So, I had the pleasure to hang out with him for quite a while today. I was asked to take a few publicity photos of him, for his dad, Gary Hall Sr. and Rowdy Gaines.
I was very pleasantly surprised, Jr. is a very nice and very personable guy. I thought perhaps he'd have a hot shot attitude... Not even close.
As I was asking him to make couple poses for the camera, for the publicity, he and he did... and we chuckled about them, he made a comment something to the effect of, about I dunno why people take some of that so negatively, and think I'm a total jerk :(
He seemed pretty genuinely bummed out.
I was thinking how he is always being asked to pose and do publicity things, and do some showing off or what not, then it turns around and ends up giving him a bad rep.
Later on introduced him to a massage therapist friend of mine who works on a lot of pro athletes, to work on him and they can compare notes, and Gary's first response was, oh, that would be so nice but, aren't there people here that need it a lot more then I do, they'll say, what does he need *that for*.... he was all embarrassed, and rather humble about it.
He's the kind of a guy that wouldn't squish a bug! I mean literally.
As we were sitting and chatting, a June bug landed, he reached for it, and I reacted, oh, no, don't hurt it!
Before he had a chance to respond, I realized that he proceeded to check it out and started petting it with one finger, saying hi little guy...
Former Member
That picture of Dan clowning around is hilarious, but look closely at the picture...the only one looking at Dan is Gary; everyone else only has eyes for Gary.
Originally posted by newmastersswimmer
but who exactly is the voice of USMS now?
Mark Gill, one of the meet announcers.
Two of my (female) team members were sitting very close to the (loud) speakers in the stands. When asked why, they said that Mark has a great voice. ;) (We all thought Gill did a wonderful job, informative and entertaining.)
I met Gary at Indianapollis and was very impressed. He was very gracious, generously talking and posing with everyone who asked. His face was probalby sore from all the smiling he did for the camera. He never acted like he didn't WANT to talk and socialize with all of us "older" swimmers. He truly loves our sport and made comments that he hopes he can swim masters for years to come. His hamming it up before his races is all in good fun. I wish the major networks would get to know him a little better and not always talk negatively about him. Yes, he made some mistakes when he was younger but, haven't we all? ;)
I'm a big fan!
