January: a great month to be a Mallard. From our schedule being released, the annual Dugout Club Baseball Banquet & the start of the college baseball season, to starting to really dig into our promo schedule, finalizing new additions to the park & the realization that Opening Day is only 139 days away. There are a lot of reasons to get excited this time of year.
I really like to focus on the promotional schedule this time of the year. Yesterday I had the entire front office over to my house for breakfast (I make the best popovers in town) & a brainstorming session that yielded some quality ideas that may, or may not, see the light of a Mallards game this summer. Some of the highlights include a different bobble head night for every Thursday game, maybe a laser light show on a Saturday night, Slap Shot Hockey Night (w/ a Hanson Brother!), Rock Paper Scissors Night & more. One of my favorites is a celebration of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s Birthday. We’re thinking about an evolution of Maynard Bobble Head doll (you know three figurines in a row & one is a duck, one is a baseball player/cave man & finally the resulting hybrid – the highly evolved Maynard G. Mallard all on one base), a Darwin Award reel of baseball bloopers, mistakes of evolution & maybe we’ll teach some evolution & some creationism at the park just to make sure we offend everyone equally. Or, maybe not…we’ll see.
Maybe the event I’m personally most excited about is a Big Lebowski Night. We’ve (by ‘we’ I mean Kevin Caloia, I can’t even tell you how jealous I am!) been in touch with Jeff Dowd who is the inspiration for the character “The Dude” in the Coen Brothers classic movie. Jeff tours the country giving talks about his life, is an author & producer who, based on Kevin’s description, is a fascinating character. We’re planning on bringing him out sometime in July for an appearance & possible screening of the movie. For those of you unfamiliar with the move, WATCH IT NOW, for the rest of you, here is a little something to help you get through the day:
The Dude: Yeah, well. The Dude abides.
The Stranger: The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh. I sure hope he makes the finals.
How great is it that the guy who inspired that is coming to the Duck Pond!? Check out his Youtube clip w/ Mallards favorite Bill Lee. Strange? Yes. Fun? I hope so! On top of all that we’re trying to get rights to do a Frank Lloyd Wright Bobble Head, planning on letting fans submit ideas for our Opening Night promotion (if your idea wins, you get a party for 8 on the Great Dane Duck Blind Opening Night! Stay tuned for more details), tracking down celebs all over the world for appearances & planning on doing a fishing pole giveaway sometime this summer as well. Long story short: we don’t plan to disappoint this summer when it comes to our promotional schedule!
Highlight of the week so far is that my daughter Chloe is officially a Twins fan…maybe. At almost 16 months old she has never been too fond of any kind of headgear. That all changed last Saturday afternoon when she started playing with an old Homer Hanky of mine (You know, the genius creation most well remembered as a part of the ’87 & ’91 Twins World Series’ Championships! Ask Team Owner & Cardinals fan Steve Schmitt how he feels about them some day!). I decided to put it on her head like a bandana & she refused to take it off! Like I’ve said before, like all of us she is just looking for solace to help get through the long baseball off-season & this seemed to comfort her. Well I thought it was a sign she was a Twins fan, but then later in the day she found my wife’s Yak Trax (attachments for your boots to help you walk on ice etc, pictured above) & she decided to put them on her head as well & refuse to take them off. So maybe it wasn’t the sign I was hoping for…or maybe she loves the Twins AND walking in icy conditions. Time will tell. 139 days & counting! The Dude Abides!
You ever think that Chloe is perhaps getting used to things on her head? When I need to cheer her up after you guys leave for an evening out. I put the green plastic pom pom on my head as if I have green hair. She pulls it off my head and puts it on hers and laughs!! Just another possible explanation of the yak trax and the homer hanky situation. Hehe!
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