Okay, to start, the idiot was me. I am quite embarrassed. This is just a little tale of meeting someone on a plane, something we all do. But my meeting was memorable. Amusing to some. But when I told my hubby the whole story he just kept shaking his head. "You did NOT say THAT!" he roared, half mortified, half amused.

First, let me state that I do not follow sports, not now, not ever. If I had to match faces with names of people who play sports, I could identify Tiger Woods, OJ Simpson (for obvious reasons) or that soccer guy married to a Spice Girl, but no one from football, basketball, baseball, racing, etc. I am oblivious.

Oblivious. Never more so when, about 3 weeks ago I flew from DTW to EWR enroute to LAS. (Yeah, I know. Houston is the logical connection, but with CLE out of the game for now, there are more and more "detours" to Newark for Detroit CO customers. IAH was on my route on my return journey.)

Anyway, I was happy that I hadn't pulled one of the ERJ flights and sat reading in my favorite seat (2A) as people boarded. I was a bit worried about making my connection due to the weather and problems with air traffic control, and nervously glanced around as a tall, nice-looking man sat down next to me. He was on his phone, and rarely looked up except to say hello to a few people (I thought they were his friends- he had an awful lot of friends!) as they boarded. One lady spoke to him and he kindly commented on how beautiful her little girl was. I didn't hear what she'd said, but again, I thought she knew him.

As we waited, the man next to me made a lot of calls, I couldn't help but notice. When we were told that it was time to put away our phones, the man turned to me to say hello. We talked a bit about the snow and the possibility of a delay. I asked if he had a connection and he replied, with a funny smile that his destination was New York. I love NYC and talked about it for awhile- my love of theater and the city, etc. I told him about a special trip I made one year to attend (as an audience member) the Tony Awards. He asked me if I went to "the games" when in NY.
"Oh, no!" I laughed. "I hate sports!" (Smart, Jen, real classy.)
He looked quite amused. I went on to tell him that I'd had a double major in college and that one was Theater Arts. He asked where I'd attended school and I gave him the name of the university. Politely I asked him where HE had attended college. "Georgia Tech." I'd heard of it. I asked what his major had been. He looked at me like I was a little green being from Mars. "Basketball," was his reply, laughing.
"Now you're pulling my leg! You can't MAJOR in Basketball!" I declared.
At this point, a big man across from us looked over the aisle at me with a look that said "Shut up now, you silly girl!" He'd been looking at my seat mate with interest since we'd all boarded.
My new pal seemed quite amused with me and just cocked his head as if to say "Guess!"
I asked him if he still played basketball, and he nodded. I asked what he did now, "for a living", I added. He repeated, "Basketball."
"Are you still in school?" I was confused. I thought maybe he had changed schools and now played basketball for a NY school. He laughed and shook his head.
"Okay, what team do you play for?' I asked, thinking he was kidding me.
"The Knicks."
Now, the man across from us was practically having convulsions- he and his seat mate were laughing like crazy.
Okay- I am not THAT dumb. I know who the Knicks are. Well, I knew the name of the team. I wasn't sure they were from NY though.
The pilot came on to tell us we were delayed, possibly for 4 hours. I was in NO mood for that. My connection wasn't a close one, but 4 hours would definitely put me in Newark overnight. I'd taken a night flight on purpose and now I was sure that I'd made a huge mistake. We were allowed to use phones again and the man called a lot of people. I tried not to listen but when you're trying to read and all you hear is a one-sided conversation, it's kind of hard to concentrate. And from just a few sentences, I gathered that he was not pulling my leg. Coaches, and a matter I overheard that I don't think I should repeat since it was HIS business, made me realize that I was, indeed, sitting next to a celebrity of sorts. He wasn't a household name as far as I was concerned, but my hubby knew of him. And many of the passengers did, too.

After the pilot's welcome announcement that we were in line for take-off and would NOT be 4 hours late, we all put away our cell phones and the young man properly introduced himself. Stephon. Stephon Marbury. I didn't know the last name until my hubby looked up the first name online, with the facts I'd remembered about where he'd gone to school. He'd never given me his last name, just his first as anyone on a plane might. And he didn't make me feel as if I'd offended him.

Still, did I feel like an idiot! Not for not knowing his name- after all, sports, as I have mentioned- NOT my thing. But with all the hints he gave me, plus his physical bearing (that of an athlete) he could've made it uncomfortable. But he didn't. He was sweet. And THAT made it so much easier to feel like an idiot!

Now I know that most people couldn't spot a basketball player right off, and I'm sure that there are people who wouldn't even have pursued the questions. But I do know a bit more about sitting next to very tall men headed to New York who are stopped by other passengers just to say hi.

And so, when I head to San Francisco on Friday, I'll be ready for anything. I mean, I'll be less stupid. And I'll remember that I can look up details on my Blackberry before take-off. But just in case, any sports teams in San Francisco that I should know about?