Should Government Execs Give Up NBA Finals Tickets?

Skybox photo from Orlando Sentinel website. (Now I know why it sometimes rains popcorn!)

Thanks to an incredibly talented Magic Basketball team, committed season ticket holders such as myself have been blessed with “front row” seats to the NBA finals. The Super Bowl of professional basketball is happening right here in Orlando in our own backyard – and we don’t have to buy airfare or book hotel rooms. All I can say is, “I told you so…”

But, enough gloating…

As a special prize for footing the bill to build Amway Arena, Orange County and the City of Orlando each get their very own SkyBox. While Orange County officials have donated their finals tickets to charity, most City of Orlando officials are using theirs. The story first broke on ABC affiliate, WFTV Channel 9 on Tuesday, June 9, the date of Game 3, and was followed up with more information on June 10.

The controversy has caused City of Orlando officials to think twice about using their tickets. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer claims he’s passed his free Thursday night tickets on to someone else, but won’t say to whom. Orlando Commissioner Daisy Lynum, who originally would not respond to the query, says she always donates her seats to charity, but refuses to say which one. Another Orlando Commissioner, Sam Ings, said he does use the tickets and doesn’t find that to be a problem. Orange County Commissioner Bill Segal donated his two box tickets to Second Harvest who auctioned them off for $725. Other Orange County Commissioners claim to have also donated their tickets to charity, but no list has been released.

A December 1, 1995 court ethics decision (about reporting the receipt of a free ticket on your taxes) sheds light on numerous details about the government owned SkyBoxes:

• The City of Orlando paid for the construction of the arena and owns and operates it. (Wikipedia states that the arena was completed in 1989 at a cost of $98 million. Sponsors, formerly TD Waterhouse, and currently, Amway, pay roughly $1.5 million annually for naming rights).
  
  
• Orange County received the 16 annual Season Tickets Box Seats from the City of Orlando after allocating $50 million in funds toward the construction of Amway Arena.
  
  
• The County is free to distribute their 16 SkyBox tickets as they wish, occasionally distributing tickets to the Board of County Commissioners, Florida legislators, other municipality officials, other city employees, and family members.
  
  
• If you receive a free ticket, you must report the face value ($105.00 in 1995, much more today) on your taxes. (Is anyone tracking this?)
  

The whole situation has become a hugely embarrassing public debacle.

So, who’s right? Who’s wrong? What should be done with the tickets?

I actually don’t have a problem with City and County officials using SkyBox tickets.

SkyBoxes are just that – up high, in the sky. While some arenas place sponsor boxes between the lower and upper level (such as in the new Orlando Events Center due to be completed for the 2010-2011 NBA season), the 26 Amway Arena boxes are located above the “nosebleed” seats. According to the official NBA Orlando Magic website, suites retail at $3000 during the regular season, accommodate up to 16 fans (that’s $187.50 apiece, about double that for a playoff game), include programs and stat sheets, 2 parking passes, private restrooms, a private entrance, and allow fans to meet an unnamed Magic celebrity. It’s unclear if the City and County and other sponsorship boxes offer free food, which would raise the value of the tickets. Photos of the Florida Hospital/TG Lee Dairy SkyBox show what looks to be free snacks and beverages (see Orlando Sentinel). A listing for eight “Luxury Suite” NBA Finals Amway Arena tickets for $1,972 each on mycityrocks.com states that suites are “fully catered.” From other websites, I’ve gleaned that SkyBox tickets allow access to lounges, a wait staff to take special food orders so you don’t have to wait in line, and free autographed trading cards.

Except for the extra room to move around, free food, and wait service, there’s not much advantage in sitting way up there. I prefer my seats in the Ozone, where I can scream and holler and make a complete fool of myself with all the other raucous fans. Try doing the wave in a SkyBox.

Also, two free parking passes can be a curse. I bought reserved parking this year and it’s not that great. Sometimes, it takes me an hour to get out of the deck after a game.

So, what should be done with the tickets?

Why can’t my publicly elected official (and a spouse or significant other) use the seats? I appreciate the City and County funding the arena. Would it make you feel any differently if it were Republican Governor Charlie Crist or Democrat President Barack Obama using the box seats? I hold my elected officials in high esteem and am honored that they are coming to the games to join us in supporting our local team. Boxes also offer security.

I would rather have a government official use their own SkyBox ticket than give it to someone who donated or volunteered for their election campaign. Now, that would truly be a major faux pas – if not completely illegal.

I would also rather have another county or city employee, perhaps a sanitation worker who worked overtime; an underpaid teacher who has won an award in excellence; or a clerk who always comes in early or always stays late, use the tickets as a reward for good hard work.

If taxpayer money is the issue, then the tickets should be auctioned off and the money allocated to help fund County and City youth athletic programs, or even help fund the new Orlando Events Center.

Although donating to charity is a wonderful cause, how do you decide which charity is worthy? How is this fair? What about the charities who don’t get tickets?

These tickets belong to the government and to the people of Orlando and Orange County, not to the individual City and County officials. Whatever decision is made, it must be made so that it benefits all citizens equally. Since tickets belong to the public, a list of all of the recipients of the tickets and the reportable tax value must be made available to the public.

NBA Fans and Players – Clean Up Your Act!

During the May 10, 2009 Sunday night Boston Celtics game, Glen Davis, nicknamed “Big Baby,” showed to the world his true character as a “Big Bully” when he shoved a 12-year-old Magic fan out of his way while making his way back to the Celtics bench. The boy was correctly standing well off the court and the clock had run out. However, Davis was not penalized. (A wonderful article interviewing the boy is found on the Orlando Sentinel website).

I was not surprised. Davis, the size of a defensive linebacker football player, attempted to strangle Dwight Howard in game 3 held on Friday, May 8, 2009 in Orlando. Despite Davis’ offense occurring in full view of everyone for several seconds, he was not even called for a foul. It was as if Davis knew that he was untouchable.

The experience has led me to believe that the NBA referees are either
A. Scared of Davis;
B. Paid off;
C. Threatened; or most likely
D. Preferential to the Celtics.

I suppose that referees would have to be sequestered in India during the off season to prevent them from becoming biased. Some referee’s behavior throughout the regular season and playoffs has been disappointingly unprofessional as they have repeatedly called fouls and ejections against the Magic while letting the opposing team’s similar actions slide. The Magic, only 20 years old, has a smaller fan base compared to more established teams, such as the 63-year-old Boston Celtic franchise. The referee has to go home and face his family and friends – they might be Celtic fans.

But, the way some of the Magic fans behave in response to the numerous bad calls is equally embarrassing and shameful.

Imagine sitting in a small stadium with 17,500 other fans, a good portion of whom are chanting, “Ref, you suck!” The people sitting in the row behind you are yelling all sorts of unimaginable filth, most of which can not be repeated in this “family friendly” blog. You cover the ears of your young, 8-year-old son who you brought with you to the game as a bonding experience, but the child is disturbed by what he hears and is asking questions, such as: “What does c---t mean?”

As an Orlando Magic season ticket holder, I’ve been fortunate to have regular seat neighbors, some of whom I’ve gotten to know so well, our friendships have blossomed and now extend outside the games. However, every now and then, one of us will sell our seats and there is just no telling who might show up. In the 22 seats which surround us sit two young children who regularly attend. I wonder what kind of example we are setting for them as we mold them into the future leaders of tomorrow.

Each game begins with a stellar performance of the singing of our national anthem. The proper behavior: stand resolutely in respect of our flag, hat in hand (if one is worn), and listen in reverent silence, cheering at appropriate moments when moved. Some attendees cover their hearts with their right hands. Some bow their heads. I am always choked up with tears by the end of the song.

During the anthem, I hear people talking nearby. I hear yelling in the halls. People want to get to their seats. The concessionaire just outside the entrance to the seating area is hawking “Cold beer! Cold Pepsi!” What is wrong with these people?

Once the game starts, it becomes clear why the fan behavior has become so disrespectful. The game of basketball, once revered as a non-contact sport based on skill, has now become riddled with malicious physical assaults which would land most people in jail. Players are now chosen for their large size and clever defensive maneuvers executed out of sight of the referees. They are told to “take out” other players.

This isn’t football. Is it? The players aren’t dressed for this. Do they need to start wearing padding? A helmet and face mask? What about a more protective cup?

I suppose I was spoiled being raised on college basketball in ACC country in North Carolina where I attended about a quarter of the games each season in the college town where I lived. I was privileged to see greats such as Coach Dean Smith orchestrate the ingenious 4-corners keep-away game to burn up time on the clock when the team was ahead (This strategy created the necessity for the shot clock in college basketball.) I marveled at the speed and maneuverability of 6’-0” tall, Demon Deacon Skip Brown. I watched as Michael Jordan grew wings and learned to fly through the air in “The Dean Dome,” where even the chairs were colored Carolina blue. I witnessed Coach K’s first season at Duke and watched as he grew his team into a formidable foe. And I nearly got arrested when I stood with fans blocking Hillsborough Street after Lorenzo Charles made the last second shot to help NC State win the NCAA championship in ‘83.

The reason I bought season tickets was in part because the Orlando Magic team, led by Coach Stan Van Gundy, reminds me so much of those wonderfully talented teams I grew up watching in the ACC. For the first half of the season, up until the time Jameer Nelson was injured, watching the Orlando Magic play was like watching a well-choreographed ballet performance. Nelson would bring the ball down the court, scream at his teammates to get into position, and then the team worked magic – passing the ball so fast my eyes couldn’t keep up with it, creating ingenious and clever plays that nearly always brought the ball up to the net for a winning shot. What really impressed me the most is the level of team work amongst the unselfish players, a key component missing from most NBA teams.

It was the Milwaukee Bucks game in late November which first shocked me when I watched as Bucks players systematically took out the Magic lineup one-by-one by grabbing and twisting their crotch area. “Why don’t they eject them for that?” I wondered. “Why don’t they fine them?” Two players had to leave the court with “groin” injuries. If this had happened in the parking lot, the Milwaukee Bucks players would have been booked in the Orlando city jail and charged with assault and battery.

How can players get away with this? The problem is that there are only three referees and all are positioned down on the court where they have limited visibility during the fast pace of the game. Some NBA players have become experts at inflicting serious injury on the opposing players without being seen. Up here in the upper level, I see it all, and I’m a bit embarrassed, so much that I’d have a hard time bringing small children to some of the games. There are the elbow jabs to the head and chest disguised as reaches; the punches to sensitive sides; the trips; the fake falls; and the criminal brutality of groin assaults.

I blame the coaches for encouraging such barbaric behavior. If you can’t win the game fairly because your players are not skilled enough in shooting and maneuvering, please do not resort to illegal defensive strategies. This is a terrible example for our children.

I blame the fans who spur on such bad behavior if it means a win for their team. Read the blogs and article comments written by Celtics fans. Instead of expressing sympathy and concern over the welfare of the 12-year old boy who Davis shoved, the Celtics fans abusively insult the boy and his father for voicing a complaint. Can't they put aside their team allegiance for one minute to feel empathy? (And people wonder why crime victims don't come forward.)

I admire Celtics basketball player, Glen Davis for his incredible shooting ability. I’ve clapped when Celtics player, Ray Allen, made incredibly difficult shots. For me, the fun of the game is witnessing the incredibly talented NBA basketball players perform unbelievable plays on both teams.

What ruins the experience for me as a season ticket holder is all of the violence.