Props to Lane for scoring the greatest Christmas/Not-In-The-Wedding-Party present I could ever get, an autograph from Bill Self, commanding me to move to Lawrence. The battle between Lawrence, Kansas, and Louisville, Kentucky is getting a little one-sided. I have endorsements from Lane, Skye, Miss January, Miss February, Miss September, Miss October, and Miss December of The Girls of KU 2006 calendar, and now Bill Self. From Louisville, I have just Ben and Jon-O. If you're reading this, Benny, I would get in touch with Rick Pitino, or even better, Muhammad Ali. See what you can do.
However, as clutch as Lane was with Self, that's how bad he choked when meeting his hero, Sasha Kaun, at Jimmy John's today. When I say meet, I mean watch him come in, order, and walk out. That's not the Lane Leedahl I know. That's not the Lane Leedahl that bought tacos for the Phoenix Suns, then got tackled off their team bus.
I can't judge too much, as I gagged on my tongue when I found myself alone with Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship a few years ago. However, since then, I have progressed nicely, to the point where I told Brad Buckman (from Texas) to "watch out, dude" when he ran into me in Indianapolis, and at the Masters in '05, I sidled up to the urinal next to Mario Lemeiux and asked him where Jaromir was. Still couldn't bring myself to lob a beer at Ron Artest in a bar in Indy a few months after The Brawl, though. I didn't feel like getting my ass kicked by his 6-man posse, even after the girl I was dancing with all night ditched me later on that night cause Ron-Ron beckoned her over. To those of you reading this from cool cities, remember I live in North Dakota, where meeting celebrities and athletes does not happen. So these are big deals to me, dammit.
Congrats to the kids finishing up finals. I figure that since this is only my first semester since graduation, I am still within the grace period that allows me to celebrate finals week. So I will. Flippy Cup at 10 tomorrow. Let's get crunk.
