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Post by acharlesmobile on Jul 27, 2006 4:03:48 GMT 3
Tuesday was an exciting day for me! Not only did i get to meet Marat but later on i also ate dinner with Paradron Scrichaphan at a Thai BBQ place. But this is a Safin board so noone really cares about that. My friend took the pictures and she upladoed them to a yahoo photo album, thats why they are so small. She's not done uploading all of them but here are a few of him practicing and the great sign i made for him that i wanted him to sign. MY goals for the day: 1. Have him sign my sign. 2. Take a pictures with him. This post will go up to watching his practice. When my friend uplaods some more So we arrive at UCLA, and i knew Safin would be going to the practice courts soon so i head over there. In the little makeshift hallway under the Grandstand court's seats, we're walking along. Then suddenly, my friend starts pointing behind me. I'm like huh? And lo and behold, there's Marat, standing less than 5 feet from me. I just stare at him like gaping ape and my friend finally gets some sense to try taking a picture. In all the fuss and crowd following him, she gets this bluury picture.  He then goes in to the practice court with Lleyton who i didn't see comnig either. Here are a few pictures. Him setting down his bag.     Hitting some balls and volleys. All the other ones i too kpretty mcuh loo kthe same.  lleyton hitting some volleys. Then we brought out the poster board and some markers we bought at a Vons. And made this AWESOME sign.  Another view of Marat with me and the sign in it. Kinda hard to see him.  But as he's resting, he sees my sign and alas! A smile across his face appears! One step closer to my goals! Hold on cause coming up: Attempt at getting the sign autographed! Attempts at a picture with him! His match agaisnt Fish |
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Post by acharlesmobile on Jul 27, 2006 7:43:32 GMT 3
Alright! Here are the rest of the pictures. So after his practice a crowd surrounds the exit of the practice court. Among the crowd is me, with my big pink sign. He comes out and is immediately attacked by fans. Here is one of him signing someone's white paper or something:  Ok, at first he finally signs my poster. Then he sees my freind with her camera and poses with me for the camera. Turns out that she zoomed in too mcuh and took a completely bad picture of yup, a the A of Marat on my sign. And then he turns his head, and says a "Thank You" and a sweatdrop falls on my hand. Great... and i never got a chance for another picture :sad: Wel lhere's the signed poster:  Close-up of his signature for those who've never seen it:  And then it was off to watch the Haas-Arthurs match. Which would be followed by Marat's. Us at the match:  Marat at the match:    Ok no more pictures. But we went to go see if we coudl take another picture with him after the match. We waited for like an hour outside his locker room. And he coems out, i expect him to come our way. But he goes the other. Andi was trying my "avoid the crowd and stand off to the side looking sad" technique. So, i accomplished goal #1. And almsot goal #2. bUt i did get a Thank You and a sweat drop of his fell on me! I'm a happy camper! |
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Post by LaFFy TaFFy on Jul 27, 2006 8:11:50 GMT 3
wow cool thanks for sharing, glad ya got to see him
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ace
Junior Member
Posts: 58
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Post by ace on Jul 27, 2006 10:04:36 GMT 3
Wow acharlesmobile! A sweat drop, I am jealous. I was there too and definitely saw your sign from the other side of the stadium! I watched him practice with Lleyton too! Tomorrow when I have the time after work I'll share my stories and pics. Would this be the right place to do that?
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Post by Annie on Jul 27, 2006 10:12:04 GMT 3
Ace you can open your own thread and post it ;D ;D ;D ;D But this is definitely the right place to open a thread  Acharlesmobile thanks a million!!!!!!!!! Terrific story and pics!!!!!!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D |
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Post by ginapants on Jul 27, 2006 23:45:57 GMT 3
Thanks for sharing Acharlesmobile!!! it seams you had lots of fun!!! Great story awesome pictures and then there is the "sweat drop" part  Thank you!  |
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Post by sabz on Jul 28, 2006 0:49:01 GMT 3
Thanks for sharing your experience and pictures!! I am very happy for you  (and a little bit jealous ) |
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Post by acharlesmobile on Jul 28, 2006 10:08:09 GMT 3
ADGHAJFDAFA my quest was not quite over! (no pics posted YET)
Just went on Thursday!
Spontaneously decided to go, and lo and behold, i hear rumblnigs from my friend who's a ballgirl and extreme Marat fan that Marat's still at the tourney and is gonig to practice at the Rec Center courts. So guess what happens, i run into him AGAIN. This time he's walking with Tommy Haas. I ask for a quick picture but he said "not right now, but i'll be back".
Screw waiting for him. so i followed him (they ad a car, we had to walk 10-15 minutes) and found him hitting with Tommy at the practice courts. Yes!!! We were the only ones watching him so we took a lot of picture and made another sign that said "MARAT We STILL <3 You" Of course he saw it.
But i find it interesting how Marat practices when not many people are watching. He yells more, throws his racket a lot, and says a lot of funny things. When he mishit a forehand into the net he said "I'm sorry, i do not know how to play tennis". He also dropped his shorts after one rally, which was pretty funny. Meanwhile, Haas dropped a lot of F-bombs.
But we sat there watching him hit for like an hour and finally they were done. Since he knew how devoted we were he came our way rather than make a quick exit and i scored a picture with him finally.
Oh yea, for those of you that care, he was shirtless during the practice.
But all these pictures are on my friend's camera so i will post as soon as possible. Mission complete! Once i get al lthe pictures i will psot them!
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Post by kuniochi on Jul 28, 2006 10:20:58 GMT 3
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Post by love15 on Jul 28, 2006 10:32:55 GMT 3
woah acharlesmobile,
what a story!
you got to watch marat play, took some great photos of him, nearly got a photo with him, ran away with his sweat and then finally scored that magic pic! hehe good on ya buddy.
love15
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Post by sflower on Jul 28, 2006 20:41:33 GMT 3
to ascharlesmobile,
thanks for your pictures and report. please post all your photos. i was curious, what time did you see him practice with tommy on thursday?
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Post by acharlesmobile on Jul 29, 2006 2:49:58 GMT 3
it was around 1 to 2 at the Sunset Canyon rec center. The rest of the pics are on my friends camera, which he will lend me to uplaod the pictures to my computer. Meanwhile, he sent me my pic with marat shirtless. Pics wil lbe up tomorow night!  Success! |
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Post by annie on Jul 29, 2006 11:30:55 GMT 3
LOL...i love his smile...maybe he remembered it was you holding the "MARAT WE LOVE YOU" sign....and then here you are with a "we STILL love you" one... i'm sure he was glad to know that.... ;D
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Post by ginapants on Jul 29, 2006 12:50:06 GMT 3
thanks acharlesmobile! great picture!
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Post by acharlesmobile on Jul 30, 2006 9:53:02 GMT 3
Finally! 6 Pictures of him practicing. Sorry, my friend did not get one of him dropping his shorts. I will also upload a link to a YouTube video of him hitting. So here we go. Not much to describe though.       And here's a video of him hitting a bit and then throwing his racket www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnYy_zghJfoGood luck Marat in your future matches! We <3 You! And good luck everyone else in meeting him! |
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"Why did it take you so long to come to the press conference?" 
(and a little bit jealous 
