Monday, February 8, 2010

Friend of the Week - The First Friend

Drum roll please....(in my head I am imagining the scene from Christmas Vacation where Clark is showing off the lights and Ellen is doing the drum roll so all of you start thinking of that too)...

The FIRST FRIEND OF THE WEEK is...

TODD "El Fidler" FIDLER!!!!

Ande and I sat down with Mr. Fidler at State and Allen over the weekend for an impromptu interview. We had white wine. Todd had Stella. Also in attendance was Todd's beautiful wife Madeleine and their daughter Wrigley. Wrigley was sporting a lovely Mohawk that day. It all began when I pulled out my Yellow Submarine note pad to scratch out some calculations regarding the fastest-run mile on record. You see, we had just finished a 5K that morning (I did the 1 mile fun walk) so we were in the mood to talk about some running world records. Madeleine and Ande put a stop to the calculating, however, but not before we determined that the man who ran the fastest mile in Rome in 1999 (I forget his name) at 3:43 ran it at 16 MPH and that equated to running each 40 yard dash contained within the mile in 11 seconds. Interesting stuff, I know.

Anyway, back to the interview. The overhead heaters kept my little fingers warm as I took down notes for our first ever interview, it was a very cold day and we all still had on our running gear. Todd led us through an inspiring tale of childhood sporting feats (which you will read about tomorrow) and his most recent accomplishments (which our Friend seems to think are very few in number). When I asked him what his mantra was he responded with "do what you want." Oddly enough, the story behind said mantra related directly to yesterday's Super Bowl and one Saints Quarterback named Drew Brees. So, in honor of the Saints victory over the Colts, I leave you with this little Toddbit...

El Fidler: We were in Kansas City for the Big 12 Championship, I think it was in 2004. We were staying at the American Inn, and were down in the karaoke bar called the Spirits Lounge, it is a magical place. Well, everyone started joking around and telling people at the bar that I was Drew Brees.

Me: Who is Drew Brees?

El Fidler: Well at the time he was the quarterback for the Chargers but now he is the quarterback for the Saints.

Me: Oh right, that is why I have heard of him.

El Fidler: So, this went on for awhile until a mom, one bartender, and the mom's 12 year old son came up for an autograph on a napkin. The mom pulled me aside and told me that her son was such a big fan of the NFL and that this would mean so much to him. And, so, I signed the napkin "do what you want - Drew Brees #42," which was my number at the time (haha).

Me: Did you feel guilty?

El Fidler: Not at the time (haha). I think he figured it out. Drew Brees is #9 and the Chargers were playing in San Diego the next day.

More to come tomorrow...

5 comments:

  1. "Do what you want." Todd, you are my hero. Wish I would have listened better to this interview, but after all the mathematics that was going on at the table, I turned my attention to Madeleine and her daughter.

    Readers, please nominate you would like to see profiled next... or we will come find you and nominate you ourselves.

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  2. Do what you want is now my mantra too- Thank you Drew Brees :)

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  3. I'm a little upset that I'm just finding out about this blog of yours. But at the same time I'm thrilled to be able to live vicariously through your tomfoolery :)

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