Tammy’s Team

**thank you always Teisha and Tam for the great Team sign photo.**

Team Experiences With Tammy:”Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 20:41:01 -0400

First time seeing Tammy live

Hi Bambi Just thought I would mention that I finally got to see Tammy in person last week at a WCW house show in Kalamazoo, MI. I did not make a Tammy’s Team sign because I was not sure who was going to be on the card. I have been a fan of hers for a while and I was thrilled to finally see her live and in person. She is more beautiful than any picture or any TV program has ever depicted her. Keep up the good work with the Team. Michael Edgerton”

A SUNNY DAY FOR FYTCHFAN?

On the evening of Saturday, May 24, I stumbled upon the following information in the “Special Talent Appearances” folder at America Online’s WWF site….

<< There will be an autograph session featuring SUNNY on Sunday, May 25, from 1:00pm - 2:30pm at: Premier Video 125 North Weinbach Evansville, Indiana Transmitted: 5/22/97 11:20 AM (sunny) >>

I immediately entertained the idea of attending this event once I discovered that Evansville is approximately 250 miles from where I live. Believe it or not, I had no reservations about driving that far to see Tammy. When you consider: 1) how much I’ve been dying to meet the woman for years now, and 2) that she has never– to my knowledge– appeared at a public autograph session within a 400 mile radius of my area, it should really come as no surprise to anyone that I wasn’t going to let a 250 mile road trip deter me! Granted, I was a little distressed over the fact that I had less than 24 hours to prepare for this whole event. And I wasn’t sure at first if it was wise to spend a whole day driving to and from Evansville when I had so much work to do over the Memorial Day weekend. However, I really didn’t know if I’d ever get another opportunity to meet Ms. Sytch again. After all, I’m planning to start my full-time career in the radio business this summer and expect to be working long hours all year round. Therefore, I concluded that if I wanted to meet her, it was now or never….

I first learned about Tammy’s autograph appearance an hour before going to see the WWF house show in Dayton last Saturday night (May 24). As a result, I didn’t have a chance to start preparing for my Evansville expedition until I returned home at 11:00. I could tell right away that I was in for a short night’s sleep! By midnight, I had mapped out directions to the Premier Video store and then began to mentally compose a general intinerary for the day-long trip. Tammy’s autograph session was scheduled to last from 1:00 until 2:30 p.m., so I naturally wanted to get an early start. I made plans to leave for Evansville at around 8:45 a.m. because I figured I was looking at a four hour drive with the anticipated holiday traffic. And since I had no clue how many fans were going to be on hand, I thought it’d be in my best interest to arrive at the video store before 1 p.m.

Things did not look good from the onset of that dreary, rainy Sunday morning…. I didn’t get to sleep until 4:30 a.m., and was quite dismayed when my alarm clock failed to wake me up three hours later. I wound up sleeping in until 9:00, which of course instantly messed up my 8:45 departure time! I suppose I could’ve thrown on some old clothes, put on a cap, brushed my teeth, and been on the road within ten minutes…. however, this was Tammy Sytch that I was going to see!! I wasn’t about to look like a bum for the occasion!

By the time I left the house and purchased a disposable camera at Wal-Mart, my car clock indicated that it was already past 10:30! I began to panic inside because I still had about four hours worth of driving ahead of me! If you do the math correctly, you’ll realize that I was on pace to arrive at the Evansville video store around 2:30– the time Tammy would be leaving!! As soon as I got on I-675, I accelerated my Ford Explorer to speeds of 80-90 mph and constantly checked my mirrors in the process to make sure no police were around…. Not only would getting pulled over put another unwanted blemish on my driving record, but I’d lose some precious time on the road! Don’t get me wrong…. I’m really not proud of the fact that I resorted to driving like Mario Andretti to make up for my late start. But I was really left with no choice…. If I wanted to make it to the autograph session on time, I’d have to maintain a speed of at least 80 mph whenever I could! Fortunately, traffic wasn’t a problem. The weather, on the other hand, couldn’t have been worse!! I experienced torrential downpours throughout the majority of the trip, which only made me feel even more uneasy about traveling at such high speeds!

Okay…. here’s where the trip’s first major twist occurs. I missed my exit onto I-71 and didn’t realize it until 30 miles later! A feeling of despair swept over me because I figured this mistake would wind up translating into at least 45 more minutes of lost road time. In essence, I had pretty much eliminated any chance of making it to the video store by 2:30. The rain continued to pour as hard as ever. I checked my odometer and discovered that I had only traveled 120 miles. Since the situation seemed hopeless, I thought it was probably best to just call off the trip while still in the early stages. Deeply disappointed and disgusted, I made plans to get off at the next exit and head back home.

Then an amazing thing occurred! The next exit ended up taking me onto I-64, which just so happened to be a direct route to Evansville!!! I was so overcome with ecstacy that I nearly drove my car off the side of the road! I wondered how in the world I managed to stay en route to Evansville after missing a key exit? Was it possible that I had just discovered a shortcut? Whatever the case, I sure wasn’t complaining!!

Anyway, I continued along my merry way and estimated that I had around 90 miles left to go. I figured I’d be at the video store by 2:00 and it appeared my dream of meeting Tammy was going to come true at long last! In the meantime, I enjoyed the scenery along I-64. The skies were slowly clearing up, and the trees and grasslands looked so lush and green from all the recent rain. I was way out in the boonies, though…. so if there was any possibility of experiencing car trouble, I prayed it wouldn’t happen here!

After driving 80 miles on I-64, I kept my eyes peeled for State Route 57, which would take me straight to the video store. But I saw no signs for it. Ten more miles passed…. then another ten…. Still no signs for Route 57! I grew increasingly anxious and tense with each passing mile. Surely, I couldn’t have missed this exit after watching so closely for it! Yet here I was, still in the boondox. Something’s not right, I thought! I glanced at my car clock…. The time was rapidly approaching 2:00! If I wasn’t at Premier Video within a half hour, I was screwed!

Finally, I spotted an Evansville sign….. but something about it sent a paralyzing chill down my spine! I slowed the car down to get a better look at the sign. Sure enough, my eyes weren’t deceiving me…. The sign read: Evansville– 88 miles. NO WAY, I exclaimed! How could I POSSIBLY still have THAT far to go??!! That CAN’T be right!!! Then it dawned on me…. Apparently, I had taken a longer route to Evansville as a result of missing the I-71 exit earlier. Well, now I was in a major jam because I had less than twenty minutes to make my 2:30 deadline and still needed to travel another 88 miles. I felt like a dagger had just been plunged through my heart. I know that may sound a bit melodramatic, but hey…. I gaurantee you’d feel pretty crappy if you thought you had just driven 230 miles for absolutely nothing!!

I stared aimlessly into the distance. There was obviously no reason to keep going, I thought. What was the sense in driving another 88 miles only to get to the video store and find Tammy not in it? I slowly began to realize that my whole effort to meet her had turned into a miserable failure. I couldn’t believe it. How could I have been so crazy to do all this in the first place? And how could I have been so careless as to get such a late road start and then miss a key exit? It was far too late to concern myself with all that now. I had clearly failed. It was time to make the long journey home.

The needle on the gas gauge indicated that my car was running on empty, so I decided to pull off at the next exit. I told myself that I’d head back to Ohio as soon as I refueled my tank. But while I was pumping gas, something inside me was actually urging me to continue the expedition! Could it have been just a desperate unwillingness on my part to accept defeat? I mean, common logic clearly told me that finishing the trip was a lost cause. Let’s face it, the chances of Tammy still being at the video store when I got there were almost zero. Why drive all the way there just to set myself up for disappointment, and then be faced with an even longer drive home? But the nagging feeling inside me persisted…. Finally, I decided that I wasn’t quite ready to go home just yet! I mean, I’d already come this far…. and traveling another 88 miles wasn’t going to make that big of a difference in the grand scheme of things. Who knows…. maybe there was a way I could somehow track down Tammy once I got to Premier Video. Perhaps I could ask the store employees if they knew where she was headed next. I admit, the situation still looked very unpromising…. yet, for some insane, inexplicable reason, I decided to march on….

It was 3:00 when I finally arrived at Premier Video. But as I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed a steady stream of people, mostly young kids, walking out of the crowded store with sheets of paper in their hands. What in the world was going on? My heart began to race. I got out of the car and dashed into the video store…. Right away I noticed a long line…. I hastily walked up to the very front of it, and I couldn’t believe my eyes…. the lovely Ms. Tamara Sytch was sitting at a table signing autographs!!!

My adrenaline started pumping like mad! I had no idea why she was still signing autographs after 2:30, but that really wasn’t the foremost thing on my mind. I asked a young kid standing in line how much longer Tammy was supposed to be there. He told me until 2:30. I politely informed him that the time was already way past 2:30. With a puzzled look on his face, he glanced at his watch and told me that it was only 2:00. Suddenly it hit me….. I had crossed into a different time zone during the course of my trip!! The only thing I could manage to say at that point was “OH MY GAAAAHHHHDD!!!” Man, Joey Styles would’ve sure been proud of me!!

I hurried to the back of the line and anxiously awaited my opportunity to talk to “the golden-haired fox”! I was totally incredulous over the fact that I hadn’t missed my chance to meet her after all! And as the line moved me closer and closer to the woman I’ve adored watching at wrestling events for years now, I became increasingly nervous!! One thing that comforted me, however, was observing how nicely Tammy was treating the young fans who were in line ahead of me…. She politely said hi to each of them, asked them their names, and then would make a cute comment as she signed their autographs.

When it was my turn, she looked up at me with her sparkling brown eyes and said, “Hi, what’s your name?”. Here’s roughly how the conversation followed:

Me (trying my absolute best to remain composed): “Hey, Tammy! Thought I’d let you know first of all that I’m a proud member of Tammy’s Team and Candido’s Crew!

Tammy (face lights up and her voice changes to a very excited tone): “Hey!!!! How’s it goin’ ??”

Me (already flattered by her positive reception): “Great! Just great! Actually, I’ve spoken to you on America Online before. I’m not sure if you remember me or not. My screen name is FytchFan!”

Tammy (eyebrows raise; her mouth drops open slightly as she smiles): “Oh, my gosh! That’s you?! Yeah, we’ve talked to each other in the chat room a couple times!”

Me: (grinning ear to ear, amazed that she actually seems to remember me): “Yep! That’s me! And I don’t know if you recall, but I sent you some cassette tapes back in December. They were given to you as an engagement present.”

Tammy (thinks for a moment, then throws her head back and laughs): “Yes, I do remember! Wow! It’s nice to finally meet you!”

Me: “Same here! My real name is Paul, by the way. I can’t tell you what an honor this is, Tammy! As a matter of fact, I drove all the way from Dayton just to see you today!”

Tammy (shaking her head as she signs my autograph): “You’re crazy!” (then looks up and smiles).

I knew she was joking, but at the same time she I knew was speaking the truth! Hey, I am crazy! I mean, who else in their right mind would’ve gone through all this trouble to get an autograph from a beautiful celebrity?

Then, a WWF official standing nearby asked me if I wanted to get my picture taken with Sunny! I told him that I’d not only like that very much, but I asked him if he would please take the picture for me. He gladly obliged, so I handed him my camera. I then sat on the autograph table, and Tammy and I leaned toward each other for the shot. We were practically cheek-to-cheek! I wanted to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming! Once the official snapped the picture, I thanked Tammy and she joked about how I’d better stay cool or she’d have me tossed off AOL now that she knows my account!

Amazingly, that wasn’t the last thing Tammy said to me. I remained nearby her table and casually talked to some fellow fans. Then as the autograph session came to a close, Tammy looked over my direction and struck up a conversation with me!

Tammy: “So how did you hear about me being here in Evansville?”

Me: “Well, there’s this folder on AOL’s WWF site that has a “Special Talent Appearances” section, and it lets people know where and when WWF superstars are going to make public appearances.”

Tammy (smiling): “Really? Gosh, I must be the last person on earth without a computer! One of these days, I may actually go out and get one. I mean, no one can believe that I still don’t have a computer when here I am with two million downloads!”

I laughed in agreement! And just then, I realized something…. I was finding myself no longer viewing Tammy as a glamorous, larger-than-life celebrity. Here we were under the same roof talking and relating to one another…. person to person. She was a human being with flesh and blood just like me! That may sound a bit corny, but it’s really not difficult for “common” people like myself to lose sight of the fact that some of the stars we idolize on TV and in the movies everyday are very much like us (Dennis Rodman excluded)! And to think…. there are many wrestling fans out there who assume that Tammy is really the arrogant, pompous, self-absorbed “Sunny” character they see on Raw and Superstars each week. That, of course, couldn’t be any further from the truth!

I asked Tammy to do one more favor for me…. I told her that I wanted to take a moment to do something special for a dear friend of mine who, for six months now, has tirelessly devoted her time and energy to making Tammy’s Team such a huge success! So I had Tammy quickly write up a sign that said “HI BAMBI!”, and then asked her to stand next to me with it so we could have our picture taken! Tammy and I both knew this photo would’ve made a wonderful early Christmas present for Bambi (I say “would’ve” because, sadly, the photo ended up not turning out well)! Once again, the WWF official in attendance took the snaphot. I thanked him for being so accomodating!

After Tammy’s autograph session ended, I walked back out to my car and the shock began to set in! I couldn’t believe I had just met the one and only Tamara Lynn Sytch in person! And she was every bit as classy and fan-friendly as everyone says she is (not to mention, she is just as gorgeous up close as she is on TV)! Although my interaction with her may have only lasted ten minutes, it was well worth the 600+ miles I traveled altogether that day! I hardly even remember the drive home due to the overwhelming feeling of euphoria that had taken hold of me!! And as I reflect back on the trip– which I often do– two things comes to mind…..

1) Perserverance pays. Never give up!

2) Hold onto your dreams. Someday you’ll reach them!

Truthfully speaking,

FytchFan (and proud of it!!)

Collage of Team Member Fytchfan’s photos of meeting Tammy

Tammy reading the letters