Well, the Memphis Grizzlies did it yet again. This was my second time to experience the Tip-Off Luncheon in the past three yeas and it was definitely worth the price of admission. As usual, there was ample opportunity to mingle with the players, coaches and front office of the team, as well as get autographs and pictures taken. There were several interesting items in the Silent Auction, such as Framed Autographed Jerseys (Pau, Rudy, Mike, Kyle), Autographed Basketballs (Lowry, Navarro, Calipari, Derrick Rose, Jerry West) and some items from other teams and even other sports, such as the Shaun Alexander Laser Engraved Football and the Aaron Boone Autographed Baseball Bat. The Live Auction had some fantastic offerings as well, such as the Honorary Ball Kid Experience, which allows a child to be a ball kid for one of four games this season. There was also an L.A. Fly Away trip to see the Grizzlies take on the Lakers and Clippers on back-to-back nights in March and an All-Star Weekend Getaway for two people to fly to New Orleans to attend all the All-Star festivities. The big prize was a "Travel with the Grizzlies" experience that allowed for two people to travel with the Grizzlies on their private plane to see them on the road at four different games throughout the year: the Mavs, Magic, Cavs and Heat. Chip and his group put up a valiant effort to win this, but ultimately fell short of winning. I'm told that Chip's therapist has talked him off the ledge and the police have restored order to that particular street now, so that's good. All proceeds from the event and the auctions went to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis, which has been a civic fixture for 42 years. It was also announced that Pau Gasol would be giving away 500 tickets to Opening Night. You can find all the details on Grizzlies.com. This is just one more thing Gasol is doing to connect with the fans in the wake of last season's unpleasantness, which Shades of Blue has detailed before. Pau was in a good mood today, having fun every time we saw him. It was a great event benefiting a great cause and allowed several fans the chance to get to know the key members of the organization just a little bit better as a result. I hope that everyone had as good a time today as I did.
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1 comment:
For those concerned I have come to grips with the reality that I won't be flying with the team on their private jet this season.
It isn't that big a deal. Sure it would have been great to sit next to Gasol and Navarro but they would probably speak spanish so I wouldn't understand them anyway. Darko would give me nightmares and the rest of the team would probably be too involved playing playstation games which I don't know how to play.
Sure it would have been great for the blog but what information would the team tell me that it wouldn't tell Ron Tillery anyway? Sure I would have told our readers everything that happened and relate the true NBA experience unlike some people living the life but you have the new Grizz blogs for that.
Maybe I could have overheard Iavaroni discussing the game plan with the other coaches but I probably would understand as much as I did of Navarro and Gasol's conversation so what good would that be?
And the hotel probably is a rat trap, the seats probably were nose bleeders and I bet the everyone would make me feel out of place.
Naw. I really missed out on a super trip! DAMN THAT GUY IN THE BACK!
Excuse me, I have to go sit on the ledge again.
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