HOLTY’S BLOG: 20 YEARS AGO
The brackets are coming and to be honest, who doesn’t love a good bracket?
You may only do brackets in March, and that’s fine, but as I’ll remind you, it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want.
Now for the blog…
– Two years ago we were busy at work knocking down walls and building a new players area. Last year we were putting the outline of a rink on Memorial Stadium in 100-degree heat. This year, we’re crafting plans for the 20th Anniversary season in Condorstown.
– Let’s think of that for a second. 20 seasons. In terms of current American Hockey League cities, only 12 cities have had ‘AA’ or ‘AAA’ hockey continuously and of those Binghamton and Springfield have had some name changes, and Springfield was on the way out last year.
– If you’re curious as to the list: Binghamton, Charlotte, Chicago, Grand Rapids, Hartford, Hershey, Milwaukee, Providence, Rochester, San Antonio, Springfield, and Syracuse
– That puts Condorstown in fairly elite company in terms of longevity. Certainly, it’s something to be celebrated and improved upon over the next 20 years.
– Holty stay focused, you said something about brackets. Yes, we’ll have in the near future a series of interactive brackets, polls, lists, videos, etc. commemorating the 20 years of Condors hockey.
– The first will be a massive 64-“team” jersey bracket consisting of Condors specialty and pre-game jerseys which have combined to raise over $1.2 million for local charities alone. So start thinking about your favorite specialty jerseys from all-time and make sure you stay tuned to cast your vote in the upcoming weeks. I mean Sporting News already did their list of our best ones, and that was four years ago!
– If you thought the jersey bracket was going to be hotly contested, just wait until we bust out the all-time fan favorite player of Condorstown later on
– Mentioned in this week’s “What you need to Know” but Condors asst. equipment manager Nick Lazor accepted a job with UMass-Lowell as their head equipment manager. Nick had been with us since the AHL move and completed two tours of duty in Afghanistan in the Marines as well. Wish him and his wife Emily nothing but good things on their move near my home
– The team has made a hire for that position and I’d expect more news on that next week #HoltyTease
– Earlier this week, we unveiled the promo schedule for “The Big 6” which you can purchase a mini-plan for right now.
– This week’s “Front Office Feature: Five Fast Facts” is on Condors Assistant Coaches J-F Houle and Tony Borgford. Allegedly, J-F is bringing props. Hope everyone had a good time either meeting them or reconnecting last night at the ice cream social.
– Next week looks like Condors Team President Matthew Riley and Head Coach Gerry Fleming. We’ll also get Gerry on camera for an update prior to the coaches heading to Edmonton on Labor Day Weekend.
– Looks like Condors D Ryan Mantha had a good time with family taking in the Tigers 10-0 win over the Pirates last night. Condors Instagram (@Condors) is a good spot to follow along with the players’ offseason travels.
– Lock of the week? I’ve picked Jon Rahm each of the last two majors and he’s seriously disappointed. I’m going Rory McIlroy. I know, I know, life’s too short to bet the favorites Holty. But he’s +600 (6/1) and tears up Quail Hallow. That’s still fine. Jimmy Walker won it last year at +12500 (125/1) so I’ll throw out a sleeper pick as well and take Patrick Reed at +10000 (100/1).
Until next time Condorstown…
Ryan Holt aka Holty is the voice of the Condors and enters his seventh season in Condorstown in the fall. He was in Mrs. Lowe’s 4th grade class when the Condors played their first game in 1998. Follow him on Twitter @CondorsHolty for more nonsense or shoot him an e-mail to RHolt@bakersfieldcondors.com with questions, comments, or blog ideas.
