People ask me all the time what I like most about my job. It can be summed up in one word- service.
Sometimes it's testing products and being of service to our viewers during a newscast, but one of the great fringe benefits is being asked to be of service to local organizations. Sometimes it's Career Day at a local school, sometimes it's judging a contest- most recently it was on behalf of The Family Place for their annual Polo On The Lawn event.
I first met the folks at The Family Place a couple of years ago while reporting on the benefits of their holiday Partner's Card program (an INCREDIBLE way to save money at hundreds of stores during the busy holiday shopping season <--- you KNOW I love a good deal). Last year they approached me about acting as M.C. for their Polo event. I had an out of town wedding, so I was unable to- but this year they asked again. I was honored to accept.
The Family Place is the largest family violence service provider in the Dallas area. They reach out to THOUSANDS of victims each year. They provide crisis counseling, emergency shelter and more than 150-thousand hours of service each year. It is an organization I am proud to lend my name and my time to.
The Polo event was FANTASTIC! I had never been to a polo match before. Below are some pictures from the day that I want to share with you. You can learn more about the family place on line at www.thefamilyplace.org My thanks to the staff there for allowing me to be part of their event.
Me and Jason Sheeler from F!DLuxe
Our Best Dressed Tailgate Winners
The polo match
...a gym membership and a time machine."
It's a running joke we have in my house- something I'm told when I see a younger athletic version of my former self and wonder "I can do that, right?"
Wrong.
Last night - as part of a rare mid week activity. (Don't they know it's "Must-SeeTV Night"? err.. I um.. mean... it's... a... full lineup of quality programming on the FOX Network. ) No, I'm not usually a mid week adventurer.
Five friends and I piled into what was the largest truck this Yankee has ever been in. I'm not sure what it was- all I know is it had 4 doors and an after-market accessory that caused the engine to rumble every time you stepped on the gas pedal. Nonetheless we piled in... and headed to Garland to the Cheer Athletics facility.
The place was BUZZZZZZZZZING. Excited parents, friends, fans, and lets not forget the INSANELY talented cheer squads. It was what I imagine walking into a giant can of Monster Energy Drink would be like.
Now, for those "in the know" let me start with two apologies. First, my terminology is a little rusty- this illustrated by me asking one of the guys on the "Pumas" squad if he was a "flyer" (apparently the equivalent of mistaking the quarterback for the waterboy). Second I didn't come prepared with a camera- so the pictures below (taken with the camera feature on my cell phone) are a little shaky as well.
So, back to the whole 'gym-membership-and-a-time-machine' thing.
Not even close.
I love when people have amazing talents and these people do! Flipping, flying, synchronized stunting - it was truly amazing.
Regardless if you are a fan of cheer squads or not, you HAVE To give credit where credit is due. These people were amazing!
"Do any of these people HAVE hamstrings?" a friend of mine asked.
So, why were we there? The event was the "Show Off" for the teams headed to compete in the worlds competition this weekend. 6 teams from Cheer Athletics (FierceKatz, Jags, JungleCats, Panthers, Pumas, and Wildcats <-- are you sensing a theme here?) are headed to Orlando this weekend to compete in the USASF World Championships. That's pretty impressive!
There is a webcast available for those of you who want to check it out- you can visit www.USASF.net for details.
(again, sorry for the quality of the photos they do NOT do these folks justice- in my defense, they're blurry because I could barely keep up with how fast the squads were tossing each other around)
