This was back in the Dwill, Memo, Boozer heyday. I walked into McDonalds and recognized coach Sloan immediately as he stood there in line quietly behind a group of obnoxious 13 or 14 year old kids. I had seen him in other settings, but was still taken back by how tall he was in person. Not one of the kids had any idea who he was and continued being obnoxious kids. He just stood patiently waiting, smiling at me when I took my place in line behind him. I repressed all my die hard fan inclinations to tell him what a huge fan I was and just smiled back.

When the kids moved on he stepped to the counter. The girl at the counter asked what he wanted and without skipping a beat he said, "give me that spicy chicken sandwich and a small fry" in the gruff yet warm voice he had. The girl smiled and asked if he would like a drink. "A cup of water please," was his request.

The girl gave him the total of like $2.12 and he reached into his jeans. He didn't pull out a fat wallet, or a bill fold, but instead just a handful of wrinkled up loose bills. He picked out 3 dollar bills, handed them to her and waited patiently for his change. When she dropped it in his hand he stuffed the wad of coins and bills in his pocket, grabbed his tray, filled up his cup of water and sat down.

That was it. After my order I made sure to find a spot to sit to maximize my creep level and watched in awe as he ate his dollar menu lunch and sipped his free cup of water. When he was finished he dumped his tray, filled up his cup of water, walked outside and climbed into what was probably an 80k truck.

It was stupid and meaningless and kinda funny but to me it was the perfect Jerry Sloan moment. Despite his fame and wealth and the pressure of his job he looked as natural as could be sitting in a McDonalds eating a dollar menu lunch.