| Alan Peppard: Leaders' fitness is a gamble 05/21/2001 By ALAN PEPPARD / The Dallas Morning News
Remember folks, gambling legal tender on sports is illegal in this town
and you should never do it – especially in front of a basketball court
full of police officers. But I'd bet my best shooting marbles that Mayor
Ron Kirk and Police Chief Terrell Bolton will be dragging their
shoelaces by halftime of Monday night's shootout between the Dallas
policemen's basketball team and the Guaranty Basketball Association's 2000
boys champions, the Thurgood Marshall Jaguars.
The mayor and the chief will be playing for the men in blue.
Sure, chief doesn't look too squishy in his uniform, and hizzoner always
looks sharp in those suits. But underneath it all, do these two top-dog
civil servants have the leg and lung power to go four periods against
these GBA youngsters? We'll see when the game begins at 6:30 p.m. at
Southern Methodist University's Dedman Center, next door to Moody
Coliseum. Also on the schedule, the policewomen's team will take on the
GBA's 2000 girls champions, the Mountain View Pistons.
Now in its sixth summer, the Guaranty Basketball Association helps more
than 1,000 at-risk girls and boys with its basketball program for
inner-city youths. Volunteers from the Dallas Police Department, the
YWCA, the Dallas Park and Recreation Department, SMU and Guaranty Bank
aid each GBA team with basketball as well as community service projects.
J.R. returns
Look out Cliff Barnes, J.R. Ewing is back in Big D. Actor Larry
Hagman and his wife, Maj, habitués of the Dallas social scene
during the '80s heyday of the TV show Dallas, were spotted
lunching at Beau Nash in the Hotel Crescent Court on Thursday with their
friend Vivian Young. She co-owns the Crescent's Lady Primrose
boutique with Crescent founder Caroline Rose Hunt.
Angels of the Palm
Every autumn, big spenders show up at the Palm Night benefit to eat some
of the Palm restaurant's famous steak and lobster and then spend
outrageous sums of money on luxury auction items. The money raised is
given to the Family Place shelter for victims of domestic violence.
Whenever the big bids are being made, you can usually see the hand of
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones or one of his family members
signaling the auctioneer. The family's generosity is not going
unrecognized.
Last week, Palm Night committee members got together for a confab and
kickoff party, where it was announced that the Gene and Jerry
Jones family will receive the Palm Night Angel Award at the Oct. 18
benefit. Neiman Marcus vice president and downtown store manager
Shelle Bagot hosted the kickoff party at Neiman's Commerce Street
flagship.
The Palm owners are preparing to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the
steakhouse (founded in New York, but based in Washington, D.C.).
Coincidentally, so is the Palm Night's headline sponsor American
Airlines. The word is that the Palm and American muckety-mucks are
putting their heads together to create a special package for the auction.
Southern Showers
Obstetrician Laura Blocker and interior designer Jan Showers
seem inextricably linked in the home-design game. Jan has done three homes for
Laura, the latest of which is featured in the current issue of
Southern Accents magazine.
The multi-page story is called "Living the High Life" and displays the
high-rise home that Laura shares with her husband, writer Mark Seal
.
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