Working, Waivers and DJ Jazzy Jeff

I'd been patiently waiting and counting the days until the NBA All-Star Jam Session would begin since last summer. When my first volunteer shift finally rolled around last Wednesday, I couldn't have been more excited, or more ready. Holly and I left work early and showed up almost two hours before the shift started, eager to get things going. Unfortunately, the administrative staff was not ready for us, not for another hour. So we stood around texting, talking, and watching as more volunteers poured in before the doors were finally opened.

Upon entering the room, we received our name tags: buttons in the shape of basketballs with white space in the center to print our names. Next, we signed in and received our T-shirts before being directed to tables where we were to sit and wait based up on our zone assignments. We were even offered free drinks and Goldfish snack crackers until it was time to get to work. After a quick reminder of the few rules and regulations and to have a good time, we were led outside the doors of the arena where the Jam Session would take place.

As we came to a sudden stop, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Tony Garza, an old friend from high school who I hadn't seen or heard from in fifteen years. Small world, isn't it? He asked if I was still as big of a Mavericks fan, and I told him all about winning the HP Insider contest. We talked and caught up for a few minutes before we were all guided onto the floor and walked through different areas to see where we would like to volunteer.

Holly and I were in the middle of the pack of about 200 volunteers and the noise inside the arena was so overwhelming, we couldn't hear anything our zone manager said. We watched a small handful of people split off from the group and head elsewhere, so we followed, unsure of what we were getting ourselves into. As it turned out, we had apparently accepted a job assignment to work the waivers table out in front. Several of the attractions inside the arena involved physical activity, so anyone who chose to participate had to first sign a waiver (or if under 18, have their parents sign it) and receive a wristband before they would be allowed to play. Our job was to verify signatures and put the wristbands on the participants. Sounds rather boring, but it was actually quite fun.

One advantage to working the waiver table out front is that we were able to see everyone as they were walking up. Wednesday night was a special private opening of Jam Session, primarily for the Mavericks, their friends, and families, as well as several groups of school children who received tickets. One family in particular stood out, as they had three young children with them. Each of the children was adorable, not to mention super excited and extremely polite. Their parents took several pictures of them before heading into the Jam Session, and we all commented on how well mannered the kids had been.

At one point when we were really getting slammed, I overheard, “Hey, there’s our Insider!” and looked up to see one of the behind the scenes guys I had met during my week with the Mavericks. Nice to know I hadn’t been forgotten yet! Around 8pm, things started to die down outside and we shut down our table shortly thereafter. We were released and free to wander around and explore the Jam Session.

We walked inside and headed over to the stage area for awhile to listen to some band that was playing music from the ‘80s before making our way out onto the arena floor. We stopped at an exhibit which lets you compare the size of your hand to those of NBA players and both took pictures of our hands inside Jason Kidd’s handprint. Holly took a pic of me with a life size cutout of Dirk and then we wandered over to the Mavs Zone, which turned out to be perfect timing. Right after we got there, DJ Jazzy Jeff (as in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) took to the stage to play DJ Hero. I could’ve cared less about the game actually, but it was nice to see him on stage.

While we were in the Mavs Zone, I noticed a giant glass trophy case over by the silent auction tables. I walked around the front and was in awe to see several of the trophies won by current Mavericks. Inside the case were Dirk Nowitzki’s MVP trophy from 2006-2007; Jason Terry’s 6th Man of the Year award from last season; and Jason Kidd’s Rookie of the Year trophy from 1994-1995. I was thrilled to actually be able to see and photograph (even if it was just with my cell phone) the trophies up close, I was a bit disappointed that not all NBA awards won by Mavericks were included in the trophy lineup. For instance, where was Roy Tarpley’s 6th Man award? He was the first Maverick to win the title, not to mention my absolute favorite player growing up (yes, I know he had issues, but that just made him seem more human to me – I’ve learned a lot since then though), yet his trophy was nowhere to be found. Even more conspicuously missing was Avery Johnson’s Coach of the Year award. While it’s true he and the Mavericks didn’t part on the best of terms, it still doesn’t diminish all the things he accomplished here as our head coach.

By the time we finished wandering around and taking pictures, it was nearly closing time, so we rushed back downstairs to grab our jackets from the check-in room, vowing to work in a more interesting spot in the middle of the action inside the arena the following afternoon. Little did we know, the weather had different plans in store for us...