The Commercial Real Estate Alpha Site

My night with Derek Jeter, IronPhi, Jorge Posada, Phi Delta Theta & some beautiful people at the Hard Rock Hotel for the Turn 2 Foundation & Lou Gehrig Award presentation

I am not a beautiful person. Well, maybe on the inside, but on the outside, I am just a big, hairy greek jew who got a ticket to come shake hands with the infamous Yankee Shortstop who is dating Minka Kelly. I think I could get to Minka in 6 degrees if I really tried… so thank you Mr. Bacon, for that!

I was really playing this cool. No sweat. Derek Jeter is just a human being like anyone else. He puts his pants on, one leg at a time, just like the rest of us. Its just that, after he does that, he plays hall of fame baseball at shortstop, gets over 3,000 hits, MVP’s, wins world series and raises money for among other philanthropies, the Turn 2 Foundation.

On this night, I was representing Iron Phi and Phi Delta Theta in proudly presenting Derek Jeter with the Lou Gehrig Award.

I didn’t realize it immediately, but upon locating the other members of our crew, it hit me. These are the top guys from Phi Delta Theta! Very Cool! Robert A. Biggs, Scott Mietchen and others. It was a surreal experience to be around them, let alone the rest of the raucous guys that made up the rest of our posse. I’m looking at you Alex!

So we gathered intel on the layout of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino VIP Lounge and took a look at all the auction items up for bid. A Muhammad Ali signed poster, some Michael Jordan signed items, etc… Then it was time for the buffet! That’s the way I like my Prime Rib!

After the food, conversation and atmosphere has settled in, a buzz shot through the place, as DJ arrived and made his way through the throng of people all wanting to drop, “good luck’s, best wishes, congratulations, etc”.

We decided to make our way over to the buffet where, I actually ran into a wonderful lady I know from Sarasota. Her husband trains certain players and knows Jeter and Jordan personally and she mentioned that they all trained and ate breakfast together! That is awesome, to say the least, but nonetheless, it was a pleasant surprise to run into her and her friend Kelly, who teaches a hot yoga class in town, and looks like you would imagine a ridiculously good looking hot yoga instructor would look like. So, I almost forgot… Derek Jeter.

Standing in a group near the buffet’s beginning we could see Jorge Posada talking to the Emcee for the evening, Mr. Harold Reynolds and we decided to, one by one, make our way over to them, say a few nice words, shake hands, pat a shoulder and keep moving. Both Jorge and Harold were extremely personable and catered to everyone, even while Harold was running around announcing and presenting all the while.

Soon thereafter, it was our time. We stalked our prey like lions on the Serengeti and slowly and steadily moved in for the quick and savage interaction. I nudged Alex in front of me to get the ball rolling with Jeter and like a seasoned journalist, Alex shook hands got a congratulatory, “Thanks for being here!” and the patented Jeter wink! Now it was my turn. I had been so cool and so nonchalant about meeting Derek Jeter…again, but that level of ‘The Fonz’ had come and gone. Like a 17 year old picking up his prom date at her parents house, I upon getting my moment with Jeets, said, “Derek, Sean Dreznin, Iron Phi… It’s a pleasure to meet you and congratulations on 3,000 hits!” I wanted to say, “You really are a Bi-Racial Angel” <—- For a little clarification.

Jeter gave me the basic, “Nice to meet you and Thanks for the good wishes!” Basically, a class act.
After our moment, we noticed Mr. Don Zimmer sitting in a booth and a few of us took a couple of quick pictures with him. What a character!

The show began, with Harold Reynolds up on stage announcing this and that. Before long, it was Phi Delta Theta & Iron Phi up on stage with Scott taking the microphone and delivering a stout presentation.

He was measured and eloquent in delivering the pre-award build up and proud as he mentioned us each by name, spotlighting the happiest 15-year old in the building (His son, Alex). A few more minutes and they both presented the award to Derek as he walked up, shook hands, posed for a couple of pictures and said a few nice & classy words regarding the honor bestowed upon him.

From there the night got crazy! Charlie Wilson was in the house. If you read that last line and are staring at it again, because you do not know who Charlie Wilson is… We share that bond as well.

Here are some pictures and a short video that probably do not do he and his merry maids and men, justice.

To be completely forthright, although it took me the first 3 or 4 songs to acclimate myself to Mr. Wilson and his posse of brightly colored backup dancers, eventually the music, dancing and atmosphere grew on me! Sure enough, I found my leg twitching and and my shoulders bouncing and I was feeling ol’ CW! Good stuff!

Before long, the concert was over and Harold Reynolds and Derek Jeter both said a few final words, thanking everyone for this evening and looking forward to the weekend’s events, including golfing and VIP after party’s.

For our group, we got a nice surprise on our departure from the launch party. I had seen this large gentleman a few times throughout the night and I would’ve given my right arm that it was Carl Weathers, (aka Apollo Creed from Rocky) even though him being there certainly seemed a little out of place, being that every other person of interest there that night was an athlete. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get a picture with Apollo, I mean, Mr. Weathers, so I hustled up and gently tapped him on the shoulder muttering out a barely comprehensible, “Excuse me, Mr. Weathers”… He turned around, feeling my hand rapping on his shoulder and hopefully not hearing my verbal request, and immediately radar locked on Scott and Alex and went into a ‘I am not worthy’ arm praise… It was fantastic! I couldn’t help but notice the shorter, skinnier, athletic guy with large diamond studs in each ear hanging right next to Apollo.

Without missing a beat, he introduced himself, “Hi, Kenny Lofton, nice to meet you!” Well, I practically flipped out, I was like a 14 year old girl meeting Justin Beiber for the… I was a touch more reserved then that, but I certainly had difficulty controlling the words coming out of my mouth.

I paused for a second, probably from the brain seizures, and just started rattling facts, nostalgia and salacious stories, that only I cared about including, how I resided in Cleveland for 12 years, when the Indians got ever so close to the World Series Championship a couple of times and how much I enjoyed rooting for Kenny, Omar Vizquel, Roberto Alomar, Travis Hafner, Jim Thome, Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, Cliff Lee and numerous others… Then, without a breath, I recoiled and struck with the time I got a media pass to a double header and actually interviewed some of the players, including, Sandy Alomar, Jr., Vizquel and Roberto Alomar… Finally, like a defendant who cracks under the interrogation pressure, I divulged my story about a certain former Indian’s All-Star and certain Hall of Famer. I casually said to Kenny, (which I do not doubt is a common thing in pro sports), “I dated a girl who’s best friend had an affair with said player. They used to meet under the Flats bridge.” He just nodded and gave a knowing smirk. That is almost exactly the moment when our conversation ceased to exist. I tried to recover with a menu of, ‘really great to meet you’ and ‘a huge fan’ compliments. A swing, and a miss.

Here is a picture of Carl Weathers (aka Apollo Creed) and below that is Eddie Murray. You tell me?!!

From there we preserved the moment with a picture, (above) and proceeded to all head to the Hard Rock Casino lobby to have a final libation before heading our separate ways.

It was a spectacular evening, helping a fantastic cause and the best part was being with such kind and generous people.

Thank you brothers in the bond and thank you Iron Phi for the opportunity to be part of this honorable award presentation.

Here is a link to Phi Delta Theta’s write up of the Derek Jeter IronPhi Lou Gehrig Award.

And here is the video of the presentation!