Like many other Trinity students, junior Zachary Treu was excited about going to Spurs game last week to see the Spurs extend their 33 home game home winning streak against the Houston Rockets last Wednesday.
The Spurs did indeed come away with the win, but it was Treu who came home with a $1,100 HEB gift card in his pocket after setting an all time high HEB Beach Ball Mania halftime competition record.
When asked about the experience of participating in the halftime contest Treu expressed how incredible it was to be down on the court.
“I was also shaking pretty bad when I first got down on the court,” recalled Treu. “However, once I caught the first balloon I kind of just dialed in and felt pretty comfortable after that.”
Although Treu grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he is a native San Antonion and a lifelong Spurs fan. It was only fitting then for Treu and six of his closest friends and soccer teammates to celebrate his 22nd birthday at the AT&T center cheering on his favorite team.
Prior to the game, Treu and his friends stopped at one of the many Whataburger stands in the AT&T center to grab their favorite game time snack, “Patty Melts.”
While in line a promotional staffer overheard that it was Treu’s birthday, and therefore selected him to participate in the HEB Beach Ball Mania half-time competition.
At every home Spurs game, HEB sponsors this halftime contest in which the contestant must catch giant balloon balls that fall from the ceiling and then run and deposit the balls in an oversized HEB shopping cart in the center of the court. Contestants only have 45 seconds to catch as many falling beach balls as they can.
The balls are different colors to represent different prize amounts. Once the timed competition concludes, all of the amounts represented by the balls are added together to make up the grand total.
“My strategy was to ignore every single $25 ball, and to focus on one of the $250 balls or the double-money balls,” remarked Treu when asked about his game strategy. “Luckily the right beach balls dropped at the right time.”
As if winning $1,100 dollars and setting the all time highest HEB halftime competition record at the AT&T center wasn’t enough, Treu also received a congratulatory hug from Spurs point legend Tim Duncan on center court.
When asked how he plans to spend his small fortune at HEB, Treu was quick to respond.
“I am definitely going to buy Hot Pockets for the guys that took me to the game, sunflower seeds for our athletic trainer Chris, and a lot of groceries, particularly beer of course, for rest of the year.”
This is certainty a birthday Treu will never forget.
