Mike's 6th Post: Potentially the greatest week of the year...

You can put it on your calendars folks as this week rivals almost any other in a calendar year as the best week ever. Think about it. Major League Baseball Opening Day on Sunday night, the NCAA Basketball Men’s Championship on Monday, and The Masters started on Thursday. There is also the end of the NBA and NHL seasons fast approaching. Combine all those and SportsCenter overload is in full effect!

Being a sports nut it is great to be able to turn on the TV at the end of the day and know there are great highlights to watch every day of the week. Also, as someone who has 4 fantasy baseball teams, was in multiple NCAA tournament pools and is pulling for Sergio Garcia to win The Masters so I can get a free Taylor Made Driver, it helps to know what is going on.

Sunday I watched intently as the Braves and the Phillies matched up in the 2009 MLB debut. In one of my draft’s, which is a keeper league, somehow I was able to take Brian McCann with the first available pick and he did not let me down. Blasting a 2-run bomb into the second deck in first inning, it justified taking a catcher high in the draft and let me know he will be a force to be reckoned with this season. (shout out to Schmeltzer and the NL East).

On Monday, the Twins officially opened their 2009 campaign at home against the Seattle Mariners. With a late Opening Day starter switch last week, Fransisco Lirano got the nod and took the hill. The Mariners, now with the veteran Ken Griffey Jr back in their lineup, proved to be too much for the Twins and we lost. However, Tuesday would be a different story. (More on that later).

Also on Monday night, I was able to experience my first-ever “Itch’s Annual Basketball Bash at Rookie’s.” Making the 35 minute drive out to Rookies was well worth it to share in the comrodarere of the rest of the Mallards staff and a lot of other Mallards fans over a few beers and the first Stoddard’s Brats of the year. Also due to a couple of good-natured gentlemen’s bets, a round or two of shots came from the bar, with the last being…..Orange Whips! Orange Whips have been a staple of any type of NWL gathering or Mallards outing since their debut in Rochester in the fall of 2006. As a concoctuion that changes with every establishment we order them at, Rookie’s did a great job and should share their mix with the rest of the world.

Tuesday I came into the office only to take a fair amount of gruff on the Twins Opening Day loss, however my spirits were not broken. I knew the Twins had the heart to win and they proved it on Tuesday night. After being down two runs, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Twins mounted a comeback for the ages. Carlos Gomez, who is not known for his plate dispiline drew a walk. Then so did pinch hitter Jason Kubel followed by another walk to another pinch hitter in Brian Buscher. With the bases loaded Denard Span squeaked out an infield single to bring the Twins within one and then Alexi Casilla sent a line drive back up the box to plate two runs and give the Twins the victory! WOW! Those types of games are what make me love the game of baseball. The Twins ended up splitting the series with the Mariners and now head to Chicago for a series with division rival White Sox.

Wednesday was another day of regular season baseball but one story really stands out. A young man named Nick Adenhart was making his first start of the 2009 season for the Anelgs. As 22-year old rookie, Adenhart showed masterful control of pitches as he tossed 6 shutout innings en route to his first major league victory. Sadly, it would also be his last. Nick Adenhart was killed late Wednesday night when a car he was riding in was hit by an alleged drunk driver. Tragic. Devisatating. Painful. To see someone with such great potential, someone who had worked hard to recover from Tommy John surgery to work his way into the starting rotation of a Major League team only to have everything taken away because of stupidity is hard to understand. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Adenhart family, the Angels organization and their fans and all of Major League Baseball.

Thursday, the start of The Masters and a great weekend of golf. My Sergio Garcia pick seems to be a little bit of a stretch as he ended the day tied for 47th with an opening round 73, a full eight strokes off the lead. I guess I may have to settle for buying a new driver now instead.

52 DAYS AND COUNTING TO THE MALLARDS HOME OPENER! WE’LL SEE YOU AT THE DUCK POND

Schmeltzer's 3rd installment: Nobody has more fun than people!

The past couple of weeks have been a bit of a blur due to the fact that the sales season is now in full swing and life and times at the "Duck Pond” are picking up once again. The hardest part of the winter season is waiting for the NWL schedule to be released. Although, it is a great pleasure to start making calls and talking to current and potential clients about that wonderful thing we call Mallards baseball!

I had a hard time coming up with a topic for this blog, but I decided that one of the hardest decisions we make during any day, throughout the whole year, is “what we’re doing for lunch”. The North Side doesn’t have an overwhelming amount of choices, so it usually makes for a majority vote on where we eat for lunch.

There is a handful of us who bring our own lunch, but when that doesn’t happen we normally choose from places like; New Orleans Take-Out, Subway, Pierce’s Market, Culver’s, Smokey Jon’s, Jim’s Meat Market & the Mexican convenient store on Northport Drive. Obviously, there are more options but I would say these are the most popular destinations.

The Mexican convenient store is located near Culvers and is a spot we discovered this past summer, thankfully. They have the best authentic tacos at a reasonable price. When we go there the office smells for days of steak, pork and chicken but it’s worth it. If you are ever on the North Side around lunch time you have to give this place a shot!

Subway is another great story. First of all, they are a wonderful sponsor and they also have the ever popular $5 foot-long sub. I think Jerrad ate there for a month straight back in September. Anyway, there is a guy who works over there; we call him, “Bob the Builder” and he has become an icon to everyone here in the office. He has a voice that you would be able to differentiate and a certain swagger to the way he conducts his art of sandwich-making. If you are on the North side and want a cheap lunch with a good story, swing in and say hi to Bob. Tell him Kevin from the Mallards sent you.

Next is Jim’s Meat Market. They have a tremendous amount of deli products and you can’t go wrong with anything you purchase for lunch there. Their staff members are always friendly and they have some great suggestions. Personally, I like the subs but I know a lot of people in the office like their fried options. No matter what you get, it’s AWESOME!

Finally, while we are on the topic of food our office made a trip out to Rookies Food & Spirits in Mazomanie last week to sample some food options for next year. One of the things most of us really enjoyed was the buffalo blue cheese & cheddar sticks. This will be one of the new features on our appetizer buffet menu in the suites this summer. (pictured is the Glazer Bacon Cheeseburger we served last summer...minus the fried egg)

Thanks for reading my post. I hope you enjoyed it. If you are ever on the North Side for lunch and need a bite to eat make sure to think about some of the options mentioned above. But remember once June 1^st gets here the best place to grab a bite to eat is the never-ending menu here at the Duck Pond!