Holiday spirit moves Mavs fans to give up seats

[jthig32]

I know pretty much anyone who reads this board already knows all about this, but there's some info and quotes in here that I found enjoyable.

Link

The Dallas Mavericks don't have a regular courtside customer from the Jack Nicholson/Spike Lee/Eva Longoria universe.

The front-row folks at American Airlines Center are locally famous for something else.

They're known for a powerful annual act of charity during the Christmas season that has the capacity to move a crowd of thousands.

"There isn't a more goose-bump-raising moment in sports than watching 150 soldiers stand up in the front row and react to 20,000 Mavs fans giving them a three-minute standing ovation," Mavs owner Mark Cuban said.

Cuban reached that conclusion based on what he's seen year after year at an event called Seats for Soldiers. For one night every December, Mavs season-ticket holders with the best seats in the house turn in their tickets to allow soldiers injured in combat from the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio -- most of whom have suffered some sort of catastrophic injury -- to see what it's like to live life like Jack, Spike and Eva.

The concept, which dates back to the spring of 2004, is the brainchild of serial Mavs fan Neil Hawks. The local real estate developer read a newspaper story about the burns, loss of limbs and general severity of the injuries regularly seen at BAMC and felt as though he needed to give something more personal than a monetary donation. So he organized trips to Dallas for a group of eight recovering soldiers to sit in and around his baseline seats at three separate Mavs games.

It wasn't called Seats for Soldiers back then. It had no official title and wasn't a formally scheduled event held in conjunction with the team. But those first few outings were a hit. The folks in the floor seats dressed in military camouflage attracted lots of attention and prompted several fellow front-row patrons to approach Hawks with questions -- and more tickets.

The concept quickly grew to the point that Hawks found himself combining with fellow season-ticket holder Jamie Stewart, Cuban and the Mavericks' ticket-selling team, led by George Prokos, on an ambitious idea. The goal every December is to pick one game and fill every front-row seat with a wounded soldier in hopes of ringing the court with camouflage.

One example of how people react: Hawks delights in telling the story of when veteran referee Joey Crawford spotted the soldiers during a timeout a few years back and insisted on flagging down a courtside server to buy them a round of beers. "It made it so I can't really yell at Joey anymore," Hawks said.

"The focus is obviously on the soldiers and what they've done for their country. But I'd like to say something about our fans, too. I think people look at the front-row [occupants] as this hoity-toity crowd, but I'm amazed by how many of our season-ticket holders are ready, willing and able to offer up their seats. I never expected it to get this big. I thought we might have 50 or 60 someday. Now we're up to about 140."

That number represented a near-unanimous surrender of floor seats -- which average nearly $1,700 each -- for this season's Seats for Soldiers night on Dec. 13. The total value of the tickets donated for the Mavericks' 103-99 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder was estimated at more than $235,000.

Sizable donations also come from the likes of American Airlines and local restaurateur Kent Rathbun, one of the country's leading celebrity chefs. American chartered one of its three yellow-ribbon jets -- the ribbon honors veterans and active military personnel -- and filled it with a volunteer flight crew and members of the Mavs' dance team to pick up the soldiers in San Antonio and fly them in on game day. Upon landing at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, they were bused to Rathbun's Abacus restaurant for a pregame meal.

A five-star pregame meal.

"They'll be on the phone calling their friends between bites to say, 'You won't believe where I'm eating,'" Hawks said, laughing.

From there, the soldiers proceeded to the arena for one hoops fantasy after another. Besides receiving what might be the best vantage point in pro sports and all the free food from the concession stands -- as if they needed more food after the restaurant trip -- the soldiers were asked by Mavs public address announcer "Humble" Billy Hayes to rise during a break in play so they could receive their standing-O salute, while Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American" was piped in as background music.

All that was followed by the postgame treat of a private audience with the likes of Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry for pictures and autographs before the late-night return flight to San Antonio. Visiting players usually don't partake in meet-and-greets, but Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant joined in this time when he heard that some of the soldiers were asking for him.

"A lot of them were from Texas and had seen me play in college," said Durant, who played for the Longhorns. "They were giving me a lot of feedback. For a lot of them, it's the first NBA game they've ever been to, but some of those guys know a lot about the game.

"But I wanted to pick their brains, too, [and] try to find out how it feels to go through what they've gone through. It was just a humbling experience."

Former U.S. Army corporal J.R. Martinez hears those questions a lot. He was dispatched to Iraq in April 2003 and a little more than a month later suffered severe burns to more than 40 percent of his body, including his face and ears, when the Humvee he was driving hit a land mine and trapped Martinez inside.

Martinez was one of Hawks' first guests in 2004, while still in the midst of the 32 -- yes, 32 -- surgeries he would undergo during a lengthy recovery. The 25-year-old has since rebounded to the point that he can loosely (but amazingly) describe himself as a show-business colleague of Jack, Spike and Eva, having landed a recurring soap opera role on ABC's "All My Children" as a badly burned veteran of the Iraq war.

Yet Martinez, to this day, speaks of his first exposure to the roaring, tearful appreciation of Mavs fans as "the night of a lifetime."

"Celebrities get that kind of attention every time they walk into a building," Martinez said. "For that one night, you get to feel like a celebrity. You really feel like you're on top of the world. For that night, we were the superstars.

"You get these tickets, courtside seats, but on top of that, you've got all these people coming up to you all night long, thanking you for protecting them. All these people are so appreciative and almost worshipping the ground you walk on.

"I always tell them that you don't understand what a night like this does for us. It's worth more than you can imagine. These are things that a lot of these soldiers would never get to do [otherwise], and it's happening to [soldiers] that had lost all hope."

Cuban posted video highlights of the 2008 edition of Seats for Soldiers on his personal blog under the heading "Why owning the Mavs can be amazing."

"It's been a great tradition that the Mavs and the entire Dallas-Fort Worth community is proud of," Cuban said. "I don't think anyone who gives up tickets considers it a sacrifice. It's a reward to those who give everything and then some to serve our country."

[BGMaverick9]

Thanks jthig...I'm glad that every year this becomes a bigger and bigger appreciation night for those brave people.

[dude1394]

Fantastic Jthig...just fantastic. I love the quotes, especially hearing from the OKC team.

Being in the Arena that night is truly magical...if anyone has a chance...take it. I've got a new computer background!

[dude1394]

Just went to cubes blog to check out the stuff referenced in the stein article. Found this one also. I'm not sure my man-crush on the dirkster could get any bigger and then...

I was at the seats for soldiers game and was part of the appreciation being shown to the soliders. It was a nice opportunity to show our respect to those who have given so much to us. I also noticed Dirk clapping the entire time as well. That just made me gain that much more respect for him.

Comment by Toby — December 22, 2008 @ 10:31 am

the blogosphere is such a wild place...content everywhere...
Here is one of the links off of cube's site. With some more comments.
http://friends.mavs.com/profiles/blo...-soldiers-2008

If you showed up late for the game this past Saturday night, you might have wondered why the heck all the people in the front row were wearing the same t-shirt or camouflage uniforms.

If everyone around you was just as clueless or the information didn’t trickle through your area, you would have had to wait until the second period for the announcement to come over the PA system.

The announcement honored the people sitting in the front row who were special guests of the Mavericks. The regular front row people were scattered around the arena or sitting at home because they donated their normal seats to the cause.

The Mavericks, Neal Hawks, front row season ticket holders, American Airlines, Abacus Restaurant, and BP American made sure that these men and women had the night of a lifetime.

Nearly everyone sitting on the front row Saturday night suffered a catastrophic injury while serving the in U.S. Military overseas.

The event, entitled “Seats for Soldiers”, was started five years ago by Dallas Mavericks front row season ticket holder Neal Hawks. The Hawks Foundation solicits the tickets from the other front row season ticket holders then gives them away to 150 soldiers and military personnel who are currently residing at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio while they receive treatment for their injuries.

The soldiers are flown to Dallas on an American Airlines private charter from San Antonio. Once they land in Dallas they are taken by bus to Abacus, which is one of the finest restaurants in Dallas located on Mckinney Avenue near Knox. At Abacus they are given the royal treatment and some of the best viddles they have ever eaten.

Once they finish supper and arrive at the arena they are ushered directly to courtside.

Hey, buddy, must be in the front row!!!

Sitting in the front row of a NBA basketball game offers an opportunity that a small percentage of Mavericks fans ever get to experience at the American Airlines Center. For one night this special group of service men and women get to see what it is like to be in the front row.

Did I mention that food comes gratis with the seats in the front row? Not that the soldiers are hungry after Abacus, but hey it’s free, so they indulged in cotton candy, hot dogs, chicken tenders, sundaes, and every hard candy under the sun. Alcohol was not included with the seats, but most of the soldiers were sent beer from the appreciative fans around them.

Just before the game is about to start, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban makes his way around the court greeting all the soldiers. They smile, take pictures, hug, and generally try to soak up as much of the experience as they possibly can as Mark blurs by in hopes of greeting them all before tip-off.

As Humble Billy Hayes made the announcement that identified these men and women as soldiers who were wounded serving our country, the crowd erupted in applause. Appropriately, Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to be American” was piped over the PA system as background music.

On its own the song might not be able to reach you emotionally. It’s possible that you might be able to keep your cool if you hear the song while taking a shower or driving down 75-Central. But I assure you, hearing the song while standing with 150 wounded United States Military men and women -- you got no choice but to be moved. You are standing in the same space as soldiers who live the words of this song. Men and women who know first hand what the words to this song mean in a very real way, not just the American Top 40-type of way. Soldiers that have lost limbs for the exact words and freedom that we all enjoy every day as United States citizens. It’s an electric moment for 20,050 fans who get to enjoy basketball 44 other nights a year (plus playoffs) because these guys and others like them are on guard 24/7, 365.

It is a real moment in a fantasy world. We are very lucky.

After the game, the soldiers get to stick around and meet and greet all the players. The solders are split up into four groups, and each group is sent to the stand near the corners of the basketball court. There they wait for the luck of the draw to see what players will come visit their corner. Each group is under the impression that the players will be divided among the groups, So there is a little anxiety and anticipation to see who gets to meet Dirk Nowitzki.

The first year the Mavericks did this event, Dirk Nowitzki walked out and was told which group he was to visit and was ushered in that direction. As he was walking to his assigned group, all the other soldiers were screaming his name. He asked why he only got to visit one group because he thought he should meet them all. So it has been his tradition to meet, take pictures, and autograph items for all the soldiers that visit on Seats for Soldiers night.

This year, Jason Terry visited with every soldier and as only Jason can do, he makes his round with more enthusiasm than a Tony Robbins speech.

Jason Kidd, who was attending the event for the first time, also greeted every person with a smile and a handshake.

It was a very cool late night for everyone. The soldiers felt lucky to meet their on-court basketball heroes, and the players felt lucky to be able to meet their real life heroes.

[bernardos70]

While it's a very noble gesture, it's becoming easier and easier to give away tickets without having to worry about missing a whole lot with the way we are playing as of late.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by bernardos70

While it's a very noble gesture, it's becoming easier and easier to give away tickets without having to worry about missing a whole lot with the way we are playing as of late.

-rep for negativity in this thread.

[bernardos70]

Sorry. Kudos to those ticket holders!.........?

(hope this evens it out)

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by bernardos70

While it's a very noble gesture, it's becoming easier and easier to give away tickets without having to worry about missing a whole lot with the way we are playing as of late.

Yeah, never mind that they could sell them for upwards of a thousand bucks a seat.......

[jayhawker]

i was one of the wounded soldiers that got tickets 2 years ago and have been a mav fan since

[bernardos70]

Don't get too worked up, m post was more about the frustration I've been feeling with this team than anything else. It's a nice gesture, no doubt about it.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by jayhawker

i was one of the wounded soldiers that got tickets 2 years ago and have been a mav fan since

Couldn't happen to a more deserving person. Welcome and thanks.