Encounters of the celebrity athlete kind

Written by Curtis J. Phillips
Wednesday, 01 February 2012 11:41

It’s 1984 and my wife Diane and I are patiently standing outside a Las Vegas casino waiting in line for a taxi cab. A couple of minutes later, we are next up for a ride.

Suddenly a large man, well-dressed in a white suit, along with a group of loud, but obviously fun-loving people, exits from the casino and approaches the taxi line. Just then the cab pulls up and the valet motions for this group to get into the cab. My wife says to the valet, “Hold a second. We were next?”

I whisper to her in awed tone, “That’s Larry Holmes behind us!”

“Larry who?” is her response.

In my imagination she has said it loud enough for everyone, including the Holmes party, on the entire Las Vegas trip to hear.

“Shhhhhhh,” I say to her, as my body cringes. “That’s Larry Holmes…the heavyweight boxing champion of the world! Let him have the cab.” She repeats: “Larry who? I don’t care who he is…we were next.”

Oh my Gawd! I look back sheepishly at the behemoth Holmes who, only a short while prior, had defended his world boxing title here in Las Vegas. Am I his next fallen opponent?

He laughs…smiles…then waves us to take the cab. I enter the cab red-faced and humbled.

Yes….even yours truly…who has met plenty of sport legends, may and can be intimidated sometimes by celebrity.

I was also awestruck when meeting basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain…not once but twice.  First when I was 12, my father getting me into the locker room. Second at age 19, when at a party in Beverly Hills and my date introduced me to him. Both times I stood their frozen...hands at side...speechless. Could have peed my pants. When Wilt extended his hand for a quick handshake, had I shook it, he would have been just another human being.

The other time was in the 1980s when interviewing one Terry Gene Bollea, better known as Hulk Hogan. I was so excited I actually giggled to myself.

We need heroes…be it athletes, movie stars, politicians, etc. So, it is easy to see why so many people are excited about the arrival of Wayne Gretzky...the Great One in May for a Keyano Huskies fundraiser. (See story on page 5).

Thanks to people like Shawn Chaulk and Dale Unruh, our local heroes, this fundraiser would not be possible. It will be hard to top but do not worry as new sports heroes are always on the horizon.

Speaking of local sports heroes...the Wood Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame will be sitting down soon to vote in the next group of inductees for 2012.

With that in mind, I have made up a list of athletes in various sports that may be deserving of a look-see. If you want to add to the list email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Many of the below athletes have represented us on the national and international scenes. Some of them are or have been, Olympians, national team members, professionals, Stanley Cup champions and world champions.

These are not your typical weekend athletes.

Remember this is just a small sampling and in my books, each sport is equal in that the athletes strive to be the best that they can be.

I have not included names of those already inducted. For that check out www.woodbuffalosports.com.

Sports in alphabetical order

•Archery: Monique Marguis.

•Badminton, Sonny Lee.

•Baseball: Chris Marchand.

•Basketball: Harbir Bains, Sam Salter, Janet Hatfield, Team Xerox.

•Boxing: Wayne Bourque, Edgar Davis Jr., Ken Hicks, Danny Lindstrom (Stonewalker), Garth Snider.

•Broomball: Randy Reid.

•Bowling: Kari Anderson.

•Cross Country Skiing: Graeme Killick.

•Curling: Laurie Olson.

•Cycling: Ryan Hopping.

•Darts: Ivan Eddy.

•Dualthon: Chad Kozak.

•Fitness: Annik Naylor.

•Golf: Ernie Sheaves.

•Gymnastics: Seymin Lau.

•Hockey: A.J. Aitken, Trevor Buchanan, Suzette Gillingham, Peter Headon, Colin Murphy, Nolan Pratt, Bobby Stewart, Scottie Upshall, Shawn Wheeler.

•Horses: Kentucky Bear, Knight’s Covenant, Outsider Bear, Danny Dion.

•Judo: Jim Dusang, Laura Wiltshire.

•Karate: Paul Wohlgemuth.

•Luge: Tom Power.

•Mixed Martial Arts: Sandy Bowman, Dwayne Lewis.

•Mountain Biking: Mical Dyck.

•Mountain Running: Jason Loutitt.

•Officials: Darren Gibbs.

•Powerlifting: Shane Dixon, Tony Perry

•Racquetball: Michael Burgess

•Running: Darcy Berard, Sonja Frank, David LaPierre, Jason Loutitt, Bill Nielsen, Arthur Taylor.

•Shooting: John Vaughn.

•Snowshoeing: Jason Loutitt.

•Soccer: Tiffany Booth, Wes Stephens, Natalie Swain

•Special Olympics: Debbie Lebedynski.

•Swimming: Jasen Pratt.

•Track and Field: Fesaitu Inoke.

•Volleyball: Alwyn Piche, Fiona Waters.

•Wrestling: Jim Dusang, Meaghan Young.

Catch you on the rebound.