[閒聊]What's It Like To Spend Two Weeks With Andy Roddick?
What's It Like to Spend Two Weeks with Andy?"
By: Sarah Alvanipour
10/22/2003 --
What is it like to spend two weeks with Andy at the US Open? I wish I knew.
But since I brought up the question, I should at least attempt to give an
answer, so a couple of weeks ago, I had an interesting conversation with
someone who could tell me just that. This person could give me the inside
scoop on what Andy did behind the scenes and off-court where he was in the
secret confounds of his trainers and coach.
Who is it? Andy's driver at the Open. And you could call him Andy's new friend.
"The Fast and Furious Driver," as he likes to be called, was personally
selected by Andy and his coach, Brad Gilbert, to drive Andy to and from practic
es and matches for the duration of the US Open, a request that is not generally
not granted by tournament personnel. But, for the US Open champion, they were
willing to make an exception.
Enter Marvin Coleman, a slender version of the charismatic American Idol Ruben
Studdard, who dabbles in the world of music and entertainment by running Stick
and Move Entertainment, the music division of Deluxe Star Media. Coleman is an
event planner, specializing in celebrity bashes and corporate events. A master
of "catering to others," Coleman is not easily star-struck. Besides Andy, he
has driven a slew of other celebrities including Hank Aaron, Robin Givens, Ben
Affleck, Taye Diggs, Serena and Venus Williams, Billy Jean King, Jennifer Capri
ati, and Lleyton Hewitt.
So how did Andy compare? Coleman could not find enough words to complement his
new favorite tennis player. He described Andy as very "down-to-earth," and focu
sed and described a conversation in which Andy was asking his opinion on which
charities he thinks he should donate to."Some people are talking about what
type of diamonds they should buy and he is asking about what charities he shoul
d give money to, " he recalls.
"Andy is very dedicated to the sport of tennis. His personality didn't change
before and after his victory. He had a personal touch with his fans and had a
very down-to-earth attitude," Coleman adds. As a driver for the US Open for the
past three years, Marvin has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly, but just tri
es to "make it work as best as possible." No problems this year since the only
player he dealt with was Andy and his small but very present entourage of two
trainers and the man behind the man, Brad Gilbert.
Armed with a 2004 black Lincoln Navigator and an All-Access pass, Coleman becam
e an unofficial member of team Roddick as he and the rest of the squad made the
ir way through the streets of New York in the sleek and fully loaded SUV. Queue
the soundtrack from the latest 50 Cent album and you've got one "P.I.M.P." ride
to one classy event.
During their daily commutes Marvin and Andy, who chilled in the front seat whil
e BG, Ciscero and Mo were seated in the back, would chat it up on the way to
practice. Andy liked to talk and listen to music-his favorite for the tourney
was Maroon 5-to get pumped up for practice. En route to matches, the music was
still bumping but it was Brad Gilbert that was doing the talking, reviewing
strategies and plays and trying to keep Andy in great mental form before each
and every one of his matches.
Speaking of matches, what about the final? Brad, Cicsero, Mo, and now Marvin
were nervous but "[Andy] was so calm, it was crazy." Everyone felt the energy
that day and Marvin simply "knew he would pull it off."
That didn't prevent anyone from sitting on the edge of his seat during the
short final, nor did it keep cool Marvin from pacing back and forth outside of
the stadium. Once Andy had secured his victory, Marvin's cell phone rang and on
the other end of line was BG, letting him know that Andy would be coming out
soon and how they were going to make their exit in a well-orchestrated series
of events, making most world leaders envious of such an organized security
detail.
The rest of the afternoon became a blur, but Andy managed to slow down long
enough to give Marvin a rare souvenir from the 2003 US Open, the pair of shoes
he had worn during the final.
Later that evening, Andy personally invited Marvin to his victory celebration.
"The celebration was very exciting. We went to a beautiful restaurant is the
East Village. Everyone was treated to filet mignon. From there we went to Club
Lotus and had a very exciting time. Jennifer Capriati was at the party also,
[and] she partied like a rock star."
How does Marvin rate the experience? "The two weeks were fun, surreal, one of
the top ten experiences of my life!"
(轉自Andy Roddick官網)
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