To play on some tennis terminology, Vernon Hills’ John Goehrke is hoping his blind date with Genie Bouchard turns into 20-something love.
Bouchard made good on a Super Bowl bet with Goehrke, a 20-year-old University of Missouri marketing major, taking him to watch the Nets and Bucks play in New York Wednesday night. Now the world’s luckiest Patriots fan may strike fortune again.
"When we left the arena, TMZ chased us down and they were asking will there be a second date, and she said, ‘Yeah, for sure,’ " Goehrke told Inc. "I don’t know how much true there is to that but hopefully she was telling the truth."
It all started on midway through the Super Bowl, when Falcons looked certain to rout the Patriots, Bouchard tweeted, "I knew the Falcons would win, btw." Geohrke tweeted back, "if patriots win we go on a date?" Bouchard, likely feeling pretty confident about a Falcons win at that point, replied "Sure."
But the most improbable scenario became possible when the Patriots pulled off the biggest rally in Super Bowl history, erasing a 28-3 third-quarter deficit to beat the Falcons 34-28 in overtime.
All eyes turned to Bouchard, with even some national media asking whether she would go through with the date. She later confirmed on Twitter she would.
Flash forward to last week, Goehrke hadn’t heard from Bouchard or her representatives, so a little bit of skepticism crept in.
"So I woke up one morning and I had a (Twitter) notification that she messaged me. I was happy about it," he said. "She could’ve just had her agent call me or text me but she said something to me first."
Bouchard put him in contact with her agent and the agent made hotel and flights arrangements for him, on her dime. Goehrke bought a few new clothes for the date and then early Wednesday morning, he flew out from Columbia, Missouri, (with a layover in Chicago) and arrived in New York around midday. Bouchard was in town that day to promote her appearance in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition.
Later, he met up with an NBA Entertainment repoter, who interviewed him, and they rode over to Bouchard’s hotel. "They went upstairs and did a little interview with her before they came downstairs. We met. I had a little gift (earrings) for her. And then we got in the car and drove to the stadium together with the (NBA) media guy," Goehrke said.
"Just met my ‘Super Bowl Twitter Date’ John On our way to the @BrooklynNets game! @punslayintwoods," Bouchard tweeted at the time along with a selfie with Goehrke on the ride to the Barclays Center.
Goehrke said he had the time of his life. "She was very genuine and nice. … it really seemed like she was actually enjoying it."
"I was only with her for a few hours but th etime we spent together was really good," he said. "I obviously want to see her again at some point in the future and it seemed like she did too. If we could ever make that work that would be amazing."
On Thursday, Goehrke was back on campus and his social media account was filling up with new contacts. For now, he plans to see her play on the court in the near future, just from the stands, with no expectations about meeting her. "I want to see her play," he said.
During Sunday’s Grammy awards, Bouchard joked that future random fans better not get their hopes up about repeating Goehrke’s feat. "Not making any bets tonight #GRAMMYs," Bouchard tweeted with a smiling emoji.
Tennis star Genie Bouchard goes on ‘Super Bowl date’ with Vernon Hills man
Vernon Hills’ John Goehrke got his date with Genie Bouchard, the same day the tennis star’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue came out.
Vernon Hills’ John Goehrke got his date with Genie Bouchard, the same day the tennis star’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue came out.
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