My Evening with Hilton…

Tonight we decided to eat in the “Championship Club”. It is named for the four championships the Comets won. Pictures of the four championships are featured outside the two doors. Inside the Championship Club are two areas. The area on the right is reserved for the bar. Reliant Arena Officials and Hilton plan to have this bar area open for the floor and clubhouse seated fans to meet before, during, and after the game. Hilton would like to have drinks and some “low end” food served there. Currently only drinks are being served through a fully stocked bar. You enter the bar area through the right side door.

On the left side of the Championship Club is an area with cloth cover tables and a 5 station buffet. This is the restaurant area of the Reliant Arena. If any of you have had the opportunity to eat in the Red & White Bistro at the Toyota Center, this is Reliant Arena’s version of the R&W Bistro…and the food is excellent. It is prepared by Aramark, the same company as the Toyota Center. It is a little different from the R&W in that when you go to the station, the food is prepared for you with the ingredients you choose. There are salad, pasta, meat, dessert, and coffee stations. At the pasta station, we chose between penne pasta and cheese stuffed ravioli…then we selected additions of meat and vegetables…then the sauce of our choosing. It was put in a pan and cooked briefly and then placed on our plates. It is the same for the other stations...mixed and served to your choosing. Tonight the meat station had prime beef…very tender and good. Mr. Sorf had the dessert station prepare berry shortcake with the fixings of his choosing; whereas I selected the brownie. The buffet is $25.00 per person…all you can eat…beverages other than water and tea are extra. To enter the buffet area of the Championship Club use the left door behind the guest check-in stand.

Tonight Hilton was in the Championship Club meeting with the Reliant Arena officials. They were discussing how to set up this club. I overheard some of the conversation. Hilton would like the clubhouse to accommodate fans wanting to eat the buffet and fans that want an area to meet and spend time together. He asked Reliant Arena officials if low end food could be added to the bar area. He also would like the windows remove so the fans in the Championship Club could hear the game as well as watch it. Reliant Arena is going to try to include all of his suggestions. He did express his appreciation of the newly installed televisions in the Championship Club.

After the meeting with the Reliant Arena officials, Hilton “worked” the clubhouse. After a few minutes he visited the buffet and sat his plate on the table next to ours. He then turned around and talked to us. He asked us to bear with him as he tries to set the arena up. He said Reliant Arena was working hard to make the arena an arena that we (the fans) would like. He said they are going to paint the floors around the outside of the arena. (They need it) He said they agreed to remove the windows in the club so the fans could hear the game. He wants the fans to have the total fan experience while in the Championship Club. He said Reliant Arena will increase the bar area for fans to mill around. I suggested they include some seating in the bar area because some handicap people can’t stand long periods of time…he said that was a good idea and called the RA official over and asked if they could add seating in the bar area…and it was done. I also suggested that the Championship Club be publicized because most people sitting on the floor and the clubhouses don’t know about it. He said Reliant Officials would be making announcements during the game about the Championship Club. And at tonight’s game it was announce before the game and at halftime. I still think it would be wiser to send out an e-mail to STHs. I promised him to spread the word about it,

I also suggested that fans that do not sit on the floor or in the clubhouse sections should be allowed to dine at the Championship Club by making a reservation prior to the game, as it is done at the Red & White Bistro at the Toyota Center…he thought that was a good idea too.

As he sat down to his dinner, we continued our conversation. He told us about the plan to present Tina Thompson her Team USA jersey prior to the game. I told him that Phoenix did the same thing and Diana Taursi threw hers to a fan, and Anne Myers had to retrieve it and explain to the fan that it was the original. He laughed and said he hadn’t heard about that, but it definitely sounded like something she would do. He said DT is very friendly and assessable to her fans. It was quite evident that he has met her. He said if there was anything we needed to let him know. To which MR. SORF said, “how about a win?” He giggled and said, “don’t even get me started…I was screaming at the radio during the last game. I feel sorry for the SASS team tonight because I’m expecting the Comets to come out mad and win this game”.

And the Comets did!