Mr. Madden! Mr. Madden!

My only goal this weekend was to get a photo of John Madden while on the Owner’s Club Suite Level at FedEx Field (well, also to catch up sleep, but that didn’t happen).  I knew that the Broadcasters’ Suite was three over from where we were, so yes, I referred to the Guide to Celebrity Stalking and took my stalking post right before the beginning of halftime.  You see, I knew he had to use the restroom at some point and my best guess was it would be during halftime.

And during halftime it was. “The King of Sports Commentary/inspiration for Frank Caliendo/video game mogul/turkey lover/airplane hater” was led  through the lounge area by a handler with Al Michaels not far behind.  As he passed by me, I thought, maybe I should wait until he goes to the men’s room and then get him on the way back.  I didn’t want to be thoughtless of his immediate need for restroom use.  So I paused.  Then a dear friend screamed, “Get him now!” so I did and pushed my way through, almost knocking over a gentleman who had just filled his plate at the buffet and yelled, “Mr. Madden! Mr. Madden! May I please get a photo?”  He kindly stopped with his handler, smiled and said, “Sure!”  As I adjusted my camera, I thought, hmmmm. He needs some bookends.  Fortunately, my two dearest friends Victoria Michael and Cindy Jones, were right there looking beautiful (Victoria was my aggressive chum who knew it was best to get him there in the hall alone) to help make the picture prettier. 

The Owner’s Club level is always a great place for celebrity eye candy.  From Lionel Richie to Dennis Haysbert to Troy Aikman and anyone in between, there’s always someone there for us to say, “Hey, isn’t that?”  Last night was no different, as we found actor/director/writer/producer Peter Berg and friend sitting at the bar.  I didn’t recognize him (call me a loser) even though he was most recently in: Lions for Lambs, The Kingdom, Smokin’ Aces, Collateral, the list goes on.  He is also the Executive Producer/writer behind Friday Night Lights and Lars and the Real Girl.  His dossier is extensive and his talent has breadth and depth.  I hate to say it, but when I Googled him, it suddenly hit me.  I remembered him from one of my oldie-but-a-goodie favorite films: The Great White Hype.  He was the Irish Terry Conklin who was going to take on Damon’s Wayan’s character. 

Enough about movies, last night was about football and football it was. Sort of.

(Pictured from top to bottom: Cindy Jones, John Madden, Victoria Michael, another stalker looks on; radio sports commentator Larry Michael and Wizards play by play guy Steve Buckhantz; Dennis Greene with the Redskins and former player turned talk show host Rick “Doc” Walker)