A Night With The Blonde Bomber

Last night I went to the Strand with my brother to see Terry Bradshaw speak. His speech "Why not your best?" was a hit.

Though he admittedly said that he simply chose the title because he thought it "Sounded Good" and didn't speak about anything to do with it, he was very entertaining and his football stories were both funny, and interesting. Our seats were amazing as we were 3rd row from TB. I got some really good photos and the best part was we were a little off to the right so we didn't get spit on by Bradshaw. (Yes the people front and center did.)



Bradshaw's thing is humor, and simplicity, and he portrayed himself the same way last night as he does on TV, so consistency is a good thing. I believe TB to be genuine, and it was an impressive set up last night for the most part.

Following the speech there was to be a meet and greet with TB that Laura so nicely decided to add to the tickets (Thank you baby.) This is where the night got weird....

There was no mention of a meet and greet or anything. No announcement, nothing. As we were waiting around not sure what to do, I noticed to my right 2 guys and a boy waiting as well. He was sporting his vintage Steelers Bradshaw jersey, a Steelers hat, and Zubaz pants. Yes, this guy for sure was going to the meet and greet, and he knew what was going on. So I asked him, and sure enough he knew it was going to be on the second floor, and all the details. We headed to the second level and found about 150 people up there with a bar, snack tables with cookies, veggie trays, cheeses, your basic party munchies. Unsure of the set up we thought there would be a table set up for him to sit, a line to walk up and get your pictures, handshake, and a little banter with him. After all this was a Meet and Greet right? Not so. There would be no table, or any kind of structured set up. You can probably see where this is going to lead. We walked around for a bit, got some things to eat and a couple beers from the stand (it was actually free?!?) and waited for the man to enter. We decided to try and figure out where he may enter from and not long after we got our drinks, he came walking through the door about 10 feet from us. This was cool because we were the closest people to him, we would be able to get to see him right away! Wrong. There was suddenly a mob surrounding us. I had my camera case over my shoulder, my camera in one hand, and my drink in the other with no place to put it. Well, I finally found a place to sit the drink and we tried to get in to get our picture and what not. We were within about 2 feet from him as people pushed there way in to see him. A lot of people were pushing their kids, and wives to get in there, along with a very ballsey guy with a broken arm who basically shoved his way through the crowd as if we owed it to him to let him through because he had a broken arm. Whatever dude, this was supposed to be a upscale event at the Strand and these people were just smothering him. After about 10 minutes of waiting in this mob, ever so close we came to the conclusion that we weren't getting in there, and even if we did there was no way we were going to get a good picture with him. No one was able to get good pictures in that environment, there was just no way. We decided to retreat and regather. We went to the end of the pack of people and decided once he got through there, we could possibly get a better chance to meet him. It was working perfectly, he was making his way toward us and we were even going to get this other guy to take a picture of us with him. He needed AA batteries, I had them, he owed me..whatever. So here he came, we were all set..and then suddenly...his bodyguards grabbed him, and they took him out of there! Just like that. Unsure of what just happened we approached one of the event people and Scott asked "Are the pictures with Mr Bradshaw finished?" "OH ABSOLUTELY" She said. This answer was unacceptable, after all you paid for a meet and greet. But, there was nothing more we could do. TB was gone, and we decided that we were gone too. We weren't going to hang around any longer.

We leave the Strand, and started walking to the car. We ended up parking across from the White Rose Bar and Grille, this was key because mostly everyone parked in the garage, and they missed it. They totally missed it. As we passed by the alley I noticed something. A running black town car, and a body guard standing beside it. What else did I see? The Zubaz guy again! YAHTZEE! It was the bomber's car! We decided that we would wait to see if we might be able to catch him on his way out the door. I was talking to Zubaz and he really wanted a picture of him and his boy and his buddy with TB, and Scott and I wanted our picture together, so we switched cameras with this guy and had it all set up..all we needed was an appearance from the bald man. After about 10 minutes, the trunk is popped on the car, and another bodyguard appears..here we go, it was time. TB follows and his response when he sees 5 people waiting for him in a dark alley? "You guy's are out here like a bunch of hooligans" I'm not sure he was real thrilled that we were out there, but once he saw we had the cameras switched, and Zubaz started talking to him, he was quick to oblige in a handshake, some light banter, and what you see below. By the way I asked him, so I know the story with Franco and the Immaculate Reception. I can't tell you if he caught it or not though.. :)

Needless to say..we got our Meet and Greet. I hope the event lady reads this and knows that only Zubaz and us got the real deal. "ABSOLUTELY"