 | Rick Bronwell has always been Phil Shipp's "Sorcerer" - in equipment managing, and now in blogging. |
Ladies and gentlemen...Hello from blog central – the place where we started it all. We have to watch out for imposters like those ones over in Beaumont. It’s crazy.
Phil Shipp, my former assistant, now in Beaumont, he gave me a nice chirp, as we say, in his blog. And gave Heather one, too. Then he tried to give me a compliment on his new blog. It’s kind of crazy, we started this here, it’s all taken off, and now Phil has one. I’m trying to think of a chirp for him but I'm going to take the high road. Phil will know what I mean.
I’m going to start off by saying I hope everyone’s Christmas was well. New Year’s was good. Everybody came through safe and sound and happy. The kids made out like bandits. I put together so many toys my hands hurt. I did more work in one night than I fix all year equipment wise.
The family and I went up to Kansas City real quick for Christmas. We had a good time. On the way through Dallas, I had to use the restroom right after I woke up. I said, “Heather, we gotta go.” I just want to say there’s a Shell station right outside of Dallas… Don’t give them any money at all. Their lights were on but there was no one there. It was heartbreaking. Heather was mad and laughing at the same time. She had to stop, and she doesn’t like to stop.
The CD is coming along really well. We just got done writing a new song “The Road”, so we have three in the bank. It’s flowing like water in my veins right now. It’s actually really fun. We’re having a good time with it.
We’ve got a couple of road trips coming up. This week we have a big one. I’m looking forward to it, because sleep is overrated. I’m just going to be hanging out in Des Moines, Omaha and San Antonio. Let’s go over the situation of what’s going to happen, to give you an idea of what we do on the road.
We’ll leave on Thursday afternoon. We’ll skate in Sugar Land at 9 a.m., pack up the gear, get on the truck and go to the airport. At Continental, we load up top. In the old days, we used to unload on the field. We could back up the truck right near the plane. They wouldn’t even tag the gear. Post-9/11 that’s obviously not the case. So we have to go up top and pay skycaps just like everyone else does. It gets kind of expensive that way. I’m glad it doesn’t come out my pocket.
They get the gear on there eventually. Thursday, we fly to Des Moines on a small plane, a little regional jet. They have really given us problems especially since we travel with 50 pieces of equipment. Jerry (Meins, athletic trainer) has 12 bags, we have glove dryers, skate sharpeners, two or three stick bags, 20-plus players bags, coaches bags, my stuff. It’s crazy. It will probably take two flights to get the gear up to Iowa. It will be 9:30 probably when we get done unloading, so when you guys are going to bed or going out to have some libations, we’ll be just getting back to the hotel and going to bed, because we have a game the next day.
We’ll skate at 11:15 Friday in Des Moines, and then we’ll set up the rest of the room. We play the game that night. After the game, the gear gets packed up, loaded onto the bus, and then we make the two hour drive to Omaha. We’ll get into Omaha about 12:30 a.m., drop the guys at the hotel, and go to the arena to unload the bags in the locker room. Jerry and I will hang up the gear – if you’re reading this, and I know everyone does – Omaha does not dry clothes well at all because it’s so cold. If anyone can email Sieger (Omaha’s equipment manager Greg Sieg) and tell him to put more heaters in the room…No offense, Sieger. Ask Stanzel, he knows him. He’s a funny man.
Back on track...We’ll pre-game skate Saturday morning, play the game, and after the game, we’ll hang the gear in Omaha (and remember it doesn’t dry). I’ll sleep on the training table. The hotel’s kind of far, plus I have to pack. The flight is at 6:10 a.m. Sunday which means we have to be at the airport at 4 a.m.
We fly to San Antonio, via Dallas. Donny will meet us, we’ll unpack, play the game and come home. Let’s hope we can get some wins out of the weekend. It’s tough for the guys, and everyone involved. In two weeks, we go out East, to Worcester, Manchester and Hartford. Let me know if you want to come out. I’ll be in room 212, that’s where the party’s at.
My Chiefs...BOOOOOO!! No first downs?? They "showed up" that first half just like my dates would always "show up" at my door. Or like I "show up" at the gym. Or like...Ah you know the rest...There's always next year. (I'm so tired of that cliché, as is anyone from Kansas City).
Thank you for the names for the band. I really like one called the Lumpy Rutherfords. It has a nice ring to it. It makes me feel tingly inside when I hear it.
I watched Family Guy on PSP the whole last road trip. That’s gotta’ be one of the funniest cartons ever. I love The Simpsons, but that Family Guy is so funny. He’s unbelievable.
If you want to ask me questions, you can email them and we'll see what we can do. Questions about gear or anything, pop culture, restaurants, let me know.
The Booster Club banquet is coming up February 15. Ken Double’s out of town, so Stanzel and I are going to co-emcee. I had so much fun last year. I’m looking forward to doing it again this year. I’m trying to come up with some games to play. Some sort of name game maybe, get the room involved. You know me, I like to be behind the scenes but I also like to be the center of attention sometimes. I’m crazy like that
Have you seen the video of former Aero Mike Smith getting hit in the head with a blistering slapshot? The bend in that cage, I’ve never seen a cage bend like that in my life. For him to get up and be okay right after that is a testament to the fact he has nothing upstairs. Just kidding. I apologize, Smitty. I’m glad you’re ok, that's why I joke about it. That was probably the hardest head shot I’ve ever seen.
The Meigray jersey set, they’ll be out the end of January. Our second set is at the lettering guy in California. We should have them next week, so then I’ll send the jerseys to Meigray, and whoever won the auctions will get them. The warmup jerseys we’ve been wearing pretty much every weekend home game. I know Crazy Jim will have them up for auction on the website later on.
I heard Lisa Foronda left KHOU. I think I am the most devastated person in Houston. I love her so much!! There is nothing like coming back from a long road trip, getting home, saying "What’s up" to the wife, kissing the kids, and sitting down in my Lazy Boy to watch Lisa!! If you are reading this Lisa, my wife is cool with us going out to dinner and a movie sometime, seeing as you are number one on my "island girls" list!! Right ahead of Scarlett Johansson and Aunt Jemimah. (Man, those pancakes are delicious with your golden maple goodness!!)
Until next time! And don't forget to send those e-mails!
---HOUSTON AEROS--- |
