The stars aligned on a number of fronts for the crack Hernia staff yesterday. For starters, one of our bucket list items can be crossed off... sitting down to a meal with legendary Takeru Kobayashi. Kobi couldn't have been nicer, and no we didn't have hot dogs for lunch (though we did show up carrying our customary suitcase full of them). Kobi signed an autograph or two, and we followed him to an event in Times Square to watch Nick Lachey and his totally convincing head of 'dark colored hair' kick 20 yard field goals for charity.
At the event we got to talk to Jim Kelly and Antonio Pierce. Both were very gracious, and were delighted to meet Kobayashi.
Things got a little weird when we had the opportunity to interview the Gramatica brothers. It became clear that our very Hernia-style questions were not going to fly with the brothers Automatica. Our crack reporter melted under the Tostitos-branded heat lamps, and we called it a day. Looking back it was probably a bad idea to Google 'The Sports Hernia Gramatica' hours before meeting them. Maybe they smelled our guilt, or we were worried about getting rolled by two retired NFL kickers.
Here's a look at the Hernia & Gramatica Brothers through the years. Warning: It's emotional:
Source: Martin Gramatica one of the contestants in Pedro-Marichal cockfight
Punters & kickers: A history of violence
Fear of 'Madden Curse' leads to first cover for Gramatica
[Photo via Don's iPhone]
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