When Wisconsin basketball player, Nigel Hayes, whispered “she’s beautiful,” to his teammate during a press conference at the Staples Center in LA, he was horrified to learn he announced it to everyone via his mic. “Did you hear that?” he asked when giggles erupted throughout the room. The 235 pound, 6? 8,” 20-year-old hid his face in humiliation. The target of his unintentional public compliment — 43-year-old Debra Bollman — also blushed with embarrassment.
Initially, we didn’t know much about the mystery woman who caught Hayes’ eye. Now that the limelight has been cast upon her, we know she is a stenographer with ASAP Sports. Hayes also seems to be slightly obsessed with her profession as displayed last week during an interview session. Hayes — who enjoys random facts and trivia, according to his bio — tried to stump another stenographer with challenging words like, “cattywampus,” “antidisestablishmentarianism,” and “soliloquy” as the Daily Mail reports. A video made its rounds on social media showing Hayes and two teammates in awe as they observed a stenographer at work.
He even manages to throw humor and big words into a Twitter apology to Bollman.
“Apologies to @debrabollman for “accidentally” verbalizing her pulchritude. I meant no disrespect ma’am.”
According to USA Today , Debra Bollman said ASAP Sports and their social media outlets exploded with interest following the attention Hayes’ comment brought.
“We blew up. It’s nice that more people understand what we’re about.”
Fellow stenographer Kristin Humphrey describes how strange it is for their work to suddenly be in the spotlight.
“We’re trained in school to basically sit in the corner and not to be seen and heard, just do your job. All of the sudden there’s this attention on what we do.”
Apparently, it isn’t only the transcription service people are now curious about. Bollman’s 16-year-old daughter, Sofia — who is a singer — joked on Twitter about the attention her mom is getting.
“I’ve been working to get out there for years and my mom gets called beautiful by a basketball player and Extra is calling… like what?”
The Badgers’ sophomore forward has surely secured many fans through the ordeal. The mishap has been described as endearing and sweet . One of Bollmans followers tweeted, “I loved the video. He was sweet, respectful & women in their 40’s rock.”
Who would think a simple, sincere statement like, “she’s beautiful,” would cause such a buzz in the world of basketball, stenography, and a 43-year-old mom?
[Image via Debra Bollman/ Twitter ]
