nyny

my semi-brush with pseudo-celebrity

I enjoyed a brief couple of minutes of fame a few days ago. Nothing big, that’s for sure--but exciting nonetheless. One of my favorite podcasts, “Jordan, Jesse, GO” was having a discussion of the television premiere of “This American Life.” I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who didn’t love the radio show, so obviously everyone is pretty pumped to see what it looks like on screen. Anyway, in honor of the show’s debut, JJG held a contest for people to call in with their best personal debut stories. The prize is a “This American Life” movie poster autographed by none other than the endearing and much-loved Ira Glass.

Since there are literally thousands of people who listen to this podcast I knew it’d be a long shot, but I went ahead and left a message on the hotline with the story of my collegiate soccer debut. For those who don’t know, here’s a brief recap...

I had never played soccer before and so didn’t really know the rules. Anyway, I was the goalie, and in my first game ever I saved a penalty kick. For some reason I thought that after a penalty kick, saved or not, the ball went to the referee at midfield for a kick-off. So I gently rolled the ball back on the field hoping someone would give it to the ref. Instead, the opposing player who attempted the penalty kick stopped the ball, stared quizzically at me for a moment, and then gently tapped in a completely uncontested shot. I asked the ref if we could have a do-over since I didn’t know the rule, but he said no. So the goal counted and we lost.

I was completely surprised when I heard my voice on the latest JJG. Out of everyone who called in, I got third place!! There’s no prize for third, and I really wanted that poster, but that’s ok. I was just excited to hear myself make the top 3. (Also, I forgot that when I called I said I was from NYC. It sounds cooler than Cincinnati, and will be true in about a month anyway. So when I heard myself say this on the podcast it made me so pumped to move)

The second place winner was a guy who told of his friend’s “debut” coming out of the closet, and the first place winner was a guy telling the story of his junior high play. He was an overweight kid, and although not short, was still cast as a dwarf in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” He missed his cue to come onstage because he was in the prop room eating all the turkish delight, and when he figured it out he rushed on the stage with food falling out of his mouth. Pretty funny stuff, so I’m glad he won.

Anyway, that was my brush with fame, and clearly I’m using that term loosely :)

posted by becka @ 5:20 AM