I set the phone down on the podcasting table, having been on a FaceTime with Dara, to grab something from the back. I hear the front door of the shop open and, think it's finally the HVAC guy coming to fix the fan rattling that was driving Dejan crazy.
Nope. Some other people.
“I will be locking this door behind us, OK ma'am?” says the very tall police officer. Man, I hate when people call me ma'am!
I scan the scene, and it's ... Adam Sandler, one short/famous comedian whose name I couldn't think of, plus one other person in my periphery I don’t even look at, because I am slyly making my way back to the phone positioning my daughter in the direction of all this, hoping for a witness.
I turn around and Sandler, with Starbucks in his hand and his perpetual slight bounce (the tangerine and red Hokas on his feet have serious suspension) is studying one of Rob Ullman’s Honus Wagner cartoons asking me if it’s valuable.
Now, I have this rule to act normal around famous folks. I can only imagine how annoying it must be having people gosh-wow-ing all the time, so I’m being all cool, treating him like any other customer.
Honestly, what’s going through my head is that he looks so much older than the last time I saw him -- just 48 hrs ago, on Netflix in ‘Spanglish’ -- which is so unfair to him, I know.
I explain that the cartoons were first published on our website, and I describe our company in a few words. Next, he notices and asks about the chalk sign pointing to the podcasting studio, so I explain that. “That’s cool, that’s cool.” — and yes, he sounds just like you hear him in your head right now.
The short guy spots the pillbox hats and is asking if they are from 1976. I say yes, but quickly realize, as he is repeating the question, that he was asking if they are literally from 1976. I'm about to make some joke about the full shelf of brand new hats, but I get distracted by my dear friend Michelle trying to get past the officer at the door with our lunch. She's mildly annoyed by all these customers in the way of us eating the hot soup. A quick eye contact confirms she has no idea who's in here. She sits down playing with the phone waiting for them to leave.
They walk around the store, noting our wall of building bricks, the TV ad projected on the wall, the chess set, when we all get startled by — 'YOU ARE ADAM SANDLER!' — Michelle looking up from her phone!
I don’t know if that got them to start moving toward the door or not, but since the cool vibes were over, I ask Sandler for a hug, but immediately regret it, because I get an arm's-length very awkward “Covid hug,” he called it. I was so close to not being an annoying fan! So close!
He graciously agrees to take a photo with us, at Michelle’s request, and they are filing out the door. But the short guy is still fixated on the hats. He asks “They’re $15?” Me: “You want one? Here, just have it” I toss it at him, he catches it and thanks me on his way out.
It was Rob Schneider. I threw a hat at Rob Schneider.
Still no idea who the third guy was, Michelle is sure he, too, is a comedian, but on this day, he was the dude who took the photo.
So fricking awesome! Sandler, Schneider ... and the third guy… got coffee across the street, saw our store front and wanted to check it out!
But the even cooler part is that I realized my husband dresses and travels like celebrities:
And he, just like Sandler wears the same outfit the entire trip!
INSIDE THE WORKS
• We're working on a new automated mechanism to inform you when your subscription's close to elapsing. Should've had this all along. It's coming.
• The final order for Building Bricks has been sent to the manufacturer, and those'll be up in the HQ/shop soon. Thanks yet again for all who lent a hand toward the construction of the place. That wall's always a point of pride anytime a visitor asks what it's all about.
• Until the end of February, we're offering HALF-OFF all podcast advertising for 2023. We've only got a few openings, and the interest has been encouraging -- we'll announce a newcomer in this space next week -- so hurry up and reach out directly to me: Dali@DKPittsburghSports.com
• Our aim for 2023 is 1,000 completely new subscribers. That won't be easy, and it won't come without heavy discounting for brand new arrivals. But bear in mind that, after the first year, everyone will pay the same price.
• Remember, too, that anyone who can't afford the full price -- at any point -- only needs to shoot Dejan or me an email. We work with anyone to get through tough times.
• Upon receiving your reaction, we're keeping the boxscores, standings, statistics and schedules, which were going to be gone at the beginning of this month. But you've really got to use them this time. They're high-quality, current and, in the case of the boxscores, live and self-updating. Easiest way to find them is to choose a team page, thumb down just a bit, and they're right there on the first big, horizontal blue bar.
• Travel on tap: Dejan and Danny Shirey are double-teaming the Penguins' current trip across California. ... Taylor Haase will travel to Elmont, N.Y., for the game there late next week. ... The Pirates' first workout in Bradenton, Fla., is next Wednesday. Alex Stumpf will fly down for that, and he'll be down there for most of spring training. Dejan will make at least two trips himself, and Chris Halicke will help, as well, in addition to some NFL-based travel he'll make, notably the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. ... Corey Crisan's got a bunch of Pitt basketball travel ahead, too. Including the ACC and NCAA tournaments.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our page views for the past week were a dismal 303,576, with our weekly goal being 500,000. Our most-read original piece was the Point Park University Friday Insider from a week ago, at 8,280. Broken down by team traffic, articles on the Penguins brought 21.3% of our readership, the Steelers 15.9%, the Pirates 10.5%, Pitt 3.6%, and Penn State 3.3%.
• On the multimedia front, our podcast downloads for the past week were 140,117, with our weekly goal being 150,000, and our YouTube video views for the past week were 81,714, with our weekly goal being 150,000.
• Our company social media accounts are at 48,978 followers on Twitter, 38,962 on Facebook, 20,437 on YouTube, 14,814 on Instagram, 401 on TikTok.
• We make mistakes. If you see one, email: Typos@DKPittsburghSports.com
• Anything you need, including lost/forgotten passwords, email: Help@DKPittsburghSports.com
