Now That's Marketing (2014 Edition)

The Dallas Mavs sent a very cool giveaway with our season ticket renewal paperwork last year. I was more than a little impressed. (Don't remember what they sent? See it here.)

This year, they did it again. Accompanying our season ticket renewal paperwork was a personalized laser-engraved metal plaque. After we renewed, they sent us a personalized laser-engraved stand for the plaque.

Awesome!

What was a little funny strange weird was that we received another personalized laser-engraved stand a couple of weeks later.

Don't worry - I may be less active on my blog these days, but we have definitely not entered the Witness Protection Program.

Now That's Marketing

The Boy and I got a bit of a surprise last week in the mail:

In the envelope that normally contains season ticket renewal information, we found a box with a collectible piece of the Dallas Mavericks court, complete with a certificate of authenticity.

Wow.

Of course, the box also included season ticket renewal information.

Genius marketing, Dallas Mavericks. Genius marketing.

Well Rested

Because of the way the holidays fell this year, The Boy and I were able to enjoy a four day weekend.

And enjoy we did! We celebrated Christmas, went for a couple of long(er) runs, cooked up a storm, lazed around with the furbabies, went to bed early and got up late, discovered new stories to add to a personal writing project of mine, got caught up on the most recent season of Dexter, hit the after-Christmas sales and spent time with friends.

The last item was undoubtedly the best part of the four day weekend for us. Not only were we with our besties (which always makes for a fun time), but we spent it at the Dallas Mavericks season opening game. The game itself was a bit of a bummer (not helped by sitting next to the world's most boorish fans), but the pre-game was amazing: the team raised its championship banner.

It was an emotional and exciting moment. Definitely once-in-a-lifetime - after all, even if the Mavs win another championship, they'll never raise their first-ever championship banner again.

I had perma-smile all over again, just like I did when we won.

I'd share a video of the banner raising, but the ol' blog isn't being very friendly towards my very large video file. Drats.

I suppose this most excellent shot - by the Dallas Morning News, not me (!), will have to do.

Source

Sometimes You Do What It Takes

As unexpected as the Dallas Maverick's championship was, even more unexpected was the realization that I would be in Atlanta when the championship parade was scheduled.

So.Bummed.

I was resigned to missing the big day (seriously big: 300,000 people!!), until The Boy emailed to say that the Mavericks were doing a special event after the championship parade just for the season ticket holders.

No way was I going to miss that!

And that's how I found myself working late into the night to finish a deadline, then up again at 3 am (with duplicate alarms going off at 3:15 and 3:30 just in case) and driving to the airport at 4 am.

That's also how I found myself gratefully giving a homeless man $5 for pumping gas into my car. Or maybe that was just what happens when you haven't had coffee and it's 4:30 am and you're desperate to get to the rental car return facility.

It's definitely why I begged an American Airlines agent to pull me out of the line of 200+ people waiting to check in for American Airlines flights (thanks to an electrical storm the night before that knocked out the kiosk self-check in system). Note to the curious: My begging worked.

And it also explains how The Boy and I were able to navigate through thousands of cars on the freeway, jam-packed trying to go to the parade, police barricades, through hidden side streets to make it to our reserved parking at the Arena.

Just like the Mavericks: We would not be denied.

Our special event after the parade (which we watched in air conditioned comfort inside the arena) was a pep rally with the entire team. The place was packed. Awesomeness!

All of the drama and the lack of sleep was totally worth it.

Worth it to see our stoic superstar choked up at the recognition of all he'd achieved.

Worth it to see our never-at-a-loss-for-words owner choked up and at a loss for words. Worth it to watch our classy coach get up to make a small speech to honor Mark Cuban's commitment to the team.

And oh so worth it to see just how clearly the players love and enjoy one another. Talk about commitment. Talk about community. This was a team. It's a big part of why they won.

I know we contributed to making this a great day for the team - but the team made this entire season great for us. I'd take a redeye flight back to Dallas for cheers, chants and confetti any day.

I couldn't say it any better than this:

The Party Continues

Yesterday I noted that I'd have much more to say and, as it turns out, I don't.

But I am still profoundly happy - so happy that I wore my championship shirt as I travelled to Atlanta Monday evening. I can't tell you how many people stopped me in Atlanta to share their joy at Dallas' victory. Now that's savoring a win!

Some shots and video from Sunday night. If you don't care about basketball or crazy fans, I'll understand if you skip this post. There's something to be said for shared experience and a deep commitment of a fan base for a team that has never won a championship in its 31-year history...until Sunday night.

The line of people (with tickets) waiting to get into our home stadium watch party:

The stadium was as full as any regular home game - and we were all there to watch the game on the big screen. 20,000 of us, watching tv, because we wanted to share the experience:

And here's what it looks and sounds like when 20,000 people watch their team win:

And in a super classy move, the team showered those of us in Dallas with confetti, too:

My favorite photo from the big screen, post win. Why is it special? These are the only two players that were on the 2005-2006 team that lost to the Miami Heat in the championship finals:

After the game, and after buying our championship swag, we wandered around outside the stadium with thousands of celebrating fans. This photo is blurry, but I think it captures the evening's emotions perfectly:

We're so proud of our team. So proud of their determination (six come-from-behind wins throughout the playoffs). So happy to be season ticket holders. Just. Happy.

MFFL (Mavs Fans For Life)

We are - and I have so much more to say but I'm still trying to wake up and process the excitement of watching our team win the championship last night.

For now, all I can say is: The Hayleys and The Wheelers were in the house last night. We screamed, we cheered, we high fived, we jumped, we booed, we cried...it was an amazing, amazing evening.

Warning: Shannah Geeks Out

I had a celebrity crush moment this week.

I'm not gonna lie - I was like a little chatty teenage girl. I did manage not to cry, but I didn't manage to avoid babbling and grinning like a fool.

The Boy and I attended an industry charity event, benefiting the Dallas Mavericks Foundation. As you'd expect, the Dallas Mavericks ensured players, dancers, cheerleaders and front office staff were there to support the event.

We glanced over the program and wrote off the players attending (sorry DeShawn Stevenson - you're a good player, but will probably be traded on to another team at some convenient point). But I took note of a very special celebrity judge: Dallas Mavericks Director of Basketball Development, Rolando Blackman.

Big deal, right?

Right - very big deal. Rolando is one of two Dallas Mavericks players to have had his jersey retired. He was part of the last great Dallas Mavericks team in the 1990s. He was also one of the greatest Kansas State basketball players.

Ok...I told you. I have a huge celebrity crush.

So I told The Boy: If I don't do anything tonight other than have my photo taken with Rolando Blackman, I don't care.

The Boy said: Fine, we'll make that happen.

For over an hour, I was busy mingling and taking photos of fellow professionals next to their design entries, keeping one eye out for Ro. You can imagine my surprise when I started to gather my office together for a photo next to our design entry when I ran into Ro!

Rolando! OhmygoshI'msoexcitedtomeetyou. {breath} WillyoutakeaphotowithmeI'mahugefanI'vebeenahugefansinceIwasakidIgrewupontheKStatecampusandlook! I'mwearingapurpledresstonight! {breath}

Rolando: Why, so you are! Of course I'll take a photo with you!

Ohwhatanhonor.I'msoexcited.We'reseasonticketholdersandgotothegamesallthetime.IlovetheMavsandyoudosuchagoodjobandwe'rereadyforeveryonetobehealthyagain. {breath}

Rolando: Well aren't you sweet.

The Boy said afterwards that I probably made Rolando's night - he'd been walking around unmolested before he ran into me! I, obviously, was his biggest fan.

The Boy also said that Rolando probably thought: What a nice woman - though a little crazy!

Whatever.

And do you know what? I even got Rolando to pose with our design team! How's that?!?

Hey Now, You're An All-Star...

How do you know something is over the top fun? When it takes you nearly a week to be able to write about it!

Last Sunday, The Boy and I had a once-in-a-lifetime experience - we went to the NBA All-Star Game. The game was held at the Cowboys Stadium in the Dallas metro area. And since we're Dallas Mavericks season ticket holders, which allowed us to purchase great seats at a relatively decent price.


So why is it likely a once-in-a-lifetime experience?

Well, the All-Star game is a major production. And in Texas, it's bigger than big. 108,713 people crowded into the stadium to watch the game. (I'm sure those in upper seats were thankful for UFO-sized video boards!)

The All-Star game is about former NBA stars:

And current music stars, like Usher, Shakira and Alicia Keys:

It's also all offense and very little defense...big scoring and big dunks:

And the game is also big fun. Here's The Boy, not looking at the camera per my instructions (What I meant was that I was still fiddling with the camera and didn't want a plastic smile! But The Boy will do what The Boy will do!!):

Now this is better (Can you tell how simultaneously happy and exhausted we are?)!!

All-Star 2010 was one for the record books - both the NBA's and the Hayley's. Too bad it didn't happen after March 1st, because this would have been a great one for my 101 Things list!!

Craigslist can work!

I try to be careful when applying the axiom "Prayer changes everything." I think prayer does change things - but not always the way that I want it to or when I want it to!

I've just had a huge sigh of relief. Our Dallas Mavericks playoff tickets for tomorrow night sold!! It's ridiculous to be relieved about this, I know, but we'd already paid to attend a Messianic Seder tomorrow with our friends, the Wheelers, before we had the playoff schedule in hand. The Mavs have been sooooo disappointing this year, and particularly during the playoffs so far, that our tickets are just two of many up for sale.

So I prayed about it. Really.

I just wanted them to sell so I wouldn't be in a bad way trying to decide between two paid-for events. And at 1:30 this afternoon, a gentleman saw my Craigslist posting and bought the tickets. FOR FACE VALUE (now that is a miracle in the online garage sale world of Craigslist!).

Now we can go to the Seder tomorrow with the Wheelers and know that our Mavs tickets will be enjoyed by two more enthusiastic fans than we would have been.