HOOP IT UP

I know, I know. . .your Mom told you to stay out of the Dallas sun in June. But this time GrandmamaTM is talkin’, and you already know what’s hot. HOOP-IT-UP! Yep, it’s that time again. Time to lace up those Cons and head for the West End for the Seventh Annual Coca-Cola Hoop-lt-Up. [We started to writer Coca-Cola Hoop-lt-Up VII, but most of our players aren’t into this Roman Numeral stuff.] Time to start thinking about melting asphalt and warehouse macho things, time to figure where you’re going to park this year in order to get to the 240 hoops festival courts early enough to ice down the Coke in your carry-cooler, and to scope out all the West End locations serving ice-cold Budweiser. If you haven’t picked up your entry form yet, start buying The Dallas Morning News daily…the form appears there every-once-in-a-while. Or stop by foot Locker. They’ve got plenty of forms, some great new models of Converse basketball shoes, and some video highlights of last year’s action that probably doesn’t include you. Your mug won’t be featured on any trading cards either, but most Upper Deck retailers will have some entry forms. Or call the Coca-Cola Hoop-It-Up Hotline [214/991-1110] and we’ll mail you a form. Don’t miss this year’s competition. It’s guaranteed to be a whole lot more fun than in the past. The courts are flat, smooth and air conditioned, the players gifts are roundball-chic Champion hoop-wear, the Spalding balls have a 100% shooting accuracy rate, and we have eliminated fouling altogether. [Those ex-football coach/biker-type guys who appeared to have chosen serial killing as the next stop in their career path are now excluded from competition. They are saving their Nuclear Strength Head Butt techniques for our Street Hockey 3-on-3 later this summer.] You’ll have a safe blacktop tourney this year, and if you consume a little BC Headache Powder before each game, you won’t have any aches and pains either. Use your AT&T Long Distance line and call some friends to run with you. They’ll luv coming to the Metroplex on Southwest Airlines. But sign up now. You can’t play in what you don’t enter. Hoop-It-Up is the Real Thing.