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...