Meeting James Blade... I Mean... Blake

On the plane ride over to Beijing, there were a lot of Olympic athletes on my flight. It was really cool to see all these men and women wearing their red/white/blue team jerseys walking through the airport. I met some of the track and field team, including Natasha Hastings, who’s running the 4x400 relay. I chatted it up with some of the wrestlers standing in the ticket line and was dying to ask them about their cauliflower ears but held back. Actually, sitting on the plane together - to the joy of the flight attendants who took lots of pictures - gold medalists Venus and Serena Williams. Seated in the aisle opposite the sisters, was Olympic gold medalist Lindsay Davenport.

All the athletes felt like stars as passengers whispered, “Who is that?” and stared every time they saw someone on Team USA.

It was until several hours on the plane that I noticed a really cute guy sitting behind me who was also wearing a USA jersey. Our conversation went something like this:

“What team are you on?” I asked very innocently. “Tennis,” he smiled.

“Oh really? There are lots of tennis players on this flight. Do you know Serena and Venus?”

“Oh, yes, I know them very well.”

“Where do you rank among players?”

“In the world, I think I’m 8th.”

“Wow! You’re pretty good. What about in the States?”

“Uh, well. I think I’m pretty much near the top.”

“Oh really? Impressive. What’s your name?”