The only time I had any interaction with a professional athlete was when I attended a New York Knicks game and met Anthony Mason. I gave him a basketball and his 1994 Fleer card for him to sign. The dude signed everything and then gave it to another kid that looked like me. My heart dropped — everything that I’ve cherished was abruptly handed off to some strange kid that couldn’t have appreciated more than myself. Tears were streaming down my face, I managed to break free from the crowd and grabbed my newly-signed possessions back from this kid. After I screamed ‘these are mine!’ the kid’s dad yanked them out of my hand and condescendingly told me ‘Anthony Mason gave them to him, these are not yours, OK?’ Damn, a grown-up. There was nothing I could do — except pretend to walk away and suddenly rush back solely to upper cut the dad in his groin and grab my stuff. In retrospect I really wish I would have planned it out better. I ended up landing a shoryuken-like upper cut on the dad’s crotch, then I just got really scared and ran away. I didn’t even get a chance to get my stuff back. Dammit.
When you’re a kid, something like that could be a nightmare. However when the greatest female MMA fighter of all time gives you a call to congratulate you — those are the Lego blocks that dreams are made of. Check out our LayzieTheSavage filming Ronda Rousey giving a surprise phone call to Rebecca Forsyth, a 14-year-old grappling champion that had to defeat boys in order to win her division (and she did it with armbars).
