Drunk Dialing With the Stars

Provo man buys old cell phone, finds amazing list of numbers
By Nicole Gonzales/ksl.com

PROVO -- A Provo man got a little more than he paid for when he visited a thrift store. He bought a used cell phone, plugged it in and found a blow-you-away list of phone numbers for famous athletes and entertainment stars.

Turns out this cell phone once belonged to a Utahn who has made a fortune in sports business: Dave Checketts. He's a former Jazz general manager and the man responsible for bringing a Major League Soccer team to Salt Lake.

The man who bought the cell phone wants to remain unknown. He says he went to the Provo Deseret Industries store and stumbled on an old Blackberry from the early 2000s.

"I went up and paid for it, and it cost me 50 cents," he says. "I went home and powered it on and looked at the name. It was Dave Checketts. I didn't think there were too many Dave Checketts in the Salt Lake area."

Sure enough, it belonged to the Dave Checketts, with all his info still saved. The contacts included Patrick Ewing, Alan Houston, Wayne Gretzky, Bud Selig, David Stern, Marv Albert, Tom Brokaw and Jerry Colangelo, to name a few.

Retailers tell KSL News only some stores erase phones before reselling them.

"I could sell it on eBay. I could go to ESPN. I could go to a lot of people, but that's not who I am," the phone finder said. "My parents taught me to be honest, and that's what I'm going to do."

The man says he was momentarily tempted to call Marv Albert and Bob Costas. Really, though, all he wants to do is return the cell phone to Checketts.

KSL News contacted Checketts by phone Tuesday. He said it's possible he lost his Blackberry earlier this decade. He's looking forward to getting it back.

Wow thank about the potential of a find this great. Too bad it has to be spoiled on some goody goody Mormom priss. Yeah, that's right. Don't have any fun. Just return the phone to Mr. Checketts and you two can go have a Cherry 7Up. If I had found this phone I would have had Marv Albert on the horn in two seconds flat. And if he didn't agree to say "Yes!" whenever I called him I would ridicule him for his sexual escapades and ass biting past.

If I had that list of numbers I could do some unbelievable annoying drunk dialing. Aside from Alan Houston. Who the hell cares about him? I guess I could ask him about the time Notorious BIG banged his girlfriend.