More wacky minor league baseball promos

From the Potomac Nationals last summer: "HAIRIEST BACK AT THE BALL PARK" CONTEST! sponsored by Cosmetic & Laser Services of Dr. Don Brideau and Dr. Foster Montalbano. The winner will receive a complimentary laser hair removal service valued at $2,500." (via dcsportschick)

Newark Bears present "Bird Flu Awareness Night"

Add this to the list of wacky minor league baseball promotions: Bird Flue Awareness Night. Any fan that brings a chicken-related item to the game (rubber chicken, can of chicken soup, etc.) gets in for free. All fans get a surgical air-filter mask at the gates, sponsored by a local medical centre. (via GameOps.com)

Edmonton Oilers opening video

Found on YouTube: Edmonton Oilers "Get Electric" intro vid

An Edmonton fan's view from inside Rexall Place

Check out the fan videos from oilersrock99, a YouTube user. Looks like he brought his camera phone into a few of the Oilers playoff games, and captured the amazing atmosphere from a fan's perspective. Great stuff.

Edmonton fans belt out the anthem (part 2)

More on Edmonton fans belting out the anthem in Game 3 vs. Anaheim:

• Eric Duhatschek in the Globe & Mail had a great column today about the fan phenomenon in Edmonton. By all accounts, it's the loudest the rink has been, including the dynasty years in the 1980s. Oilers president Pat Laforge attributes the energy of the fan to the demographics -- a typical Oiler fan is a 30-year-old urban-lifestyle male, who comes to the game with a group of friends, and owns his own seat.
  
• Here's a fan video of O Canada from Game 3, probably shot on a camera phone from somewhere in the stands.
  
• Terry Jones in the Edmonton Journal wrote about the event as a great moment in hockey history -- maybe even sports history.
  
• Paul Laurieau did the same thing in Game 4, letting the fans sing the last half of the Canadian anthem. (Watch the anthem video from game 4 here.
  )

(Read Edmonton fans belt out the anthem, Part 1)

Edmonton fans belt out the anthem

A great playoff hockey moment in Edmonton last night: half-way through the Canadian national anthem, Oilers anthem singer Paul Lorieau stopped singing, and let the fans take over. Edmonton fans responded by singing their hearts out in one of Canada's most patriotic displays of recent memory.

A few thoughts:
- Was Lorieau inspired by Canucks tenor Mark Donnelly, who's done the same thing in Vancouver?
- Pity any broadcaster who used the national anthem as a 90-second commercial opportunity. They would have missed out big time last night.
- Events like this one should put any suggestion of eliminating the national anthem to rest.

Update:
Here's a video of the Edmonton anthem from last night. (via Off Wing Opinion)

Atlanta Hawks mascot, on a motorcycle

From YouTube.com:

"A random sighting of the Atlanta Hawks mascot riding on the sidewalk on a small motorcycle. No idea what he was doing there... the NBA season is over and we were nowhere near to the arena."



More on Harry the Hawk

Teddy Bear Toss Talk

Jon Cudo at the GameOps.com blog points out that the Teddy Bear Toss has its own Wikipedia entry. Read more: Getting Tossed

Clay Aiken sings at a Hurricanes game

Clay Aiken sings the National Anthem at a Carolina Hurricanes game. (Is he better than Christina?)

Edmonton Oilers: Player intros & fans go nuts

Edmonton Oilers player introductions...



...and the crowd goes wild...

Buffalo Sabres Round 1 pre-game show

Check out the full-ice video projection.



The company behind the giant video projection is Sports Display Systems, Inc.

Blow your own goal horn

Fun idea from Kukla's Korner:

Play the goal horn whenever a team scores -- complete with MP3 goal horns from Anaheim, Buffalo, Carolina, and Edmonton.

Related: Goal horns from around the NHL

Game Entertainment Droids

A company down in Florida is building robots for sports teams. "Dubba Dribble Droid" is the official Orlando Magic robot, featuring on-board colour video monitor, high res colour video camera, am/fm stereo casette player, moving arms, lighted eyes, and comes with a one year limited warranty. Options include an air blower, custom sound effects, and a water squirter.

Read more: Florida Robotics

67's look for announcer, host

Not only are the 67's looking for a new mascot, they're also looking for an announcer and a host:

The host job duties:
- Host sponsored promotions both in the stands and on the ice.
- Interact with fans during promotions to make sure their having an enjoyable experience.

The announcer job duties:
- Handles all in-game public address announcements in regards to game information, and sponsor messages
- Creates a fun atmosphere in the arena through interaction with fans.

To apply, you can send a resume to Julie Dufour at the Ottawa 67's.

Quick links: Cincinnati Reds CD, Celebrity Bobbleheads, Die Mascot Die

• Cincinnati Reds release CD of local bands performing songs about baseball & the Reds. Read more - Cincinnati Post
  
• Eight mascots that need to die, including "Keggy the Keg" and "The Sanford Tree". Read more - ArmchairGM
  
• The Gwinnett Gladitors of the ECHL handed out a bobblehead based on the "Runaway Bride". Read more - GameOps.com
  

San Jose Sharks fans boo O Canada

The San Jose Sharks issued this statement today, after some of their fans booed O Canada during Game 5 of the Sharks-Oilers series:

The San Jose Sharks organization does not condone the booing of any nation’s National Anthem under any circumstances.

We were very surprised by the actions of a few fans prior to Game 5 on Sunday. Sharks fans have always been very respectful and there is no history of this type of behavior.

A series of events unfolded during Game 4 in Edmonton that undoubtedly helped lead to the reaction in San Jose Sunday night.

During the performance of The Star Spangled Banner prior to Game 4 in Edmonton (aired live and in its entirety by FSN Bay Area), the in-house video board showed a picture of San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton, to which some Edmonton fans began to boo.

Compounding the situation, due to technical difficulties with the in-house microphone feed that night that supplied the anthem singer’s voice, the FSN Bay Area broadcast was forced to use the “effects” microphones, which are the microphones placed throughout the arena to capture game sound.

The timing of the booing, coinciding with the audio feed capturing in-arena sound, led Sharks fans watching on FSN Bay Area to hear Edmonton fans booing the U.S. National Anthem.

Over the course of the Sharks 15-year history, Sharks fans have shown themselves to be among the most passionate and respectful fans in the game of hockey. We are proud of that support.

Many of our players and employees are Canadian. We were impressed by other fans in attendance who took it upon themselves to sing Oh Canada and our anthem in a show of support for both teams.

We look forward to an exciting Game 6 back in Edmonton.

(Original on sjsharks.com)

This brings to mind a similar anthem booing incident from the 2003 playoffs between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Islanders.

• Update - May 17: Boobirds get video message
  
• Update - May 18: Oilers cheer on Uncle Sam

Soccer chants neutralized with echos

From The New Scientist, an article about Dutch researchers who are developing an echo technique to neutralize racist soccer chants.

The echoes trip up efforts to synchronise a chant, neutralising an unwelcome message without drowning out the overall roar of a crowd.

Sander van Wijngaarden, who researches human acoustics at the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research in Delft, began working on the technique in 2004 after several Dutch soccer matches were blighted by abusive chanting.

"We knew that people become confused if you feed their speech back with a delay," he told New Scientist. "So we wanted to try and apply it in a group context."

To chant in time a person must keep track of several different sound sources around them. "This can be very complex because there are large numbers of people involved," van Wijngaarden explains.

(via Boing Boing)

Behind the scenes: Writing "Eye of the Tiger"

Here's a look at how the popular sports anthem "Eye of The Tiger" by Survivor was written and recorded. (Via Brad Sucks)

Woo! Ric Flair pumps up the Carolina Hurricanes

From The News & Observer, an article about Ric Flair's "WOO" videos for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Flair, 56, is in an upstairs hallway of the RBC Center, psyching himself up to videotape "Woo!"s for the Carolina Hurricanes scoreboard. If you've ever been to a game, you know that video of Flair's trademark exclamation helps celebrate Canes goals and a "Woo!" singalong works to pump the crowd when the Canes go on the power play.

"When we first played it, so many people hated it," says Pete Soto, the guy in charge of video for the Hurricanes. There was nasty e-mail.

Then fans bonded with the "Woo!" These days after a Canes goal, eyes in the crowd reflexively look toward the scoreboard, awaiting Flair's arrival.

Read the article...

(via Kukla's Korner)

Where do hecklers come from

From Slate.com: A short history of booing. From ancient Greece to Yankee stadium. (via Off Wing Opinion)

HockeyMusic.ca forum is back online

The HockeyMusic.ca discussion forum is back online (finally).

There's good news and bad news:

The bad news is, the old HockeyMusic.ca forum -- including all posts and user registrations -- is gone forever due to a server crash. The timing couldn't have been worse -- right before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The good news is, the new HockeyMusic.ca forum is a huge improvement over the original. You should find it easier to use, and we'll be able to roll out new features over the next few months to improve your experience.

Check it out at http://www.hockeymusic.ca/forum/

Ottawa 67's look for a new mascot

From Ottawa67s.com: "Are you interested in becoming a mascot for the Ottawa 67's? We are looking for outgoing, enthusiastic individuals to perform at many community events over the summer. Reliable transportation a must. If interested, please contact jobs@ottawa67s.com"

Behind the scenes at a Carolina Hurricanes game

The News & Observer has a great article about Pete Soto and the crew who run the music and video scoreboard at Carolina Hurricanes games. Read the article...

(via Kuklas Korner)

L.A. Angels sued for give-away discrimination

The LA Times reports that a man is suing the L.A. Angels because he didn't get a tote bag as part of a Mother's Day giveaway. The giveaway was restricted to women over 18 years old, but Michael Cohn says that's discriminatory against males and younger fans.

(via Adfreak)

Kansas City Royals: T-shirts & condiments

From the Buffalo News, a report that the Kansas City Royals are doing a massive t-shirt giveaway to tie in with their "condiment race". 7,500 fans will receive yellow shirts with a mustard bottle on them, 7,500 fans will get red shirts with a ketchup bottle, and 7,500 fans will get green shirts with a relish bottle. (That's a lot of t-shirts!!) Fans with a shirt that match the winning condiment will get a prize. Read more...

Cudo on the "White Out"

Jon Cudo writes about the "White Out" on his GameOps.com blog:

"Perhaps my favorite sports promotion is the “White Out.” You’ve probably seen it on TV, and if you’ve had a chance to see it live…you won’t soon forget it. The concept goes something like this. Everyone is encouraged to wear white to the game." Read more...

First-ever hip hop song about interior design?

An advance copy of Gnarls Barkley's St. Elsewhere arrived last week in the mail. Track seven is "Feng Shui":

"Feng Shui in this house the decor is obvious up scour, / See clearly the theory of less is more..."

(Coincidence -- as I write this post, the dj in San Jose is playing Gnarls Barkley's Crazy at the Sharks game.)

Behind the scenes with the Detroit Pistons

From the Detroit News, a behind-the-scenes look at the Detroit Pistons game entertainment department. Detroit has a 40-person crew that executes gameday promotions. Read all about it here.

GameOps.com launches a new blog

Jon Cudo at GameOps.com has launched his own blog. That makes two of us blogging about game entertainment -- at least that we know of!

(Jon -- thanks for the kind words about this site!)

Fan video of Flyers opening show

Fan video of Anaheim opening show

The Anaheim Mighty Ducks Round 1 playoff pre-game show -- the best one we've seen yet!