THE DAY I MET "FERGIE" ~~ MAY 30th, 1997
Guest  since 25th July 97

A Story by Jim Hawkins, a New MANCHESTER UNITED Fan in Nashville, TN
http://www.geocities.com/~thehawk221b
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I had landed in Manchester about 10 AM British Summer Time on a flight from Newark, NJ. Now I was to connect on a low-flying prop aircraft for the last leg into Edinburgh. As usual, the weather had gone to pot just over the Scottish border,

and the flight had been delayed. I was visiting with a couple from Scotland and a couple from Florida. The people from Florida picked up on my conversation about my impending visit to Edinburgh to go aboard the replica ship ENDEAVOUR.

She had been built in Australia over the past 10 years and was now being sailed around the British Isles. These folks had boarded her in Australia in 1995, long before this "return" voyage to Whitby on the Yorkshire coast, the town from which

the original ENDEAVOUR had been purchased and outfitted back in 1768. The Royal Navy had made the purchase for the express reason of sending its newest officer, James Cook, on his first voyage of discovery. The rest, as they say, is history.

The Scottish couple was into a more recent development of British life: football, what we call soccer in the US. And they were huge fans of the "local" team, Manchester United, a team that has created a bit of its own "history" in the past few

years. We were in the middle of quite a good dialogue about the sport when a tall, nice-looking chap walked into the waiting area. I thought the Scottish gentleman I was talking to was going to have a stroke. He suddenly went into a whisper,

elbowed me in the ribs, and said, "Great God Almighty, look who just walked in!" Now, I'll have to confess right here I am not up on European football. My son Nathan who just completed high school and was voted most valuable player on our

school soccer team could tell you all the players and managers and stats, but I'm a musician who travels mostly in the Western United States. I'm not even that familiar with US professional football. But all that was about to change. I had

come to the United Kingdom for three reasons: 1. To lead a choir from Louisiana on a 10-day choir tour of Scotland and England. 2. To go aboard the replica ship ENDEAVOUR, in the harbour at Edinburgh for only two more days before she

sailed for Aberdeen and on to the West coast of Great Britian. 3. And to meet and interview David Stuart Davies, editor of The Sherlock Holmes Gazette and author of a new book about Jeremy Brett, the British actor who, before his untimely death in 1995, was the greatest Sherlock Holmes ever.

Finally, our plane was ready to depart. I was escorted to my seat about four rows from the front of the 30-seat commuter aircraft, next to the window. The man who had caused all the commotion took his seat next to me. By now I knew who he

was, but I was not completely in awe, not being the rabid football fan that my Scottish friend obviously was. I think it was a relief to Mr. Ferguson that I was not going to try and kiss his feet or attack him for being either the greatest or worst

manager in history, depending on my history with MANCHESTER UNITED. Actually, we had a rather normal conversation, about my purpose for visiting the UK, and his reason for travelling to Scotland on this particular day. I did ask some

"dumb" questions about football in Europe, and he very graciously answered them all without making me feel like I had been living in a cave somewhere. We did speak about his being a Scot and how it goes against the grain of both Brits and

Scots that a Scot is winning so much with a Manchester team. He told me about the facilities the team has in Manchester, and invited me to visit sometime. That is something I would relish, now that I am a converted fan. But "Fergie" never

bragged or went on like he had the ability to "walk on water" as some American football coaches would have you believe they can do. Overall I was impressed that he gave what credit for a winning team was due to the players. He loved to talk

about the individuals on the squad and about how much they contributed to the victories that have come to be expected in Manchester. Alex, if I may, had a great sense of humor. We shared several golfing jokes, due to the fact that his primary

mission that day was to play with friends in Dundee. He shared with me his phone conversation earlier that morning, "I called my friends in Dundee to tell them the weather had delayed my flight, but that I was fine and would be there as soon

as I could. The reply I got was not, 'Glad you're alright, Mate", but, "Christ Almighty, Alex, we're gonna miss our tee time!' Some concern, right? You see, golf is verrrry important to any Scot."

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I got off the plane in Edinburgh, having made a new "friend". Not that Alex Ferguson will ever remember me, but that I felt I had met the man, not the fabulous Manager/Coach of MANCHESTER UNITED. He related to me as a person, for I

appreciated that. Just before we landed I asked him to autograph my boarding pass, not for me you understand. The plane came to a stop, and he got up to let me out. I took the autograph back several rows and handed it to my Scottish friend who
"introduced" me to "Fergie". He couldn't speak. You would have thought I had just restored his vision. How nice it is to have "friends in high places."
 (JIM HAWKINS, Nashville, TN....July, 1997)
(Copyright, 1997) <thehawk@telalink.net>

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