This is a message from my friend Eric.
David and I will celebrate 28 years together in January. We have bought houses, enjoyed family, buried loved ones, had good times, endured bad times, gone on vacation, have great friends, support the arts, pay our taxes, volunteer...but haven't been on a reality show that results in the "winner" marrying someone, we don't go to Vegas and marry someone for 55 hours, we don't get corporate sponsors for a wedding /media stunt. We aren't the ones who are ending the sanctity of marriage. That's not what we want. We just want what is fair and equal. No political message. Just what's fair. It's time.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
My Wayne Gretzky Experience
Seeing a tweet today from Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski)about wanting to smoke a cigar with Wayne Gretzky before he dies reminded me about an experience I had with Wayne back in 2006.
I received an email from the Phoenix Coyotes back during the 2006-2007 season about an upcoming charity lunch with the team. All proceeds from the event were to go to charity so I looked at the options that were available.
You could buy an entire table for 10 at $1000 and a player or coach from the team would be at the table. You could pay $100 for just a seat at a random table or you could pay $1000 for the ability to sit with then head coach, Wayne Gretzky.
I was earning quite a bit of money back then so I decided to go for it and sit at Wayne's table. It seemed like a once in a lifetime experience and I did not want to pass it up.
Since he was the coach of the Coyotes at the time, I did not realize what a privilege it is to have this opportunity. Someone told me once that there is a prize in the Canadian Lottery that is a meal with the Great One. I was really young when he was playing so I was not educated on how amazing a player he was.
So I get there as soon as the doors open to the arena and head down to the covered ice. The Gretzky table stood out among the others as it was beautifully decorated and all but one chair has a Gretzky Coyotes jersey on it. I hurried over to the table and grabbed one of the seats next to the one without a jersey hoping he was going to sit there. The other people that paid to sit with Wayne started to sit down and I was surprised to hear a few of them actually flew in just for this opportunity. They were floored that they could pay $1000 to charity and were able to have a lunch with Wayne.
The entire team was introduced and then came to sit down. When Wayne sat he introduced himself and asked us all of our names. We all had a jersey, puck, hockey card, and hat at our places and he broke the ice and asked if he could sign our stuff. He was very good at talking to each of us on a personal level and it was great to see how down to earth he is.
Darren Pang was talking at the podium about the team and as soon as he was finished at least half of everyone else that was there got up from their table and came over to our table so Wayne could sign items for them. This is the part that made the experience amazing. Wayne obviously knew what we all paid to be at his table so when the other 200 people were coming up to him, he was polite and said hi, but he continued to focus all of his attention on us at his table. It really is cool to see how fast he can sign his name without looking. He was very nice and seemed genuinely interested in every single one of us.
One sad part is when every single person sitting at Georges Laraque's table got up at the same time to go wait in line and he was stuck there sitting by himself.
Looking back I think I took for granted that the greatest hockey player of all time was the coach and the fans had access to him. Even though I thought he was a terrible coach, he was a great player.
I had the jersey framed and it is still hanging in my living room.
I received an email from the Phoenix Coyotes back during the 2006-2007 season about an upcoming charity lunch with the team. All proceeds from the event were to go to charity so I looked at the options that were available.
You could buy an entire table for 10 at $1000 and a player or coach from the team would be at the table. You could pay $100 for just a seat at a random table or you could pay $1000 for the ability to sit with then head coach, Wayne Gretzky.
I was earning quite a bit of money back then so I decided to go for it and sit at Wayne's table. It seemed like a once in a lifetime experience and I did not want to pass it up.
Since he was the coach of the Coyotes at the time, I did not realize what a privilege it is to have this opportunity. Someone told me once that there is a prize in the Canadian Lottery that is a meal with the Great One. I was really young when he was playing so I was not educated on how amazing a player he was.
So I get there as soon as the doors open to the arena and head down to the covered ice. The Gretzky table stood out among the others as it was beautifully decorated and all but one chair has a Gretzky Coyotes jersey on it. I hurried over to the table and grabbed one of the seats next to the one without a jersey hoping he was going to sit there. The other people that paid to sit with Wayne started to sit down and I was surprised to hear a few of them actually flew in just for this opportunity. They were floored that they could pay $1000 to charity and were able to have a lunch with Wayne.
The entire team was introduced and then came to sit down. When Wayne sat he introduced himself and asked us all of our names. We all had a jersey, puck, hockey card, and hat at our places and he broke the ice and asked if he could sign our stuff. He was very good at talking to each of us on a personal level and it was great to see how down to earth he is.
Darren Pang was talking at the podium about the team and as soon as he was finished at least half of everyone else that was there got up from their table and came over to our table so Wayne could sign items for them. This is the part that made the experience amazing. Wayne obviously knew what we all paid to be at his table so when the other 200 people were coming up to him, he was polite and said hi, but he continued to focus all of his attention on us at his table. It really is cool to see how fast he can sign his name without looking. He was very nice and seemed genuinely interested in every single one of us.
One sad part is when every single person sitting at Georges Laraque's table got up at the same time to go wait in line and he was stuck there sitting by himself.
Looking back I think I took for granted that the greatest hockey player of all time was the coach and the fans had access to him. Even though I thought he was a terrible coach, he was a great player.
I had the jersey framed and it is still hanging in my living room.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Arizona Republic Response
I emailed the sports editor on the Arizona Republic about the lack of Coyotes coverage and this is the response I received.
"This will answer several e-mails I’ve received about our lack of staff road coverage for the Phoenix Coyotes.
We value the Coyotes and know they have loyal fans. But we have to make tough decisions about how best to use our resources to cover a myriad of sports in a crowded sports marketplace. At this time our policy with the Coyotes remains the same – we don’t expect to be able to travel with them. As the end of the regular season nears, and they appear headed toward the playoffs, then we will re-evaluate.
We are taking steps to minimize the impact of this decision by supplementing wire content with occasional staff stories on off days while the team is away – for example, reaching out to coaches and players on the phone when warranted.
Some have suggested that since the NBA is in lockout, we should reallocate travel money normally used on the Suns. That’s not relevant because we have to be prepared to react in case some form of a season still takes place. Also, we face new expenses in 2012, such as the Summer Olympics, that have to be considered.
Thanks for taking the time to share your concerns.
Mark Faller
Sports editor
The Arizona Republic | azcentral.com"
"This will answer several e-mails I’ve received about our lack of staff road coverage for the Phoenix Coyotes.
We value the Coyotes and know they have loyal fans. But we have to make tough decisions about how best to use our resources to cover a myriad of sports in a crowded sports marketplace. At this time our policy with the Coyotes remains the same – we don’t expect to be able to travel with them. As the end of the regular season nears, and they appear headed toward the playoffs, then we will re-evaluate.
We are taking steps to minimize the impact of this decision by supplementing wire content with occasional staff stories on off days while the team is away – for example, reaching out to coaches and players on the phone when warranted.
Some have suggested that since the NBA is in lockout, we should reallocate travel money normally used on the Suns. That’s not relevant because we have to be prepared to react in case some form of a season still takes place. Also, we face new expenses in 2012, such as the Summer Olympics, that have to be considered.
Thanks for taking the time to share your concerns.
Mark Faller
Sports editor
The Arizona Republic | azcentral.com"
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