Jim & Juli Boeheim Basket Ball
Last night was Jim & Juli Boeheim's annual Basket Ball Gala held at the Turning Stone Resort. This is the first year the event was raising money for the Jim & Juli Boeheim Foundation and the turn-out was amazing with 850 or so people in attendance. SIDEARM Sports was fortunate to have a table at the event where we invited some co-workers, friends, and clients.
The night started off with photos of each couple with the Basketball team. Although missing was Andy Rautins (out of town), Wes Johnson (out of town), and Arinze Onuaku (injury). After your photo the crowd strolled through the enormous room and saw a lot of silent auction items up for bid (including a duke national championship signed basketball (I know... I know...). There were many hor dourves, cocktails, and chitchatting for the first hour.
Around 7:00 the crowd moved into another large room where we all sat down and the program began. I won't go into every detail (although every minute was special). However, Sean McDonough and PJ Carlesimo were the MC's along with Coach Boeheim. I could have listened to those guys for days as the three of them are hilarious together.
After giving out some special awards (the most special to a very special boy Nicholas Trivelpiece - a must read), Jim, Juli, Sean, and PJ began the live auction. Juli described each item up for bid and Jim would state the starting price. The players were then spread out throughout the room holding up glow sticks if someone in a section raised their card indicating they wanted to raise the price. There were only about 7 live auction items but each one was quite unique (flying on the team charter, season tickets, Caribbean vacation, 2011 final four tickets, etc...). However, it was the last item that got the most attention. Jim's Harden leather desk chair that he sat in for 33 years.
While the chair was not exactly the most stylish it was actually in very good shape. They added a plaque (attached to the chair) and Jim's signature on the chair. For added measure they added cut-outs of Jim and Juli's famous Big Heads (thanks to Pat Manley). While most live auction items started at several thousand dollars, Jim did not think anyone would want this chair and he started the bidding at $1500.
Immediately someone in the back of the room bid $1500, then to everyone's surprise PJ Carlesimo bid $2000. The person in the back of the room then bid $2500 and PJ went to $3000. You can see where this is going.... The unnamed person and PJ went back and forth several times until the bid was at $7000 (wow)! Then Sean McDonough reminded the unnamed man in the back of the room that PJ was paid $25 Million dollars not to coach, and that the guy in the back of the room didn't stand a chance of outbidding PJ. Of course everyone was laughing and the unnamed person gave up and Jim announced that PJ had won the chair and the Big Heads.
PJ then did something that I certainly didn't expect. He got on his microphone and said that he was donating the chairs and the big heads back to the foundation and that Jim could auction them off again. Without hesitation Jim said the man in the back of the room "The chair is yours for $2000"). So all in all the foundation raised $9000 for the chair and the Big Heads and the unnamed person in the back of the room saved $4500! Class act by both PJ Carlesimo and Jim Boeheim.
After the live auction ended the great Motown band The Commodores put on show for the audience. They played some of their greatest songs and ended it with Brick House which Rob Stronach was tweeting me saying would happen.
Although the first part of the evening was amazing, around 9:30pm we sat down for dinner (steak & salmon) and drinks. The silent auction continued (although I do feel bad for the person that bid $600 on a unsigned framed SU/Nova poster. Perhaps this person had too much to drink as the poster is available online for $20 and how much can a frame cost?
Around midnight the gala came to a close and while most went home or to sleep many of us (including Sean McDonough) ended up at the Lava Lounge where we enjoyed a NYC style club right in CNY.
The night was amazing and of course it was all for a great cause! Jim & Juli raised over $450,000 in one night for their foundation and gave all 850 in attendance memories to last a lifetime.
The night started off with photos of each couple with the Basketball team. Although missing was Andy Rautins (out of town), Wes Johnson (out of town), and Arinze Onuaku (injury). After your photo the crowd strolled through the enormous room and saw a lot of silent auction items up for bid (including a duke national championship signed basketball (I know... I know...). There were many hor dourves, cocktails, and chitchatting for the first hour.
Around 7:00 the crowd moved into another large room where we all sat down and the program began. I won't go into every detail (although every minute was special). However, Sean McDonough and PJ Carlesimo were the MC's along with Coach Boeheim. I could have listened to those guys for days as the three of them are hilarious together.
After giving out some special awards (the most special to a very special boy Nicholas Trivelpiece - a must read), Jim, Juli, Sean, and PJ began the live auction. Juli described each item up for bid and Jim would state the starting price. The players were then spread out throughout the room holding up glow sticks if someone in a section raised their card indicating they wanted to raise the price. There were only about 7 live auction items but each one was quite unique (flying on the team charter, season tickets, Caribbean vacation, 2011 final four tickets, etc...). However, it was the last item that got the most attention. Jim's Harden leather desk chair that he sat in for 33 years.
While the chair was not exactly the most stylish it was actually in very good shape. They added a plaque (attached to the chair) and Jim's signature on the chair. For added measure they added cut-outs of Jim and Juli's famous Big Heads (thanks to Pat Manley). While most live auction items started at several thousand dollars, Jim did not think anyone would want this chair and he started the bidding at $1500.
Immediately someone in the back of the room bid $1500, then to everyone's surprise PJ Carlesimo bid $2000. The person in the back of the room then bid $2500 and PJ went to $3000. You can see where this is going.... The unnamed person and PJ went back and forth several times until the bid was at $7000 (wow)! Then Sean McDonough reminded the unnamed man in the back of the room that PJ was paid $25 Million dollars not to coach, and that the guy in the back of the room didn't stand a chance of outbidding PJ. Of course everyone was laughing and the unnamed person gave up and Jim announced that PJ had won the chair and the Big Heads.
PJ then did something that I certainly didn't expect. He got on his microphone and said that he was donating the chairs and the big heads back to the foundation and that Jim could auction them off again. Without hesitation Jim said the man in the back of the room "The chair is yours for $2000"). So all in all the foundation raised $9000 for the chair and the Big Heads and the unnamed person in the back of the room saved $4500! Class act by both PJ Carlesimo and Jim Boeheim.
After the live auction ended the great Motown band The Commodores put on show for the audience. They played some of their greatest songs and ended it with Brick House which Rob Stronach was tweeting me saying would happen.
Although the first part of the evening was amazing, around 9:30pm we sat down for dinner (steak & salmon) and drinks. The silent auction continued (although I do feel bad for the person that bid $600 on a unsigned framed SU/Nova poster. Perhaps this person had too much to drink as the poster is available online for $20 and how much can a frame cost?
Around midnight the gala came to a close and while most went home or to sleep many of us (including Sean McDonough) ended up at the Lava Lounge where we enjoyed a NYC style club right in CNY.
The night was amazing and of course it was all for a great cause! Jim & Juli raised over $450,000 in one night for their foundation and gave all 850 in attendance memories to last a lifetime.
0 comments:
Post a Comment