A Night with Mr. Robinson

The email address read Fulfillment with a subject line of Congratulations-You have been selected as a winner, and I almost deleted the email without opening it thinking it was a scam.  But, I opened it and learned that I'd been selected as a winner for the David Robinson Carver Academy Challenge.  I was still skeptical, so I emailed Wayne and he confirmed that I had indeed won.  I'm glad I opened the email. 

After confirmation that I'd won, I became very excited, very quickly, giving a squeal of delight and jumping up and down a bit.  I called my husband and shared the good news.  He's almost as rabid a Spurs fan as I am, so he too was excited but much calmer than me.  After jumping through some hoops-getting papers notarized and faxed I then had to wait a day and a half until game time.  My daughter quipped, "You'll have to be careful not to cuss, because they'll be able to hear you courtside."

Spurlady courtside with David Robinson

On Friday night we packed sharpies and got decked out in all our Spurs gear-some newly purchased Thursday night.  My husband, son 13, daughter 11 and I were attending the game since we have the 10 game weekend pack and had two tickets for the game already.  The Robinson Foundation was kind enough to say we could switch places at half time. 

Stop calling me "MaHai" Spurlady

After a few moments waiting in the parking lot to hear from Dan Bassichis with the Robinson Foundation who we needed to meet to get our tickets, we entered the ATT Center about an hour before tipoff.  Then it was off to the fan shop for a Hill jersey for my son-not available at Academy.   My daughter and I headed down to our seats-way down.  Row 2-- right next to David Robinson.  My first thought was, "Wow, he is extremely tall" (husband's note: very insightful commentary, LOL).  He's also very friendly and signed autographs and took pictures with lots of people.  It was way cool sitting next to him because many players and others came and talked to him.   Tony came over twice.  Stan Van Gundy also came and talked to him before the game, but I didn't realize who it was until after the game-oh well. 

Wow, just wow!

Watching the game from row two is very different from watching it up higher.  It seems to move much faster.  When Manu entered the game, I couldn't believe it was already 6 minutes in.   Moreover, you can hear the players calling plays and directing each other, and the thud of body against body.  David cheers like any other fan, which I was happy about since I can be rather vocal during a game.   One drawback of row two is that if you are somewhat short-like my daughter-it can be hard to see.  We piled up our coats and she used those for a boost.  It was an awesome half and the Spurs were winning. 

Buzzzzz!  "Oh no half, I don't want to switch," I said.  "Me neither," added my daughter.  I felt like Cinderella at the ball when the clock struck midnight.  We said goodbye to David and climbed the stairs to meet the boys and switch tickets and seats.  When we arrived at our regular seats in section 103, Wayne, who sits just above our section, and I chatted about the experience.  Wayne is also a really nice guy, but not as tall as David. The game resumed and Wayne returned to charting shots.   We had one final fun moment in store.  During the third quarter, the Luby's Kids cam ran and my daughter made the jumbotron.

Wanye talking with Dan from the Robinson Foundation

I was able to refrain from cursing the whole game.   It helped that the Spurs basically led the whole game and didn't really suffer from an RQC.  After the game, we returned to the good seats and took some group pictures with David and the other Challenge winners.  It was a great evening that we will all remember.