(no subject)
Okay, guys, here's the deal.
So we got to the Racquet Club at about 9:00 in the morning. We were scheduled to see Tommy Haas and Max Myrni play then, and then later we were going to see Andy. But when we got in there there was a schedule paper and right by Andy's match it said, "Status unknown until 1:00".
Of course that scared me a little bit. I had heard some people talking about how he had hurt his ankle in the match against Ginepri but I didn't really think it was that serious. But then we went in to the court area and I saw Tommy Haas and I just forgot all about it (well, pushed it out of my mind, anyway). As soon as I looked at him it just became so real-we were actually there, in Memphis, and Andy was somewhere in the vicinity.
The match started at 10:30. We watched Haas and Myrni play (Myrni won 7-5, 7-5) and then found out we had access to all the courts, so we could watch the Bryan twins play. I was really happy about that, haha!!!!! I love Mike & Bob. It was about 11:45 then. So we went back in and sat down to watch them. For the record, they are beautiful. They walk in unison; they play so perfectly together. It was so cool! I was like, "Hahahahaha!" And Mike had to have them treat his back, so he practically took his shirt off. It was hot! LOL, sorry. *giggles* Anyway!!!
So at a changeover I went out to go to the restroom. On the way out I checked to see if they had updated the schedule page. Well, they had, and it said "Andy Roddick has withdrawn due to an injured ankle."
I was pretty much ready to cry then. I couldn't believe it. I was like, "We drove six hours and he isn't even gonna be here????!!!!!" It was still fun but I mean, Andy wasn't gonna be there? I walked back to wait for the next changeover then, and I called my best friend, and she couldn't believe it either. So I told my mom and dad (yes, I went with them. I wanted to bring like a bunch of my friends but they wouldn't let me. I figured I'd better just go along with this, because they wanted to go with me, and they wanted to come alone-they said something about this was special and they wanted to share it with me. Don't ask lol...I'm still confused) and they asked me if I wanted to see if we could switch our tickets around to see the women's final. I said I guessed so, it was a little better than nothing.
Anyway, the twins won (thank God, I don't think I could have taken it if they had lost then), YAY! And we went out into the hall and asked the ticket guy if we could switch it around. He said no, so I figured that was it, we'd leave, get a bite to eat, go back to the hotel room, sleep, and go home the next day, no Andy.
But then the guy said RODDICK WAS GOING TO BE THERE TO APOLOGIZE TO THE CROWD IN PERSON IN A FEW MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!!!
So I was really happy!!! I bought a t-shirt while we were waiting to go back into the court. Finally they let us go back in. I was so nervous, I was shaking, and I was talking really fast, like how I do when I'm hyper. I swear I have never been that nervous. I knew I wasn't going to like, talk to him, or anything, but seeing him like, right there, not on TV, was good enough right then. Of course I had really wanted to see him play, but I figured some Andy was definitely better than no Andy at all.
So he came out (and I almost screamed. I swear. I had to bite my lip to keep it in), apologized, and said he'd definitely be back next year to play. And then that was it.
Or so I thought.
While he was talking, I was scoping out where he had come in, kind of just curiously, and I realized that it was through the hall where we were let in to see the matches. About the time I figured it out, he had just stopped talking. I looked at my mother, who had realized it at the same time. She said, "Go." So I did. I ran as hard as I ever had. I pushed through tons of people to get there.
I got out into the hall, and...there he was. About three yards, a ton of people, and a couple security guards away from me.
I lost time then. I stood there staring for like ten seconds with my eyes huge and my jaw on my chest. Brian, you are so right. TV does him no justice. The man is absolutely GORGEOUS. And tall. My God, he was tall. And he had his hair spiked-just the way I like it.
The guards were like parading him out of the Club, so I just followed the whole crowd for like thirty seconds. Then I turned around, saw my mom, and tossed her my sweatshirt. It had just clicked that if I actually wanted to do something about this I was gonna have to cover a whole lot of ground in less than a minute. So I ran. And I learned that going around to the side of a crowd and then picking your entrance spot is very effective. Then a couple of security guards pushed me away. I pushed back, and then I was LIKE RIGHT BESIDE ANDY. He was signing a tennis ball. Then he handed it back, and he was looking around for something else to sign. I shoved my t-shirt forward and prayed. I felt something soft brush my forearm and looked down...it was the sleeve of his hoodie. MY ARM WAS ACTUALLY TOUCHING ANDY RODDICK'S ARM!!!!!!!!! And then...he took the shirt away from me gently and...he signed it. Our arms were still touching. I could not keep my eyes off him. He was SO BEAUTIFUL, and we were walking RIGHT BESIDE EACH OTHER!!!!!!! And then he handed it back. Our fingers brushed when he did. He smelled so good, like Oldspice.
I said, "Thank you." And looked at him. And do you know what?
He looked down at me, smiled, and said, "You're welcome." He sounded surprised. Like no one had ever said that to him before. And I smiled too...and then I turned around in a daze and walked back to my mom. He was still looking at me, smiling, while I walked away (I looked back to get a last glimpse of him).
The only thoughts going through my head were: YOU JUST WALKED NEXT TO ANDY RODDICK. YOU JUST TOUCHED ANDY RODDICK. HE JUST TOUCHED YOU. HE JUST SIGNED YOUR T-SHIRT. YOUR FINGERS BRUSHED WHEN HE HANDED IT BACK. YOU JUST TALKED TO ANDY RODDICK, AND YOU DIDN'T MAKE A FOOL OF YOURSELF!!!!!!!
When I reached my mom, I burst into happy tears. I do not know why in the world this happened, but thank God, we were way too far back for him to see me anymore. I don't know, I guess it was all the pent-up emotion about him not being able to play, and then all of a sudden finding out he was still there, and the whole thing about just walking next to him, touching him, etc. I was like, sobbing. It's funny, now that I think back on it, haha!
I think everyone else around me thought my dog had died, or something, but the Racquet Club people figured out what had just happened when they saw my t-shirt, and they pushed some things into my hands. So, without even meaning to, I got a free poster of Andy and a free magazine about the tournament and the people playing in it! And then this woman from Memphis News Channel 24 walks up to me and goes, "Honey, are you so happy because you just met Andy Roddick?"
And I was like, "Yes!" So surprised because the camera was on and pointing straight at me!!!!!!!!!!!! And she interviewed me about it, and I don't even remember what I said, I just remember talking about how happy I was that I got to meet him! So...imagine that...I got on TV because of Andy! It's so weird! It still feels like a dream.
But oh my god, I still can't believe it. I SAW ANDY RODDICK, I touched him, I walked beside him, I got his autograph (I look at it about once every fifteen minutes), I smelled his Oldspice (the t-shirt he signed smells like him), I TALKED TO HIM, AND I got on TV!!!!!! All in the same day!!!! I can easily say that that was the BEST DAY OF MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!! And then later, I saw myself on the news! It was so funny! I just looked so happy! It was so cool.
But anyway, I promised I'd tell, and those are all the details. Well, I could go on and on and on about meeting Andy and everything lol. But I'm gonna go now, talk to you all later!