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.