Sports fans throughout the DFW gathered Saturday night at their favorite watering hole to celebrate the Dallas Stars’ and the Mavs’ wins on the road.

Photo provided by Jaimie Marie Siegle

Still, the weekend’s sweetest sports victory went down just across the pond in Frisco, where more than 400 football fans witnessed the Dallas Defenders’ 30-0 sweep against the Houston Gunners.

Muchos kudos to those who already knew Dallas had its own semi-pro football team made up of policemen, firefighters and EMT personnel from all over the Metroplex; for those who weren’t already aware, the Dallas Defenders are civil servants by day and philanthropic athletes by night. The football club raises money to fund community outreach programs and support families whose loved ones have died in the line of duty through the Guns & Hoses Foundation of North Texas.

Defenders Football Club players, coaches and supporters commemorated their season’s first victory at TopGolf Dallas for a Guns & Hoses fundraising event on March 27, but all you gotta do to help out the team is attend the Dallas Stars hockey game on April 6 at 7:30 p.m. at American Airlines Center. For more information about ordering tickets, call Chad Pennington at (214)387–5583.

Catch the fourth and final game against the Charlotte Cobras on May 15 at Frisco Memorial Stadium. E-mail the club’s president here if you’re interested in becoming a sponsor, trying out for the football team or auditioning to be a Spirit Girl. We’re so not here to judge.

Hey, Jaimie, we didn’t change one word. Blog well done.

Since it was a private event with series tickets going for a whopping $1500, it had all the frills and spit-and-polish that a high-spending crowd deserves. Starting with a VIP party at McDavid Studio across the street from the Bass, it became apparent that not all Dallasites agreed on the Fort Worth  dress code for special events.

Usually it’s the ladies who are all in a tizzy about what to wear. Not on this night! The gents were really in a quandary about what is appropriate at the Bass for a Faith Hill concert. Some came in their best bib-and-tucker dark suits like Troy Aikman (pictured, he had an excuse since he was co-hosting the reception); Drew Pearson in a bold-striped suit with brown/black striped shirt and goldfinger metallic tie and handkerchief; George Riba (pictured) in a very sportscaster flash-and-dash orange tie, blue shirt, and camel-colored suit; and Bill Lively (pictured) in CEO-styled uniform with a natty orange tie and his ever-present dazzling smile.

On the other hand, those who have probably frequented Joe T’s knew that dress-down is thumbs up in FW and opted for the open shirt with the windowpane sports jacket look. The fashion question of this group was, “Do you unbutton the top one or two buttons on your shirt?”

Leading the charge for the undone-one-button was legend of legends Roger Staubach (pictured) in blue jeans, blazer and open shirt. Doug Brooks looked right at home in his red-white-yellow-blue striped shirt and gray/white jacket. Jerry Jones Jr. (pictured) must have been thinking along the same lines as Doug, since he wore a gray/white jacket but opted for the windowpane design with a pink shirt. Rich Dalrymple (pictured) played it safe in a navy and light striped blue shirt with blazer.

The most daring look of the night belonged to Shy “Cleavage” Anderson (pictured) with his top-two-unbuttoned shirt. Oh, my, what would mother say! But Shy’s so charming, he can get away with anything.

Exception to the male fashion either-or breakdown was party co-host Joe Buck (pictured), who walked the fashion line by not wearing at tie at the reception but putting one on for his on-stage emcee duties.

Alas, have no idea which category Mayor Tom Leppert would have fit in, because he and wife Laura couldn’t attend due to a prior commitment in Dallas. Bet that won’t be the case on May 22 when concert #2 takes place with Sting at the Winspear.

But let’s not discard the ladies thinking they were in hoop skirts and bonnets. Why these gals have been playing dress up since their mamas taught them the phone number for Neiman’s at NorthPark. There was nary a Daisy Duke in the crowd. Still, it wasn’t the traditional cocktail fluff either. Event co-chair Marianne Staubach (pictured) rejected the safe black look for a remind-me-of-Santa-Fe turquoise outfit that dazzled with her blonde hair and multi-strand pearl necklace. Another color standout was Andrea Alcorn (pictured) in hottest pink leather jacket over a black beaded dressed with floral appliqués. How cute that she managed to find matching pink and buff boots to top things off. Speaking of leather, Barbara Daseke (pictured) must have compared notes with Andrea with a black dress overlaid with a belted leather jacket, but Barbara went the reddish brown route.

Then there were the gal pals. For instance, Linda “First Lady of Arlington” Cluck, Charlotte “First Daughter of Cowboys Stadium” Anderson, and Kathy “First Daughter of Arlington” Beatty (pictured from the left) interpreting the ever-popular black. However, that Charlotte in the skin-tight black leather pants gave a whole new meaning to chaps.

And then there were the showstoppers Sonia Black in her faux fur collar and black boots with Lori Jones (pictured right with Sonia), who must have checked with sis-in-law Charlotte about the pro’s and con’s of wearing black leather slacks. Or perhaps it’s just a Jones family uniform.

Joni McCoy (pictured) didn’t bother with all that boot and leather stuff. She went for the simple, classic look of “Wow!” in her beige oh-so cling, past the knee dress, bouquet of blonde curls, and a “Thank God for Texas” smile. Hey, this gal’s an oldtimer when it comes to Super Bowl who-ha. She and her husband Mike attended all three of  Troy’s Super Bowls conquests (XXVII, XXVIII, XXX, if you’re counting).

But enough of the fashions. Let’s do a quick check of the activity:

One minute the very notables were at the McDavid reception and then they all seemed to disappear. Not to worry. They were led to the tunnel connecting the McDavid facility to the Bass, put in an elevator to the ground level, and into a meet-and-greet with Faith herself.

You didn’t know there was a tunnel? Yup. Even Mayor Mike Moncrief admitted that this was his first time to walk under Calhoun Street. It was really cute watching him stroll the tunnel handholding with the love of his life/wife, Rosie.

Then it was on to the concert with segments of Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington blending into one big melting pot. Before Faith even hit the stage, the two warm up acts were enough to leave the room talking.

FOX football commentators Joe Buck and Troy Aikman had their timing just right even when they missed cues. From walking on stage with a couple of bags of presenting sponsor Frito-Lay chips to Troy’s wearing a sign (“emcee sponsors Diane and Hal Brierley“) on his back, these totally different personalities won over the audience with their style and humor. They gave Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin a run for their emcee money.

With the mood set, the boys introduced the infamous debut of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV version of Faith Hill’s “Kiss” with area notables (Roger Staubach, Tony Romo, Nolan Ryan, Jerry Jones, Clarice Tinsley, Tom Leppert, Mike Moncrief, Arlington Mayor Dr. Robert Cluck, Dirk Nowitzki, Emmitt Smith, and many others who might not want their names mentioned) sacrificing their reputations singing like a two-for-one night karaoke bar. Tony Romo captured the “Most Painful Looking and Sounding Award” of the off-key singing luminaries. With sounds as pleasing to the ear as nails across a chalkboard, there are serious doubts that a Christmas album is in the makings.

Perhaps it was the tone of the evening, but the video was rewarded with an exuberant round of hooting, hollering, and applauding. . . much better than the following week’s Internet/media critical reviews. Let’s face it. Some things just take on a different feel in the light of day.

Finally, it was time for Faith to perform. For the intimate setting. . .  well, it was intimate compared to the likes of Gilley’s or Billy Bob’s. . . she wisely chose to use only a handful of musicians and three backup singers for the concert hall. During the first few songs, even this small coterie of musicians seemed to overwhelm Faith’s voice, but the group juggled a couple of knobs allowing her voice to take the lead.

In between sets, her interaction with the crowd seemed a little tentative. Perhaps it was the fact that she was due to walk the red carpet at the Academy Awards the next night with hubby Tim (The Blind Side) McGraw. Just like any wife trying to pick out the right outfit for her husband’s big company party, she admitted that she was still trying to figure out which dress to wear — The Louis Vuitton or the Roberto Cavalli. The crowd leaned toward the Vuitton. (She decided to go with the black lace Cavalli, which garnered reviews from “a little bit red-light district” to “easy and sexy.” Interesting for a gal who prefers sweats.)

Irritating moment: Four people insisted on standing up and swaying throughout the concert. While it’s perfectly understandable because of the music and their exuberance, it was downright irritating to the folks seated behind them, who were forced to stand just to see the stage.

Growing issue facing performers: At least one person in the audience was seen recording the entire concert on her iPhone, while scattered throughout the hall phone cameras were shooting Faith. Don’t think Faith’s agent would have taken very kindly to all this activity, but what’s a guy to do?

Following an encore and a SO, the VIP’s strolled back to McDavid Studio for a dessert party and the rest headed home.

Orchestrating all these concerts and parties were the five Action Team Honorary Co-chairs — Linda Cluck, Gene Jones, Laura Leppert, Rosie Moncrief, and Marianne Staubach along with their team of 111 female volunteers from North Texas.

Can’t wait to see what the fashion theme will be in May!

By the way, Brad’s story is a must read.

The announcement will take place at today’s workshop in Fort Worth. Entitled “The Game Plan, it’s the first of three workshops and will focus on background info and an NFL overview of the program. The next two workshops are scheduled for February and April 2010.

So, if you fit into one of those categories, you need to sign up for a workshop immediately and send a thank you note to TI.

Atta way, TI! Atta way, North Texas Super Bowl XLV Committee!

Then, lo and behold, our Park Cities People scribes revealed that the time had been changed to 6 to 7 p.m same day and same place. (Oops!) Regardless the time, it’s great news to have Troy pitching in to help grow the Friends’ membership. We just may show up early to get in line with our tattered autograph book for Troy’s John Hancock.

But Troy won’t be shouldering all the responsibility for entertainment, though he probably could. There will be refreshments and music by Jayson Bales and the Charmers. Friends of the Katy Trail board members and volunteers will be on hand through Sunday to answer questions and register new members at

• David’s Way,
• the Thomsen Overlook at Reverchon Park, and 
• Snyder’s Union, the new plaza under construction between Lemmon Avenue and Carlisle Place.

And what’s an event nowadays without a raffle? No, naughty ones, Troy is not going to be raffled off, but. . .the raffle ($20 per ticket or six for $100) offers some real must-have’s like:

• Four tickets to a Dallas Cowboys game in a private suite with one parking pass
• Two American Airlines round-trip tickets to anywhere in the Continental U.S. or Mexico
• One-year family membership to the Dallas YMCA
• Luke’s Locker “runner’s fanatic” package including a Garmin GPS personal training device and Asics shoes
• Hockey stick signed by the Dallas Stars players
• Tickets to a Texas Rangers game
• Soils Alive organic fertilization
• Highland Park Animal Hospital services

Donation options are

• $5 for a mini-football and pass to Roy for kids 12 and under and
• $40 for an autographed regulation-size football and pass to Roy.

By the way, only merchandise purchased for donation at the event is eligible for Roy’ autograph.

But don’t you really want a behind-the-scenes story? How about a very important person who was so influential in funding this project but nowhere in sight and never mentioned? Let’s call him “Riley.” You see years ago a young Arkansas law student learned that the owner of her condo was having to sell the unit and she would have to move within a week. This development was disastrous for her. How would she find another place that she could afford on such short notice? That’s when Riley entered the scene. He recognized her plight and said he would buy the condo and rent it to her. She admitted that she doubted if she could swing the rent, but truly appreciated the offer. He said that he would only charge her what she could afford on one condition. One day she had to help someone else.

Today that former struggling law school student, Shannon Skokos, and her husband Ted Skokos joined Bank of America in funding SLANT 45. If their names sound familiar, this venture isn’t their first rodeo. Check out the Shannon and Ted Skokos Stage in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House and the Shannon and Ted Skokos Pavilion at Annette Strauss Artist Square.

Riley must be very proud that his investment contines to pay off.

But leave it to Lydia to be multitasking. Seems that she was also eyeing the mega-incredible facility for the scene of her next undertaking as party chair of the October 17  fundraiser An Evening Under the Star benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

If you had your binoculars out and watched Lydia, you might have noted that she was especially eyeing the world-famous suites ringing the higher part of the stadium. Why? Well, Jerry and Gene Jones and their family have “very generously” donated a Silver Suite for the Cowboys 2010 season (10 games!) to be raffled off at the gala. And the donation is not limited to the suite. Nope, the St. Jude Dream Giveaway includes 18 tickets with four VIP parking passes per game, a $1,000 food and beverage gift certificate per game, and $66,000 in VISA gift cards. Raffle tickets are $250 each.

The “wow” factor in raffles has just hit a new high—even for these parts.