A Call To Action For The 8TH And All Other UT Sites.

I have spoken with both the UT Ticket office (group sales) as well as Houston Fancher, Director of Basketball Operations.

Each are now reaching out to local youth groups with whom they have previously existing relationships, to see which group may be best able to use the tickets, and to gauge the number that each may need / prefer.

Both promised that I would hear from them in the next two hours, and hopefully, we will have something definitive to go on at that time.

 

I'll donate the money or buy or whatever 5 tickets.

 

alright well I am about to go get a lift in and then i have dinner and some stuff afterward. I won't be free again til after 7 or 8, so if you guys figure something out, someone else will have to post it on toos. A few people have agreed to participate if something is put together.

 

Appreciate the workout update, Indy. If you could list your numbers from your workout, it'd also be appreciated.

 

All right

Big Bro Big Sis needs 10 total.

I'm going to suggest we do ordering through one person and then people that donate pay him to make this easier and more effecient.

 

This is a fantastic idea, guys. Great job.

 

I can donate the money to the 8th and Tenny buy them, does that work?

 

this actually made me lol, but you are still an asshole

 

I'll donate the money for a couple. I'll have to do it when i get back though. Way to get this thing going, guys.

 

Just [uck fay]ing with ya. Have a good one.

 

One of the main reasons I didn't kill anyone during the 2005 football season was because for the Memphis game, a kid that had never been to a game before came with his dad for the first time and sat in front of me. The kid didn't care how much we sucked, he had always wanted to come to a game, probably financially had not been able to, and loved it. You would have thought it was 1998 all over again watching him.

Because of that game, I have always had a soft spot for making sure kids can go to games that want to and can't when it's possible.

 

I'll let Tenny answer that.

 

I've heard from the group sales department at UT - they haven't heard back from anyone, and don't know who to give the tickets to.

Houston Fancher called again and said that he was happy to coordinate our communication with a couple of agencies, but that it would be best for me to contact them directly, as to make sure that it's all well within 'AA guidelines, as anyone beyond the 7th grade is considered a prospect, and it could appear that they were arranging for tickets for prospective student-athletes.

First, I found his strict adherenece to the rules, even on something so innocuous as this, to be refreshing. No sarcasm.

I told him that I would be happy to speak with them directly, if he could pass along my information to them, and he said that this was his intention. He mentioned Vine Middle School as being a group of kids that both the team and Coach Martin have frequently visited, and that they were one of several entities he's left messages with. He is genuinely a nice guy, and was excited that someone wanted to bring kids to the games. But, I'll have to wait to see if and when I hear back from any of them.

My wife followed up by saying that there are 14 tickets needed for kids in foster care - and when coupled with the 10 from the BBBS, that's 24 (double-check me here, Card).

That's $240, as of now.

I'm happy to buy the tickets on-line and to deliver them, if needed. If you would like to donate, please simply click on the "Donate" button above, and enter your information via PayPal (you dont have to have an account, you can just enter credit card information), and then PM me to let me know how much you've donated by placing "NIT Charity Ticket Donation" in subject line.

I'll update everyone as to the status of donations, or of the eligibility of additional kids, as things unfold. Once we've hit that mark, I'll also post it here, as we should not take donations for anything greater than the known need.

Once it's all done, I'll provide a full accounting of all monies provided, and the distribution of all tickets, here, for all to review. All monies received beyond the necessary amount will be refunded, in full.

Neither myself nor anyone associated with this site will keep a single cent from anything related to this event.

 

Tenny - If you will just let me know how the BBBS folks can get theirs, I'll pass it on.

 

My wife just informed me that she has had 5 more case workers from DCS request tickets.

I also just spoke with the principal from Vine Middle School, who called at the behest of Houston Fancher with UTBball.

He said that he has 12 kids in mind, each with straight A's, whom he would like to give tickets to each of them, and one for their parent, "if not too much trouble". I assured him that such was not, and that I would be happy to deliver 25 tickets to him, tomorrow, before lunch. I suspect that he has a lot more kids that would gladly take a free ticket, if offered. So, I'll let everyone know when we have met our "known" push of tickets, and any amount which you donate thereafter will be used to purchase additional tickets for other students at Vine Middle, if there are no objections to that.

As of now, we have promised 25 tickets to Vine, 10 to BBBS of Knoxville, and 19 to Knox County DCS, or 54 total - for $540 at $10 a ticket.

Those who wish to donate, should do so, and the sooner the better, as time is running short.

 

Count me good for 4 tickets. Money on the way, soon as I remember my paypal password.

 

It took me three tries, don't feel bad.

 

Did robot TennyD send you a message saying your donation would be checked?

He makes me feel like my money isn't good enough.

 

He did.

However, he is not nearly as long-winded as regular Tenny D.

 

So here's the tricky part, how do we tell the folks on TOOS?

Also, I think Wes Rucker would be good for a RT on Twitter.