Know the most inconvenient part about sports these days? The need for a hot shower when you're through for the evening. And I'm not talking about an epic one-on-one hoops run with your buddy, either.
No, between the steroids and the police blotter, a guy or gal too often feels like scrounging for a bar of Irish Spring simply from watching or listening.
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| Teams are already inquiring about the D-Backs' ticket idea. (Getty Images) |
See, what the Diamondbacks did last month in preparation for the 2008 season is they started a scholarship program.
For fans.
Looking for a way to say thanks for a terrific year at the turnstiles, the Diamondbacks had handed out $150 food vouchers to season-ticket holders for games last September when, one night in the stands, a lady went all gushy on club president Derrick Hall.
"She had tears in her eyes," Hall said. "She said, 'You don't know what this means to me and my son. My husband left me, he took our season tickets, the car, the house, everything.'"
A sympathetic friend had purchased tickets for the woman, but the season was about finished and given the upheaval at home, there wasn't going to be much baseball in her future. The food vouchers, the woman said, had helped her and her son get through.
That's when Hall had his It's a Wonderful Life moment. He told the woman right then that the club was going to create a program in her honor.
And this is what he and the Diamondbacks came up with: They put the word out to season-ticket holders and other fans: Life thrown you a curveball? Fate tightening the screws? Not enough breaks to shake loose money for something as frivolous as baseball games?
Put it into words and fill out an application by Dec. 1.
The Diamondbacks heard from about 20 folks.
"Some were extremely legitimate," Hall said. "Some were not nearly as legitimate."
