This is exactly the night, I thought to myself. This is EXACTLY the kind of night that I always describe when people tell me how great my job is and how lucky I am to have it.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I have a great job and I love it. But sometimes the NBA schedule can be tedious…and monotonous…heck, it can be just plain long. Night after night, day after day, week after week…eventually, a season that can last nine months will grind on you. (Mothers, I have nothing but respect for you).

So, I always cite a night like Sunday to people admiring my job:

“Yeah, it’s a great job, but think about having to go in to work on a freezing cold Sunday in January…when there is a foot of snow on the ground and another six inches is coming down…when you have been working all week…and the Los Angeles Clippers are in town.”

I always use the Clippers because they have been the league’s doormats for so long. In this case the Pacers, who aren’t the Pacers they used to be, will suffice.

“The game starts at 6:30 p.m., so I have to be in around 3:00 p.m…it breaks up the entire day and I don’t get home until about 9:30 p.m. Tough to end the week like that and then get ready for the coming week. Believe me, I’d rather be home, curled up in front of the television, with a big bowl of popcorn and a soda.”

People usually sympathize…but certainly not for long, because they always say, “Yeah, but then you have the playoffs.” And that is completely true.

But still, Sunday was one of “those nights.”

The Yang
Now, any of you that know me, know that I am a big believer in Eastern philosophies and teachings. Lately, I have been studying the Yin and Yang…the circular symbol that represents everything and demonstrates the balance of things in the universe (that’s a pretty trite explanation, but work with me people). It has taught me that with light there is dark, with push there is pull, with masculine there is feminine and with good there is bad.

Friday was the “those days” Yang to Sunday’s “those nights” Yin.

The entire morning I was hitting on all cylinders. It was one of those days where everything was going right. In the afternoon, I spoke to more than 500 students at our ERSA Club, discussing what it takes to be in professional sports. And in the evening before the game, the shopping spree we did in conjunction with our Detroit Medical Center partners went off without a hitch.

To be honest, I was feeling pretty full of myself by game time.

“STEP RIGHT UP FOLKS! SEE THE AMAZING, OUT OF CONTROL EGO!! STEP RIGHT UP! WATCH IT GROW! HOW BIG WILL IT GET??”

Post-game Fridays this season have become a time to shine for our organization. We mix in 10 special, silver bobbleheads amongst the 10,000 we give away and the lucky recipients get a meet-and-greet with the player that is featured in the statue. It has been very successful this season.

As Friday’s silver bobblehead winners begin to gather, my assistant and my interns begin to explain what was going to happen for the meet-and-greet with Rasheed Wallace that night. We tell everyone that the rules are that winners can bring only one guest back with them for the meet-and-greet. (We had envisioned this to be like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and only one guest was allowed in the movie, so why not be consistent?)

I’m running back and forth, schmoozing, shaking hands, kissing babies – feeding the ego -- when I go out to check on the winners and my assistant meets me halfway.

“We have a bit of a problem. One of the winners is a two-year old, little boy.”

So? I say. That will be a GREAT photo opportunity with Rasheed (always the PR guy and remember, the ego is out of control by now).

“Yes, but he has three brothers and a sister, and two parents…and they all want to come back for the meet-and-greet.”

Well, that isn’t going to happen. You told them the rules, right? You told them about our limits. Ummmm….sorry…..hey, rules are rules, you know. We have always done it with only one other person and that’s the way it’s going to be.

“Okay, but she makes a good point about not knowing the rules or it being written down and she told her kids they could all go…and now the kids are upset and I don’t know what to do…and…and…”

Let me talk to her, I say. I’ll work it out (so full of it at this point, my eyes are brown…okay, they are normally brown, but on Friday, they were REALLY brown…and, oh yeah, my ego FULLY expects me to talk my way out of this).

Well, let me just tell you that lessons come in all shapes and sizes. On Friday, the lesson came in the form of the Young family. This family taught me about being “too big for your britches” and that there are more important things (sometimes) than rules. They reminded me of the words that I try to live by, DO THE RIGHT THING and they taught me a valuable lesson.

We designed this Bobblehead Friday promotion as a way to make memories for those involved, particularly when it comes to kids. It is what we are charged to do as members of the Palace Sport & Entertainment staff. It was a huge dose of reality as I looked into the faces of the kids in the Young family. What kind of memory was I going to give these kids?

Sometimes you have to drop the hard-line role, bend the rules a bit and try to go the extra mile to make the memories. Sometimes you have to drop the ego, lose the attitude and do the right thing.

To Mrs. Young (and Mr. Young), who worked very hard (and very calmly, I might add) to pound those above points into my head (and in fact I think she would have been justified to ACTUALLY pound me in the head because I certainly deserved it), I want to apologize for coming across as a pompous ass.

To Dylan and Brendan and Riley and Colin and Lucie, all of whom eventually got to go back and meet Rasheed, get pictures and autographs, I say thank you. Thank you for reminding me of how doing the right thing is hard sometimes, but it is well worth it. To see you guys when you came out of the meet-and-greet was very special.

And to Harrison, and another Brendan, I also want to say thank you. These two young men “took one for the team” as they say, and stayed with their parent while their sibling (and a guest) went back and met with Rasheed. Sure, they were disappointed, but they were abiding by the rules and doing the right thing. I’m sorry I missed you guys the first time, but I’m glad you got to come back to meet Rasheed.

Deflating an ego as big as mine that night, wasn’t easy. But you all helped me remember what it’s like to be a kid – where everything is new and exciting and how important meeting your heroes is. Thank you.

I’m glad Friday turned out to be one of “those days”.