Peggy's day watching Brian and Nick play Basketball in Atlanta
Well, I'm back home again. And to say I LOVED Atlanta would be an understatement. What a NEAT NEAT NEAT NEAT city. Very pretty downtown area and we had PERFECT weather. No a cloud in the sky, very very warm (a little too warm in the sun) but it was really nice. It was an easy drive and even though it was quick - every minute was worth it. Atlanta was a piece of cake to drive in (at least on the weekend), easy to find things, people were friendly, we walked around at night without any problem.
Darlene and I left Kentucky around 6 a.m. Saturday morning, made more stops than we should have I guess, but we were waiting for and eventually met up with Nancy and Sam at a rest stop in Tennessee, and arrived at our hotel in Atlanta around 2:30 in the afternoon. We stopped just long enough to put our luggage in the hotel and headed out to explore the city a little bit and find out exactly where Philips Arena was from our hotel. We discovered it was an easy 10-15 minute walk from the hotel. When we got there, we could see they were already setting up for the "red carpet" ceremony. Some said it started at 5:15, one guy said 10:30 at night haha - and I had heard 6 pm. So who knew at that point? But by this time it was 4 pm and if it did start at 5:15, we had to head to the hotel for a quick shower and change of clothes. And then off we went AGAIN. In truth, the stars did not even begin to arrive until 6:30 or later...
One gentleman who worked at Philips Arena was just the nicest guy - looked so much like Richard Gere we were dying. In fact, Richard Gere should be as handsome. But anyway ... he knew we were waiting for Brian and Nick mostly (were not mostly - that was our total goal LOL). He came over to us at one point and said, I am NOT "sure" but I'm being told that Brian and Nick are already inside because their driver went to the wrong door, so they went on in. Our jaws hit the floor but past experience told us to hang out longer to be sure and it paid off. About 15 mins. later I think it was Jermaine Dupree got out of a limo and then all of the sudden, Nick appeared behind him. Too fast for me to even get my camera ready because Nick was next to me before we saw him coming. But still no Brian or Leighanne at this time. But then I think the LAST limo to arrive (if any came after, I don't know) but out came Brian and Leighanne, much to our relief. By this time it was really dark out and my pictures aren't that great. In fact, I'm not overly pleased with any of my pictures - even with a new camera, but some are okay. But anyway, Darlene, Nancy, Sam and I had sorta moved away from the main part of the crowd and were on the end, nearest to the street curb. So Brian and Leighanne immediately saw us, dressed alike in our Healthy Heart Club shirts and waved to us and smiled. Then as they passed by, Leighanne reached over and shook my hand, unsolicited so that was really nice. I LIKE that girl more each time I see her. She and Brian are an adorable couple. They definitely recognized us and gave us the big nod. We didn't get to "talk" to them or get a hug but we did get to see them up close and personal.
Inside the game, to our good fortune, we not only got to move down from Row N to Row C for the celebrity game but Brian and Nick were positioned directly in front of us on the bench. So we were very happy with our seats.
One of the first things to happen was that one of the guys from the other team hit Brian really hard and knocked him across the floor. It happened so fast, I honestly can't tell you if it seemed to be more on purpose or pure accident but what I did notice is he didn't seem to apologize or help Brian up :-(. Maybe that's how basketball goes, but I was ready to go out and knock the other guy down. Brian and Nick's team (the blue team) did go on to win.
One of the real downers of the night, but showed what an incredible guy our Brian is (if we didn't already know this -and this by the way is WHY Brian is my entertainment idol) was when a fan behind the score desk had a seizure or became ill (I'm not sure what happened). She was over in front of us but there were so many people around, we could not see what had happened. But suddenly they were calling for medical people to come assist. It was clear Brian was EXTREMELY concerned as he stood near the table and did not take his eyes off her. We thought at one point when no one was really coming to help fast enough, Brian was ready to jump over and help but when they announced again for someone to hurry - that she was not breathing, several rushed over and eventually paramedics showed up. She was revived and when they put her on the stretcher to take her out - I want you to know something incredible that happened. Mind you - there were probably 20 celebrities on that floor but most stood out in the middle and talked while this was all going on. Brian was the ONLY one who stayed near the area and when they put her on the stretcher - he walked over, touched her leg and I could see him mouth to her "are you okay." It was so sweet and "so Brian." The ONLY one to do that. He had an extreme look of concern on his face the entire time and it seemed to take the life out of him. You will see some pictures in my group where you can see the concern on his face as he looks on.
Again, we did not really get to talk to Brian and Leighanne - though we were kicking ourselves because as they gave permission to move down into empty seats, across the way from us sat Leighanne with empty seats around her. We were going to go over and sit with her but by the time we would have made our way over, a couple other girls had filled in the seats. So we stayed where we were and were very close to Brian and Nick.
It was a really special, fun event.
This is a side commentary - it was fun to see Brian and Nick together but we did not see that much talking go on between them - on occasion - but it still did not appear in any way to be the "Frick and Frack" that we all know from yester-year where they were best buddies and chummy - it seemed cordial. Whether they got to spend any time other than the game together, we couldn't tell. You did not see Brian and Leighanne during the pre grame for I believe they went up into the Q100 fan suite as promised that they would. Nick was also supposed to be up there with them, but he was on the sidelines in the stadium watching the game with other celebrities - so we don't know if he ever made it up to the box or suite with Leighanne and Brian "as the radio advertised". The 2nd half of the pro game he did leave, so he *may* have gone up then. Brian and Nick did not come in the same limo or anything. Brian seemed, to a couple of us, a little bit somber - not just after the girl got sick, but the whole night, did not seem quite himself. Seemed somewhat serious and just not totally into the game and to our dismay - they had him on the bench as much as on the floor - and more than anyone else, not sure why.
On Sunday - before we headed home, Darlene and I found Peachtree Christian Church in Atlanta where Brian and Leighanne got married and took a couple pictures. Then we headed to Alpharetta - just to see where Brian and Leighanne hang their hat - so to speak. We know we were probably within 5 mins. of their house - but obviously we did not know where it was and didn't really want to invade their privacy - we just wanted to see the area. It is GORGEOUS there - one of the neatest, cleanest, prettiest places. Fairly big - there are 4 exits to Alpharetta and gorgeous homes. I had my pictures developed at the one hour Walmart in Alpharetta haha - while we ate lunch and realized it was probably the same Kmart Brian said he bought diapers for Baylee at once. I knew as I drove the main streets, Brian and Leighanne has surely drove those many times. The little things in life that make us happy LOL.
Go figure - the best picture in my entire collect was of Ruben Studdard - who was there to sing the National Anthem at the Celebrity game and he did 2 or 3 songs at halftime. I'll say one thing - that man ALWAYS seems to have a big smile on his face.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.
Thank You Peggy for allowing me to use this account and Pics.
