With only about 36 hours in the very clean and very friendly city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, we really did not get to do a whole lot of 'site seeing'. We arrived in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday, July 24, 2008, after a 4.5 hours flight from Vancouver, and we still had to make the 1.5 hour drive to Chattanooga from Atlanta. We did not arrive until after midnight, and we were all jet-lagged from the long flight back to the east coast.
The next day, we basically woke up and went to the ballpark (everyone on our crew slept until atleast noon) and were all still dragging from our flight the night before. The Chattanooga Lookouts are the Double-A Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, and their ballpark is fairly new, was built with private money, and basically sits atop the city on a hill. The ballpark was built, similar to Billings, and it is easily noticable that they cut corner's to save money. It is a shame that these organizations are putting forth half-ass efforts to build just average stadiums. I am sure that once I am on the inside of one of these transactions, I will see just how much money can be spent, but it does not make sense to me....
Anyways, Chattanooga has another great set of fans, and our game was very very easy on that night. We were all still very tired from the long week we had already had and it seemed as if we were just going through the motions, but we did what was needed and it came across as a success, and that is all that matters!
The next day, Saturday, July 26, 2008, we flew from Chattanooga to Charlotte, had a hour lay-over and then from Charlotte to Seattle. Our flight was late leaving Charlotte because one of our planes passengers had a family emergency and she needed to leave the plane, so that put us back almost an hour. The flight from Charlotte to Seattle seemed to take forever (well actually it was just over 5 hours) but we are currently here, actually in Everett, Washington. We have a game today, July 28, 2008, but I wanted to get everybody updated while I had some time :)
I hope all is going well; it is amazing to think that July is almost behind us, and that I will be home in less then 4 weeks!!!! It is nice to think that I will be returning shortly, but we still have some great places to see and a lot of games to do.... God Bless and y'all have a great week ahead of you!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Montana, Wyoming, and Vancouver
The Triple-A All Star Game was held on Wednesday as stated earlier, and on Friday, July 18, 2008 we were summonned to be in Billings, Montana to do a game for the Billings Mustangs, the Single-A Short Season Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. Billings, is a small mountain town, located about 1 - 1.5. hours northeast of Yellowstone National Park. Unfortunately, we were not able to see any of Yellowstone, but we did get to see a great deal after Billings on our 4 hour drive to Casper, Wyoming, and then our 4 hour drive from Casper to Denver, Colorado.
Anyways, the Billings Mustangs just recently, as of the beginning of this year, built a new ballpark which is estetically pleasing to the eye, but from an experts point-of-view (should I be so daring to call myself and expert? Even though I have seen nearly 100 ballparks, so I should know that difference between good parks and bad parks) this new ballpark was not built to perfection. It had many corner's cut to save money and one who really looks at the park would realize it too. But this did not stop us from having a good time, even though we suffered another rain delay, this only only about 45 minutes, but anytime it rains, it makes our 'show' that much more difficult to put on.
The next morning, Saturday, July 19, 2008, like I said prior, we drove 4 hours to Casper, Wyoming to work their game that night (Saturday). The Casper Ghosts (how clever!!) are the Single-A Short Season Affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, and they play in a ballpark that is 'old' by today's standards, but the people sit right on top of the action, so that intimacy of the place is great, and the fans are very welcoming. We had quite a good showing in Casper, and we debuted some skits that have not yet been seent this year. The hospitality of the Casper Ghosts, and their General Manager, 24 year old Matt Warnecke, was wonderful, and we got a full rib dinner after the game, free beer from the GM (free Blue Moon that is) and then we all went out to the Wonder Bar in Downtown Casper. It was one of those nights that will stick out just for the pure fun that we all had.
The next afternoon, Sunday, July 20, 2008, after we had all gotten caught up with our sleep deprevation, we drove another 4 hours to Denver, Colorado because we were scheduled to catch a flight from Denver to Vancouver at 8:30am on Monday, July 21, 2008.
We arrived in Vancouver, after a 2.5 hour flight, to be greeted by the Vancouver Canadians, the Single-A Short Season Affiliate of the Oakland Athetlics. Vancouver is BEAUTIFUL, and if you ever get a chance to get up there or to the Northwest portion of the United States, take the opportunity and enjoy it, because it is like none other.
Our first day in Vancouver, Monday, was a day to get caught up with the odds and ends that needed to be configured prior to our game on Wednesday, July 23, 2008. We got everything that needed to be done, such as laundry, cleaning the entire Chicken suit, and just making sure all of our props were in working order, and that they all looked presentable. After traveling for 6 weeks, everything needs to be touched up every once in a while, and today was the day to do it.
Tuesday was our media day, and by God, it was a full day to say the least. We started at 8:00am on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 when we were greeted by Rob Fai, the Media/Public Relations Manager for the Vancouver Canadians. Rob knows how to do his job, and he does it better then almost all of the PR Managers that I have met in my lifetime. In our one day media tour, and a great tour of the city of Vancouver, we did 4 total radio shows, and 2 television shows, including Urban Rush, which is Canada's version of Live with Regis and Kelly. It was a great day, in which I was able to see a lot. Everywhere you go in Vancouver you see construction, whether it be on the road, or the building of the infastructure of the Subway system, of the countless building being bulit at a rapid pace. It is amazing to see so much going on at one time, but then I realized that Vancouver is the host of the 2010 Winter Olympics, and they need all of this stuff to have the Olympics function properly. Rob Fai also took us to this local restaurant called Burgers Etc. and it was the best BBQ Place that I have ever been too. Everything was great and it was just a perfect day, in a city that I will want to go back to as soon as possible.
Our game on July 23, 2008 at the Canadians, went over really well, again (this seems to be a re-occuring theme). Their fans are nuts for the Chicken, not as much as Amarillo, but enough to where we sold out of every single piece of merchandise, and did so at a record pace.
Well that about concludes our first swing of the west coast, and we are now off to Chattanooga, Tennessee, on July 24, 2008 to do our game on the 25th, and then turn around and fly right back to Seattle on the 26th to do a game for the Everett Aqua Sox, the Single-A Short Season Affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. I will post again here in a little while. God Bless and I hope everyone had a good weekend. Sorry it has been 8 days since my last post, but I just finished my internship project for school and that had been taking up quite a bit of my time.
Anyways, the Billings Mustangs just recently, as of the beginning of this year, built a new ballpark which is estetically pleasing to the eye, but from an experts point-of-view (should I be so daring to call myself and expert? Even though I have seen nearly 100 ballparks, so I should know that difference between good parks and bad parks) this new ballpark was not built to perfection. It had many corner's cut to save money and one who really looks at the park would realize it too. But this did not stop us from having a good time, even though we suffered another rain delay, this only only about 45 minutes, but anytime it rains, it makes our 'show' that much more difficult to put on.
The next morning, Saturday, July 19, 2008, like I said prior, we drove 4 hours to Casper, Wyoming to work their game that night (Saturday). The Casper Ghosts (how clever!!) are the Single-A Short Season Affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, and they play in a ballpark that is 'old' by today's standards, but the people sit right on top of the action, so that intimacy of the place is great, and the fans are very welcoming. We had quite a good showing in Casper, and we debuted some skits that have not yet been seent this year. The hospitality of the Casper Ghosts, and their General Manager, 24 year old Matt Warnecke, was wonderful, and we got a full rib dinner after the game, free beer from the GM (free Blue Moon that is) and then we all went out to the Wonder Bar in Downtown Casper. It was one of those nights that will stick out just for the pure fun that we all had.
The next afternoon, Sunday, July 20, 2008, after we had all gotten caught up with our sleep deprevation, we drove another 4 hours to Denver, Colorado because we were scheduled to catch a flight from Denver to Vancouver at 8:30am on Monday, July 21, 2008.
We arrived in Vancouver, after a 2.5 hour flight, to be greeted by the Vancouver Canadians, the Single-A Short Season Affiliate of the Oakland Athetlics. Vancouver is BEAUTIFUL, and if you ever get a chance to get up there or to the Northwest portion of the United States, take the opportunity and enjoy it, because it is like none other.
Our first day in Vancouver, Monday, was a day to get caught up with the odds and ends that needed to be configured prior to our game on Wednesday, July 23, 2008. We got everything that needed to be done, such as laundry, cleaning the entire Chicken suit, and just making sure all of our props were in working order, and that they all looked presentable. After traveling for 6 weeks, everything needs to be touched up every once in a while, and today was the day to do it.
Tuesday was our media day, and by God, it was a full day to say the least. We started at 8:00am on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 when we were greeted by Rob Fai, the Media/Public Relations Manager for the Vancouver Canadians. Rob knows how to do his job, and he does it better then almost all of the PR Managers that I have met in my lifetime. In our one day media tour, and a great tour of the city of Vancouver, we did 4 total radio shows, and 2 television shows, including Urban Rush, which is Canada's version of Live with Regis and Kelly. It was a great day, in which I was able to see a lot. Everywhere you go in Vancouver you see construction, whether it be on the road, or the building of the infastructure of the Subway system, of the countless building being bulit at a rapid pace. It is amazing to see so much going on at one time, but then I realized that Vancouver is the host of the 2010 Winter Olympics, and they need all of this stuff to have the Olympics function properly. Rob Fai also took us to this local restaurant called Burgers Etc. and it was the best BBQ Place that I have ever been too. Everything was great and it was just a perfect day, in a city that I will want to go back to as soon as possible.
Our game on July 23, 2008 at the Canadians, went over really well, again (this seems to be a re-occuring theme). Their fans are nuts for the Chicken, not as much as Amarillo, but enough to where we sold out of every single piece of merchandise, and did so at a record pace.
Well that about concludes our first swing of the west coast, and we are now off to Chattanooga, Tennessee, on July 24, 2008 to do our game on the 25th, and then turn around and fly right back to Seattle on the 26th to do a game for the Everett Aqua Sox, the Single-A Short Season Affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. I will post again here in a little while. God Bless and I hope everyone had a good weekend. Sorry it has been 8 days since my last post, but I just finished my internship project for school and that had been taking up quite a bit of my time.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
2008 Triple-A All Star Game
The 2008 Triple-A All Star Game in Louisville, Kentucky has definitely been the highlight of the year so far, but with that being said, we definitely have many other stops that I am confident they will be much more superior to Kentucky! The All-Star Game, with my first being in Toledo in 2006, is a very special occasion, especially at the Triple-A level, because on game day, it is the only professional baseball game being played and broadcast nationally (ESPN2). The MLB All-Star Game is hosted on Tuesday night of All-Star week, but the Triple-A Game is on Wednesday which allows for a new audience to experience minor league baseball at its best.
We arrived in Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday afternoon, the day after our fiasco with rain in Indianapolis the previous night. We worked FanFest for three days (Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, and FanFest is basically a baseball festival that takes place inside the local convention center, and it allows fans to get an inside look at the All-Star Teams, as well as different vendors of sports memorabilia, and the whole minor league experience as well. We did not participate in the Home Run Derby on Monday night, but we were allowed VIP access to the ballpark to be fans for the night!!! This was very cool for me, because Toledo Mud Hen, Mike Hessman, was one of six participants and he ended up finishing 2nd after a triple sudden death in the final round. I will not bother explaining the Home Run Derby process because it will take a whole page in itself to explain it all, so I will just leave you with that thought that it was a great time and it was nice to be a fan for once.
You have to realize that every event prior to the actually All-Star Game is a big party; to sum it up lightly. On Tuesday night, the annual All-Star Gala was held at the Louisville Slugger Museum which is relatively close to Louisville Slugger Field, the site of the Triple-A All Star Game and the Louisville Bats. The All-Star Gala is basically a big party in which the hosting team, in this case the Louisville Bats, puts on for all the executives, players, managers, sponsors, etc. To sum it up nicely, it a big ass kissing event which is not my cup of tea, but hey, I am not going to complain about free gourmet food, everything from prime rib, to seafood, to a fantastic dessert tray. I was not there for the ass kissing portion of the evening; I was there for the food (and the free alcohol of course)!! But it was an awesome night in which we actually got to get a free tour of the Louisville Slugger Museum (where they actually make the authentic baseball bats 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) as well as interacting with much of the interns from the Louisville Bats. Louisville has a great night life, and on Tuesday night we experienced Fourth Street Live, which is there bar district, and it was late night, and an early morning!
Now, for the actual All-Star Game itself – it was AWESOME! From our stand point, everything could not have gone any smoother. We hit all of our marks, made national television, and even SportsCenter that night. It was a very busy night, but it was all worth it when the boss said that everybody did an excellent job, and we could not have done anything better! The International League All-Stars (the league the Mud Hens are a part of) ended up losing 6-5 to the Pacific Coast League All-Stars, but other then that it was a great All-Star Game and I have to hand it to the Louisville Bats on their exceptional planning and implementation of this event.
Well this about concludes this portion of the blog, but we are only about half way through the summer, and there will much more to come I am sure. I hope everybody is doing well and enjoying summer to the fullest. Feel free to send me an e-mail to inform me of how everyone is doing. It is always nice to hear a friendly voice from home J God Bless, and I will be posting another entry on Sunday to fill everyone in on our trip to Billings, Montana; Casper, Wyoming; and Denver, Colorado!
We arrived in Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday afternoon, the day after our fiasco with rain in Indianapolis the previous night. We worked FanFest for three days (Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, and FanFest is basically a baseball festival that takes place inside the local convention center, and it allows fans to get an inside look at the All-Star Teams, as well as different vendors of sports memorabilia, and the whole minor league experience as well. We did not participate in the Home Run Derby on Monday night, but we were allowed VIP access to the ballpark to be fans for the night!!! This was very cool for me, because Toledo Mud Hen, Mike Hessman, was one of six participants and he ended up finishing 2nd after a triple sudden death in the final round. I will not bother explaining the Home Run Derby process because it will take a whole page in itself to explain it all, so I will just leave you with that thought that it was a great time and it was nice to be a fan for once.
You have to realize that every event prior to the actually All-Star Game is a big party; to sum it up lightly. On Tuesday night, the annual All-Star Gala was held at the Louisville Slugger Museum which is relatively close to Louisville Slugger Field, the site of the Triple-A All Star Game and the Louisville Bats. The All-Star Gala is basically a big party in which the hosting team, in this case the Louisville Bats, puts on for all the executives, players, managers, sponsors, etc. To sum it up nicely, it a big ass kissing event which is not my cup of tea, but hey, I am not going to complain about free gourmet food, everything from prime rib, to seafood, to a fantastic dessert tray. I was not there for the ass kissing portion of the evening; I was there for the food (and the free alcohol of course)!! But it was an awesome night in which we actually got to get a free tour of the Louisville Slugger Museum (where they actually make the authentic baseball bats 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) as well as interacting with much of the interns from the Louisville Bats. Louisville has a great night life, and on Tuesday night we experienced Fourth Street Live, which is there bar district, and it was late night, and an early morning!
Now, for the actual All-Star Game itself – it was AWESOME! From our stand point, everything could not have gone any smoother. We hit all of our marks, made national television, and even SportsCenter that night. It was a very busy night, but it was all worth it when the boss said that everybody did an excellent job, and we could not have done anything better! The International League All-Stars (the league the Mud Hens are a part of) ended up losing 6-5 to the Pacific Coast League All-Stars, but other then that it was a great All-Star Game and I have to hand it to the Louisville Bats on their exceptional planning and implementation of this event.
Well this about concludes this portion of the blog, but we are only about half way through the summer, and there will much more to come I am sure. I hope everybody is doing well and enjoying summer to the fullest. Feel free to send me an e-mail to inform me of how everyone is doing. It is always nice to hear a friendly voice from home J God Bless, and I will be posting another entry on Sunday to fill everyone in on our trip to Billings, Montana; Casper, Wyoming; and Denver, Colorado!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Indianapolis
Indianapolis, in my opinion, has to be considered as the most under-rated sports town in America. They have such a great city, with spectacular facilities (Victory Field, home of the Indianapolis Indians, the RCA Dome and the new Lucas Oil Field, home of the Indianapolis Colts, and Conseco Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers). The city of Indianapolis is spectacular, it is clean, friendly, and has a great vibe about it, and the fans love their sports; they are nuts for the Chicken too.
We had a very brief stay in Indianapolis, only one night at the Westin Indianapolis, but it was a great stay, in a city that is one of my favorites. Our show at the Indians game was considered a full complete game (5 full innings) but a massive thunderstorm came rolling through and the game was called after a 2 hour rain delay. We did get a good majority of our show in, but it was unfortunate that the fans did not get to appreciate an entire evening. During one of our skits, our other intern George dressed up like the opposition's short-stop and gets karate flipped by the chicken. The trainer in this specific skit was Matt Rankin, of the Toledo Mud Hens, who took the skit one step higher to the next level. Our guy pretends to really be hurt, so Rankin took a ammonia/salt stick, stuck it by George's noise and it was one of the funniest things because no trainer has played along that well, and it was just a great little addition. But as stated earlier, the game was suspended due to rain, so we actually did not do that well selling our merchandise, but we figured we would sell it eventually down the road.
After the game, we were actually out of the ballpark before 11:30pm, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Champions Restuarant, which was connected to our hotel. We all went, Jane, Dave, Ted, George, Joe, and I, and we had a great time!!
The next day we drove to Louisville, Kentucky to work the Triple-A All Star Game. Once all of the All Star "stuff" is completed, I will be sure to post again; most likely on Thursday because we have a long travel day. Take care, and God Bless!
We had a very brief stay in Indianapolis, only one night at the Westin Indianapolis, but it was a great stay, in a city that is one of my favorites. Our show at the Indians game was considered a full complete game (5 full innings) but a massive thunderstorm came rolling through and the game was called after a 2 hour rain delay. We did get a good majority of our show in, but it was unfortunate that the fans did not get to appreciate an entire evening. During one of our skits, our other intern George dressed up like the opposition's short-stop and gets karate flipped by the chicken. The trainer in this specific skit was Matt Rankin, of the Toledo Mud Hens, who took the skit one step higher to the next level. Our guy pretends to really be hurt, so Rankin took a ammonia/salt stick, stuck it by George's noise and it was one of the funniest things because no trainer has played along that well, and it was just a great little addition. But as stated earlier, the game was suspended due to rain, so we actually did not do that well selling our merchandise, but we figured we would sell it eventually down the road.
After the game, we were actually out of the ballpark before 11:30pm, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Champions Restuarant, which was connected to our hotel. We all went, Jane, Dave, Ted, George, Joe, and I, and we had a great time!!
The next day we drove to Louisville, Kentucky to work the Triple-A All Star Game. Once all of the All Star "stuff" is completed, I will be sure to post again; most likely on Thursday because we have a long travel day. Take care, and God Bless!
South Bend and our "Adventurous" Trip to Chicago!
Our trip from Amarillo, Texas to South Bend, Indiana went very smooth. We actually flew into Midway Airport in Chicago, where I finally met Jane Giannoulas, Ted (the Chicken's wife), who flew in from San Diego because she is originally from Indianapolis, and we were greeted by Terry, the Sales Manager for the South Bend Silver Hawks (the Single-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks). We ended up getting Chicago style deep-dish pizza from Due's Pizzeria and it was phenomenal. However, with getting the pizza, we did not arrive into South Bend until around 3am, and we had to make a the 1 1/2 hour trip back to Chicago in the morning to take care of some business stuff (a.k.a. the other two interns failed to get their passports and you need a passport to fly internationally).
So, at 7:30am, we perceeded to Walgreens, they each got their picture taken, and then we drove to Chicago; they actually have on of the 12 regional passport offices and they actually can print your passport within a matter of hours and the cost is about the same. We ended up spending some time at the library in downtown Chicago, then we worked our way to Michigan Avenue to be tourists and take in the sites and sounds of the city, as well as Millenium Park off of Michigan Avenue. Needless to say, only one of the two interns got their passport because the other one failed to provide proof of citizenship, so it was not a total waste of a trip, and since we were in Chicago, and the Chicago Cubs had a day game, Dave, TFC Inc. Managing Director, and myself were extremely excited to see a game at Wrigley Field. We took the subway to Wrigleyville, and the ballpark, we scalped $15 standing room only tickets for $35 (which I thought was a great price considering they are the Cubs). For those of you that have never been to Wrigley, please go and enjoy everything it has to offer. It was one of the best experiences that I have ever encountered and Wrigley Field is everything I thought it would be. So please spend the time and the money to take in the excitement and the joy that Wrigley Field presents to city of Chicago, as well as the people that make it such a unique place.
After watching the Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, we worked our way back on the subway towards our car. Upon arriving to our car, our boss Dave, the Managing Director, realized that some place along our travels, that he lost the keys to our rental car :( We retraced our steps, and could not find the keys anywhere. So we called road side assistance they basically said there was nothing they could do... So we had the car towed, caught the subway back to Midway Airport and rented another car to drive back to South Bend, in which we did not arrive back there until around midnight. It was an extremely stressful, yet exciting, very memorable for all of us on our trip to Chicago.
Anways, after the fiasco in Chi-town, we had a game the next day in South Bend. It was a great show, the fans responded very well and considering the day that we had the previous day, we were all sharp and I do not believe that anybody knew how tired we really were at that point. It was unfortunate that the group of my aunt's and uncle's could not make it to that game, but hopefully they will be able to catch a game sometime throughout the summer.
Well this about concludes this portion of the blog, and I will be posting another one within a few hours, as soon as I write it to fill everybody in about our trip to Indianapolis and the beginning of the Triple - A All Star Game in Louisville, Kentucky. I hope everybody is doing well and enjoying summer to the fullest. God Bless.
So, at 7:30am, we perceeded to Walgreens, they each got their picture taken, and then we drove to Chicago; they actually have on of the 12 regional passport offices and they actually can print your passport within a matter of hours and the cost is about the same. We ended up spending some time at the library in downtown Chicago, then we worked our way to Michigan Avenue to be tourists and take in the sites and sounds of the city, as well as Millenium Park off of Michigan Avenue. Needless to say, only one of the two interns got their passport because the other one failed to provide proof of citizenship, so it was not a total waste of a trip, and since we were in Chicago, and the Chicago Cubs had a day game, Dave, TFC Inc. Managing Director, and myself were extremely excited to see a game at Wrigley Field. We took the subway to Wrigleyville, and the ballpark, we scalped $15 standing room only tickets for $35 (which I thought was a great price considering they are the Cubs). For those of you that have never been to Wrigley, please go and enjoy everything it has to offer. It was one of the best experiences that I have ever encountered and Wrigley Field is everything I thought it would be. So please spend the time and the money to take in the excitement and the joy that Wrigley Field presents to city of Chicago, as well as the people that make it such a unique place.
After watching the Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, we worked our way back on the subway towards our car. Upon arriving to our car, our boss Dave, the Managing Director, realized that some place along our travels, that he lost the keys to our rental car :( We retraced our steps, and could not find the keys anywhere. So we called road side assistance they basically said there was nothing they could do... So we had the car towed, caught the subway back to Midway Airport and rented another car to drive back to South Bend, in which we did not arrive back there until around midnight. It was an extremely stressful, yet exciting, very memorable for all of us on our trip to Chicago.
Anways, after the fiasco in Chi-town, we had a game the next day in South Bend. It was a great show, the fans responded very well and considering the day that we had the previous day, we were all sharp and I do not believe that anybody knew how tired we really were at that point. It was unfortunate that the group of my aunt's and uncle's could not make it to that game, but hopefully they will be able to catch a game sometime throughout the summer.
Well this about concludes this portion of the blog, and I will be posting another one within a few hours, as soon as I write it to fill everybody in about our trip to Indianapolis and the beginning of the Triple - A All Star Game in Louisville, Kentucky. I hope everybody is doing well and enjoying summer to the fullest. God Bless.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Michigan, Arkansas, and now Texas :)
Well.... it has been a very interesting past few days, to say the least, and I will try to keep it simple, yet detailed enough so y'all know what's going on!!
Our game at the Western Michigan Whitecaps was interesting to say the least. We were supposed to do the game on July 2, 2008, but we got pounded with rain in which it flooded almost the entire outfield. We were able to re-schedule for the next day, which we are not obiligated to do via our contract, but we had an extra day. We re-scheduled our flights and our plans for heading to Arkansas, so we could stay and extra day in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Since we stayed in Grand Rapids for an extra day, we actually did a double header which was quite long. We arrived at the ballpark at 3:00pm for a 6:00pm start and we did not leave the ballpark until after midnight. In minor league baseball, a double header consists of two, seven inning games. The first game went to 8 innings and the second game of went to 12 innings.... Needless to say, we were all exhausted, and had to be up at 7:00am to drive to Chicago (a 3 hour drive) to catch our flight.
Our flight from Chicago to Atlanta went very smooth and we arrived without any problems. We did have a 2 1/2 hour lay-over in Atlanta, so we go to Gate D1A, which is a Delta flight going to Fayetteville. GREAT! We are here and ready to roll, let's play some cards. Now let me tell you that the screen never said what state we were going to, all it said was Fayetteville; and honestly, would you think that there was two or more Fayetteville's? Well there is!! We are literally 20 minutes from boarding our flight, in which we thought was going to Fayetteville, Arkansas, home of the Wal-Mart Headquarters and the home of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. We could not have been more wrong, because Delta airlines finally post that our scheduled flight is going to Fayetteville, North Carolina.... TOTALLY WRONG DIRECTION! And needless to say we do not have time to piss around. We realized this mistake at about 7pm and we are scheduled to be in Arkansas in 24 hours. Thank God we were able to retrieve our bags from the flight to North Carolina, and we decided we needed to drive because every airline sucks, and there was no guarantee that we were even going to be able to get on the flight tomorrow to Arkansas. So we rented two SUVs and drove the 12 hour drive from 9:30pm to 9:30am from Atlanta, Georgia, through Tennessee, across the Mississippi River, and through the entire state of Arkansas to arrive in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Needless to say, our show was great, the fans could not even tell that we all did not get but 4 hours of sleep, and the show must go on. In 34 years, Ted, the Chicken, has not missed a show, and we were not about to let a tradition be tarnished because of a 'little' mistake.
After our game at the NW Arkansas Naturals, we got a fairly goodnights sleep, and then flew from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Houston, Texas, then off the Amarillo, Texas, where the fans go insanely nuts for the Chicken. The Amarillo Dillas are a small, independant league team, in a somewhat poor area of Texas (that being Amarillo), but the fans are what makes this town so special. We did a cameo appearance at their Sunday game, which definitely helped boost their attendance for our show last night. The Dillas sell out ever night the Chicken is in town, and yesterday was no exception. They had a sell out crowd of 7,500+ people, and the great thing is, no ticket is over $6! Our game was a blast, we sold a record for our merchandise, and it was just a great experience, with a great staff, and it is kind of sad to be leaving, but I know that the next few stops, the South Bend Silver Hawks (which I will possibly see some family), the Indianapolis Indians, and then to Louisville, Kentucky for the Triple-A All Star Fan Fest and Game will be a BLAST!!!!
I will keep y'all updated as much as possible. I hope everybody had a great Fourth of July, and that you are all enjoying summer! God Bless and I will be posting again soon.
Our game at the Western Michigan Whitecaps was interesting to say the least. We were supposed to do the game on July 2, 2008, but we got pounded with rain in which it flooded almost the entire outfield. We were able to re-schedule for the next day, which we are not obiligated to do via our contract, but we had an extra day. We re-scheduled our flights and our plans for heading to Arkansas, so we could stay and extra day in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Since we stayed in Grand Rapids for an extra day, we actually did a double header which was quite long. We arrived at the ballpark at 3:00pm for a 6:00pm start and we did not leave the ballpark until after midnight. In minor league baseball, a double header consists of two, seven inning games. The first game went to 8 innings and the second game of went to 12 innings.... Needless to say, we were all exhausted, and had to be up at 7:00am to drive to Chicago (a 3 hour drive) to catch our flight.
Our flight from Chicago to Atlanta went very smooth and we arrived without any problems. We did have a 2 1/2 hour lay-over in Atlanta, so we go to Gate D1A, which is a Delta flight going to Fayetteville. GREAT! We are here and ready to roll, let's play some cards. Now let me tell you that the screen never said what state we were going to, all it said was Fayetteville; and honestly, would you think that there was two or more Fayetteville's? Well there is!! We are literally 20 minutes from boarding our flight, in which we thought was going to Fayetteville, Arkansas, home of the Wal-Mart Headquarters and the home of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. We could not have been more wrong, because Delta airlines finally post that our scheduled flight is going to Fayetteville, North Carolina.... TOTALLY WRONG DIRECTION! And needless to say we do not have time to piss around. We realized this mistake at about 7pm and we are scheduled to be in Arkansas in 24 hours. Thank God we were able to retrieve our bags from the flight to North Carolina, and we decided we needed to drive because every airline sucks, and there was no guarantee that we were even going to be able to get on the flight tomorrow to Arkansas. So we rented two SUVs and drove the 12 hour drive from 9:30pm to 9:30am from Atlanta, Georgia, through Tennessee, across the Mississippi River, and through the entire state of Arkansas to arrive in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Needless to say, our show was great, the fans could not even tell that we all did not get but 4 hours of sleep, and the show must go on. In 34 years, Ted, the Chicken, has not missed a show, and we were not about to let a tradition be tarnished because of a 'little' mistake.
After our game at the NW Arkansas Naturals, we got a fairly goodnights sleep, and then flew from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Houston, Texas, then off the Amarillo, Texas, where the fans go insanely nuts for the Chicken. The Amarillo Dillas are a small, independant league team, in a somewhat poor area of Texas (that being Amarillo), but the fans are what makes this town so special. We did a cameo appearance at their Sunday game, which definitely helped boost their attendance for our show last night. The Dillas sell out ever night the Chicken is in town, and yesterday was no exception. They had a sell out crowd of 7,500+ people, and the great thing is, no ticket is over $6! Our game was a blast, we sold a record for our merchandise, and it was just a great experience, with a great staff, and it is kind of sad to be leaving, but I know that the next few stops, the South Bend Silver Hawks (which I will possibly see some family), the Indianapolis Indians, and then to Louisville, Kentucky for the Triple-A All Star Fan Fest and Game will be a BLAST!!!!
I will keep y'all updated as much as possible. I hope everybody had a great Fourth of July, and that you are all enjoying summer! God Bless and I will be posting again soon.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
HOME SWEET HOME!
Again, I apologize that it has been over a week since I have kept this updated, but with being home for a few days, it honestly slipped my mind, so I am sorry :( Anyways, it has been a great week and weekend, but now that I am back on the road and ready to fully take on this opportunity I will be sure to keep this up-to-date... Yeah right, I think that I have said that before but this time I will follow through with it; PROMISE!
Our games at Dayton and Columbus went very well and we got really good responses from our crowds for those cities. Dayton was a great time, even though the game started in a rain delay, our first of the season, we go the game in and approximately 10,000 people enjoyed the show and the game of course. My cousin, Stephanie came to the game with a friend of her's from work and we got the enjoy eachothers company over the two days in which we were there. It was great to see her and I hope she enjoyed herself at the ballgame as well.
Columbus was only two days after Dayton, and my parents, my brother Eric, and his girlfriend Brittany came down from Toledo to see the game. My Aunt Alice and Uncle Mike also came to the game, as well as my roommate Michael Dietz (MPD) and his dad. They all said that they enjoyed the show, and if you get Eric's approval, you know it was a good one!! We actually stayed at my Aunt Alice and Uncle Mike's house for the night and we enjoyed great company and had a good night, which was followed by a fairly early morning since we had to get ready and head up to Bucyrus, Ohio for my cousin Chris' wedding.
The wedding was a good time, since we do not see that side of the family that often and when a bunch of Pollock's (check the spelling) get together it is always a blast. We traveled home after the wedding, enjoyed our Sunday in which I went to the Toledo Mud Hens game with Jess Kungle, my cousin Chris (not the one who got married the day before) and his wonderful fiance, Ashely, and hopefully surprised the hell out of Porter who said he had some idea that we were going to the game, but I doubt it :D haha! It was great that they got to come down and see me while I was home. Monday was spend with family and Tuesday was spend re-packing. I did get to see Chelsea which was great and it was just nice to be home and enjoying a little vacation!
We are currently in Grand Rapids, Michigan and we are doing a game tonight for the Western Michigan Whitecaps, who are the Single-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, and potential future Mud Hens players! I will post again on Thursday night after we arrive in Fayetteville, Arkansas at the Northwest Arkansas Naturals!
Once again, keep in touch, God Bless, and everybody have a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July!!!
Our games at Dayton and Columbus went very well and we got really good responses from our crowds for those cities. Dayton was a great time, even though the game started in a rain delay, our first of the season, we go the game in and approximately 10,000 people enjoyed the show and the game of course. My cousin, Stephanie came to the game with a friend of her's from work and we got the enjoy eachothers company over the two days in which we were there. It was great to see her and I hope she enjoyed herself at the ballgame as well.
Columbus was only two days after Dayton, and my parents, my brother Eric, and his girlfriend Brittany came down from Toledo to see the game. My Aunt Alice and Uncle Mike also came to the game, as well as my roommate Michael Dietz (MPD) and his dad. They all said that they enjoyed the show, and if you get Eric's approval, you know it was a good one!! We actually stayed at my Aunt Alice and Uncle Mike's house for the night and we enjoyed great company and had a good night, which was followed by a fairly early morning since we had to get ready and head up to Bucyrus, Ohio for my cousin Chris' wedding.
The wedding was a good time, since we do not see that side of the family that often and when a bunch of Pollock's (check the spelling) get together it is always a blast. We traveled home after the wedding, enjoyed our Sunday in which I went to the Toledo Mud Hens game with Jess Kungle, my cousin Chris (not the one who got married the day before) and his wonderful fiance, Ashely, and hopefully surprised the hell out of Porter who said he had some idea that we were going to the game, but I doubt it :D haha! It was great that they got to come down and see me while I was home. Monday was spend with family and Tuesday was spend re-packing. I did get to see Chelsea which was great and it was just nice to be home and enjoying a little vacation!
We are currently in Grand Rapids, Michigan and we are doing a game tonight for the Western Michigan Whitecaps, who are the Single-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, and potential future Mud Hens players! I will post again on Thursday night after we arrive in Fayetteville, Arkansas at the Northwest Arkansas Naturals!
Once again, keep in touch, God Bless, and everybody have a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July!!!
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