Went to the Challenge Mania event in Seattle today. Met Derrick, Darrell, Mark Long, Kendall and special guest...AVIV! (Fresh Meat winner with Darrell)
Review:
Darrell. Hilarious. I got him to say "Infuerno" to my camera. I also asked him about the time he said in a confessional "I'm the only black person on this team, so I gotta run like I'm a runaway slave". He said "yep, sounds about right". Also, do not bring up The Ruins with him. He ducked that talk.
Mark Long, aka The Godfather. Talked to him multiple times. Honestly, a really nice dude. I was second in line to get into the venue, and when he walked by, I said "it's the Godfather!" and he gave me a huge bear hug. He's jacked, but not really that tall. He's about 6'2". I asked him about All Stars 4. He said it'll air in October. Paramount is spreading its unscripted stuff to make up for the writers strike. We knew this, but it's official now. He said the season is wild, but it may just be Mark being Mark.
Kendall...what a sweetheart. She actually lives around the Seattle area. She had a couple of her kids with her. She is TINY. Like, really small. She does the shaved head look well though. She was so nice. I mentioned how I'd rewatched Inferno a few years back and thought "whatever happened to Kendall?". Then, All Stars happened and I told her "holy crap, you live near me!" She thought it was hilarious. Again, a total sweetheart.
Aviv. I said hi, that was it. She and Darrell are still very close. She's also tiny. Like, about five feet tall.
Derrick was amazing. He was constantly high fiving and shaking hands with people. He was rocking a powder blue Griffey jersey (they're in town for All-Star stuff as well). I said "bro, where's the Gauntlet 2 blue knit hat to match?" He said "I know, I know, I just don't have it anymore". I also told him that I would never want to pole wrestle with him, and he said "bro, I lost that TWICE! You might have a chance!" I asked him how bad CT smells, and if that's his secret to success, and he ran off laughing to Mark. He said "nobody has ever asked me that!" He said the houses generally smell like garbage, so it's hard to isolate BO, but he said CT has his moments of funk and is one of the smelliest dudes. I shared a story about Leroy taking care of me in Vegas at a nightclub, and Derrick immediately took a photo of me and sent it to Leroy, and said "your boy says 'thanks for that night in Vegas'". Leroy responded immediately, and said, "I take care of my fans". I gained a lot of respect for Derrick today. He cares about the fans. He took at least five minutes with every group that visited with him. He would have one group, but then seat the next group in the "batter's box" because he wanted the interaction between him and other fans.
Thanks for listening to my Challenge TED Talk.