Flashback Friday: Mrs. Santa Clause

In 2007, I was an intern for the Oklahoma City Hornets. Technically, they were the New Orleans Hornets. However, hurricane Katrina derailed the Hornets and they moved to Oklahoma City for two years.

Oklahoma City was thrilled. Hosting the Hornets made us feel big-time. Those two years eventually paved the road for Oklahoma City to acquire the Seattle Supersonics…aka the Oklahoma City Thunder.

It was an important time for Oklahoma City.

It was also an important time for me.

We had a Christmas game that was on December 23rd against the San Antonio Spurs. It was Holiday at the Hive.

They had plans of doing a dunking Santa team for one of the timeouts during the game. They had done this in the past and it was always a big hit.

Well, in 2007, they thought it would be a good idea to have a Mrs. Clause in the mix.

They knew of my gymnastics background and because of that I was their number one choice.

I remember running up to the trampoline, hurdling, flying through the air, then dunking the ball into the hoop.

I was smitten and agreed in a heartbeat.

I practiced every  chance I could. I knew that this was going to be a sold out game with around 18,000 people in attendance.

Game time came and I put on my Mrs. Clause outfit and inserted a million bobby pins into my hair to keep the wig in place.

It was time to go.

Me and the three dunking Santas rushed the court to some fun Christmas music. We pumped up the crowd and got them excited for our act.

The boys went first. The crowd loved them. Then, it was my turn. I think they were just shocked that a girl was going to dunk.

I remember being incredibly nervous. Then, I looked over at the Spurs bench and saw Tony Parker staring at me. Great, more pressure. A cute NBA player was watching.

I ran towards the trampoline.

I hit the tramp and flew through the air. I pulled the ball back to make a dramatic dunk.

I outstretched the ball and threw it in.

You can see a video of the dunk here. Sadly, this was the 2nd dunk that I didn’t make. Bummer.

It was possibly one of the biggest highs of my life.

This internship was such a fun year of my life. We helped with the National Anthem, time outs, half times, running the players onto the floor. I got to meet a lot of NBA players and even danced and shot around with a few of them.

Our first day on the job.

Hornets Christmas Party

Sitting courtside next to the Game Presentation Director. This was a great game where I helped coordinate the music, the announcer…everything.

There was a horrible ice storm and the color guard couldn’t make it that day. The interns filled in.

I’m the “E”

We ran out the flags to Ti’s “Bring em Out”

Hanging with mascots around the league

(I’m on the left)

Playing with the kiddos for a tator tot toss promotion

(Bottom right)

Have you ever had a fun internship??