Calvin Murphy is involved in organizing a roast of Yao on Thursday, April 17th in Houston. I was lucky enough to speak to Calvin today, and he said that he would be able to provide a 50% discount to a select number of Yao Ming’s fans to the roast. Seat tickets normally go for $150 (proceeds go to charity), but if you mention the code word “ClubYao,” they should be able to hook you up for $75 per seat. This offer is limited until all the seats are sold out.

Here’s a description of the event from the Windsor Village United Methodist Church where the roast will be held:

This roast and toast dinner event will feature Charles Barkley (via video), Clyde Drexler, Rafer Alston, Steve Francis and other sports luminaries. All of the Houston Rockets are scheduled to be there. Proceeds will benefit The Leader’s Academy.

The Web site for the church is here. However, to get tickets, don’t call the number on the Web site. Instead, call 832-455-6565 during business hours (9:00am to 5:00pm Central time) and mention the “Club Yao” discount code.

A reception is being held from 6:30pm to 7:30pm, with the roast promptly starting at 7:30pm and lasting until 9:00pm.

I’ll also be there. They say the event is “black tie,” but I don’t know if that means guys have to wear a suit or a tux (I imagine it’s just a suit and tie). If you’re interested in going to the event, make sure to confirm what kind of attire they recommend you wear.

Here’s a map to the church location where the roast will be held.

If you have any questions, please submit a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer them.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 9:41 pm and is filed under Charity work. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.