Pele. The greatest man to play the sport known to us boorish Americans (to the bane of the ever posh English) as Soccer. Apparently, at a very young age, Crowder possessed an instructional book detailing this Brazilian man's magician type moves in colorful, pictorial-still-shot arrangement that left quite the impression on him. The rest of us did not have the good fortune of ownership of said book but when it comes to worldwide athletic renown this Pele guy is tops.
So imagine our surprise when he was the one who presented us with our first Dove award of all time last Wednesday at the annual GMA awards-get-together (yes, that's what we call it - a "get-together"). We each went in for the handshake, but no! Not good enough for Pele. He was insistent on the full frontal hug. (His skin was nice and smooth and his hair surprisingly spongy. We rather liked it.) There followed a slight programming pause just before our acceptance speech, as Crowder, stunned to silence by the Brazilian's company, was unable to stop starring. It is up for debate whether the highlight of the evening was getting three (count 'em) awards, or getting a full on embrace from the world's greatest soccer player, ever!
Thank you GMA members, for the kind acknowledgement of our efforts, and thank you, Pele, for wrapping your arms around us and showing the world how to kick a soccer ball while upside down.
[Editor's Note: The original post had a photo here named pele.jpg which is now missing.]
To watch the award show, check here for local showtimes.