Aeros equipment manager and resident comedian Rick Bronwell continues his Aeros.com blog. Rick loves hearing from his fans...rather, Aeros fans...so e-mail him now!
Blog-a-tola here. Shreema-reema-ding dong. Blog-a-tola. Oh yeah.
I hope everyone joins me for the Equipment Seminar at Space City Ice Station this Thursday at 7 p.m. Even my beloved assistant Donny White will make an appearance! We’ll show everyone about the proper care of equipment and answer questions. Please call Jeremy Burson at 713.361.7946 for more details.
April 11, 12:45 p.m., Toyota Center
This is one of the last times this season I’ll be spending the night here. I can reflect on what’s happened this past week and this last road trip. This will be a long blog, so I apologize in advance. It’ll be the last one for a bit anyways. If you don’t want to read, I don’t apologize for it. But who isn’t going to read this? Seriously. I know, I beat that one to death.
April 12, 12:15 a.m., Toyota Center
I’m sitting here watching the end of Dallas/Vancouver Game 1. I love overtime games. They’re awesome. You never know what’s going to happen. It’s back-and-forth. In my own way, I’ve always liked Vancouver. It’s a beautiful city.
April 13, 1 p.m., Toyota Center
So let’s look back at the last road trip of the season.
We got into Peoria on Thursday. Kurt picked us up in Chicago and we drove the three hours to Peoria. But what we decided before we got there was instead of him driving us to Chicago airport on Saturday morning (we’d have had to pack up at 3:30 a.m.), he decided to just drive us to Omaha. It’s three hours to Chicago and six to Omaha. So we said okay, no problem.
It was the windiest night I’ve ever seen in my life. It was howling back and forth. He’s trying to drive 80 mph – he’s a good driver. With their bus being out of commission, they have nothing to do. We get 30 miles outside of Omaha at 4 a.m., and all of a sudden he pulls over and stops. He’s out of gas. We drove 150 miles on a tank of gas which cost $90. And it was gone in 150 miles. That’s how much of a headwind we had. We’re out of gas in the middle of Iowa in the middle of the night. It’s cold and windy. Kurt gets out and puts his stocking cap on (he’s bald..not sure why he shaves that head…I guess chicks dig it…good call Donny).
So he walks ¼ mile to a gas station and of course it’s closed. He actually lucked out because there was a guy there dropping off some newspapers. After some hesitation and $40 in his pocket, he drove Kurt to a gas station six miles back. He buys a gas can, two gallons, dumps it in and we hope we can get to the next gas station. We literally coasted into there. I felt like I was Apollo 13 landing on the moon. We got to Omaha about 5 a.m., unpacked and slept until 1 p.m.
The game was great, a great win for the team, Quesada’s first win. After the game, Kurt’s going to drive us to Milwaukee. It’s seven hours. It started to snow a little bit. It’s unbelievable, it’s April people, figure it out. We practiced at a practice rink at MSOE (Milwaukee School of Engineering). It was the hardest unload I’ve ever had. You went down a long hallway with the bags on carts (they didn’t have carts, we used the ones from Bradley Center). Then on an elevator, through double doors, into another elevator, another set of double doors, a long hallway and tow more sets of double doors. It took us two hours, and it usually takes us 30 or 45 minutes. Well except Donny, he’s quick it takes him no time at all. So we had the players grab their bags when we were done practicing. Some of the guys weren’t real happy about it.
We played in Milwaukee on Tuesday and spent the night at the rink.
And of course we’re delayed Wednesday to come back here and play. The team goes to Chicago to fly out. It’s normally an hour and 15 minute drive. Not for the Aeros though. We wake up, pack the bags, leave there at 6:30 for a 9:40 flight. Of course it’s snowing, and windy, and the snow is starting to stick and it’s freezing. Again, it’s mid April! Oh, and rush hour traffic. So that drive took us 2 ½ hours. But the flight was delayed anyways. We got in at 2 p.m. It’s a good thing I let the gear hang Tuesday night. I wouldn’t have been able to dry the gear here at home.
I’m using a recorder this weekend for the Blog. I’m using it all weekend, so we’ll take it to Buc-ee’s and we’ll let you know what’s going on.
April 13, 6:53 p.m., Toyota Center
Two minutes until we go out to warm-ups on Friday, April 13. It’s a great date in history. Anyone seen those Jason movies?
The guys are listening to Metallica. Bryce and Miles (stickboys) just walked in. Bryce and Miles are tons of help. Anything you see on the bench that’s set up, they have that set up. Donny’s coming in and running his mouth too. I don’t know why.
April 13, 1st intermission, Toyota Center
We’re down 2-0. I’m about to go out to the bench. Say hi to me. It’s all good.
April 13, post-game, Toyota Center
Tonight, we’re going to hang the gear at Toyota Center, pack it up Saturday morning and be out of here by 12:30 on the way to San Antonio. The crowd was unbelievable tonight. You have to give you guys as fans such credit for screaming and giving us the support no matter what the result is.
April 14, 11 a.m., Toyota Center
We got some good sleep last night. Donny not so much. Madill and Albers got sent down to ECHL Texas so they had to get here at 5:30 and meet Donny so they could fly to Gwinnett.
We woke up at 9 a.m., packed the rest of the bags, got our skates sharpened, Donny went to the airport. Des Moines couldn’t get out right away on Saturday morning due to some weather in Dallas. It happened to us four times – it’s just payback, Iowa. They got rerouted through different places for their game in Chicago on Saturday.
Miles is making the trip with us to San Antonio. And we just got to see the Rockets Power Dancers. They were walking in as we were walking out.
April 14, post-game, somewhere along I-10
Donny failed to fill the truck up with gas on the way there. Here’s what we do in the truck on the way to San Antonio. We’re really bored and tired, so we go by billboard signs, and we see slogans for companies, and we’ll try to come up with another one. We’re very, very off color. It’s good to keep your mind occupied though. We drive by and creep out girls. They try to go faster or slower than us, and Donny does the same to keep up with them. Maybe some spitball fights.
So we’re getting off I-10 in Houston and Donny pulls up next to an ‘07 Civic with blue neons and nice wheels. There’s some little rich kid in it. Donny starts to get the power breaking on in the truck, wanting to race the guy. The light turns green and Donny smokes him. The guy is in the far right lane and pretends to turn left because he just got smoked by an E 350 box truck, with wet gear in the back, with his girlfriend in his car. Professional Boxcar Racing Association. That’s who we are. I’m just kidding of course. Don’t race in cars, kids.
April 15, 1 p.m., Toyota Center
We’re just getting ready for the last game. We’re pre-loading a bunch of stuff we don’t need on the truck.
I’d like to say all the people who help us out all year. Kevin Scarber helps the visiting room. We couldn’t do our job without him and his sons, Sam and Spencer. Spencer’s kind of a weirdo, but what are you going to do. He’s got a good sense of humor though.
Miles, Bryce, Jake, Chad, Brandon, all those kids. They do a great job. I thank Donny White too. He gives good foot massages. And his girlfriend will kick your butt if you come on to him. I thank Heather for putting up with my crap.
We’re going to put everyone’s feedback in for my dog. I appreciate everyone’s well wishes.
Mailbag time
Please pass along my condolences to Rick on the loss of his dog. We had to put one of our cats to sleep last year, and I don’t know what I or my wife would do without my own little buddy, Cosmo, a miniature Eskimo. He truly has become our fourth child whom we dote over constantly, with the three real ones now out of the house.
From Grady with the Binghamton Senators
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Rick – First of all love the BLOG. It keeps me informed about the crazy stuff you guys do that people don't normally get to see. I just wanted to give you your props and a shout out for all the hard work you do to keep our Aeros on their game. Most people do not know all the hard work that goes along with Hockey. I will surely miss the games and your humor until next season.
P.S. Hold the Mayo ROCKS!!!
From Laura, Galveston Police Department
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Rick – Maybe you remember a couple of weeks ago there was a little girl named Samantha who was the "stick kid" for the game on March 24th. I just wanted to let you know that it was the best day of her life! (So far) She had a fantastic time and I wanted to thank you and the other guys and the whole team for making it such a wonderful experience for her. She lives for hockey; she plays on a girl's team called the Herricanes, and she goes to all the Aeros games with us. Being the stick kid was a dream come true for her. She says she would be the stick kid anytime you need an extra one, just let her know!
Thanks again,
Sue
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Hey Rick – First off, condolences on the loss of your pet. I'm sure Owen is up there somewhere running around chewing on things he's not supposed to.
Just as an FYI, there is a brand new Buc-ee's opening up at Highway 288 and Shadow Creek Ranch Parkway. Now you don't have to drive halfway to San Antonio for Jerky!
From Penny
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Ravishing-Rick Dude. This is G-Dog The Security God (thought I might as well play the nickname game, too). Even though this season has been rough, it has still been another wild adventure.
I was just reading about the comments on Josh's routine, ritual, or whatever you want to call it. I think some of your adoring fans would like to know what rituals or routines you may have that you go through before a game. I heard that you make Donny sniff the players’ skates before a game. Is that true?
Got to blast. See-ya. Thanx, Gary
Gary – Wow. You have officially taken over the nickname game. I can’t compete. And Donny actually pays me for letting him sniff the skates.
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Hi, Rick...getting depressed with the season at an end-but looking forward to next year! Here's another trick for that stinky hockey equipment: Renuzit! Helps take that lovely smell out-occasionally I spray it on my son too...works like a charm! Looking forward to next year & more from the Blogman! Thanks for the many laughs!
Kathy
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Hey Rick – Enjoy the blog. Here's a question for you:
What player used a RBK stick with the initials "BM" written on the tape on the handle in the 2005-2006 season?
From David
That player is Josh Olson. As for what the "bm" stands for....your guess is as good as mine!! A lot of players put initials on their sticks. Sometimes I’ll ask what they mean but most of the time it is just a little superstition that the guys have.... I know Harding puts pretty much all the letters of the alphabet on his sticks as well as a couple of guys will draw pictures of things either on their blades or knobs. I had one player in Kansas City who would draw an eye under the tape on the blade of the stick so the stick could "see" where the net was so the puck would go in. The only problem with that was he couldn't score so I guess he should have put it on the tape instead of under the tape... Anyone's guess I suppose!!
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Here’s one final thing everyone has to do before we take a couple weeks off and regroup for the summer.
Go to google.com.
Click on Maps.
Click on Get Directions.
From: New York, New York.
To: Paris, France.
Then, read line #23.
Laugh.
Thanks again to everyone for a great 2006-07 season. We’ll be back sometime in May to touch base. Check out Aeros.com for information on that, plus our big Aeros Garage Sale. Also, don’t forget Thursday’s Equipment Seminar at Space City!
