Knicks Support "Tina's Tips!"
Oct 25 2010 2:36PM
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Ronny Turiaf and Roger Mason, Jr. support Tina Cervasio at her event aimed at educating and informing women about basketball.
nyknicks.com
Roger Mason, Jr and Ronny Turiaf are used to playing in front of thousands of raucous fans night in and night out in arenas throughout the country. This past Saturday, however, they stood introducing the game of basketball at Haru’s Gramercy Park in front of a couple dozen enthralled women.
The two players were special guests of MSG’s Tina Cervasio at “Tina’s Tips! A Gal's Guide to the 2010-11 NBA Season”. The star sideline reporter discussed the upcoming season and the New York Knicks, and everyone in attendance took home an extensive and informative guide Cervasio created to be their cheat seat for the coming season.
“We had a very smart group,” said a radiant Cervasio following the event. “They were very savvy, so I just kind of went through the guide and spent most of the time interviewing Roger and Ronny so they could see how real basketball players are.”
For Mason and Turiaf, the opportunity to assist Cervasio was something they truly relished.
“Tina is a great person, and I wanted to come out and support her to show how much we appreciate her,” said Mason.
Turiaf agreed, explaining why it was important for him to make the appearance.
“Tina asked me, telling me about the idea, and I thought it was a great idea,” he said. “Tina is trying to help others learn about this game, so I made sure I fit it into my schedule to support her and come down here. Tina is always working hard and has so much energy and wants to do well. She has a good heart, and when I see her working to help others, it makes me want to work hard to support her. I am very happy to be here…even though traffic was really hard to get here! It was worth it.”
Over the past year, Cervasio has aimed to educated women about different sports, and Saturday’s event was no different. For two hours, in addition to mingling with real live Knicks, the women got to ask any question, no matter how big or small. And that is exactly what Cervasio had in mind when she came up with “Tina’s Tips!”
“A lot of my very close girlfriends are not very sports savvy,” she said. “We used to joke around that they didn’t know the difference between a hockey puck and a basketball, and I’m a sports nut! So I started with my girlfriends, going over terminology and explaining what things meant. And they would pick it up very quickly. So I thought since I love sports, it comes off the tip of my tongue and it is not only my career but my passion, let me just spread the word. So I started this speaking series and we change it up each time. It is very social and networking too. But the key is to inform women so they can learn about the game and be able to talk and bond with their boyfriends, husbands, brothers or whoever.”
The women in attendance certainly walked away impressed, gushing over an experience they will never forget.
“Me and my twin sister are big fans, and we saw Tina’s tweet about it and we thought it would great to come be a part of it and have a good time,” said Tamara Horton from Queens. “It was really great. We got to learn more about the game and also got to interact with the players. We got to ask them about how they feel about some of the new rules and it was cool to hear them answer us.”
Having Mason and Turiaf as her special guests was a no-brainer for Cervasio, who has quickly learned what high character individuals they are.
“Ronny and Roger are so intriguing, and they care about the game,” she said. “They really connect with people, and I think they connected with the girls here today. They impressed the women seeing how they are humans, they are philanthropists, they are smart and they care.”
Fittingly, the two Knicks were equally impressed with both the women in attendance as well as with Cervasio herself.
“It went really well,” said Turiaf. “The women asked really interesting questions, and we got to hear their ideas and give them feedback. We hear from them how things are being portrayed on TV and we got to give them some insight into the bigger picture of the basketball world. And Tina did a great job organizing this and helping women learn what it is they came here to learn”
Mason agreed as well, chiming in how “anytime you can give back and spread the game of basketball, that is a good thing to do. (This event) went really well. The ladies asked great questions and obviously the game is getting bigger and bigger every year, so it was a good experience.”
The two players were special guests of MSG’s Tina Cervasio at “Tina’s Tips! A Gal's Guide to the 2010-11 NBA Season”. The star sideline reporter discussed the upcoming season and the New York Knicks, and everyone in attendance took home an extensive and informative guide Cervasio created to be their cheat seat for the coming season.
“We had a very smart group,” said a radiant Cervasio following the event. “They were very savvy, so I just kind of went through the guide and spent most of the time interviewing Roger and Ronny so they could see how real basketball players are.”
For Mason and Turiaf, the opportunity to assist Cervasio was something they truly relished.
“Tina is a great person, and I wanted to come out and support her to show how much we appreciate her,” said Mason.
Turiaf agreed, explaining why it was important for him to make the appearance.
“Tina asked me, telling me about the idea, and I thought it was a great idea,” he said. “Tina is trying to help others learn about this game, so I made sure I fit it into my schedule to support her and come down here. Tina is always working hard and has so much energy and wants to do well. She has a good heart, and when I see her working to help others, it makes me want to work hard to support her. I am very happy to be here…even though traffic was really hard to get here! It was worth it.”
Over the past year, Cervasio has aimed to educated women about different sports, and Saturday’s event was no different. For two hours, in addition to mingling with real live Knicks, the women got to ask any question, no matter how big or small. And that is exactly what Cervasio had in mind when she came up with “Tina’s Tips!”
“A lot of my very close girlfriends are not very sports savvy,” she said. “We used to joke around that they didn’t know the difference between a hockey puck and a basketball, and I’m a sports nut! So I started with my girlfriends, going over terminology and explaining what things meant. And they would pick it up very quickly. So I thought since I love sports, it comes off the tip of my tongue and it is not only my career but my passion, let me just spread the word. So I started this speaking series and we change it up each time. It is very social and networking too. But the key is to inform women so they can learn about the game and be able to talk and bond with their boyfriends, husbands, brothers or whoever.”
The women in attendance certainly walked away impressed, gushing over an experience they will never forget.
“Me and my twin sister are big fans, and we saw Tina’s tweet about it and we thought it would great to come be a part of it and have a good time,” said Tamara Horton from Queens. “It was really great. We got to learn more about the game and also got to interact with the players. We got to ask them about how they feel about some of the new rules and it was cool to hear them answer us.”
Having Mason and Turiaf as her special guests was a no-brainer for Cervasio, who has quickly learned what high character individuals they are.
“Ronny and Roger are so intriguing, and they care about the game,” she said. “They really connect with people, and I think they connected with the girls here today. They impressed the women seeing how they are humans, they are philanthropists, they are smart and they care.”
Fittingly, the two Knicks were equally impressed with both the women in attendance as well as with Cervasio herself.
“It went really well,” said Turiaf. “The women asked really interesting questions, and we got to hear their ideas and give them feedback. We hear from them how things are being portrayed on TV and we got to give them some insight into the bigger picture of the basketball world. And Tina did a great job organizing this and helping women learn what it is they came here to learn”
Mason agreed as well, chiming in how “anytime you can give back and spread the game of basketball, that is a good thing to do. (This event) went really well. The ladies asked great questions and obviously the game is getting bigger and bigger every year, so it was a good experience.”
