SAN ANTONIO – Today at 10:30 a.m., Spurs media day, flood prep and purses made of carpet.
SPURS MEDIA DAY BEHIND THE SCENES
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The show took viewers onto the floor at Spurs Media Day, and the media crowd itself told the story: roughly 200 outlets credentialed this year, up from about 60 last season. Players talked about what changes when a team stops being a surprise. Victor Wembanyama said the difference is real but familiar, since opponents were already expecting something by game 60 last year. De’Aaron Fox framed the expectations as fuel, and there was plenty of talk about chemistry, including the group getting back together in Paris over the summer. Dylan Harper and rookie center Tarris Reed Jr. were also part of the day. The season opener is Tuesday, October 20 at the Frost Bank Center against the Thunder.
TARRIS REED JR., ROOKIE CENTER
The one-on-one with the rookie center was the warmest stretch of the hour. He described still not quite believing he is a Spur, down to his parents helping him move in and his brother’s reaction, and credited veterans in the locker room for being open with him. Asked about a core Spurs memory, he skipped past any single game and went straight to playing 2K with his brothers, using players he now shares a gym and a city with. Meeting Manu Ginobili, he said, was surreal. He also admitted he has never had a breakfast taco, which the hosts treated as an emergency: one recommended bacon, egg and a little cheese on flour, the other went corn tortilla with a darker roasted salsa. San Antonio was invited to weigh in.
FLOOD PREPAREDNESS IN BEXAR COUNTY
Sponsored by the San Antonio River Authority, this conversation with the deputy chief of emergency management for the Bexar County Office of Emergency Management made the case that the work happens on dry days. Flooding is the area’s most common hazard, he said, and the office plans, trains and exercises year-round with partners including the National Weather Service, county public works and the city. His most concrete advice: subscribe at bexarflood.org for alerts tied to specific low water crossings near your home, job or your kids’ school, then actually use them by mapping alternate routes before the water rises. An alert is only an alert, he said; what you do with it counts. More preparation information is at Floodsdontcare.com, or by phone at 210-227-1373.
ATLAS FLOORS CARPET ONE, THREE GENERATIONS IN
In a sponsored segment, the leadership of Atlas Floors Carpet One walked through a business that started in San Antonio in 1948 and is now run by the third generation. The founders were a World War II veteran and carpenter and his wife, who was the first woman to graduate from Trinity University with a business degree. The company turns 80 next year. The president and vice president, mother and daughter, talked about digging through family photographs and old marketing materials, and about how tastes have moved from shag carpet and orange and avocado vinyl to waterproof, kid-proof, pet-proof luxury vinyl and laminate as customers pull up carpet for hard surface. Giving back came up as part of the company’s DNA: rugs donated to local classrooms, support for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation and accessible homes for wounded veterans, and sponsorship and volunteering with the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. There are two San Antonio showrooms offering free estimates, and details are at atlasfloors.com or (210) 496-5006. The code SALIVE gets 10% off a flooring project.
THE CARPET REMNANT PURSE CHALLENGE
One detail from that history was too good to let go. The founders’ wife ran a boutique inside the first showroom, out of the front of the house the family also lived in, and she turned leftover carpet remnants into custom ladies’ purses. For HemisFair in 1968 she made versions with a special pendant, sold as Tower Tote bags to mark the opening of the Tower of the Americas. So the hosts revived it, with fringe on hand, and challenged each other to build their own remnant bags. The working name on set: the shag bag.
