Top 50 Interactions of 2015 (5th Annual Edition)

As I am writing this, I really can't believe that another year has passed and this is my 5th time writing my annual ranking of my top interactions with athletes and celebrities of the year. The first ranking entry back in 2011 had a top FIVE list, and now I have really slowed down the blog and struggle to narrow the list down to a top 50. I thank you guys so much for the tens of thousands of page views, and while I no longer post every week, I appreciate your continued support.

Here we go.

As in the past few years, I have created a visual of the places I met people in 2015:

The Travelers Championship(Cromwell) made it back on the list this year after I attended the event for the first time since 2014. 

Here are my countdowns from previous years:

2014

2013

2012

2011

50. Tito Oritz | Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion | Manchester,CT

49. Stuart Appleby| PGA Tour | Cromwell,CT

48. Canaan Smith | Country Artist | Wallingford,CT

47. Jonas Gray | Former New England Patriots Running Back | Waterford,CT

46. Photo With Tiffany | 80's Pop Star | Uncasville,CT

45. Ernie Els | 2x PGA Tour Major Champion | Cromwell,CT

44. Daniel Hamilton | UCONN Basketball, NBA Prospect | Storrs,CT

43. Tyler Beede | San Francisco Giants Prospect | New Britain, CT

42. Kyle Crick | San Francisco Giants Prospect | New Britain,CT

41. Bubba Wallace Jr. | NASCAR Rising Star | Cromwell,CT

40. Henry Owens | Boston Red Sox Starting Pitcher | Pawtucket,RI

39. Blake Swihart | Boston Red Sox Catcher | Pawtucket,RI

38. Ryan Sheckler |Professional Skateboarder | Cromwell,CT

37. Justin Masterson | Boston Red Sox | Baltimore,MD

36. Francisco Lindor | Cleveland Indians | Pawtucket,RI

35. Jerry Remy | Boston Red Sox Announcer/ Former Player | Mashantucket,CT

34. Brian Cashman | New York Yankees General Manager | Uncasville, CT

33. John Henry | Boston Red Sox/ Liverpool F.C. Owner | Mashantucket,CT

32. Troy Brown | New England Patriots Legend | Pawtucket,Rhode Island

31. Joe Buck | MLB/NFL Announcer | Boston,MA

30. Jim Calhoun | Naismith Hall of Fame/ Former UCONN Basketball Head Coach | Cromwell,CT

29. The Swon Brothers | Country Band | Brooklyn,CT

28. Tim Wakefield | Former Boston Red Sox Pitcher | Cromwell,CT

27. Geno Auriemma | Naismith HOF/UCONN Women's Basketball Head Coach |Cromwell,CT

26. Photo With Kris Dunn | Providence College Basketball/ NBA Prospect | Providence, RI

25. Clay Buccholz | Boston Red Sox | New York,NY

24. Chris Webby | Rap Artist | Torrington,CT

23. Iliza Shlesinger | Comedian | Mashantucket,CT

22. Patton Oswalt | Actor/Comedian | New York,NY

21. LeGarrette Blount | Patriots Running Back | Attleboro,MA

20. Stephen Gostowski | Patriots Kicker | Cromwell,CT

19. Malcolm Butler | Patriots Cornerback | Worcester,MA

18. Xander Bogaerts | Boston Red Sox Shortstop | Mashantucket,CT

17. Rodney Atkins | Country Star | Woodstock,CT

16. Bubba Watson | 2x PGA Tour Masters Champion | Cromwell,CT

15. Mat Lauer | TODAY Show Host | Cromwell,CT

14. Dennis Eckersley | Baseball Hall of Fame | Boston,MA

13. Pedro Martinez | Baseball Hall of Fame | Framingham,MA

12. Photo With Ray Allen | NBA Legend | Storrs,CT

11. Carlton Fisk | Baseball Hall of Fame | Mashantucket,CT

10. Bridget Moynahan | Actress(Blue Bloods, Coyote Ugly) | Cromwell,CT

I was able to meet Bridget at this year's Travelers Celebrity Pro-Am. She currently stars in one of my favorite shows, "Blue Bloods". This was her second year in a row at the event, but I had to miss it last year. She was awesome to her fans, and I hope she continues attending in future years.

9. Pat Monahan | Lead Singer of Train | Wallingford,CT

I actually met Pat during December of last year so he missed that countdown, but this was a huge success for me. Train has been a mainstay on pop radio for a very long time now, and I was very excited to meet Pat!

8. George Lopez | Actor/Comedian | Cromwell,CT

George was one of the most cordial celebrities I have ever met. He actually grabbed more photos from under my ones on top, which is nearly unheard of for someone to do. It was awesome to meet a comedy legend.

7. Rob Schneider | Actor/Comedian | Manchester,CT

This was perhaps my most fun experience of the year. Rob took me into his green room after his stand up show which was surprising, and a new experience all together. If you watch Adam Sandler movies you know how important Rob is in the world of comedy.

6. Kevin Bacon | Actor(Footloose,Tremors, The Following) | Hartford,CT

I was able to meet Kevin Bacon on opening night of his show, "Rear Window", in Hartford. He was awesome to the few people waiting, and besides being an awesome actor, he gives A LOT back to the community.

5. 50 Cent | Rap Icon | Various Locations

Anyone who meets celebrities knows that this was the year to meet 50 Cent. He was touring to promote his Vodka domestically as well as internationally, and he REALLY hooked it up with outside items. "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" was one of the first albums I bought in middle school back in the day, so this was a HUGE one for me.

4. James Patterson | Author | Hartford,CT

James Patterson has sold an incredible amount of books(~275,000,000) and I have always been a huge fan. Getting a 1st edition ,"Along Came a Spider", signed was pretty awesome because that was the first book in the "Alex Cross" series, as well as the first book by him that I read. He was actually surprised that I had one in such good condition.

3. Josh Radnor | Actor(How I Met Your Mother, Liberal Arts) | Storrs,CT

Josh starred as Ted Mosby in my favorite television show of all time, and meeting him was not a guarantee, so when I was able to meet him I was very happy. If you haven't seen his movie, "Liberal Arts", which he directed and starred in, I greatly recommend it.

2. Donald Trump | Mogul/ Presidential Candidate | Atkinson,NH

This was (I believe) my most read post of the year, and it makes sense. Trump is polarizing. Many love him, many hate him, and I am certainly not a fan of his politics, but he was amazingly relevant this year, and it is amazing that I got to meet him. I am still pretty shocked about it even though I had it planned out, and I hope to meet more presidential candidates in the future.

1. Mike Trout | Best Baseball Player in the World | Boston, MA

I had a little difficulty selecting #1 on this list, however at the end of the day, this experience is the one that made me the most happy, and that I will cherish in the future. Mike is known as one of the best signers at stadiums in baseball, which is remarkable seeing how he is the best player in the game, and everyone wants a piece of him. I was a little lucky to meet him, but very, very happy to.

Donald Trump 10/26/15

I had been wanting to make it to a political rally again for quite some time now, and I was able to do just that the other day in New Hampshire. I had the day off so I decided to make the just under 2 hour drive to Atkinson to see one of the most relevant people of the year, Donald Trump. I am not a Trump supporter by any means, but he is in the spotlight big time, very successful, and while I don't sell, his autographs are simply worth A LOT of money right now.

I woke up before 4:00 a.m. to start the 100+ mile drive, and I arrived at  the country club where the event was being held right around 6:00. The event was so early because Trump was holding a town hall meeting live on "Today", with Matt Lauer. Before the town hall meeting was a ticketed public event, which is what I attended. The doors were scheduled to open at 6:30 a.m. for the 7:00 a.m. event, however when I got there, they were open, and the place was PACKED. 

I went to look for a good spot, and even with the large crowd I was somehow lucky enough to find an aisle seat right next to where he would be walking out. My spot was as perfect as it could have been. This picture doesn't show the crowd in front of the stage, but it was gigantic, especially for before 7 a.m..

After a while of sitting around waiting, it was time:

I was pretty confident that I would be able to get the 'graph and maybe a picture on his way off of the stage, especially with me being right next to the rail.

The speech went on, and despite really not being a fan of Trump's views at all, it wasn't too bad of a speech. I was actually surprised with how even-keel it was. He mostly talked about how he was winning every state(which was true until this morning). 

I did however find this tweet that shows me "face-palming" during part of the event, which I thought was pretty awesome. If you want to see, simply zoom to the bottom left, and I'm in a black hat.

        

        

In Atkinson, Trump says that 30% of the press are good, but "50% are the worst people I've ever met." #nhpolitics pic.twitter.com/np6mjk73eg

— Kailani Koenig (@kailanikm) October 26, 2015

When the speech ended and Donald was walking off the stage I stood up and got ready. He got to me, saw my "Forbes" magazine, asked me how the article was, held it up to the crowd, got an applause, and signed it with a HUGE signature. I was happy that my drive up was rewarded. As much as I disagree with the way he carries himself politically, I was a devoted fan of his show, "The Apprentice", so it was really cool to meet him. I tried to take a photo with him, but he was just rushing too much and I couldn't get a good one taken.

I wasn't done though. Trump had an hour long live town hall with Matt Lauer as I said earlier, and I decided to stay around to see if I could get him to sign or take a picture again afterwards.

There were a number of supporters out near his vehicle along the railing, but I found a good spot. A few of the others were live-streaming the show, so I was able to know exactly when it ended. Just a few minutes later, he came out, and started interacting with the crowd. Almost immediately, I was being pushed hard against the railing, but Donald came right over to me after signing a book for a woman. As soon as he got to me, I felt the crowd pushing even harder but I wasn't really thinking about it. Trump grabbed my photo, once again held it up to the crowd, and signed it really big like the last time. This made the trip even more worth it, and I was pretty happy.

I think this was actually the farthest I have ever gone for a non-guaranteed interaction with someone, and I'm glad that it paid off. I'm excited to see which other candidates I can meet before next November.