In June of 1999 Nick Collison was a household name among basketball fans in the state of Iowa and Lawrence, Kansas. He was 2-time Mr. Basketball in the state and a McDonald's All American. In June of 1999 Nick woke up thinking this would be any other typical summer day. What Nick did not know was that three douche bags from Monroe, Iowa would be in Iowa Falls for the day; and two of them needed something to do during the day.
Myself, Matt Keucker and Jeff Shannon arrived in Iowa Falls around 8:30-9:00 a.m. Matt & I were tagging along with Jeff who was on a college visit to Ellsworth C.C. Upon Jeff's departure to meet with his academic advisor, Matt & I were left in the big town with nothing to do and only Jeff's car as sense of hope.
The two of us began walking around campus seeing the different sites. We "broke" into the gym, checked out the weight room, played some basketball for a little bit but began to bore ourselves to death. We needed something to do and then it dawned on me!
"Matt, Nick Collison lives in Iowa Falls!" I said. "Ew, that's right he does. We should pay him a visit!" Matt said with genuine optimism. "You know where he lives?" "How the hell would I know!" "Come on, there's gotta be a phone book around here somewhere!" We found the phonebook and scrolled through until we found the only Collison. We ripped the page out of the phonebook and hopped in the car with no clear direction."We need to go to a gas station to find out where Carson Ave. is." Matt told me as he was pulling into Kum & Go.
"Alright. I'll be right back." I told him.
I hopped in the car thinking it would only be minutes before we would be at Nick's house but obviously things did not go as planned. We could not find the street.
"I'll run in and ask for directions, maybe we missed a turn." Matt said.
About a minute later.
"That bitch gave me the same damn directions!" Matt bellered.
After about 30 minutes of driving around we finally found Carson Ave. and the house that Nick Collison grew up in. We were screaming like little school girls but neither one of us had the balls to get out of the car and ring the doorbell. Instead we opted for the next best thing that any typical stalker would do. We circled the block for good 20 minutes hoping to catch any glimpse of Nick. By this time it was pushing noon and we headed back to tell Jeff of our current adventure.
"Why didn't you bastards come and get me. My schedule's not that important!"
Well we dropped Jeff back off so he could do grown up things and Matt & I were back to stalking. We circled around the back of his house and found an alley where is car was parked and even saw his basketball hoop. We took turns getting out of the car and throwin down on Nick Collison's hoop and sped off feeling like we accomplished something great. We continued to drive around discussing the possibilities of walking in Nick's house and playing some video games forgetting that we had not even met the guy yet. Around 2:00 p.m. we went and picked Jeff back up but Jeff had a little surprise for us.
He had been talking to a guy that graduated with Nick and said if we were to call him we could meet him rather than drive around his house like a couple of freaks. Jeff pulled out his phone and it began to ring.
"Hello." The man answered."Mr. Collison?" Jeff mumbled."This is Nick.""We're just a couple fans from in state and were wondering if we could stop by to maybe get a pic.""Yeah that's fine. You know where I live?Do we know where you live? "Yeah we have a pretty good idea." Jeff replied.Looking back on this I can not believe how this may have appeared. How pathetic, how spooky, how big of losers were we?
So we hopped in the car and pulled up in front of the Collison residence. We knock on the door and this enourmous guy comes to the door.
"What's goin on guys?" Nick said.
Wow! Nick Collison talked to us.
"Not to much." Matt says as he helps himself inside Nick's house. Matt basicly walked right in as if he'd known Nick for years. Jeff & I just laughed and followed Matt's lead.
We made some small talk, talked to his mom, got a few things signed and headed out the door to get some pics taken. As were taking the picture I had to ask.
"So I bet you get this sort of thing quite a bit, don't ya?"Nick laughing, "No. Actually you guys are the first to do this."All the better. We were the first hapless souls to go knocking and stalking on Nick Collison's door. That has to be something he can't forget.
We made some small talk and hopped back in the car and headed back to Monroe. Obviously we did not do anything productive that day but we drove back with a sense of accomplishment. I was so proud of myself at that moment but looking back now I can not believe I allowed myself to do such a thing. I really don't even know what to think of myself, but it was the most fun we could have had in Iowa Falls that day.
Above all I know this. I am a loser so there is no need in regurgatating that point to me.
