Back when Rudy was around he would make a speech before the event. Usually really upbeat and thanking the fans. Then they would have a real scrimmage with the first and second teams for much longer than the current situation. I remember meeting Eddie Griffin for the first time and he was very friendly with the kids signing autographs and taking pictures. They also had like a question and answer session with the fans Cat and I believe MoT were answering questions. All you had to do was stand in line to ask your question. You could meet the players without having to have a winning ticket or something. It wasn't as structured as the last couple of years but it was much longer and IMO it was much more enjoyable. After Van Gundy took over the scrimmages were mostly for show and a fraction of the time the old ones were.
my open practice memory is the Swift year, where the the practice/autograph session ended, and players were going to the back, Stromile stopped and literally autograph everybody that asked, the Rockets rep even told him to stop and he just said to the rep "there's nothing I can do" with a shrug face. Ever since then, I respected him as he is one of the few in this league to accommodate fans and easily became my fav. Rocket, hell I have his jersey, so yea... I was one of the few that was pissed when he was traded. and oh yes, im going to be there, hell i traded days at work to go
I plan on being there. No mention of cheap food in the invitation, though. Something tells me we aren't going to be seeing $1 hot dogs this year.
