So here we go... Greetings from the Sky Club at MSP as I wait for my flight to Las Vegas. Truth be told, though, I actually purposefully started this blog at about 10:00 last night, after arriving home from Target Center in downtown Minneapolis, so we'll jump back to that and then I'll wrap this up before getting on my flight.

Wednesday 10/28 - 10:10 p.m.

Okay, quiz time. We just got back from Target Center on a Wednesday night, attending our first game of the year played by a local team for which we now have full (yes FULL) season tickets. And they're GREAT seats too, in Row 7, just off the playing surface. Hmmm... Target Center? In Minneapolis? Full season tickets? Is there some new volleyball or lacrosse team in the Twin Cities? Roller Derby? Professional Dodge Ball? Nope, we are now the proud owners of two seats in the 7th row, just off the floor, for the Minnesota Timberwolves, our "rebuilding" franchise in the NBA. That's 41 games worth of season tickets, in seats that go for $125 a pop!

Did I win the lottery? Do I plan to score huge on a "Wheel Of Fortune" slot machine at Mandalay Bay? Did I lose my mind??? Answers: No, hope so, and yet to be determined.

Here's how it all went down, in just the last few days... It starts with that new car my wife just bought. Remember that? Well, she had her mind made up on that deal and was well into the negotiations when we discovered that the dealership was running a promotion with the Wolves, just for the month of October. Buy a new car, get two season tickets! I will say that although Barbara picked out her car and did the negotiations purely from an automotive and financial perspective, the thought of being handed roughly $10,000 worth of basketball tickets was sort of appealing. Ya think?

Still, I'll have to admit that both of us figured there must be a ton of fine print, a bunch of strings attached, and that the deal couldn't be that good and that easy. You know the drill: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. On top of that, the guys at the dealership were kind of foggy about the whole thing, and they just kept saying "Oh, don't worry about that. The Timberwolves will contact you."

A week went by, and nothing happened. Finally, I didn't know who to reach out to at the Wolves to investigate if this thing was for real or if we were going to be disappointed when we got a call saying "Oh no, they're absolutely free as long as you buy two more of equal value" or maybe "Well, the offer was good while supplies lasted, but we can get you some seats in Row Z on the upper level..."

Despite the fact our collective confidence level wasn't very high, we weren't just going to let the deal go without looking into it, so I went to the team's website and simply hit the "Contact Us" button to send them an email. I'm sure you know how those things work... My lone little email would be piling into some in-box at the Wolves' front office, along with others about the team, concessions, souvenirs, parking, whatever... I really didn't expect a response.

Just hours later, I didn't just get a reply, I got a personal note from Laura Meyer, the team's Ticket and Premium Seating Supervisor. She was instantly engaged, asked me a few questions (which I addressed in a reply) and by the next morning she was calling me on the phone, assuring me that the paperwork from the dealership had just arrived, and that we'd already been assigned seats in the 7th row of the lower level, in the corner. She told me that a young man by the name of Conor Noonan would be our personal staff rep, and he'd be in touch soon. Apparently, by "soon" she meant a minute and a half...

Conor was terrific, and he and I have now spoken or emailed close to a dozen times in the last 48 hours, getting it all sorted out. Since this was finalized yesterday, and Opening Night was tonight, he even agreed to meet me on the curb at Target Center this afternoon, whenever I could get over there, to give me our tickets for tonight's opener against the New Jersey Nets and for Friday night, when the Wolves play LeBron, Shaq, and the Cleveland Cavaliers. We won't be home for the game against the Cavs, but Barb is in charge of finding a good home for our tickets so that some lucky persons can enjoy seeing two basketball legends most likely dismantle our home team. I knew Barb would have a hard time getting away from work at a reasonable hour tonight, and I didn't want to have to stand in line at the Will Call window first, just to get our tickets, so we worked out the curbside delivery and Conor was standing there waving me down as I pulled in on First Avenue.

We don't spend much time in Minneapolis, as opposed to St. Paul or Woodbury, so as I was headed back home in the middle of downtown, I took an iPhone pic of the skyways that criss-cross the whole city. And no, the buildings in Minneapolis are not curved and warped, like they look in the photo gallery. That's just an illusion created by the default wide-angle setting on the iPhone camera.

By the time I got back home, a large envelope from the Wolves was in the mailbox, with the line "Welcome To The Pack" written on it. Inside were the remainder of our tickets (man, this is a LOT of tickets!) and a nice "Welcome Package" from the team.

Therefore, I've actually been all the way over to Target Center twice today. I drove over the first time around 11:00, to find Conor standing on the sidewalk, tickets in hand, as I pulled up. Tonight, I picked Barbara up from her office and we headed from St. Paul over to Minneapolis...

Conor even came by our new seats during the first quarter to meet Barbara and welcome us to the Timberwolves family. I'm tellin' ya, it's "service with a smile" and some real effort on the team's part.

Now, coming from a guy who has been the GM of some professional sports franchises that REALLY needed good customer service, I have to tell you that the last 48 hours with the Wolves absolutely pegged the meter. That was, simply put, the best customer service I've ever experienced from a sports franchise, EVER, and keep in mind we got the tickets FOR FREE!!! It's not like we personally spent a lot of money with them and they feel they have to smile and take care of us, like a casino boss would schmooze a "whale" at the poker tables.

The "let's get back down to Earth" part of the equation is that ever since Kevin Garnett was traded to the Celtics a few years ago, the Wolves have been "rebuilding" and basically starting over, trying to put a new young team together. This year, with a new GM and a new coach, they've done another major housecleaning, and are very young.

If you remember the great Lakers teams from the 80s, you remember Kurt Rambis who used to wear those thick-rimmed black glasses. Well, he's had Lasik eye surgery since then, so the glasses are gone, but he's the new coach of the Wolves, and they do have some energetic young players.

They were tonight, however, "the team that couldn't shoot straight" for nearly four full quarters. Yikes! I'm talking air-balls, bricks, missed lay-ups, wild 3-pointers taken from somewhere near St. Paul, and lots of other mistakes, but they played hard on defense all night, which kept the game somewhat close. Just when it seemed the game was mercifully over, and they were down 16 with a little over 6-minutes to play, they somehow righted the ship and went on a tear that defied belief. It was incomprehensible really, after the way they shot the ball up until then, but win it they did. A "dig deep" and gutty "never say die" effort, to say the least...!!! It could end up being the highlight of another difficult season, but you take what you can get.

During the game, the front office does a GREAT job of making the games entertaining. They have a constant flow of funny and interesting contests and promotions going on, many of which reminded me of my indoor soccer days. All that sort of stuff is sorta "near and dear" to my heart, as you might imagine.

One of their nightly promotions involves allowing two fans to sit in a pair of overstuffed recliners for the game, courtesy of a sponsorship from a local furniture store. I had to say to Barb "Neat idea... 15 years ago!" Back in the mid-90s with the Kansas City Attack indoor soccer team, we worked with a local radio station and furniture store to award two fans a spot on a big plush living-room couch (complete with end-table and lamp!) right behind the goal. We called it our "Couch Potato" promotion, and one of the winners was so good at razzing the opposing goalie we actually brought him back for all our playoff games. Worked like a charm.

The Wolves' halftime entertainment (this is one of those "only in Minnesota" moments) was actually a Chinese gymnast who rode a huge unicycle around while she kicked a series of about a dozen bowls onto her head, until they were all stacked neatly there. She actually was great... The Wolves' mascot, Crunch, is great too. He struts around with a tough Wolf-like attitude, but the kids love him, and I sorta caught a blurry shot of him flying through the air on a slam-dunk...

So anyway, the Wolves miraculously won, although they are sure to be on the short end quite a bit for a while before this young team gels a bit and adds some more talent with some more draft picks. Bottom line, we had fun (that's important) and we're absolutely honored to be full season ticket holders for the Minnesota Timberwolves, with GREAT seats. We're going to support them and try to give back a little effort to thank the team for the great service and the warm welcome we have received.

As for tomorrow, I'm packed for my flight but it's been an adventure doing it. Because my original flight schedule was altered when Delta and Northwest integrated their schedules, I now get in at 1:20, which is an hour later than my originally scheduled flight. That means I'm going to have to hustle to get to the track to hook up with Tim for all our promotional stuff, so for the first time in a long time, I'm not checking a bag. I found my old US Smokeless Showdown roller bag, which fits in the overhead, and somehow cut some corners, left a few items out, and rolled everything tightly to get it all to fit... This will be interesting. And if you see me on TV and my clothes are all wrinkled, you'll know I failed.

Okay, time to take a hot-tub and then go to bed. And hey, I was talking to Conor Noonan about what I do for a living, and he promised me that if any blog readers want to attend a Timberwolves game, I can send them straight to him for discounts and great seats. So, if you want to head to Target Center some night, for a little NBA action, just drop me a line and I'll hook you up with Conor.

Like a guy from New York, I can now say "Whoa! Don't buy those tickets from TicketMaster. I got a guy at the Wolves. I'll hook ya up." It's always good to "have a guy."

Thursday - 10/29 - 9:30 a.m.

Okay, back to my seat here at a work cubicle in the Sky Club at MSP. This whole carry-on thing had me a little out of my routine, and I kept wondering what I was forgetting... Turns out, I remembered as soon as I heard my car beep behind me, signaling the doors were locked, here at the airport. I forgot to bring a jacket. That might not be a big deal out in Vegas, although it does get cool at night, but I'm not really sure what the weather forecast is for here, when I return... Might be a chilly ride home if the temps drop, but the fact it was foggy and 53 when I loaded up the car made me forget I may want to warm up when I get back. Oh well...

Hey, I have another "first" to report, on top of the basketball tickets. I currently have 74,405 elite qualifying miles in my Sky Miles account for this year, and the target level to become a Platinum member is 75,000, so this flight to Las Vegas will put me over that goal and for the first time ever, I'll move up from Gold to Platinum. I probably wouldn't have made it if not for those 15,000 bonus miles Delta put in my account not too long ago, unless I would've headed to Europe for a weekend or something like that. One would think it's going to be nice to be Platinum...

I'm in the front cabin on this flight, and the return on Monday, as well as both directions when I head to Pomona. How'd I do that? I booked these two trips as "cash plus miles" by buying the ticket at a coach fare, but adding in 15,000 miles each way to guarantee myself a seat up front. These long flights to Vegas and L.A. tend to fill up with Platinum flyers, and since I'm not one yet I wanted to make sure. Three and a half hours in an airplane seat is a long time, no matter where you're sitting.

Looks like we're on time, so I should be off the plane and on my way to the rental car facility in good shape, once we get to the other end. If we don't fly right past Las Vegas by 150 miles and then have to circle back. I'm just sayin'...

Hey, here's something funny and coincidental. Remember that long and winding story I told a few days back, about Jayson Werth of the Phillies and how he's the stepson of my old buddy Herbie Werth, and he's the nephew of Dick Schofield, and the grandson of Ducky Schofield, thanks to the fact his mom is Kim Schofield... Well, a few hours after that was posted, I got a voice mail from Krista Wilkerson who said "Oh my gosh, I was just reading the new blog and I had to tell you. Tim and I went to school with Kim Schofield! What a small world."

Miniature!

See you Vegas. Send money.

Wilber, out!