Some of you may remember when I posted my story on the HABOTN about getting my groceries mixed up with Bo Jackson's at the Auburn A&P back in late 1985 or early 1986. Whenever it was, it was right after Bo had won the Heisman. Anyway, for those who don't remember, here's what happened:
My roommate and I were grocery shopping one evening during my freshman year at AU. When we got to the back of the A&P, we noticed some huge guys standing there, apparently trying to decide whether they wanted ham, bologna, hot dogs, etc. At first, we were thinking it was some of the D-line because they were so big, but when they turned around, we realized that one of them was Bo. We thought it was pretty cool just to run into him in the grocery store, and were talking about that during the rest of our shopping. When we checked out, I had already written my check when I noticed that somehow two cans of my soup had gotten mixed in with the order behind mine. I looked up and Bo was standing right behind me. My soup was mixed in with his groceries. I was annoyed because I was about to have to write a check for about 90 cents, so I said, "Hey Bo, you're about to be a multi-millionaire. How about buying my soup for me?" He started laughing and said, "No, no. I can't do that." I can't remember whether I wrote the 90 cent check or not, but I have always remembered that brief encounter with Bo. He was certainly larger than life to me at that point (and I guess still is).
So, on to yesterday. I had two free tickets to the Regions Charity Classic. It was a beautiful day, and I wasn't going to be very busy in the afternoon, so I called my brother and asked him if he wanted to go out to the golf course with me to check out some of the Pro-Am. I told him that very few celebrities were playing (it was Wednesday, and most were playing Thursday), but that there was a group that included Bo Jackson, Phil Niekro, and Cornelius Bennett (their 4th player was Ryan Brown from WJOX and their pro was Ben Crenshaw). I figured maybe we could at least try to follow them around a bit.
Well, by the time we got out there, it was already 3:00. The last celebrity groups had teed off at around 12:30, so had to be well into the back nine. We decided to walk the course backwards (not walking backwards you understand, just starting at Hole 18 instead of Hole 1) to see if we could find the aforementioned group. After a while, we somehow made a wrong turn and ended up at Hole 5. We kind of decided at that point to just enjoy being out there on a beautiful day, drinking a few beers and watching some nobodies play golf. Eventually, one of the course workers told us a quick way to get back to the back nine, so we did so.
We were standing on Hole 16, and I happened to glance down at the 15th green. Who was standing on it but Bo Jackson! I pointed him out to my brother, and we immediately decided to stay where we were and wait for his group to tee off on 16. Hardly any fans were on the course at this point. It was just my brother and me along with a mom and her son standing by the 16th tee box when Bo and Cornelius Bennett screeched up right in front of me. We watched them tee off, along with Crenshaw, Niekro, and Ryan Brown. Then (fueled by a few beers and the lack of a crowd), I told my brother, "I'm going to talk to Bo." He's like, "What?", but I was already gone. I went right up to Bo while he was rummaging around in his golf bag and said, "Bo, I want to tell you something." He said (without looking up), "Start talking. I'm listening." So I proceeded to tell him the grocery store story from above. When I got to the part about the groceries being mixed up, he said, "Did you pay for my groceries?". I said, "No, I tried to get you pay for mine." He responded, "How much was it?". I replied, "About 90 cents, and you wouldn't pay for it." At this point, Cornelius (who was sitting in the cart) started laughing. Bo jumped in the cart, too, and said to me, "Well, I couldn't afford it." Then, as he was pulling away, shouted back over his shoulder, "I wasn't making but about $100,000 back then!". (That's pretty good money for an amateur athlete, huh?).
During all of this, my brother had been taking pictures (most of which were not that great since I kind of caught him off-guard, but I'm still going to to post some of them here). We were standing there looking at the pictures, when the next group pulled up. At the front was Mark Prater, a local TV weather guy that my brother and I both went to school with. We were telling him what happened with Bo right before that, and he told us that Bo still owed him $50 from a bet they made when they played the Pro-Am the year before. We were just standing there chit-chatting, when Mark says all of a sudden, "Hey, you guys want to meet Fuzzy Zoeller?". Of course, we say, "Sure!". Mark goes walking up to the pro tee box to talk to him. We hang back behind the rope. Mark goes, "No, come up here." He takes us right up to Fuzzy, and says, "Hey, I want you to meet a couple of guys from my hometown." He introduces us, and Fuzzy takes the cigarette out of his mouth, chats with us for a minute or so, then turns around without taking more than a couple of seconds and crushes one down the middle of the fairway. He doesn't even bother to watch the ball, just launches into some profanity-laced story with his playing partners like he's known them forever. Definitely seemed like just one of the guys.
So that's pretty much it, except for sitting in the bleachers and watching Bo's group hole out the 18th, but things turned out pretty well for a spur of the moment, blowing off work, trip to the golf course. (Especially considering that I don't even like golf!). War Eagle!
My roommate and I were grocery shopping one evening during my freshman year at AU. When we got to the back of the A&P, we noticed some huge guys standing there, apparently trying to decide whether they wanted ham, bologna, hot dogs, etc. At first, we were thinking it was some of the D-line because they were so big, but when they turned around, we realized that one of them was Bo. We thought it was pretty cool just to run into him in the grocery store, and were talking about that during the rest of our shopping. When we checked out, I had already written my check when I noticed that somehow two cans of my soup had gotten mixed in with the order behind mine. I looked up and Bo was standing right behind me. My soup was mixed in with his groceries. I was annoyed because I was about to have to write a check for about 90 cents, so I said, "Hey Bo, you're about to be a multi-millionaire. How about buying my soup for me?" He started laughing and said, "No, no. I can't do that." I can't remember whether I wrote the 90 cent check or not, but I have always remembered that brief encounter with Bo. He was certainly larger than life to me at that point (and I guess still is).
So, on to yesterday. I had two free tickets to the Regions Charity Classic. It was a beautiful day, and I wasn't going to be very busy in the afternoon, so I called my brother and asked him if he wanted to go out to the golf course with me to check out some of the Pro-Am. I told him that very few celebrities were playing (it was Wednesday, and most were playing Thursday), but that there was a group that included Bo Jackson, Phil Niekro, and Cornelius Bennett (their 4th player was Ryan Brown from WJOX and their pro was Ben Crenshaw). I figured maybe we could at least try to follow them around a bit.
Well, by the time we got out there, it was already 3:00. The last celebrity groups had teed off at around 12:30, so had to be well into the back nine. We decided to walk the course backwards (not walking backwards you understand, just starting at Hole 18 instead of Hole 1) to see if we could find the aforementioned group. After a while, we somehow made a wrong turn and ended up at Hole 5. We kind of decided at that point to just enjoy being out there on a beautiful day, drinking a few beers and watching some nobodies play golf. Eventually, one of the course workers told us a quick way to get back to the back nine, so we did so.
We were standing on Hole 16, and I happened to glance down at the 15th green. Who was standing on it but Bo Jackson! I pointed him out to my brother, and we immediately decided to stay where we were and wait for his group to tee off on 16. Hardly any fans were on the course at this point. It was just my brother and me along with a mom and her son standing by the 16th tee box when Bo and Cornelius Bennett screeched up right in front of me. We watched them tee off, along with Crenshaw, Niekro, and Ryan Brown. Then (fueled by a few beers and the lack of a crowd), I told my brother, "I'm going to talk to Bo." He's like, "What?", but I was already gone. I went right up to Bo while he was rummaging around in his golf bag and said, "Bo, I want to tell you something." He said (without looking up), "Start talking. I'm listening." So I proceeded to tell him the grocery store story from above. When I got to the part about the groceries being mixed up, he said, "Did you pay for my groceries?". I said, "No, I tried to get you pay for mine." He responded, "How much was it?". I replied, "About 90 cents, and you wouldn't pay for it." At this point, Cornelius (who was sitting in the cart) started laughing. Bo jumped in the cart, too, and said to me, "Well, I couldn't afford it." Then, as he was pulling away, shouted back over his shoulder, "I wasn't making but about $100,000 back then!". (That's pretty good money for an amateur athlete, huh?).
During all of this, my brother had been taking pictures (most of which were not that great since I kind of caught him off-guard, but I'm still going to to post some of them here). We were standing there looking at the pictures, when the next group pulled up. At the front was Mark Prater, a local TV weather guy that my brother and I both went to school with. We were telling him what happened with Bo right before that, and he told us that Bo still owed him $50 from a bet they made when they played the Pro-Am the year before. We were just standing there chit-chatting, when Mark says all of a sudden, "Hey, you guys want to meet Fuzzy Zoeller?". Of course, we say, "Sure!". Mark goes walking up to the pro tee box to talk to him. We hang back behind the rope. Mark goes, "No, come up here." He takes us right up to Fuzzy, and says, "Hey, I want you to meet a couple of guys from my hometown." He introduces us, and Fuzzy takes the cigarette out of his mouth, chats with us for a minute or so, then turns around without taking more than a couple of seconds and crushes one down the middle of the fairway. He doesn't even bother to watch the ball, just launches into some profanity-laced story with his playing partners like he's known them forever. Definitely seemed like just one of the guys.
So that's pretty much it, except for sitting in the bleachers and watching Bo's group hole out the 18th, but things turned out pretty well for a spur of the moment, blowing off work, trip to the golf course. (Especially considering that I don't even like golf!). War Eagle!
