DALLAS – So there I was last Friday afternoon in Austin, Texas, a little over 48 hours before the historic 2010 NBA All-Star game would take place just 200 miles away in Dallas. Somewhere around 100,000 tickets were said to be sold, including an unquantified number of $30 Standing Room Only “party passes.” The Great Recession of 2009 had left me nearly flat broke when they went on sale last year though, so I remained ticketless and with little hope. Then I read an interview with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, where he seemed to up the ante on what this event could be.
I don’t think Cowboys Stadium has really been leveraged as a party destination the way it can. I think people are going to be pleasantly shocked. It’s more designed to be a night club than a destination for a sporting event. And because this is really geared toward fun, I think it’s really going to shine,” Cuban told the Dallas Morning News. “You’re just there to have fun. I think that makes a big difference. No one’s betting on this game. No one’s screaming and yelling. It’s just ‘Are you having fun? Yes or no.’ That makes for better people-watching. That makes for better enjoying of libations and such. It’ll be a lot of fun.”
Cuban was probably engaging in a hype game, but all this talk of unprecedented, newly leveraged fun seemed to demand personal investigation. I hit the Dallas and Austin Craigslist ticket boards, trying to find someone who might unexpectedly have found themselves with a couple of those party passes to sell for face price. Most were asking around $60 apiece, while some pirates sought $100. Then I saw a posting that more of the party passes were now on sale at Ticketmaster.com – one click later, he shoots, he scores! I knew prospects for getting a decent view of the game were slim, but how could any serious NBA fan pass up the chance to attend this historic contest for a mere $30 and a three-hour drive? Not to mention that a California friend had just relocated to Dallas that week for a new job, providing free lodging to boot. It had clearly become a mission from God.
