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Double identity Dan Robbins' Coca-Cola 600 search hits close to homePosted: Tuesday May 13, 2003 12:14 PM
Love means never having to say you're sorry. Yeah, tell that to Dan Robbins. No, not that Dan Robbins, the 38-year-old, truck-driving Des Moines, Iowa, race fan looking for a date to the Coca-Cola 600 since he has an extra ticket because his brother is deployed in Korea. Tell it to the other Dan Robbins. You may recall last week, when that Dan Robbins said: "I was hoping to meet someone I could hang out with Saturday and Sunday. Since I am flying in, I would love to find someone who could bring a grill and cooler -- stuff my brother usually brought that I can't bring on a plane." Fast forward to Monday, when the other Dan Robbins e-mailed me with a dilemna the writers of The Twilight Zone couldn't concoct. Hi B. Duane, I read your article of Tuesday, May 6 on SI.com regarding the singles ad by Dan Robbins. My name is also Dan Robbins and I live in Des Moines. In fact, I'm the only Dan Robbins in our phone book. I'm not 38, don't drive a truck and don't have a brother serving in Korea. I'm also not single. Therein lies my problem. I was out all week on vacation, but on my return, my wife and I listened to our answering machine messages together. Four of our callers were asking about the proposition. Two were from local media wanting to do a human interest piece on me. They got my number from the book, apparently not having the one you published. My only concern was that it might be a case of identity theft and someone's out spending my money on airline tickets and Coke 600 race tickets. But my red-faced wife is not convinced I'm not the one who placed the ad. This is just an interesting case of mistaken identity and thought it might be of interest.
Non-truck-driving Dan Robbins Now, this wasn't a Rupert Holmes Escape (The Pina Colada Song) moment, but it gets better. Actually, that Dan Robbins lives just outside Des Moines, in Ankeny. And after replying to the other Dan Robbins' e-mail (I assured his wife that her husband was not the man advertising the ticket), he sends back this gem: It gets a little weird. I work with a guy at WHO Radio who only knows me by my air name (Danny Bishop). His desk is beside mine, in fact! His was one of the media calls. He finally tracked down the guy after I shared your article and his cell phone number. He too is now doing a piece on this guy ... and tagging his story with, "... and the Dan Robbins in the Des Moines phone book says, 'Stop calling me''" And the really weird part is that I'm going to the Indy 500 with my wife that weekend! She is, by the way, not upset anymore. I called that Dan Robbins on Monday to check in on his quest for a memorable Memorial Day maiden. "It's been beyond my expectations," he said. "I'm getting used to a new life -- women calling, radio, even TV. ... I've narrowed it down to about four, and I'll make a decision this week." Mrs. Robbins will appreciate that, Mr. Robbins. After all, every Love Story deserves a happy ending. B. Duane Cross is a senior producer for SI.com.
Got a comment or question for Duane? Click here.
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