The rash of celebrity athlete sightings continues...

We all read about Todd's encounter with Darwin Walker earlier this month on Todd-tastic. Meeting an Eagle DT is always huge, and Darwin impressed TK mightily.

Now, I hear about Chris Kochansky's sighting of future hall-of-fame soft-tosser Greg Maddux in Chicago:

"We saw a Cubs game last Friday - froze our butts off. Monday we did some shopping, and went to a Nike store that had over 3 floors. We walk in and sitting there is none other than Greg Maddux getting sneaks. I basically start hyperventilating... Telling Amy who this guy is. I chickened out over asking for an autograph or telling him how Yuck greatly needed him to keep pitching well. I regret it now, but it was cool."

It seems like anytime you have an opportunity to communicate directly with one of your fantasy players, you should take advantage. Maybe feel him out for any discomfort he might be having in his throwing arm. Maybe give him a little pep-talk and reassure him that he's on your personal "do not cut" list. Maybe just thank him for turning out to be such a great value pick.

But I think Chris actually played this one right. A few years ago at Eagles Training Camp, I witnessed this awkward exchange:

Some kid: "Hey, David Akers... you were awesome on my fantasy team last year."
Akers looks and smiles.
Some kid: "You scored alot for me after my starting kicker got hurt."
Akers: "You mean you picked me as a backup?"
No response.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure this rash of sightings started last summer when Flood and I saw Chantel Tremitiere at Popeye's. Or maybe it was when Mark saw Jevon Kearse in a restaurant. Or maybe it was Kochansky's first celeb-sighting, Theo Ratliff (he has a web site - not a good thing in this case) at an airport?