| 2.24.2009 |
| Tip-A-King 2009... I was there!! |
Tip-A-King 2009!! Woo hoo!! So I went, it was awesome. I got everyone I really wanted and more (except Moller, he wasn't there, and Frolov's line was ridiculous, I waited until they kicked us out). Kopitar's line was probably over an hour and a half but the super nice ladies in front of me were funny, and they held my place in line and told me to go get autographs of everyone else I wanted that had no lines, because they knew it was my first time and wanted me to get as many as I could. My dad was sick, nearly fainted a lot of times, and spent most of the time outside in the fresh air or puking in the port-a-potty. He said they called the paramedics for him and he was put on oxygen, so I spent almost all day in lines by myself, trying to juggle my jersey, the wad of cash in my pocket ($1 for each autograph and $2 for each picture), the camera, my Ivanans 8x10 glossy photo, my Jack Johnson puck, and my sister Flip video camera all while figuring out which arm I'm going to put around the players.
Ivanans was the first person to sign my jersey... it was so cool... he touched me *squeals*
Oh and Bailey, the Kings mascot, he kissed me. We got it on video too, it was funny.
This is the general admission line when we got there, it was terrible as the day went on. We got near the front though. That's me with Kopitar on the left and Luc Robitaille on the right.
He was the first King I saw. We were waiting for the VIP session to end, and it was hot and stuffy in the tent (it was carnival style) and so Sean O'Donnell came out for some fresh air. He used to play for the Ducks... yuck! Derek Armstrong came out too and I bit my lip and tried not to squeal. I was standing near the open door so I could see some of the action inside. Then I saw Ivanans walked by and I got all giddy
See... my by the door, it was bright and sunny ok? That's why I'm making the squinty face. Plus O'Donnell was behind me and I was embarrassed because of my dad. Luc Robitaille was in there, I couldn't see him because it was dark, but I could hear him... yay!
Bailey posed for us, he was our entertainment while we waited in line. He is so awesome, everyone loves Bailey
Me and Raitis Ivanans. Like about 3 different cameras took a picture of me with him, including some professional cameras, so they might end up on the Kings website or letsgokings.com Look at the size of his hands... I'm 5'9" tall and I am as tall as Ivanans while he's sitting... yeah he was on a bar stool but still, he is huge!! And there is a funny story behind his ass, literally, after he was finished at the end of the day, he took off his jersey and he was walking around with the guys that were near my line (for Frolov, it was a great spot to be) and I always new his butt was big, but while he was standing there right next to me I made sure to remember everything about him... yummmm lol.
Bob Miller and Jim Fox signing my jersey. My dad was in the Kopitar line while he took the picture holding my spot. Jim Fox (the one in the black 19 alternate jersey) reminds my sister of Kermit the Frog for some reason, so she was excited to see this picture of him. We luv you Foxy!!
Bob Miller, me, and Foxy. They are announcers for the Kings now, but used to play.
Peter Harrold #5 and I on the couch. He was one of the players you visit when you are in the Kopitar line. He had just returned from a potty break... omg and look at that... I'm touching his leg... hehe.
 omg, FINALLY I get to meet my Kopitar. It almost looks like I'm photoshopped in the picture but no, I'm really just that close to him. And that is actually a really adorable picture of him. I was right up against him and I had my leg against his leg. *Sigh* Right before this picture he got up and ran to the bathroom. My dad was outside getting air when he saw Kopitar bolt outside and look around, then saw the port-a-potties and made a dash for them, even though the Security guy said VIP bathrooms were the other way. I also saw Kopitar's girlfriend there too. I didn't see her at this time, but later after he took off his jersey they were walking around together holding hands and stuff, they are cute together. I didn't get to see his little brother, I wish he would have gone to it this year. All I could do when ever Kopitar walked by, literally within grabbing distance, was stare, smile, and drool a little. Pathetic...  Ok, so the very first player I saw walk in to their autograph spot, was the blondie on the right, Jack Johnson. I just stared... I couldn't take my eyes off him. I don't know why but I'm just really attached to him. I don't think he is the cutest player (though he is cute) but for some reason I'm attached. While I was waiting in line, I was right in front of him for a good 15 minutes, and I just drooled and stared. The one on the left is Denis Gauthier, he's cool too. But ohhh Jack, Jack-Jack, you are a lot bigger and a lot cuter in person... Jack.... Jack!!!!!!! Oh, and these two were in the Kopitar bunch line too  Patrick O'Sullivan, he is such a cutie and no one was in his line! He is missing a few front teeth, so he doesn't smile or talk much, but he is oh so adorable
This is a very cute picture of Sully, I have gotten a lot of comments on it already  Erik Ersberg, one of our goalies, my personal favorite out of them all. From Sweden...  He doesn't smile much, look at all the pictures of him online, just kind of a smirk. He smiled when I said thanks and bye though =)  Okay, the dork in the bathrobe is one of the Kings. He was in the dunk tank (carnival style, remember?) and was still wet. The others are (from left to right) Wayne Simmonds, Matt Greene (behind Mr. Bathrobe), someone that I can't really tell who it is, and Jarett Stoll. Those two girls are bitches... I know because I ran into them later... Stoll is engaged, and Mr. Bathrobe is married (his kids were there, his kids are wild, never offer to babysit for him). More behind that story as the pictures come up
This is our conversation...
Tom: Did you stop by and say hi to Kopi?
Me: Yeah
Tom: Was he good?
Me: Yeah
(Tom looks at me playfully)
Tom: Was he mean? Me: Nah Tom Preissing is so super sweet. He is funny too. I don't think people appreciate him as much as they should. I have always had a soft spot for Preissing, I read his blog on http://www.lakings.com/ every time he posts a new one  He is so personable too. Really a fun guy. His wife was there too, she is pregnant but she was wandering around the whole time. They seem like a cool family. Tom Preissing and I  John Zeiler was sitting just to the left of Ivanans, in fact Ivanans reached over and hit Zeiler on the head with somone's stick. Both are fighters, but Zeiler has a temper and fights during unnecessary times occasionally. He is great with kids... he played some games of air hockey with them for a while  Me and John Zeiler. When I showed my mom this picture she really liked him. She thought he was cuter than Tory... I would argue that. Anyway, he held onto me a little longer than 1 second after the picture was taken. Usually they will hold you until they know the picture was taken ok, but after my dad put the camera down he was still holding onto me... I'm not complaining, it was cool to have a Los Angeles King put his face that close to mine. When I pried myself away from his grip and said thank you, I could have kissed him his face was so close Jarett Stoll and I. Girls think he is the cute-cute one... meh, he's ok. He played a game of skee-ball with the little boy in front of us in line though. It was funny.  Wayne Simmonds, he is such a hard working kid, I really like him =)  Grr... my dad must have moved the camera and made it blurry  Ok, so this is Mr. Bathrobe... AKA Derek Armstrong (Army for short). He has the wild kids. Anyway, he was in the dunk tank, he had to dry off his hands to sign my jersey before this picture. Anyway, when I left, the bitches (from the previous picture I mentioned them in) they saw what Army did and they gave me this evil death glare. I don't know what their problem was, I gave them a "what the hell are you staring at? Are you jealous? Well if you had brought your own money and your own camera you could have gotten a picture with him too. By the way did you know he was married and has kids?" look  If you are able to see this picture bigger by clicking on it, you will see Kopitar's head in the back (far side) of the game thingy and Jack's on the opposite side.
That's Jack from behind... In all the dreams I have about him he is in a dark blue shirt... well later, I saw him pulling his jersey over his head, and he was wearing a dark blue baseball shirt with the dark blue sleeves. *Sigh* Jack makes me smile and bite my lip |
posted by Katie @ 9:45 AM  |
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