that I've taken thiswaaaaaaaay to far...("Hello, Rich King, WGN Sports." "Oh hello, ummm, Brian Fuhs, Marquette Tribune").
We're told to get ready for the "media session" which will kick off in 10 minutes. In walks Dwyane, cameras start to roll, reporters begin asking questions.
At this point, I almost remember thinking to myself, "Hell, I made it this far, might as well keep this rollin'."
Next thing I know, there's a break in the action, and out pops my question ....
"Dwyane...Brian Fuhs, Marquette Tribune. Could you talk about your time at Marquette with Coach Crean's demanding practices, and your run to the FinalFour...how those experiences helped get you to where you are today...NBAFinals Champion/MVP?"Dwyane loves the question, dedicating more time to it than any other question from any other reporter. I obviously don't have a recorder/camera, so here I am standing in front of Dwyane, holding my phone out in front of me as I record a voice memo (real professional).
As the media session ended, I got a picture with the man (and AlonzoMourning), and had Dwyane sign my ticket stub from his Triple-Double in the'03 Elite 8 against Kentucky.
At the end of the day, it ended up being one of the funniest things I've ever had happen to me, and I got a chance to meet one of my favorite athletes of all-time.
Sorry for the long-winded e-mail, simply thought you would get a kick outof me being a nerd and posing as a member of the media. Still can'tbelieve I did that, and still can't believe I pulled it off with no one catching me.
Freakin' hilarious."
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The intrepid Brian Fuhs, alleged Marquette Tribune reporter, and DWade
Zo and the clever Brian Fuhs
That's hilarious. Reminds me of the time back in high school when I
ReplyDeletewent to the Millrose Games and picked up a press pass that fell on
the floor (had my camera with me). Security guard walked me right
onto the floor of the track where I rubbed shoulders with Carl Lewis
(pure thoroughbred), Carol Lewis (more testosterone than her
brother), Edwin Moses (huge, football huge) and stood under the pole
vault watching Sergei Bubka set records. Then they brought me into
the press conference where Segei gave me the tape off his wrist when
he set the record, and I got to ask world-famous miler Marcus
O'Sullivan a question (I forget what I said). Needless to say, I'm
convinced they knew I was probably not supposed to be there, but I
was a kid and not entirely threatening. I wish I kept the photos I
took.
That is outarageous. Sorta like this...
ReplyDeletehttp://serafinisays.blogspot.com/2006/07/dont-believe-half-of-what-you-see-and.html
Hey. That is really clever! I don't think i could have ever pulled it off. So one question, where is this camp? Im thinking about going to it. Whats it called and where is it hosted? If you could let me know that would be great. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteKatie . . . not sure where the camp was, but I suspect it was in south, suburban Chicago.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Dwyane's official site has info on his appearances. You can find that link in our blogroll