Thread by @RobbieSherwood

Since Curt Schilling is contemplating coming back to Arizona to get his butt kicked in a Congressional race, I'll share this story from days gone by to illustrate what a peach he is. (long thread)

When Schilling was a star pitcher for the Diamondbacks in the early 2000s, I was a political reporter for the Arizona Republic. Even then I was aware – thanks to my colleagues on the sports desk – that Schilling had a reputation as an a-hole.

His nickname among sportswriters was "Red Light Curt" or "Top Step Curt" for his habit of turning on the charm when he knew he was being filmed, but then turning it way back off when behind the scenes.

Still, it caused quite a buzz at the State Capitol one day when we heard Schilling was coming down to support his wife, a skin cancer survivor, who was testifying on a bill to increase "sun-wise" preventative education.

Curt is pretty tall and attracted a bit of crowd wherever he went – to be expected, even among a bunch of jaded lobbyists, staffers and reporters.

So far so good! But at some point, as the wait for the bill to be heard stretched, Schilling got tired of people approaching, so his PR handler asked Senate security if there was any place private he could wait.

A longtime Senate security guard named Art, easily one of the nicest people I've ever met, offered up his office. Schilling, his handler and Art disappeared inside the small office. A few minutes later, Art came back outside and he was pissed.

Like others I've met in Capitol security, Art was retired. And in his previous life had been a boss – owning and running his own company. He liked people and politics and had found an interesting and satisfying way to spend his time. Until that day.

Art said, "I asked that sunavabitch if I could get him some water and he ignored me. I thought maybe he didn't hear me, so I asked him again, only louder. He just stared straight over my head (Art was about 5'7) and wouldn't even look at me."

Art said Schilling's assistant quickly realized what was happening and stepped in, apologized and said no thanks on the water. Art said Schilling never looked down or acknowledged him in any way. "That guy can kiss my ass. I'll never go to another Diamondbacks game again."

Later, my colleague @cscutari, approached Schilling for a comment on a story of the day (something to with McCain). Schilling told him to "get the f*** out of my face. Don't you have anything better to do?" To which Chip replied, "so is that a no comment?"

By way of contrast, when @SugarRayLeonard visited the Arizona Capitol to raise awareness for a charity project, He spoke to everybody in the building and couldn't have been nicer.
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