Jan 8, 2009 9:26 pm US/Eastern
Lucky S. Florida Kid Scores A Pair Of BCS Tix
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
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Danny Sapp, 13, has his mother and a radio station to thank for getting him tickets to his dream game, watching the Gators play the Sooners at Dolphin Stadium.
CBS
Danny Sapp never thought it would happen, but on Thursday the 13-year-old South Florida boy was handed two free tickets to the FedEx BCS Championship game between the Florida Gators and Oklahoma Sooners at Dolphin Stadium.
Danny, is a die-hard Gator fan, and he wanted more than anything else to go the big game, but when his mother, a single parent, looked for tickets she found the prices to be astronomical.
"I looked on Ebay and other websites, but the prices were way out of my reach," said Mercy Sapp.
That's when she came up with one last-ditch effort to get Danny's tickets. She wrote a letter to WQAM Radio in Miami:
Hello,
I am not sure exactly who I should send this email to, so I apologize if you are not the correct person, if you could please forward to who it would be I would appreciate it.
I have never done this before, it is not in my nature to ask for things but as a good friend of mine once told me leave it to your children to make you humble. I am the single mother of two boys 13 and 10. As you can imagine it gets difficult at times to manage our life, and during these time financially it is quite a challenge. This Holiday Season it was especially hard for my boys, their father has abruptly moved away during one weekend due to personal issues and did not even send them a Christmas Card. Although he has not been present all the time since our divorce 4 years ago at least he was around during the Holidays and they would see him. So there was not much magic this Holiday Season for my boys.
My older son is an avid Gator Fan. All he wanted for Christmas was to go to the National Championship Game here in Miami on Thursday January 8th. I tried to find tickets but there was no way I could afford to buy them. I researched the internet every night trying to find deals, but they were all way out of my budget, I also went to Publix and entered the giveaway but I haven't heard anything so I guess we did not win.
Yesterday we were in the car and talking and my son said in a very humbling way "I really wish something magical would happen in my life and I could go to the Gator Game on Thursday. I cant believe my favorite team, my favorite player, My Idol (Tim Tebow) is playing in Miami. This is the person I most admire and most want to be like, not only is he a great football player, but a good, giving spiritual person, everything I want to be like when I grow up."
My eyes filled up with tears, and I thought in today's world these are words a mother wants to hear; your children to be influenced by this kind of role model.
I don't know if you have any access to any more tickets, of course I would need at least two, since my son is only thirteen an adult has to go with him. I will be willing to spend up to $100. For each ticket, which I know is not much after seeing what these tickets go for. But maybe someone could put some magic back in a thirteen year old boy's life for at least a short time.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.
Have a Wonderful 2009!
God Bless,
Mercy Sapp
The letter struck a chord at WQAM and on the day of the big game Danny, his mother and younger brother Justin were invited to WQAM where host Joe Rose presented Danny with two tickets to the BCS Championship game.
"I was speechless," Danny said. "I was in shock. I didn't have words to describe how I felt."
When words don't suffice, a big hug and kiss are always a good way to show Mom how grateful you are, and that's exactly what Danny did. By the way, his little brother Justin isn't going to the game and doesn't mind. That's because Justin is a die-hard fan of the University of Miami Hurricanes.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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