You know you're a Madison Mallards' intern when:

You know you’re a Madison Mallards’ intern when:

-You paint everything green, well, “Old Virginia Green” to be exact, and by the first week you’ve changed the words to an LL Cool J song, saying, “You down with OVG? Yeah, you know me.”

-You’ve done three complete circles around the ballpark’s perimeter in trying to find one of the team’s two drills for your project. When that fails you paint something green.

-You’ve named the team’s four-wheeler, “Tammy,” and often use walkie-talkies to sing out phrases like, “Has anyone seen Tammy?” and “I hope Tammy isn’t cheating on me.”

-You move so many kegs that you tweak muscles you never knew existed in the human body. But knowing that so many thousands of people depend on you, and your frothy beverages, you no longer feel pain. “Go on beer man, do your thing,” the people chant.

-You lock your keys in your car prior to donning the Maynard G. Mallard costume for eight hours to go business-to-business with a local radio station. Now that’s a predicament where having a mascot head nearby is handy. Moreover, it’s much less embarrassing when a human-sized duck locks his keys in his car.

-You’ve driven the rented mechanical lift so much that you fantasize about taking it through the Culver’s drive-through just down Northport Drive.

-You’ve had the opportunity to experience home openers for two different baseball organizations.

-You wake up in cold sweats after hearing someone whisper “Hex Head Bit” over and over again. Then you realize it was just you.

-You now love ballpark food, whether you like it or not. And you now know how to make a chicken sandwich 42 different ways. Ever try a Cuban Chicken Sammy?

-You’ve sprayed the ballpark’s pavement enough times that you A) could draw the park’s drainage patterns blind-folded, and B) probably have athlete’s foot. I’d probably be concerned about the former.

-You laugh at your so-called “9-5” friends and family members, as they don’t know that the fun really begins at 7:05 p.m.

-In your first month you bought a cape; went to a craft store; drove to Wisconsin Dells in a 1985 Dodge Minivan, aptly called “Big Blue”; taped a little league game; made an appearance as Maynard in a John Deere commercial; and drove to 170 miles to Wausau to catch a glimpse of the Mallards.

-You probably have bled on the job or have had near severe sunburn. Hey, you win some and you lose some.

Stay tuned Mallards fans...

Ahh, the off-season...that time of the year during which our beloved Mallards baseball season is ripped from us & we're left in a state of shock until we begin planning (already started) for the next round of fun in 2010.

Alas, we do have good news to report; the next round of blogs by the Mallards front office is set to return in a few weeks to provide a look into all of the happenings that are taking place at the "Duck Pond," including a German-themed Octoberfest dubbed "Ducktoberfest" that will take place at the ballpark on Saturday, October 3rd from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the ballpark. This special event will include a mix of live music, cold beer, soda, brats, and tons of kids activities in the outfield!

Also, the Mallards annual Fantasy Football Draft is just around the corner & we'll be glad to provide the occasional bantor & zings at each other as we trudge through the football season.

Be sure to stay tuned to Mallardsbaseball.com all off-season as well, as we recap the 2009 season and look ahead to all of the exciting projects in the works for next summer. Your input is always appreciated, so please shoot us a comment if you feel moved.

We'll be in touch soon!

Kelsey Van Ackeren - Merchandise Intern - Blog

So I guess it’s my turn to try and figure out what to write for my blog and I am little late past my deadline but today just seems like the perfect day for me to finish it and get it done and over with. We had a game last night and we ended up losing to Battle Creek 5-3. The guys are away playing in Duluth today and activities around the duck pond aren’t as busy as they normally would be as compared to game days so I have some time to do finish it. First off I will let you know a little bit about myself and who I am before I begin to ramble on about who knows what because I usually have a tendency to do that from time to time. My name is Kelsey Van Ackeren and I am from St. Cloud, Minnesota and I go to the University of Minnesota-Crookston and my major is Sport and Recreation Management. No one really knows where Crookston is except for Dogger because of course he has been there and he knows where everything is, but for those of you that do not know where it is it is way up in the northwestern corner of Minnesota. I map quested it just out of curiosity to see how far it was from Madison and it says its about 9 hours and 22 minutes from Madison, give or take. There is another Kelsey in the office who was an intern from last year so in the beginning of the summer we quickly figured out that one of us was going to need a nickname. We tried a few different ones until we settled with the perfect one for me which is K-deuce or K2. I decided that I wanted to venture out this summer and see what the Madison Mallards were all about and luckily got an internship as the souvenir/merchandise intern. I soon came to realize that the Mallards are way above and beyond anything that I had expected. The team and organization is on a totally different level then any other team in the Northwood’s league and it is probably one of the coolest experiences I have ever had or I think will ever have and I love being apart of it.

I was a little nervous come out to Madison all by myself not knowing anyone or knowing where anything was. And after getting lost about a million times, running out of gas on my way to work, using map quest I am starting to figure out where everything is and what streets are which, or I at least know how to get to and from my apartment and to the malls of course. As far as not knowing anyone, that is definitely not the case. Everyone that works at the ballpark and especially the Mallards staff have become kind of like a second family. This internship requires you to be at the ballpark a lot and when you have people that you can laugh with and love to be around it makes the time go by ten times faster. I know that I have met some pretty cool people and will continue my relationships with them when the summer comes to an end.

As far as the internship side of things, I work a lot on my own folding, and cleaning, and organizing, as well as taking inventory on all the merchandise and making sure everything is ready to go for game time. You can either find me in the main souvenir stand or the Duckwear Depot jamming out to the radio as loud as it can go on a country station which everyone loves so much, especially Nick. Nick is my supervisor and I definitely keep him on his toes and he keeps me in line. I can tell you pretty much everything and anything about the style, size, and color of any t-shirt, sweatshirt, or hat. I usually take care of online orders every morning which is one of my favorite parts of the day so that I can be around the people that are in the office and get my daily Mallard gossip in for the day.

I am so happy that I am in Madison for the summer. It’s been the best summer of my life. This internship has taught me so many things that I am going to be able to use in the future. I have learned a lot about what it takes to run a baseball team and seeing everything that goes into it, it’s pretty amazing.

Here are some highlights so far:
Driving the hot pink and lime green jeep around when I went to go run errands and try and find office depot and the vacuum store.
Going to Lacrosse on a road trip and then Ryan hitting Dan in the nose with the ball when he wasn’t looking or ready and breaking it.
Girls trip to Green Bay with John.
Listening and singing to country EVERYDAY, and everyone hating it which makes me do it even more.
Tarping is always a fun time.
Mallards TMZ
pressing numbers and names on the back of shirts…NOT
always trying to make Amie snort
answering is always a good time and trying to take ticket orders

Kelsey Golackson's First Blog - The best softball player in the world (err, La Crosse)

As I sit here thinking about what in the world I could possibly write a blog about, I think it’s fitting that I start with an introduction. With Jerrad on my back about getting this blog in, I suppose I should just get right to it. I’m Kelsey Golackson, the box office manager for the Mallards this season. I’m beginning my second year here with the Mallards, my first being spent as a Souvenir/Operations Intern last summer. This year, I suppose you could say I’m moving up in the world and into the ticket office. I must say, at first the promotion seemed daunting, but I’m beginning to come to grips with it and really enjoying my work. It doesn’t hurt that I have fellow UW-LaCrosse softball alum in Liz Kern as a boss. We’re still trying to convince the boys that softball is a pretty good sport too.

Overall, the ticket world is much different than my experiences from last summer. Instead of getting a tan, moving boxes, and folding t-shirts, I’m answering phones, mailing tickets, and helping in the air conditioned office wherever I’m needed. Needless to say I don’t get outside as much as I did before (as you can see from my pasty skin). I’m also realizing just how much work it takes to run a ball club like the Mallards. The front office staff does an incredible job of keeping this place running smoothly. Vern is a great guy to work for. He always has all of these different ideas on how to make the ball park a better place. I wish I were that creative. Liz is a pretty great person to have as a boss. It’s amazing how she is constantly aware of everything that is happening in the ticket system. I just do the best that I can to keep up with her and have learned that she doesn’t like Post-its as much as Mike and I do. I can’t believe she can put up with my incessant questioning, but somehow she does it all with a smile on her face.

I’m still trying to learn the intricacies of the ticketing system, but so far the fans have been great at putting up with me. We’ve had a lot of fun and interesting promos and events here at the stadium that I’m still getting used to. Right now we’re trying to prepare for Rhythm and Booms. It should be a fun night…busy, but fun, nonetheless. Kyle (our tickets salesman/souvenir vendor/beer mover extraordinaire), Liz, suite Intern Amie, and I have been working hard to make sure that we have all the tickets we need ready and where they are supposed to be. Hopefully we can pull this off without a hitch.

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost July already. Wow, the summer is flying by. Everyone around the office is busy with their respective duties and are constantly in motion. We have a good group of interns this year who keep the place running smoothly. Having another employee named Kelsey (as in this year’s souvenir intern) keeps me on my toes and keeps things interesting. I never knew if everyone was talking to me or not until we gave her the nickname K-deuce. That cleared up some of the confusion. We’re lucky to have such a great group working for us this year.

Well, I guess I’ll wrap it up. Hopefully you weren’t bored to tears by this entry. I think the interns are up next for blog postings, so you’ll get to hear their version of events. I hope to be seeing you at the ballpark soon.

Go Mallards!

J-Rod's 7th Post: A Quick Sneak-peak at the upcoming season (with a random head shot of Asst. Coach Jason Immekus)

It is hard to believe that Opening Day is less than one week away. I must say the Operations Interns & their respective managers have really done a nice job getting everything ready seemingly earlier than usual, even with the number of ballpark improvements increasing at a high-rate this year. We hope ballpark improvements have a positive correlation with our fans' overall satisfaction upon visiting the "Duck Pond" during the summer as they give you experiences you never thought you'd be able to enjoy while watching a baseball game.

I mean, we're installing a beach (yes, a beach) just outside of the left-field corner to serve as just another means of enjoyment for kids during games when they're not bouncing in "Big Maynard," trying to show up dad at the speed pitch, or hitting the "floating" baseball at the t-ball machine.

On top of that, if you can text (or parents; have your kids teach you) and find yourself hungry at the ballpark, you'll love another addition to 2009: the ability to text your orders to Maynard's from any location in the ballpark & only have to show up once your order is ready. Why should you have to miss any part of the game while waiting for your food? Simply text your order (according to codes posted in the ballpark) to 608.622.EATS (3287) and we'll respond back with an approximate wait time, which averages less than 15 min. Once you've paid for your food at the window, it's time to enjoy the freshest and biggest portions in all of the park. Eat up!

Moving to the Great Dane Duck Blind, the addition of 200 actual seats should put a smile on a lot of people's faces. The key three words we keep stressing is that "capacity is unaffected" because it's important to note that we're not just adding more seating to allow more people to experience the Duck Blind. This area is constantly evolving, and your suggestions are always helpful. If you're able to grab a spot in the field-level addition, you're going to want to bring a glove because it feels like you're standing behind the first baseman.

Switching gears, about 15 players reported today, which further means that the baseball season is upon us. It's always fun to see the guys' first reactions when they step onto this field for the first time. In talking to them year after year, the cool thing they're most excited about is usually playing in front of 6,000-plus fans and the electricity that surrounds Mallards baseball. To be honest, they could care less about the team's 2004 Northwoods League Championship, or how this team has been ultra-competitive the past 4 seasons. They want to experience minor league baseball in a major league playoff type atmosphere. And yet, we're neither of those things.

This Wednesday, the Mallards will host the Swedish National Baseball Team at 6:05 p.m. at the Duck Pond. It'll be interesting to see how their style and the American style of baseball are both alike and yet different. We hope to see you out there...and if not, remember, Opening Day is THIS Monday against the Rochester Honkers. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.! Great seats are still available too I'm hearing.

Here's to a great season! And by the way, beginning in mid-June, we're going to turn Maynard's Musings over to the interns to get their thoughts on working for the Mallards and share a story or two. Consider it to be a glimpse into a facet of the team that is certainly underrated at times.

Vern Blog #7: How the show REALLY goes on

The preparation for every Mallards season always presents a unique set of challenges. Those challenges are exactly why I love my job so much, no matter how much we plan or dream, we never quite know what obstacles may be right around the corner. The main challenge as we prepared for 2009 was pretty easy to identify: the economy. We decided to do what we do best, stay positive. The biggest thing I worried about was how a potential drop in support from our sponsors would impact our ability to put on as entertaining of a show as possible. From Bobble-Heads & Fireworks, to Celebrity appearances & ballpark improvements, none of it happens without the support of our sponsors. As we planned our events for 2009, we set the bar high: a Bobble-Head series for the first time, more ballpark renovations, Paul Molitor at the Alumni Game & more. To dream these ideas up was easy; the prospect of finding someone to pay for them to actually happen was scarier than ever.

Well, I’m happy to report that our sponsor support for 2009 is better than ever. Because of that support we’ve been able to assemble, in my opinion, the best promotional schedule in all of baseball. This story isn’t really about the specifics of what the promotions or ballpark improvements are, it is about the people that make these things happen – our sponsors. In these difficult times the businesses & fans that step up to the plate every year to support us deserve as much recognition & thanks as possible. I like to think that the importance of community is becoming even stronger all the time & that the Mallards have become an important part of that community. Our sponsors see value in not just connecting their brand with ours, but also in being a part of the unique & vast community of Mallards fans that has developed over the years.

So, what does this all mean for our fans? Well, beyond hopefully just having a great time at the park again this summer, I’d like to ask just one more thing. Don’t forget the people that make these summer nights as entertaining & comfortable & affordable as they are. Next time you are going out to eat stop by the Great Dane, not just because they offer great food, but because they are a vital part of making the Mallards happen. Or remember that Charter loves the Mallards next time you are thinking about switching cable providers. Stop out & say “hi” to Jerry over at Stoddard’s Market in Cottage Grove next time you need some Mallards-style Brats. Say “thanks” to your American Family Insurance agent for their support, pull into Stop-N-Go next time you have a choice to fill up your gas tank. Union Cab, Duluth Trading Co., Verizon, Jay Hazen Dentistry, Pepsi, Schoep’s, West Bend Insurance, Budweiser…the list goes on & on. These businesses & their employees are not just a part of the same community that we all care so much about, they are actively investing in making sure you have nothing less than a great time at the Duck Pond every night.

Thanks again for your support as we get ready for what is sure to be the most exciting summer of baseball Madison has ever seen & I look forward to seeing you around town supporting Mallards sponsors for years to come!

Guest Blog Entry - Mr. Michael Schroeder (Media Relations Intern '08)

It’s time for another guest blogger to grace the pages of Maynard’s Musings. I’m Michael Schroeder, and I was the media relations intern for the Mallards last summer. I’m guessing the hard-working front office staff needed to get some more things done around the ballpark as Opening Day approaches, so they went to the bullpen for today’s Musing.

Last summer in Madison was probably the most fun summer of my whole life. You might think that having about five days off the whole summer and working 12-15 hour days sounds awful, but when you realize that you get to spend your summer at the ballpark there really isn’t anything better. With all that time together, the people in the front office and the other interns start to feel like your family. I’m from central Illinois, and after we got past all the “flatland” jokes (I think they finally stopped about the first week of August) that really became the case.

One of the many things I loved about being an intern with the Mallards was that every day brought something different. A new team came to the ballpark, a new promotion was happening and new people were coming to experience a game at the “Duck Pond.” My major duties revolved around helping the media with interview requests and whatever else they needed, plus writing game previews, post-game stories, feature stories and press releases to send to the media and post on the website. I also did a lot of work with statistics and other miscellaneous things for the coaching staff and players. It really solidified in my mind that sports media relations is what I want to do for a career.

If you’ve ever been to a game at the “Duck Pond” (and if you haven’t, you definitely need to this summer), you already know about what a great environment it is to see a game. That’s more of a marketing, promotions and operations thing, so I wanted to talk a little bit about the quality of the team that you’ll see on the field.

I spend the school year as the team manager for the University of Illinois baseball team (home of current Mallards Brandon Wikoff and Nick Chmielewski, and former Mallards Joe Bonadonna and Mike Rohde, among others). I’ve been looking through the roster for this year’s team, and once again, Vern and Coach Thieleke have done a great job of getting quality players from great baseball schools. Some of these guys are dominating the headlines with their performances so far this year, and many of their teams are competing for conference championships and the postseason. It’s quite an assortment of talent from all across the country, so I’m sure the fans will love watching these guys play on a daily basis this summer. It should be another quality Mallards team taking the field and competing for a championship.

I guess I’ll wrap it up for this entry. It was a nice surprise to open my email and see another “assignment” from Jerrad. It brought back memories of last summer and getting one of the tasks that needed to be done or media requests that needed to be handled. I know the “Duck Pond” is going to be rocking again this summer with great family fun and great baseball. Let’s try to get back to the championship series and bring one home this time.