From the Desk of the GM - April 19, 2010

2010 Promotional Schedule

As promised, here is the Goldeyes 2010 Promotional Schedule. It took a little longer to get this done, but I was waiting for confirmation on what I think will be one of our most unique and sought after giveaways yet. On August 15, we will be giving away 1,500 souvenir skateboard decks, compliments of Amp Energy Drink.

The quality of our theme nights and giveaways this year might just be the best yet. In everything we have planned, we have kept our new slogan “Fun for Everyone” in mind. Having said that, I’ll let the paying public be the judges. So here we go...

Thursday, May 20 – Opening Night!
- Free Magnet Schedules to everyone in attendance.
- Fireworks after the game!
- Donnie Smith throwing out the ceremonial opening pitch.

Wednesday, May 26 – Via Rail Train Game
- Be in attendance for a chance to win a train trip for two to Jasper - Sleeper Touring Class (formerly Silver & Blue) including two nights accommodation at the Jasper Inn.

Sunday, June 6 – Inflatamaniacs Entertainment Act



Wednesday, June 9 – Air Canada Vacations Jamaica trip giveaway
- One of my personal favourite theme night and trip giveaways. This will be our eighth year in a row doing the Jamaica trip giveaway. With “Buffalo Soldier” and “One Love” by Bob Marley playing on the speakers, a cold beverage in your hand, and the chance to win a trip to a Sandals Resort courtesy of Air Canada Vacations. What a great night!

Tuesday, June 22 – Hometown Heroes Night
- Sponsored by Manitoba Blue Cross, the Goldeyes will salute the men and women of the Winnipeg Police, Fire and Paramedic Services

Friday, June 25 – Manitoba Lotteries Batting Helmet giveaway
- The first 2,500 fans through the gates on June 25 will receive a navy Goldeyes souvenir batting helmet compliments of Manitoba Lotteries

Saturday, June 26 – Ballgame and a Movie
- Bring your blankets to the park this night, stick around after the game, go on-field and watch the “Alvin and the Chipmunks – The Squeakquel” movie on the video board.

Sunday, June 27 – First Half Team Photo giveaway, On-Field autograph session & Multicultural Day in Canada
- The Goldeyes pay tribute to our ethnic diversity in our province this night.

Thursday, July 8 – Serta Pajama Party
- Put on your PJ’s and come to the park on this early July evening. Everyone in attendance will have a chance to win a Serta Mattress.

Sunday, July 11 – Boston Pizza Jersey giveaway
- The first 1,500 fans at the game on July 11 will receive a red Goldeyes & Boston Pizza red jersey.

Tuesday, July 20 – Cambrian Credit Union Shirt off our Back Night
- Twelve fans will win the chance to go on field and take the jersey right off the back of a Goldeyes player or coach. Will you be one of the lucky dozen?

Thursday, July 22 – Turn Back the Clock Night

Tuesday, August 10 – Library Night
- The first 4,000 fans will receive a Goldeyes bookmark courtesy of Winnipeg Public Libraries.

Saturday, August 14 – Country Night

Sunday, August 15 – Amp Energy Drink Souvenir Skateboard Deck giveaway
- The first 1,500 fans will receive a very cool souvenir Goldeyes skateboard deck.

Sunday, August 29 – Fan Appreciation Day
- Free set of Goldeyes player cards to the first 5,000 compliments of Rogers
- Great giveaways throughout the game

Sunday, August 29 – Second Annual Goldeyes Fun Run
- What better way to start off the last day of the regular season than taking a walk, or run around the Forks area, starting and finishing at home plate at Canwest Park. Click here to register for this fun event!

Promotions that run throughout the Summer

Sunday afternoons – Dynasty Bathrooms & Caroma Toilet Plunger Pool
- At every Sunday afternoon home game, kiddie pool will be set up on the promenade with 100 numbered plungers. Fans may purchase the plungers for $2 with proceeds to the Goldeyes Field of Dreams Foundation. During the game a PA announcement will inform the fans of the lucky "plunger number" and that fan will win a Caroma Toilet courtesy of Caroma Toilets and Dynasty Bathrooms.

Friday nights – Allegiant Air Flyaway Fridays
- Where else can you go in Winnipeg on a Friday night in the summer and pay $5 to win airfare to Las Vegas or Mesa? Well, on eight occasions this summer at the ballpark, all you have to do is be in attendance and you could win airfare for two compliments of Allegiant Air. One lucky fan each at each Goldeyes Friday home game will win airfare for two from Grand Forks to their choice of Las Vegas or Mesa.

Friday nights – The Original Pancake House Pancake Batter
- This one’s a classic at Canwest Park. Hearing the entire ballpark chanting “Pan-cake, pan-cake” along with PA guy Ron Arnst when the pancake batter has two strikes, is a sound to behold. Each Friday home game one “lucky” opposing player is selected as The Original Pancake House Pancake Batter. If he strikes out during the game, everyone in the ballpark receives a coupon for three free pancakes at the end of the game.

Fireworks x 8!!
- When faced with the unenviable position of opening at home on May long weekend AND on a Thursday night, what does a team do? Shoot more fireworks!! We have always had a fireworks show on opening night, so this year we decided the best thing to do was to add another fireworks show on the second night of the weekend series. It should be a great start to the 2010 season and our opening eight-game stretch against the Lake County Fielders and Joliet JackHammers. Here is the complete list of fireworks nights:

- Thursday, May 20
- Friday, May 21
- Tuesday, June 8
- Friday, June 25
- Wednesday, July 21
- Wednesday, August 11
- Tuesday, August 24
- Saturday, August 28

Monday Nights – University of Winnipeg Student Night
- A new promotion this year, check out the details here

MARRC Play Station Portable giveaway
- On 12 occasions throughout the summer, MARRC, or as most people know them as, the Oil Recycling people, will be drawing for a Play Station Portable. All you have to do is grab a lucky lotto ticket as you come in the park and you will have a chance to win this great prize.

Sundays in July & August – Salisbury House promotion
- At the conclusion of every Sunday home game in July and August, fans will receive a voucher courtesy of Salisbury House to receive a free Mr. Big Nip – the official Nip of Manitoba Homecoming 2010.

Until next time...

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Apr. 5: Office Blog - JG's Top 10 Live MLB Experiences

For my money, nothing (and I mean nothing) beats live baseball. Turn your brain off and forget about life for three hours. How sweet is that?

Here they are in chronological order:

1. Milwaukee @ Toronto (Exhibition Stadium, July, 1979)
My first game. I don't recall (being 10 may have had something to do with it) the date or final score but I do remember Brewers centre fielder Gorman Thomas crashing into the wall.

2. Minnesota 7 Texas 5 (HHH Metrodome, August 10, 1992)
My first game indoors. As a Twins fan at the time, it was fun watching the defending World Series champs win before almost 36,000 people. And, it's true, beer really does taste better at a baseball game.

3. San Francisco 10 Cincinnati 7 (Candlestick Park, August 9, 1993)
Weekday matinee, 80-some degrees, not a cloud in the sky, cheapest seats in the outfield bleachers with fans just giving it to Reds outfielder/former Giants outfielder Kevin Mitchell, cold beer. Need I say any more?

4. San Francisco 6 Cincinnati 0 (Candlestick Park, August 11, 1993)
Weekday matinee. That's where any comparisons end to the game two days previous. With the wind blowing off the bay, I wish I had my winter jacket. John Burkett was brilliant, blanking the Reds on four hits.

5. Texas 6 Minnesota 4 (HHH Metrodome, April 22, 1999)
What a pleasure it was to see former Fish Jeff Zimmerman pitching for the visitors. It was an even greater pleasure to have lunch with him the following day and see he was the same guy just two years removed from playing here.

6. Milwaukee 13 Minnesota 1 (HHH Metrodome, June 27, 2003)
This one was over very early. But it was worth sticking around, if only to see a local boy named Koskie double and score the only run the hosts would get, not to mention a rookie named Morneau.

7. Milwaukee 8 Cincinnati 3 (Miller Park, August 14, 2005)
Sunday matinee, 80-some degrees, great seats (props to Fish starter David Manning) down the left field line, cold beer, free Ned Yost mini bobblehead giveaway. Life is good.

8. Kansas City 5 Cleveland 4 (Kauffman Stadium, September 25, 2005)
A ballpark I had wanted to visit ever since I knew what a ballpark was, even though my hopeless Royals were just that. Zack Greinke serves up a three-run shot to Victor Martinez in the first. Oh oh. Mid-game move (big props to Fish starter Shawn Sedlacek's lovely wife Joy) to a skysuite. Nice. Access to Bret Saberhagen figurine giveaway. Very nice. Paul Phillips doubles off Bob Howry to score Angel Berroa with one out in the ninth for the walk-off win. Very very nice.

9. Houston 3 St. Louis 1 (Busch Stadium, September 27, 2005)
In-and-out day trip from Kansas City to see Roy Oswalt and Matt Morris in an absolute dandy. Downtown St. Louis is cool. The Gateway Arch is even cooler. The trip back includes a stop at Waffle House. This is indeed America.

10. Seattle 10 Oakland 9 (Safeco Field, September 25, 2006)
Introduced my lovely future wife to former Fish George Sherrill over lunch. So nice (yet not at all surprising) to see he hadn't changed since leaving Winnipeg, despite how he was now making 20 times more money a month. Ballpark sushi was amazing. Played some Mario Superstar Baseball on the concourse before saying good-bye to Georgie in the bullpen. We were long gone by the time the hosts tied it in the ninth and won it in the tenth.

April 1: Taylor's Ticket Tour - Day 16

It’s been a tremendous run. We’ve hit the north end, the west end, the south end and even the east end. We’ve been to Sanford and Carman and Morden and Winkler. We’ve done downtown and down the street and met up with more than 200 Goldeyes fans and potential Goldeyes fans.

It would be inaccurate to suggest that the 2010 Ticket Tour has been an overwhelming success – at least, not yet – but I do believe that by meeting a whole slew of people we’ve never met, I learned one important lesson: The Goldeyes name is as good as gold in this community.

Day 16 was a clean up day for the 2010 Ticket Tour. We called some of the people we met along the way and we’ll be doing a lot more of that as April goes along. We spoke at length with folks from NCI Radio, Variety, Earl’s, monart, Metro Trailer Sales, ChangeMakers and Investors Group Winnipeg West. We answered some important questions and cleaned up some loose ends.

We also drew the winner of that spectacular Roman Swiderek print. With Goldeyes sales and marketing director Dan Chase as our witness, and with 211 business cards in our draw drum, we chose the business card belonging to (drum roll please)...

Rick Watts, president of The Fabris & Milano Group Ltd., the marble and tile guys, over at 1035 Erin St. We’ll see Rick next week when we deliver his framed “Winnipeg Goldeyes” print and recently-purchased 2010 ticket package.

It was a wonderful trip through Winnipeg and the southern part of the province and we want to thank everyone we met for the fabulous Friendly Manitoba hospitality. And, don’t worry, we’ll be calling all of you in the coming weeks to follow up on our initial meetings.

Now, let’s play ball...

From the Desk of the GM - March 31, 2010

Field of Dreams Update, etc.

It's been a while since I've posted anything here, so I've got some catching up to do. Here's an update on what's happening with the Field of Dreams Foundation as well as an update on "Team Goldeyes" and our Police Service Half Marathon Relay fundraising efforts.

Fillmore Riley LLP K’s for Kids Program

Last year I talked about the Fillmore Riley LLP K’s for Kids program. Just for fun, I got out the abacus and did some math. Here’s a recap:

“Working with a number of 300,000 fans per season, if only one per cent (or 3,000) of those fans participated in the program and pledged five cents per strikeout with an average of 300 strikeouts thrown by Goldeyes pitchers, the amount donated would be $15 per person. Multiplied by 3,000 fans, that would add up to $45,000 that would go to the Field of Dreams Foundation, which would end up in the hands of children’s charities in Manitoba. To take the math a little further, even if 3,000 fans pledged one cent per strikeout, or $3 per person, that would still be $9,000, which is more than the program currently raises.”

Well, we didn’t quite make it to $45,000 but we did raise $14,461 in 2010. The 2009 amount eclipsed last year’s amount by a full $5,000. So, thank you to all who helped make that happen and a special thank you to Fillmore Riley who, for the second consecutive year, is the title sponsor of the program.

So, if you think you might have a spare $15 between now and the end of September, send in a pledge for 5, 10 or 15 cents per strikeout. All you have to do is pledge a few dollars, our pitchers will do all the work striking out the opposition. Please click here to download a pledge form.

Goldeyes Field of Dreams Charity Golf Tournament
Monday, July 12, 2010 – Bel Acres Golf & Country Club

The 16th annual Goldeyes Charity Golf Tournament takes place at Bel Acres Golf & Country Club on Monday, July 12. It’s a great day that has as much to do with fun, camaraderie and team spirit as it does golf. The tournament is currently 70% sold out, so if you are thinking about entering a team, please give me a call at 982-2273 and I’ll save you a spot. Here are some pics from last year's event:





Winnipeg Police Service Half Marathon Relay

It’s now just over a month until Rick and I will run in the Winnipeg Police Service half marathon. According to Rick, he has been training very hard for this. He is currently running three or four times a week and anywhere from 25 minutes to an hour each time. He’s promised me that he’ll complete the first leg of the relay (about 10.5 km) in 55 minutes or less.

Our pledge drive has gone very well so for with more than $1,600 raised for the Canadian Cancer Society. Thank you very much to everyone who has pledged to date. If you would like to pledge “Team Goldeyes”, please click here and donate whatever you can spare. And, if you've got nothing else to do the morning of Sunday, May 2, come on out to cheer Rick on through the first leg of the relay. Click here to view the route for the first leg. Who knows, maybe there will be a special prize for the best home-made "motivational Go Team Goldeyes" sign we see along the course!

Next up on the blog will be this year's promotional schedule. We've got some great things planned for 2010, so check back here soon to get all the details!

Until next time...

For up to the minute information about the Goldeyes, check us out on Twitter.

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March 29: Taylor's Ticket Tour - Day 15

We’re getting close to the end of the 2010 Ticket Tour. April is right around the corner and before we know it, baseball will be upon us.

On Monday, we passed the 200 mark in our draw for that spectacular framed “Winnipeg Goldeyes” print by our very-talented friend Roman Swiderek. Someone will win it this week, so check out goldeyes.com to see whether you’re the lucky recipient of our gorgeous draw prize.

In the meantime, Day 15 was a busy one.

We started by visiting old friends Duane Penner at Road Trips Travel and Adam Gaiser at Mark’s Work Warehouse and then we took a ride down Dugald Road to meet some terrific people.

Stopped in at Transcona Trailer Sales and had a great conversation with Budd Bier, Travis Bromley and Evan Pepper. Travis already has his tickets in Section I, but Budd seemed really interested in joining us at the park this season.

We then had a visit with Devan Monette and Tyler Bromley (yes, Travis’s brother) at Rond’s Marine and followed that up by stopping in at GNR CampingWorld. We spent 10 or 15 minutes with Doug Kendel at GNR who said business this year was great.

“And that’s amazing when you consider all the recession talk,” he said. “We sell luxury items and it’s been very busy for us for quite awhile. You wouldn’t know there was a recession here.”

We stopped in at Genivar (“a global leader in consulting engineering”) and met with Joyce Hay, who promised to circulate the ticket package around the office, before dropping in at Dynamic Machine Corp. and leaving a package with Jason Price and Richard Weiss.

With that, we moved on to Ashland Chemical, where our great weather was the topic of conversation. Our final stop was at CDP Imaging, where we had a nice chat with company president Frank R. Mueller.

In all, it was a great Day 15 and we’re just about ready to draw our lucky prize winner.

Stay tuned.

March 25: Taylor's Ticket Tour - Day 14

The real reward of the 2010 Ticket Tour comes when folks we meet along the trail get interested enough in the Goldeyes to do more than just buy a mini-pack or rent a suite for a single game.

This week, we were able to complete an arrangement with Brendan Rogers and his associates Paul Winestock and Ryan Downey at RBC Dominion Securities, to purchase a quarter of a suite for the 2010 season. Obviously, our visit with Brendan last month set the wheels in motion and we thank Brendan, Ryan and Paul for becoming partners with the Winnipeg Goldeyes.

Day 14 was a busy day in as much as we spent most of it sitting down in meaningful discussion with potential ticket buyers. Day 14 was a little more hard sell than soft.

We talked at length with our great friend George Sigurdson of Sigurdson Financial, one of the real committed Winnipeggers, who not only renewed his season tickets, but also purchased 20 tickets for the season opener on May 20 that he’ll donate to MacDonald Youth Services. George is one of those guys that makes Winnipeg a great place to live.

Then we had lunch with Rick Watts, president of Fabris-Milano Group Ltd., marble, terrazzo and ceramic tile contractors. Rick was a member of the last University of Manitoba Bisons team to win Canada’s national university basketball championship, a former member of both Canada’s national basketball and volleyball teams and a creator of backyard professional whiffle ball. We know we’re going to see Rick at the ballpark on a number of occasions this summer.

We then dropped in at monart in St. Vital to visit our friend Darren Charron who was very interested in this year’s terrific ticket deals before dropping off half a dozen packages with Kevin Kaiser and Don Coucelles at Investors Group West on Portage Avenue. They always purchase a number of suites at the Goldeyes games and we expect to see them in the park a lot this summer.

We also visited with Melodye Whitesell from the Manitoba Aboriginal Sport and Recreation Council about some group nights, did a follow up with Blake Russell at the Manitoba Metis Federation, spoke at length with Kris Kopansky (the managing partner at Earl’s Polo Park) and then had a tremendous discussion with Neil Dalrymple, the general manager of Assiniboine Athletic Club. Neil loves the ballpark and knows first hand that Canwest Park is about the best place one can spend a summer evening in Winnipeg.

It was a great day, spent with a lot of people that already love the Goldeyes and the ballpark. And we also added 12 more business cards to our draw for that sensational framed Roman Swiderek print.

March 19: Taylor's Ticket Tour - Day 13

Some days are just better than others. Take Day 13 of the 2010 Goldeyes Ticket Tour as an example.

It began way out west with a stop at the ESSO Avitat near the airport. A great young woman at the flight desk said she’d get our ticket news out to all the pilots from the small airlines and private jets that fly out of the Avitat.

I then spent some time with our old pal Murray Hill, the business development director for a marketing and communications firm known as ChangeMakers. Murray has long been a friend of Goldeyes sales and marketing director Dan Chase, so I expect to see my old friend at the park a lot this summer.

From there, we (at this point my student assistant Chelsea Larsen from Red River College had joined the caravan) dropped in at Winnipeg Sport and Leisure and met Natalie LaRoche. Natalie and most of her staff gathered round to talk Goldeyes and one of the customers, Roberta from Prairie Places Inc., asked for a couple of packages to take back to the office. Evidently, Roberta has known the popular Dan Chase from way back in another, younger, life.

We then moved on to Western Storage where we met Sandra Tucker who really seemed to enjoy the Skysuite nights she and her fellow employees have spent at Canwest Park. We then dropped in at Starlite Communications, followed by stops at Phase II Autobody Ltd., Aqua Tech and Crown Utilities Ltd.

At Crown Utilities, Chelsea spent some time with longtime Goldeyes season-ticket holder Frances Adolph, and learned what it means to be a real Goldeyes fan (not that she wasn’t already). And we also popped in at Thomas Auto and Tire.

Day 13 ended by going viral. We spent the first 15 minutes of Marty Gold’s Great Canadian Talk Show on 92.9 KICK-FM talking about Goldeyes tickets, the upcoming season and the spectacular team that Rick Forney has assembled.

The message was simple: It’s time to get your tickets because this is shaping up to be the best year of Goldeyes baseball – ever!

March 11: Taylor's Ticket Tour - Day 12

Battling the rain and muck isn’t always fun but it does send a message: If it’s plus five and sloppy in Winnipeg in mid-March, baseball season can’t be that far away.

On Day 12 of the 2010 Goldeyes Ticket Tour, we once again brought along our student job-shadower, Chelsea Larsen, as our sales assistant and she did another outstanding job.

In fact, Chelsea got to handle a couple of solo efforts, paying a visit to both Glenn Harrison at General Paint and Heather Morris at First Avenue Office Furnishings Ltd. I’m sure they enjoyed Chelsea’s appearance a lot more than they would have enjoyed mine.

Meanwhile, we dropped in on Glenn Lepp’s people at Custom Woodworking, the receptionists at Kern-Hill Furniture, a terrific guy at Speedy Auto Glass on Nairn who said he’d be seeing his boss, Jim Capek, later in the day, a very nice young lady at Jade Transport Ltd., who said she’d be sure to hand our ticket package to company president Larry Dyck and an extremely pleasant lady at Paramount Windows who told us she’d make sure Tim Dudeck (who handles their advertising and what not) would see the ticket package right away.

We had a terrific visit with Chris Smith at the Rent-All Super Centre on Nairn who told us the best thing about Canwest Park is that he can walk home after the games. That is one of the great things about downtown baseball.

We talked to Rich at ICI Paints who told us store manager Darren Kuhlman was a big Goldeyes fan and that head groundskeeper Don Ferguson (aka Fergie) had purchased paint there in the past.

And Eric Hastie at Tool World told us they’d had a group outing at the ball park a couple of years ago and looked forward to another one this summer. Fergie told us he’s purchased a number of tools at Tool World.

We look forward to seeing all our new friends at Canwest Park this summer. Meanwhile, there are now 135 business cards in our draw for that sensational framed print by Roman Swiderek.

March 10: Taylor's Ticket Tour - Day 11

Sometimes you need to get out of the office in the winter and talk to the people that really enjoy coming to Canwest Park to get a true sense of how great an evening at the ballpark can be.

That seemed to be the theme on Day 11 of our 2010 Ticket Tour as my new sales assistant, Chelsea Larsen, a student at Red River College who is in for a week of job-shadowing, and I headed down Archibald to Nairn and visited some of the businesses that are, essentially, our neighbours.

It was nice to see people that are busy and ready for a fun-filled baseball season.

We started by visiting the folks at the Habitat for Humanity Store and we also ran into Ron Raap from Premier Printing who had as many good offers for us as we did for him.

Chelsea and I walked over to Regional Products Ltd. and discovered many of the employees enjoy nights at the Goldeyes games. We then walked in on Dennis Delorme and his crew at Praxair on Nairn, a huge company that supplies atmospheric, process and specialty gases. The boys were busy but said they loved a night at the ballpark.

From there we visited Don Sicotte at Metro Centre Ltd., which provides everything from trailers and trailer parts to dock hardware, do-it-yourself aluminum fascia eavestroughs and vinyl siding. Don and his partner Maggie Pearson had a terrific 2009 and he was so busy, he could hardly take a breath, but he did say how much he enjoyed the ballpark and he’d get back to us the second he could sit down.

“I always dreamed of the being the boss and just barking out orders,” he said with a laugh. “Well, I’m the boss, but I’m too busy doing the work to bark orders.”

We then dropped in on Dave Ratte, the branch manager of Cloverdale Industrial Protective Coatings, the industrial division of Cloverdale Paints. Dave was thrilled to see us, probably because he was an old schoolmate of Jamie Betterns, my colour analyst on the Safeway Goldeyes telecasts on Shaw Bettens. Dave is another one of those guys that loves the ballpark and we’ll see often this summer.

From Cloverdale, we walked over to Carpet Girl Inc. and met design consultant James Harris. James is a New Yorker that calls Canwest Park one of his all-time favourite ballparks.

Hope we see all the Carpet Girl employees this summer.

We also met with Robert Lacey at Dufrense Furniture, who loves attending Goldeyes games with his wife, Harold Duncan at United Furniture Warehouse, who was very friendly, and the folks at Quality Life Services Inc. In fact, we met with a woman at Quality Life whose daughter was a fan services rep at Canwest Park last year and who has another daughter ready to join the crew this season.

In total, we put 14 more cards in our draw for that beautifully framed Roman Swiderek print, bringing our total to 125.

March 4: Taylor's Ticket Tour - Day 10

There are just some days that are too good to be true. I’ve found that many of those days occur when you leave the confines of the Perimeter Highway and head to other parts of Manitoba. That’s when you absolutely, truly believe in the motto on the licence plate.

After spending Day 10 of the 2010 Ticket Tour in Carman and Morden, I can tell you without reservation, that this IS Friendly Manitoba.

I must start, however, by apologizing to Craig Keenan. Craig is the service manager at Medichair Winkler and it was his idea to take part of the tour and head south. It was a great idea and my plan was to meet with the Northland Machinery guys in Carman and then head to Morden, Winkler and Altona.

Well, I’ve had to re-schedule the Winkler/Altona portion of the trip to March 24 or 25. That’s because I ran out of daylight in Carman and Morden. Sorry, Craig, but as you probably know better than anyone, these are the friendliest people on the planet and I just had too many lunches and too much coffee and by 5 o’clock, I was still on the west side of the traffic lights on Highway #3.

We started in Carman, finished our promotional deal with Northland Machinery and then went to lunch at the Carman Golf Club with Les, John and Kyrke from Northland.

By that time, it was early afternoon and I still didn’t know what I was in for.

The first stop in Morden/West Winkler was at Bio-Heat Resources where Steve Alder and the rest of the new owners were about as fun and friendly as it gets. Hope to see them at the ballpark soon.

Then we met Tyler Friesen at Wentworth Ag. Inc., Kevin Bergen at Enns Agri-Sales, a wonderful young woman at Greenvalley Bobcat and the boys at Tektite Manufacturing. Never met nicer people in my life.

Then we went downtown and met up with Brad Collins at Eldon’s Furniture, Lance Derksen at Farm Credit Canada, a lovely young woman at Home Hardware and some tremendous people who work for Rudy Ens at Gaslight Harley-Davidson. I’m embarrassed that it was the first time I’ve ever been to Gaslight Harley. It’s one of the nicest stores I’ve ever seen... anywhere.

After that we visited with John Conroy at Ed’s OK Tire Store in Morden, Andrew Nickel at Little Morden Service, Jerrilyn Peters at Greenvalley Equipment Inc., a nice young woman at Manitoba Hydro Customer Service who said she’d put the ticket package on the coffee room table and then a tremendous young receptionist at PJ Trailers.

At this stage, it was time to head home. But not before stopping in at Ed’s OK Tire Store in Carman, Sperling Industries in Sperling and then at Bestland Agro where we met president Matt Bestland who was an outstanding guy.

All in all, it was a great day and in the end we had a free lunch, a lake full of coffee and we even sold a few mini-packs. We also put 19 more business cards in the draw for that wonderful framed Roman Swiderek print. We’re now at 111 cards in the draw and 20 days to go.

Day 11 of the Tour will be next Tuesday. We’re heading north and west.

March 3: Taylor's Ticket Tour - Day 9

As the sun shines and the snow begins to melt, as it did on Day 8 of the 2010 Ticket Tour, it just feels like people are starting to think about spring

And when you think about spring, you automatically think about baseball, so Tuesday was a great day for our Goldeyes Ticket Tour.

We opened the day by dropping in on the folks at my MP’s office. Shelley Glover is back in Ottawa but her right-hand woman at the constituency office in St. Boniface was very charming and said she’d pass on our 2010 ticket offers to the Parliamentary Secretary for Official Languages.

After spending the morning in the office, we headed out for a luncheon meeting at Hu’s Asian Bistro on Ellice with Darrell Boughton from First Canadian Insurance and then began our trek through some of the businesses around the airport.

We stopped in at NAPA Auto Parts, visited Meditek on Ellice and then dropped in on Traction Heavy Duty Truck Parts before heading over to see our old friends at Lonestar Harley-Davidson.

Sharon and Marge Danylchuk are in the midst of a $300,000 renovation of their showroom on Oak Point Highway and we had a nice look around the new facility. It’s going to be spectacular when it’s finished.

We also spent some time talking about the motorcycle promotion they did on the Canwest Park concourse a couple of years ago, a season when their sales manager had to return to the park three times to change bikes – because he sold the bikes that were displayed on the concourse. I imagine we’ll visit again.

After our tour, we dropped in on an old friend, Larry Desrosiers, at Ecco Heating Products. In 1978, Larry and I played on the Southdale Pizza Place Falcons, the Winnipeg Intermediate Fastball League champions. Larry looked like he could still play. I suspect we’ll see plenty of Larry at the ballpark this summer.

We finished the day by having a visit with the boys at JS Furniture Gallery on Ellice and ran into our old pal Burnett Konsmo. Burnett was one of the really dedicated sports collectors in the province and he and the guys from the old Sports Collectors Club are still running auctions on the internet and by mail. Burnett is a regular at Canwest Park every summer. I just hope he can convince his fellow workers that a night at the park is more fun than a new sofa in the showroom.

All in all, a nice afternoon on Tour and we now have 92 business cards in our draw for that beautifully framed Roman Swiderek print.

March 2: Taylor's Ticket Tour - Day 8

Day 8 began as well as one could imagine. As expected, our good friend Roger Williams from CanCentral Card and Supply on Erin bought a pair of mini-packs and we definitely want to say “Thanks” and give a shout out to Rog.

Things got even better when our old pal and tremendous Goldeyes supporter Dave Petrishen, who just happens to be the new business consultant at Dairy Queen Restaurants, called about mini-packs for 2010 and we made a date for next week to talk about his options.

We dropped in on a couple of terrific young ladies on Des Meurons. Our first was at Overhead Door who said she’d pass on the ticket info to president Scott Wallace and the other at Special Laser Tech Inc. who wanted to barter for my Goldeyes jacket. I told her I’d bring Goldie into the office if she and her boss bought season tickets.

Had a great chat with Garry Gerbrandt who runs Dynamic Auto on St. Mary’s Road. As busy as he was in the shop, he was still buzzing about Sidney Crosby’s goal on Sunday. Aren’t we all? Still.

From Dynamic Auto, I wanted to get down the street to see Ray Giguere at Argy’s Collectibles. A tremendous baseball man, Ray also happens to be a Goldeyes fan with a tough summer schedule. As umpire-in-chief of the BoniVital Umpires Association, he doesn’t have much time to enjoy baseball in the summer because he’s either umpiring or scheduling umpires.

In fact, anyone older than the age of 13 with an interest in making a few extra bucks this summer can call Ray at 253-1565 or 253-8452 and apply to be an umpire in St. Boniface-St. Vital. It pays up to $40 a game and there is no previous experience necessary (BTW, we’re still trying to figure out a way for Ray to tweak his schedule and buy a couple of mini-packs).

After spending almost an hour with Ray, we slipped across the street to see Dan Meyer at Meyer’s Auto. Dan was out of the office but his friendly staff told us the ticket package would be placed on his desk.

All in all, Day 8 was a productive day and we now have an even 80 business cards in our draw for that beautifully framed Roman Swiderek print.

Feb. 26: Taylor's Ticket Tour - Day 7

DAY 7

Day 7 on the 2010 Ticket Tour was a busy one, a day in which we spent as much time merely talking baseball with Goldeyes fans as we did actually peddling tickets.

We started by dropping in at Northern Paint on Gertrude and had a real nice early-morning chat with the guys in the shop before heading up to see our old friend Roger Williams at CanCentral Card and Supply on Erin Street.

Roger has all kinds of memorabilia in his store and he just bought a large collection from the estate of the late, great Reyn Davis, the man who taught me everything I know about journalism. Davis was the Jets reporter for the Free Press and a man who not only loved the Jets, but a terrific ball player who loved all of Winnipeg’s sports teams.

Roger and I talked about old times and he committed to buying at least a pair of mini-packs for the 2010 season. We’ll talk again today.

We then popped in at B.A. Robinson Bath Centre and left a ticket package for showroom manager Gord Graveline and then wandered over to B.A. Robinson Co. Ltd. Electrical and left another package with marketing manager Joanne Grouette.

Then we ran into our old friend Eric Radford from Beam Global Spirits and Wine Inc., who gave us a good news/bad news scenario: He had accepted a job in Vancouver. Good news for him, bad news for his friends. We’ll miss you Eric. Keep in touch.

We then popped in on Thomas “Fergie” Ferguson at Stewart Trophies, the company that is literally building the new “Tear The Cover Off The Ball” trophy that will be handed out to the Goldeyes batting average champion. Designed by artist Kris Row and built by Fergie, it is an eye-catcher and a wonderful prize for the team’s best hitter. I hope to see all the boys from Stewart’s in the ballpark this summer.

Feb. 25: Taylor's Ticket Tour - Day 6

DAY 6

If one can call a 24-hour period a “mish-mash” then the last 24 hours of the 2010 Ticket Tour was a mish-mash.

Meetings, phone calls, paperwork and enough time to sit down with fans and clients and actually SELL some tickets.

On Tuesday afternoon at 1:00, I met with Arnold Asham (not the curling Arnold Asham, but his cousin, the publishing Arnold Asham) at Grassroots News, Manitoba’s leading aboriginal newspaper, and Arnold agreed to renew his season tickets for 2010. During the summer, Grassroots News has a regular full-page feature on the Goldeyes, sponsored by one of our great partners, Valour Tri-West Insurance Brokers. Arnold uses some of the tickets for himself and his family and some as prizes for his readers. Great idea.

Tuesday night, I MC’d the Remembering Our Jets Dinner at Earls St. Vital, and our auctioneer, Bill Knight of Bill Knight Flooring, stepped up and bought a pair of season tickets. Meanwhile, I had a great chat with Joel McInnes, the restaurant leader at that spectacular Earls location, and he and I will have a sit-down later in the week (BTW, the Remembering Our Jets Dinner was a tremendous success).

On Wednesday, I had a meeting with publisher Ray Blumenfeld of WE Publications, a big baseball fan who didn’t hesitate to buy a pair of Club mini pack seats, and then I went over to have lunch with Tom & Joe of 92 CITI FM at the Hu’s Asian Bistro on Ellice. It was Tom & Joe’s monthly VIP Club lunch and this time it was the folks from Manitoba Hydro.

During lunch I met Bob Filep, a former member of the local rock band Chocolate Bunnies from Hell, and a big-time baseball fan. After a long chat about his beloved Toronto Blue Jays, Bob decided he wanted a pair of mini packs and we were happy to help him out.

So that was our 24-hour mish-mash – meetings, lunches, paperwork, contract writing and a few tremendous Goldeyes supporters.

We now have 62 business cards in our draw for that wonderful framed “Winnipeg Goldeyes” print by Roman Swiderek.

Feb. 23: Office Blog - Top 10 Things Andrew Wants To Do...

I’ve talked about my bucket list in the past.

One of the things I’ve wanted to do but hadn’t until recently was learn how to snow board. Well, I can cross that one off the list. When I told people I was going to attempt snow boarding, they would say things like, “wear wrist guards”, “you’re going to be sore all over”, “you’re going to fall a lot”, etc. I can now say that everything I was told was completely accurate. Had I not worn wrist guards, I wouldn’t be typing this, my body hurts all over and I did fall a lot. I stopped counting the number of times I fell on my backside, or front, or side at about 200. And that was the first day. The second day is when I think I really hurt myself.

So, now that I’ve crossed that off my list, there are still a number of things I’d like to do before I start looking at the grass from the other side.

Top Ten things still on my “Bucket List”

10. Play a round at Augusta
9. Go to the Superbowl
8. Bungee Jump (no specific location)
7. Run a Full Marathon (preferably Hawaii, Disneyworld or Jamaica)
6. Touch the “Play like a champion Today” sign in the Notre Dame Fighting Irish locker room

5. Meet Lou Holtz (former coach of Notre Dame Fighting Irish)
4. Zip Line in Kauai or Jamaica
3. Do a flip (or 360) on a wake board
2. Watch my kids graduate university
1. Walk my daughter Olivia down the aisle at her wedding.

Some of these will be easier than others to accomplish. I’m fairly confident I can knock off at least six of these items before I knock off. I’ll let you decide which six they are.

Until next time…

Feb. 23: Taylor's Ticket Tour - Day 5

Today was an interesting day. We actually had someone riding shotgun.

Paul Duque, our website specialist and group ticket expert, brought along his camera to record Day 5 of the 2010 Ticket Tour for an upcoming webisode and got a good glimpse of the Scurfield/Dovercourt business section of our fair city.

The morning began, solo, with a meeting at the Academy of Broadcasting Corporation, one of our newest partners, and a company that will be well-represented at the ballpark this summer. On our way to the meeting, we dropped in on a very nice young woman at the Cadillac Fairview office at Polo Park, who said she’d pass our ticket package on to shopping centre GM Deborah Green.

Then it was off to Scurfield with Duke and a chance to both meet and reacquaint ourselves with some terrific people.

On the way, we stopped in at Wildwood Motorsports on Pembina Highway. What a tremendous store. We’re hoping owner Paul Germain is a baseball fan.

Then we met Doug Cooke and Fred Arnold at ABB, a leader in power and automation technologies. They were great guys who, I’m hoping, will join me at the park this summer.

We then popped in at Thomas Design Builders, Anthony Allan Office Furniture, Johnson Controls and the operations office of Academy Florists, where it was great to see Kathy Lanthier again after a lot of years. Kathy was once the marketing and sales director at the Viscount Gort, but looks good as the marketing director at one of the city’s largest florists. We had a great chat. It was nice to catch up.

Then we went over and met Brian Shirtliffe, the sales and marketing manager at CWS Logistics. He was a great guy who sounded like a bit of a baseball fan and I figure I’ll get a call from him as the weather gets warmer.

Finally, we stopped in at a place that has always fascinated me, simply because it’s located right beside our television partners at Shaw. Apotex Fermentation Inc., according to its website, “provides contract services in research, process development, scale up and manufacturing of fermentation based pharmaceutical products.” I have to admit, this Tour is teaching me a lot.

I met briefly with a very busy executive assistant named Donna Pinarski who asked a number of great questions and really had a good grasp of Goldeyes baseball. I suspect we’ll see some Apotex folks in the park this year.

Tomorrow is Day 6, an extremely busy day. We now have 56 business cards in our draw for that beautiful framed Swiderek print.

Feb. 19: Taylor's Ticket Tour - Day 4

DAY 4

It might have been the best day yet. If nothing else, it’s why I love Winnipeg: the people.

Back on Wednesday, as I drove out to Carman on our 2010 Ticket Tour, I noticed all the terrific new buildings on the west end of McGillivray Boulevard just before the Perimeter. So, I told myself to drop in on some of those folks, just to see what was inside.

The first place I went on Friday was Brandt Tractor Ltd. and what an impressive place. You could play basketball in their foyer. If you need a tractor, make sure you go there and look around this marvelous facility.

From there, I dropped in at Arnott Agencies (Puma, Dunlop, Warrior Sports etc.) and had a great chat with Kerri Arnott and then drove over to the magnificent Kleysen Group LP building right across the street. It’s another tremendous building that houses one of Canada’s most prestigious transportation group of companies. You know it’s “prestigious” because the building screams prestige.

From there I went over to Dovercourt Drive and knocked on the door of my old friend Scott LaCroix at the IC Group, and then went down the street and met Michelle Mauer, who works for the FWS Group of Companies, but she’s not related to Joe. By the way, Joe Mauer is the best baseball player I’ve ever seen.

We also popped in on the folks at Supreme Basics, a division of Supreme Office Products, J.R. Cousin Consultants, Com-Free and C & T Rentals. We met a wonderful lady at Vector Construction Group (“The Concrete Restoration Specialists”) who passed the ticket package on to her boss, CEO Bob Spriggs, and then we dropped in on Steve and Ev Polish, along with Michelle Anseeuw, at TNM Promotions on Scurfield.

Steve once coached my daughter’s fastball team at Glenwood C.C. while Michelle is the headliner of “Inclineations”, a tremendous Patsy Cline tribute that’s been featured at the Casinos of Winnipeg. I know Steve will be at the ballpark this summer, and it appears we may have found a new anthem singer as well.

We finished up the day with a visit to that beautiful CRNM building on the south side of Pembina Highway, just before the underpass near the Pembina Hotel. The College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba has a wonderful site and I talked at length with a terrific young guy named Patrick Yeates. Hope we see a group from the CRNM at the park this summer.

It was a short week, just four days, thanks to 92 CITI FM’s Louis Riel Day holiday. But in four short days, we now have 46 business cards in our draw for that tremendous Roman Swiderek framed print.

All in all, it was a great first week.

Feb. 19: Taylor's Ticket Tour - Day 3

DAY 3

It started out like a normal Thursday. In the end, it was a crazy day.

Day 3 of my 2010 Goldeyes Ticket Tour started with a regular client meeting with Gord Tumilson from King’s Transfer and ended in a chat with a wonderful woman named Linda Desmarais at the Manitoba Metis Federation, who put in an order for some underprivileged kids.

The meeting with Gordie was great. King’s Transfer is sponsoring the Opening Pitch at the ballpark this summer and we just wanted to go over some of the details. Part of King’s Transfer’s package involves tickets and we deeply appreciate the company’s partnership. And you won’t find anyone better in the city with whom to deal.

From there, I stopped in at my barber shop for a couple of reasons (yes, I do get a haircut and, maybe, just maybe, my barber will suddenly get interested in baseball). Enzo Zaurrini is a soccer man, through and through. In fact, he has this love affair with the entire Serie A, but this morning I thought I might appeal to his adventuresome side.

“Enzo, how about some baseball tickets,” I said.

“It’s OK, but you can take my business card and put it in your draw.”

Oh yeah, when I stop at these Manitoba businesses, I make sure I grab a business card and get it into a draw for a beautiful Roman Swiderek framed print. Enzo liked the print. I’m not sure he likes baseball. Yet.

At lunch time, I sat down with Brendan Rogers, the former Bomber linebacker, who became a very successful financial advisor for RBC Dominion Securities. We talked football and baseball and I got the sense he might buy a mini-pack or two.

Then, late in the afternoon, I went over to the Manitoba Metis Federation and spent a few minutes with my new friend Linda Desmarais. Linda was going to pass on our ticket offer to the shot callers at the MMF, but in the meantime, she was thinking about some North End kids who loved going to Goldeyes games, but didn’t always have the five bucks necessary for a ticket.

I told her that’s the reason we have the Community Zone. Tremendous business people in Winnipeg buy a row or half-a-row of tickets for the entire season and our assistant GM Regan Katz and his right-hand man, Paul Duque, make sure those tickets get to the people who need a free ticket.

Linda was going to give Paul a call and I figured I just had a pretty good day.

Feb. 19: Taylor's Ticket Tour - Day 2

DAY 2

It started off with a simple meeting. I was heading south to Carman to visit with John Barrett and Les Evinger at Northland Machinery.

It turned out to be a whirlwind tour of a wonderful little Manitoba town.

Now, Northland Machinery has a couple of terrific new lines of golf cars and motorized scooters, but so far, nobody knows they exist. Les, the sales manager, and I had exchanged a few e-mails and talked briefly about setting up a display on the promenade at Canwest Park before a dozen or so Goldeyes games this summer. But now, it was time to go to Carman, meet the boss and take a look at the goods.

So on Day 2 of our 2010 Ticket Tour, we climbed into the Hyundai (“I love my car...”) and headed past the Perimeter Highway, to beautiful downtown Carman.

It was a tremendous trip.

We spent 40 minutes with Les and his boss John, had a tour of the plant, checked out the Hummer and Escalade golf cars and talked Goldeyes, golf and, believe it or not, motorized scooters. I think this will be the start of a long relationship.

From Northland Machinery, we went downtown to visit with Claude Robidoux at Janzen Motors and Claude made a great comment: “I love Goldeyes baseball because I can afford to take all the kids and grandkids.” Indeed. If you’re looking for a GM Product, head out to Carman and talk to Claude.

After leaving Janzen’s, we stopped in at Lee Construction and had a nice chat with a very busy Heidi Sandulak and then we popped into the Carman Inn and got a lesson in salesmanship from the young women in the restaurant. “We need to talk to Vic (the boss, I assume),” said one of the ladies. “We deserve a night in a Skysuite.” I agreed and suggested they have a good sit-down with Vic.

At this stage, I’d almost run out of the sales packages I brought, but had enough to stop in at Carm Auto & Ag Parts to leave one with owner/manager Bob Friesen and then make another stop at Carman Ford to leave one with general manager Jim Hay. Had a nice chat with the employees at both places and it’s nice to know that the Goldeyes are loved in a town that, for the longest time, cheered for the Carman Goldeyes.

On the way home, I had to make one more stop. There was no sense going out to Pembina Highway without stopping in at the Pembina Hotel to talk tickets and the UFC 110 with our old pal Trevor Druxman.

Trev mentioned he used to be a season ticket holder and I suggested he might want to re-visit that status. We’ll talk again soon.

All in all, Day 2 of the Ticket Tour was a rousing success. I’ll be heading back to southern Manitoba real soon.

Feb. 16: Office Blog - Taylor's 2010 Ticket Tour

It’s an idea that isn’t particularly new. In fact, it’s exactly what my great-uncle did when he sold encyclopedias door-to-door.

It’s referred to as “burning shoe-leather” and really is a defining principle of “old school.”

Granted, in this age of texting, Facebook, Twitter, iPad, e-mail and yes, even the occasional telephone call, the thought of actually knocking on doors to sell a product seems rather archaic. But when you stop and really think about it, it’s the only real way to meet people you’ve never met. And for me, here in the dead of winter, there is an urgent need to meet more people.

So starting, officially, on Tuesday, February 16, on behalf of the Winnipeg Goldeyes Baseball Club, we will commence with “Taylor’s 2010 Ticket Tour.”

The goal is to meet the people who work every day to make Manitoba’s businesses successful. We’ll start on the 16th and keep at it until the end of March. The goal is to talk to 300 businesses in and around Winnipeg and invite them, personally, to purchase Goldeyes tickets for the 2010 season. In fact, we’ve already set the 17th as the date we visit Carman, home of the old senior and junior Carman Goldeyes.

Now, I’ve been around our Goldeyes in some manner (or in some incarnation) since a time when the club was a mere twinkle in Sam Katz’s eye and I can tell you, I’ve never been more excited about a team’s chances to win than I am this year.

With shortstop Wes Long, third baseman Vince Harrison, designated hitter Juan Diaz, left fielder Dee Brown, right fielder Cory Patton and second baseman Josh Asanovich back in the fold and with the addition of centre fielder Aharon Eggleston and catchers Luis Alen and Brett Wallace, this is a team that will score plenty of runs. If manager Rick Forney adds the power-hitting first baseman he’s after, the Goldeyes could be an offensive powerhouse like no other.

This is a team that, barring injury, should take a legitimate run at a Northern League championship.

Meanwhile, the Northern League itself is better and more competitive than it’s been in a couple of years thanks to the addition of two new teams, including Kevin Costner’s Lake County Fielders. The 2010 NL season promises to be one of the best ever.

And that’s why I want everyone in Winnipeg to join me at the ballpark this summer. I’m so excited about this season, I’m going to go door-to-door to personally invite as many people as possible to buy Goldeyes tickets.

And then, every day during this year’s Ticket Tour, we’re going to blog about our travels right here at goldeyes.com. We want to get to know as many business people in Winnipeg as we can and we’re even going to have a prize or two at the end of the Tour. And in the process, we’re going to tell everyone about our travels.

So whether it’s a nine-game mini-pack in the Grand Slam Section ($45) or a 21-seat SkySuite for the entire 50-game home schedule ($25,000), we want you to be part of the Goldeyes family.

In fact, we started a preliminary mini-tour on Thursday evening and visited with Brent Sayles, the general sales manager at Winnipeg Hyundai, Darrell Boughton, the regional manager of First Canadian Insurance Corp., and Al Franklin, one of the three partners in Superstars Sports at 1885 Portage. I told Al that when I deliver his tickets, I’ll bring Goldie along for the celebration.

The same goes for everyone else we visit in the days ahead. All you have to do is give me a call at 982-2273 and I’ll do all the work. And on the day we deliver your tickets, we’ll bring Goldie with us just for laughs (he doesn’t know it yet, but I’m sure we can convince him).

So it’s here: Taylor’s 2010 Ticket Tour is now underway. I hope we see you before the end of March.

Feb. 16: Office Blog - Top 10 Signs of the Zodiac

Having recently celebrated her ___th birthday, retail manager Megan started wondering how the zodiac signs should be ranked and why (i.e. the people born under that sign). Here's what she came up with...

Megan's Top 10 Signs of the Zodiac:

1. Capricorn - ME! ...oh and Dick Weber (founding member and long time star of the Professional Bowlers Association)

2. Scorpio - Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk) and Alan Young (Famous confidante to Mr. Ed)

3. Virgo - Andrew Collier, George Lazenby (the "Forgotten Bond" appearing in the 6th edition of the hit films) and Colonel Harland Sanders (creator of Kentucky Fried Chicken)

4. Aries - Christopher "I need more cow bell!" Walken... need I say more!

5. Pisces - Tex Avery (creator of Daffy Duck) , Janet Guthrie (first woman to ever drive in the Indy 500 and Daytona 500) and Dr. Seuss

6. Libra - Bo (the First Dog; family pet of the Obamas) and Amy Jo Johnson (the Pink Power Ranger)

7. Taurus - Our very own Blake "The Condition" Schultz, as well as Barbaro (famous race horse) and Sadaharu Oh (hit 868 home runs in a 20 year career in the Japanese Major leagues)

8. Aquarius - Hank Aaron (as we are a Baseball club), Wayne Gretzky (as we AREN'T a hockey club) and Mike Krzyzewski (famous coach for Duke Blue Devils basketball and you guessed it - we aren't a basketball franchise either)

9. Cancer - Bob Dole (former US senator), "The Hoff" David Hasselhoff and Canadian bombshell Pamela Anderson

Leaving three signs fighting for the last spot on the list...

Sagittarius - Bill Nye "The Science Guy" and the Bush twins

Leo - Danny Bonaduce, Napoleon Bonaparte, & Miss Cleo (self proclaimed psychic)

Gemini - Kelly Monaco (winner of the inaugural Dancing with the Stars) and Franz Anton Mesmer (Austrian physician who believed in the healing powers of what he referred to as "Animal Magnetism")

Hmmm... this list is sure to be controversial. Is your zodiac sign too low on the list? Which of the three bubble teams should make the list? Please feel free to discuss

Feb. 11: Office Blog - Top 10 Concerts Jonathan Green Never Got to See

In my last submission, I wrote about the top 10 concerts I ever saw. Today, it's the top 10 concerts, for whatever reason, I never got to see.

10. Dwight Yoakam
I know of few people, if any, that like Dwight Yoakam as much as me. So why are he and I never in the same city at the same time? I wish I knew. Not only does he write most of his songs, which so few country artists do, he stays true to his roots. The only roots too many of today's talent know are those they try and hide with a little help from a Clairol bottle. Brutal.


9. Ultravox
The first techno band I ever got into, these guys came up with some pretty catchy stuff without coming across as fluff merchants. The best thing they did was add the brilliant Midge Ure on vocals when John Foxx left and the rest, as they say, is history. It's too bad most people know them just for Dancing With Tears In My Eyes. They were so much more than that.


8. Bruce Springsteen
Why he has never come here, at least to my knowledge, is truly a mystery. I'd be prepared to pay just to see him cover Edwin Starr's War (What Is It Good For?) and then he can go home, although he'd be more than welcome to stay and bang out The Rising, Badlands, Radio Nowhere, Downbound Train, Murder Incorporated and the list goes on. No price would be too high.


7. The Tea Party
Ask any number of people to name a genius and I'm sure you'll get any number of responses. Ask me and I might say Jeff Martin. The band's lead singer and guitar player, his songwriting and musicianship are captivating, especially his Eastern influences. It's a shame they did not meet with greater commercial success, but at the same time, maybe it's just as well.


6. U2
This would have to be before they became everybody's favourite band in 1987 with the release of The Joshua Tree. Since then, no thanks. Go back to 1984's The Unforgettable Fire or even further back to 1983's War and now we're talking. It's almost hard to believe that it's the same band from Live At Red Rocks: Under A Blood Red Sky on DVD. What a performance.


5. a-ha
Scoff if you must but I am an admitted fan of this Norse trio. Morton Harket has a voice like few others. They faded from view after 1985's Hunting High & Low, but the title track from 1988's Stay On These Roads plus a fine cover of Crying in The Rain (The Everly Brothers) from 1990's East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon show a side of the band few people saw.


4. Oasis
How sad it was to see a band that put out so much good stuff early on put out so much lousy stuff in its latter days. I took a road trip to Kansas City in 2005 and played the same three CDs pretty much the whole way, one of which was Don't Believe The Truth, their first decent release in 10 years. Yes, they were here 18 months ago, but the moment had long passed.


3. INXS
I'm talking about the years with Michael Hutchence. They never seemed to be touring anywhere I was. So many good songs over a relatively short span of time and no album ever sounded like the one preceding or following it. They also did this by taking guitars/keyboards/saxophones and making it work over and over en route to international super-stardom. That's rare.


2. Queen
I was a little too young to fully appreciate Queen in their heyday. By the time I did, Freddie Mercury was gone. There have been various incarnations of this quartet in the time since, but nothing that could hold a candle to the original members. His bandmates, in particular guitarist Brian May, are more than accomplished but their lead singer was the ultimate showman.


1. Stevie Ray Vaughan
I'm not afraid to admit I cried in 1990 when I learned he died in a helicopter crash. The guy pretty much killed himself on booze & drugs, decided to clean himself up and, after doing so, put out a kick-ass album called In Step, one that I would definitely list if filling out one of those If you were stranded on a desert island... questionnaires. He was just brilliant.

Feb. 8: Office Blog - Top 10 Concerts Jonathan Green Has Seen

Having seen close to 50 concerts over the last 25 years, this was a tricky list to assemble. They are ranked in order, although if you ask me tomorrow, the order may change. Actually, it probably would. Unless otherwise listed, all took place in Winnipeg.

Honourable Mention. Gowan/Spoons (Centennial Concert Hall, 1987)
I don't think a lot of people really got Gowan. Classically trained at The Royal Conservatory of Music, it made sense that his music was very piano/keyboard-oriented, but that wasn't necessarily what your average '80s music fan was in to. He did well, certainly, but never reached super-stardom. I'm a sucker for the sound of a real piano (not synthesized) in concert, so I was in heaven. The added bonus was when he informed the crowd they would be shooting the video for Awake The Giant. If you look real close (and I mean real close), you can see me for a split second. Just don't blink. And there you have it.

10. Chalk Circle (The Diamond Club, 1987)
There were so many Canadian bands that had so much potential in the '80s and so many, for whatever reason, never realized that potential. This quartet is but one. I picked up a copy of The Great Lake, their six-song debut that featured April Fool, not long after graduating from high school in 1986 and pretty much wore it out from constant play. What stuck out most from this show was the band's energy, especially when lead singer/guitar player Chris Tait just went nuts on Superman (Meets the Man of Steel). He did it again when they played The Ex later that year, but it wasn't the same in such a massive venue.

9. KISS/Dokken (Winnipeg Arena, 1985)
Ask me to name five songs that I know for sure were played at this concert and I would be hard pressed to do so. It's not because I was stoned or that my senses were otherwise compromised, but it was the experience I remember more than anything. This was the band in its post make-up phase, on tour to promote Animalize, its most notable track being Heaven's On Fire. The image of the light-up KISS backdrop and how the stage was configured is still burned in my brain. I don't recall much of Dokken, touring to support Tooth & Nail, which I think has some of the best album cover art ever.

8. 54-40/Ultima Thule (Royal Theatre, Victoria, 1989)
I'm pretty sure this was in December of 1989. Either that or March of 1990. Regardless, it was during a break in classes at Red River, so I went out west to spend a few days visiting friends and family in Vancouver and Victoria. 54-40 is a band I have always liked but can't say have ever loved. Their stuff is good so they alone would have been worth seeing, but like GNR did to The Cult two years previous, I thought Ultima Thule stole the show. Hailing from Estonia, I had absolutely no clue what they were singing about, but it really didn't matter. It was obvious they were having a blast.

7. Bryan Adams/The Storm (Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, 1992)
I have nothing against Bryan Adams, having seen him three times, but this show was so similar to one I saw seven years earlier at the arena when he was on his Reckless tour with Luba. What made the night for me was The Storm, a group made up of several members of Journey plus singer Kevin Chalfant, who sounds an awful lot like Steve Perry. Their brief set included an incredible cover of Santana's Black Magic Woman and they were very gracious when I used my media access to get backstage, explaining they got the spot opening on this tour because Bryan Adams had opened for Journey years before.

6. Iron Maiden/Twisted Sister (Winnipeg Arena, 1984)
The second time I had seen Iron Maiden in just over a year, my ears were still ringing from their previous visit. One of the loudest bands I have ever seen, they augmented their displays of sound and fury with equally eye-catching stage shows, this time an Egyptian theme that tied in with Powerslave, the album they were promoting. You have not lived until you have heard Bruce Dickinson live singing Aces High, the best song off the album and one of their best ever. And while Twisted Sister may not have been an obvious choice to open for Iron Maiden, Dee Snider et al committed themselves rather well.

5. Martina McBride/Little Big Town (MTS Centre, 2008)
I would love to know how Martina McBride can get such a huge voice out of such a tiny body. Wow. Anyone that considers themself a music fan that missed this show missed out completely (even if she told those in attendance that her kids weren't overly thrilled with the idea of having to spend their spring break in Canada), from opening with Anyway to closing with her Journey and Pat Benatar covers. As for Little Big Town, for my money, Boondocks is one of the best songs to hit country radio in recent memory. They also wrapped up their set with a bang-up job of Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Own Way.

4. Big Country (The Town Pump, Vancouver, 1993)
There are a lot of bands I like that no one else I know seems to care for and Big Country is right at the top of the list. I say they deserved better in terms of commercial success, but it is what it is, so let's move on. By no means large, this was the perfect place to catch them on tour in support of The Buffalo Skinners, a very different album for them but nonetheless a very worthwhile purchase if you ever feel so inclined. It still bothers me that singer Stuart Adamson took his own life almost 10 years ago, robbing the music world of a very talented but equally troubled man. What a shame.

3. Fleetwood Mac (MTS Centre, 2009)
I was never a big fan of the band, but my lovely wife is, so she was more than happy to see them after receiving tickets for her birthday. The fact that Christine McVie wasn't on the tour kind of sucked, plus Stevie Nicks couldn't hit the high notes like she once could, but Lindsay Buckingham was just amazing. So was Mick Fleetwood. Both went non-stop. I was pleasantly surprised to hear so many songs I knew but didn't necessarily remember as being Fleetwood Mac songs. The highlight of the night was Tusk (sans USC marching band unfortunately) with Second Hand News coming a very close second.

2. The Cult/Guns N' Roses (Winnipeg Arena, 1987)
On tour to support their Electric album, The Cult were quite good, but they were completely upstaged by GNR. They were the first band I had ever seen smoke on stage, plus Axl Rose was a sight to behold, what with his lavender leather pants plus a t-shirt that featured a word (twice) I can't write on this website. I was totally blown away and if it wasn't the next day, it was the day after that when I bought Appetite For Destruction, still one of the best albums ever. It's just too bad how this band imploded, something you can read all about in Watch You Bleed, a pretty decent offering from Stephen Davis.

1. Garth Books (GM Place, Vancouver, 1996)
A feast for the senses, this was both quantity and quality. Never had I seen such a diverse crowd, one that ranged from kids to grandparents and all loved every minute of it, from his opening with The Old Stuff to wrapping up the two-hour show with a marathon sing-along of Don McLean's American Pie. The added bonus was getting to meet him (a truly nice and humble guy) at the pre-concert news conference as well as taking what is without question one of the best pictures of my life, which I managed to get him to autograph weeks later in Ottawa. How that happened is a very long story I'll save for another day.

Check out the Top 10 concerts I never got to see

Feb. 4: Office Blog - Top 10 Jersey Shore Nicknames for Goldeyes Office Staff

In case you haven't seen or heard of the show before, MTV's Jersey Shore is the latest reality-show-slash-pop-culture phenomenon to hit the airwaves. The season 1 finale drew in the largest ratings MTV has ever had. The show's starting line-up features characters -- sorry, I mean real people -- with names like J-Woww, Snookie, Pauly D and The Situation (pictured above with Mike Tyson at the SpikeTV Video Game Awards).

As the Jersey Shore juggernaut rolled along, we realized that we had one of the show's biggest fans working in the box office. Nope, it's not Dennis.

It's Blake, and he found an online Jersey Shore nickname generator that has amused him to no end.

According to this website, Blake's nickname is "The Condition". He also did nicknames for Kevin Arnst ("K-Train") and Paul Duque ("Juice Box", probably because Pauly D was already taken).

Even though this is supposed to be a Top 10, it was too much fun to stop at just 10. So here are the top-13 Jersey Shore nicknames for the Goldeyes office staff...

13. Andrew Collier - A-Muscle
12. Paul Edmonds - The Body
11. Jonathan Green - The Bicep
10. Regan Katz - R-Gel
9. Dan Chase - The Tan-talizer
8. Scott Taylor - The Blowout
7. Dennis McLean - The Impact
6. Megan Tucker - Hot Spot
5. Sarah Kyrylchuck -Last Call
4. Angie Sanche - The Appointment
3. Judy Jones - The Good Time
2. Jason McRae-King - J-Tan
1. Don Ferguson - Hard Hat

Maybe we'll see these on our staff name badges this year. Then again, maybe not.

From the Desk of the GM - January 26, 2010

“Relay for Life – The Sequel”


Last May, the Goldeyes committed to hosting the annual Relay for Life event at Canwest Park. Well, apparently it went well enough (besides a few tents blowing into the stands) that they asked if they could host it here again. As was the case last year, the answer was a very easy and resounding “Yes”! This year’s event will be held on Friday, May 28 from 7 p.m. through to the next morning at 7.

According to Kathy Joshua from the Relay for Life volunteer committee, the event has more than 1,500 participants, volunteers and survivors. The event is expected to raise $375,000 which when added to the money raised over the last nine years will put the total at more than $2 million!

Please click here to visit the Relay for Life website.

At this website you can get involved by:
• Registering a team for the relay
• Joining survivor’s victory lap
• Volunteering

Or, you can show your support by:
• Pledging a participant
• Buying a luminary
• Making a donation

A few weeks ago, the Goldeyes office received a very nice email from Lori Friesen, a participant in last year’s Relay for Life. She was kind enought to allow us to reprint it here:

“I just wanted to send an email to express my gratitude for once again offering your amazing ballpark to host the Relay For Life. I meant to send an email last year right after the event and unfortunately neglected to do so. The whole event was so well laid out and had a very intimate feel to it, as compared to the previous year’s wide open location. The view of downtown throughout the night was spectacular and just what I needed as I made my umpteenth lap around the track. Real bathrooms are such an extravagance after three years of porta-potties (two years with the Weekend to End Breast Cancer and 1 year with the Relay for Life). Access to the restaurants is also a treat and I believe that having the event in downtown Winnipeg goes a long way in raising the profile (and hopefully participation) of the event.

I know your organization does a lot to sponsor community events and this does not go unrecognized – “Thank You”!!!

Lori Friesen
Bodacious Babes
Winnipeg Relay For Life

And now, as promised in my last blog, here is the top ten of the day.
Today’s Top Ten is brought to us by Wendy Elias-Lopez from the Relay for Life volunteer committee.

Top 10 reasons for participating in Relay For Life:

10) It supports ALL types of cancers. There are over 200 types.
9) Because we want to beat cancer.
8) Remember loved ones lost to cancer by coming to light a luminary or walking in their honour.
7) It’s a family event for all ages. Bring your family, friends, co-workers, neighbours etc.
6) Because it’s fun! Karaoke, Bingo, themed laps, and costumes contests are all activities that have been done in the past. Come find out what’s in store for this year!
5) Celebrate a cancer survivor you know.
4) It shows those in the process of fighting cancer that they are not alone in the fight.
3) When else will you get an opportunity to camp out on the Goldeyes outfield?!
2) Because an estimated 6,000 Manitobans will be diagnosed with cancer this year. 2,800 of those will not survive. It could be your mother, your brother, your daughter, your grandpa...
1) Because cancer never sleeps...so for one night, neither will we.

Here is some more info provided by Wendy:

Registration is now open online
E-mail us at winnipegrelayforlife@mb.cancer.ca or phone us at (204) 798-0884
Check out our blog.

Thanks Wendy, Kathy, Lori and everyone else involved in the Relay for Life, and thanks to anyone doing their part to eradicate the world of this terrible disease.

Until next time...

For up to the minute information about the Goldeyes, check us out on Twitter.

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Clubhouse Blog - Jan. 21, 2010

Last night was the season premiere of "The Inside Pitch", the Goldeyes off-season radio show.

What did everyone think?
Questions?

Clubhouse Blog - Jan. 12, 2010

Ok, I’ll admit that I’ve been very delinquent in my efforts to maintain my contribution to the blog section of our baseball club’s website.

Yes, I know, I started strongly last year only to have the 2009 season start and then seemingly I disappeared – not unlike our hitting in August. But I digress.

Well, at this point I beg for forgiveness and provide you with one simple excuse. Not that I’m big on excuses, but in this particular instance, I think you’ll agree that my time away from the blogosphere was well spend on my family and around the house.

Why? Because for the first time in my life, I built a hockey rink in the yard. Not just any hockey rink, but a 50” x 90” outdoor Mecca for Dad and the kids to have fun on this winter (Mom has a bad tailbone and skating this winter might put her in the hospital, so she’s eliminated from the family fun on the ice).

This project has not taken me hours to construct, but quite literally days. As you will see by the sequence of pictures, this thing started back in November and finally after months of work, cold hands, frozen garden hoses and about $400.00 in materials, we’ll be able to skate on it this weekend.










If not, then the last picture will make for a nice family postcard next Christmas.
I’ll let you know how it goes in coming blogs, albeit more frequently than my last post. Enjoy.

Peace out,
Paul Edmonds

From the Desk of the GM - January 7, 2010

"Inaugural Top Ten List"

Happy New Year from the Goldeyes family to yours! It seems like yesterday we were ushering in the new millennium and all the concerns that came with that, and now, ten years later a new decade begins. It’s hard to believe it will be the Goldeyes 17th season and 12th at Canwest Park.

In order to keep things fresh on this blog, I will be dropping in various top ten lists throughout the year. Below is the inaugural top ten list of 2010:

Here are the top ten things I would like to see in the sports world in “2K10”:

Drum roll please…

10. Back to back World Series titles for the Yankees
9. At least one round in the 70’s on the golf course for me this summer
8. RBC Cup Championship for the Portage Terriers
7. Memorial Cup Championship for the Brandon Wheat Kings
6. Grey Cup Championship for the Bombers
5. Calder Cup Championship for the Moose
4. A first place finish for Team Goldeyes (Rick Forney and I) in the Winnipeg Police Service half-marathon relay (Shameless plug time – pledges are now being accepted by clicking here – all proceeds to the Canadian Cancer Society)
3. Olympic Gold Medals for the Men’s and Women’s Olympic Hockey Teams
2. Sold out opening night on May 20 when the Goldeyes host the Lake County Fielders

And the number 1 thing I would like to see happen in the sports world in 2010…

1. A Northern League Championship for the Goldeyes!!!

Watch for more blogs and more top tens as the year rolls along.

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