So I've been massively busy at work lately and because of that, wasn't able to go to the Kickoff Luncheon for the first time since they started having them in 1997. So can anyone give a recap of what happened?
Business as usual Movie Studios at Las Colinas was a cool place to hold the event. The room used for the event was right past the Oval office, well a TV studio replica of the White House's oval office. Islamico was standing right next to the entrance. It was the Las Colinas Islamico, not Medievel Time's Islamico. The luncheon room was of comparable size to last years, and had a red glow courtesy of hundreds of strings of lights hanging over the tables. It took a few minutes for the eyes to adjust to the low lighting. The setup was similar to last year, 9 to 10 people per table with a player assigned to each table. Food was catered buffet style. They went with the safe bet, Mexican. Goodies included the media guide, stickers, schedules, a red t-shirt with the Burn logos on the front and Radio shack logos on the back. Each table had a ball autographed by the entire team. The person with the program signed by Jason Kreis kept the ball. Brad Sham was the MC. Amongst the dignitaries at the main table were Carlos Alvarado (play by play guy from KESS), Two budweiser reps(ironic, no?), various N Texas soccer leaders, Lamar Hunt and his two sons, John Wagner, Frisco city and ISD leaders, and a rep for Radio Shack. Radio Shack got to speak first. Blah blah blah (yes, I will purchase my next satellite dish from you). Andy spoke next his main theme was that the soccer explosion has not occured yet. Please come out on Saturday! Lamar spoke next. First, he congratulated all the parties that made the deal in Frisco possible. Then he gave a brief dissertation about his involvement with soccer in Dallas dating back to 60's and his involvement with sports in general 20 years before that. He kept teasing Brad about his $50 a game gig during the Tornado days. After Lamar spoke Brad Sham referred to him as the Investor-Owner operator of the Dallas Burn. Coach Jeffries introduced the team. He must have joined toastmasters because he seemed much more comfortable speaking to the large crowd than he did last year. After the program was complete it was interesting to watch all of the media run around and interview everybody. Interest in soccer must be on the rise, I actually saw Coach Jeffries give an interview with 3 microphones in his face. The event started at 11:30 and concluded just shy of 1:30. I think that about summarizes it.
Nice re-cap. One of these days I am actually going to have to drive and go one of these things. Last year I had tickets but my wife got sick and I had to stay home and take care of the kids. How may folks you think were there?
Re: Re: Business as usual I saw the following media at the event: Cybersoccer news - Ed Bazaan. DMN - Steve Davis and the sports page editor FW Start Telegram - Tobias Lopez Jesus Padilla - color commnetator of Burn games for KESS, but he works for Radio Unica. A couple of hispanic reporters were running around getting interviews, but I don't know who they work for? Fox 4 was there with Max Morgan. Telemundo was there for sure. Not sure if Univision was there. Several TV cameras did not have logos, so I could not discern who they were working for. They might have been working for MLS and HSG. The three mics were Tobias, one of the hispanic reporters I did not know, and I cannot recall who was holding the third mic. Wow, Dr. Watson, you must have a photographic memory! Just hope that I am never the only witness to an accident you are involved in.
I saw a report on Channel 8 last night about the kickoff luncheon. They interviewed Lamar, and Dale Hansen even mentioned how Lamar Hunt was a great person for sports in general.
What time was that on? Was it just a brief report? Did they mention the Burn in any detail? How many fingers am I holding up?
it was on during the sports segment at ten. It lasted about a minute. They showed some crowd shots of the kickoff luncheon and an interview with Lamar. Three?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Business as usual Buzz, dude, I apologize for the omission. Burn fans should know by now that 3rd Degree is anywhere and everywhere there is something that is even remotely associated with the Dallas Burn.
We were there Netmio.com was there too! We were sitting with Chivas Martinez and he was real pissed with Jeffries because of his comments in the podium. Even after the event ended he kept talking about it with Joselito Vaca. He told us he is starting on Saturday, so hopefully he can prove himself once and for all so Jeffries can shut his mouth for good. See the Burn Luncheon pictures here: http://www.netmio.com/gallery/album/0,2303,CI9-LGes-AI2351,00.html We will be at the game tomorrow too, so all of you crazy inferno fans better get rowdy or we are not taking your pic!
Re: We were there "Shut his mouth for good"? I have a hard time believing Chivas would say something like that, particularly at a public function.
Re: Re: We were there I am sorry, perhaps what I wrote didn't make sense because it didn't come out as inteded. The only thing "Chivas" told us was that he is starting Saturday. The part about Jeffries shutting his mouth was MY personal comment, it just happened to be in the same sentence. Chivas never said anything bad about Jeffries, he was just upset about the comments made. He kept telling Vaca how Jeffries always does that to him and that it wasn't fair that he was being picked on in front of everybody. I don't want to start any controversies, I just feel Chivas's pain because those comments weren't needed. I hope that this is finally his breakout season and that he finally matures as a player. Perhaps Jeffries is somewhat right, but there was no need to expose it to the media like that. Anyone else who went to the luncheon and heard Jeffries' speech towards Chivas will not let me lie.
Damn, I had already wrote what Jeffries said about "Chivas" but I accidently deleted it... Bare with me, I'm a newbie! Here it is again but don't quote me because I am only typing what I can remember. It should give you an idea of why "Chivas" was upset. Jeffries on "Chivas": ... he is a great dribbler and a pleasure to watch... when he happens to get by the opponents... ... It would make me real happy if he could cut down a little on the dribbling and do it on the opponents end, not ours... (crowd laughed at this point) Well, what do you think?
Perhaps he was joking and his intention was to make people laugh, but some of us didn't think his comments were that funny, including "Chivas".
I can see how some people would take it the wrong way. But if it's looked at in the context of the whole thing, then it really isn't that bad, I don't think. I probably should not give my opinion anyway since I wasn't there to hear exactly how it went. But I was told about some stories and things he said about several players and it all seems funny and done in good fun. Let's just let Chivas show us on the field! Maybe it fires a light under his belly and he will have the breakout year we have all been waiting for!
I think the main reason for Chivas' sensitivity has to do with shyness. I imagine Martinez might have thought the audience was laughing at him, which I'm sure was not the case at all, rather than laughing along with the coach's attempt to make a joke. But as to the comments themselves, I'd say they'd apply more to EJ than Chivas. That guy's made me nervous many times with his attempts (usually unsuccessful) to dribble past 2 or 3 opponents in the Burn's half of the field.
Given the fact that coach was giving each player a little stick, this is hardly something to get bent out of shape over. Sounds pretty tame and funny to me. Of course, the joke having a grain of truth to it makes it even funnier. I would tell Chivas to lighten up a bit but I also hope can use it as motivation and he goes out there lights up LA for a goal or assist or two.