Happy Birthday to the Admiral

I hope you are sure its not next month. : )

My story is more lame. I got him to autograph a napkin once at a restaurant when I was 10. But that was a very proud moment for me at the time. I only wish I could have met him later on, when I became a more serious fan.

Good post. My story? Watched him play on TV.

…sniff.

I actually met him on my birthday at PF Chang’s once.

saw him from a distance at a church service.

I interviewed Horry (briefly) in the visiting locker room after a Spurs-Jazz game. And Pop made fun of me.

Never met Mr. Robinson in person (regretfully), but my mom did get his autograph when he visited Randolph AFB in 1990. She still has the book he signed, too.

i had 2 t-shirts. and a poster. yay?

Here’s my lame story: during the 2005 finals, at the end of the three game stretch in Detroit, i caught a connecting flight in Dallas(or Houston) from the east coast. Mr Robinson and his kids were on my flight back to SA! He towered over everyone at the boarding gate but made no fuss and to my surprise he actually sat in coach and not in first class. As i walked past him to my even coachier seat in the far back i tried to look and figure out how he was able to squeeze his tall stature in coach. I don’t know how he did it but somehow he was able to.

by the way, he gets inducted into the hall of fame September 11, in Springfield, MA. the day before my birthday. Ya know, just in case anyone is looking for that last minute gift idea….

I met David Robinson right after he was drafted by the Spurs and still in the Navy. He came to Mare Island Naval Shipyard to play(not sure why the Navy team was there). At the time I was player/coach for one of the shops on base(shop 31). Met Dave in the gym office then later that night played against him and the Navy team. Of course we didn’t fair well against them. Side note: At the time my mother worked for Artis Gilmore and Willie Andersen back in San Antonio and is still a rabid fan of the Spurs today. Dave is a class act!!

P.S. My apologies to theonlyromeo for hashing up more “lucky bastard” stories.

nice. at first i hesitated to read the article because i thought it would only cause more self-pity.

i read it and it caused more self-pity.

My wife and I got a picture (which I can’t find) with him afterward and he was as nice as he could be.

hah! yeah, me too. me too.