Shake w/Quakes thread gone...my bad... Oops. I was trying to blow away a post in that thread and accidently deleted the whole thing. Apologies. Continue here if you are inclined to talk about it Shake w/the Quakes...
9/6/02- Shake with the Quakes at Spartan Stadium! I think that the event was a huge success. All of the players were there and extrememly nice, except for Troy wasn't there since he was hurt. Scott as always was adorable. Ian was generous for all the fans. Zac was enjoying playing human foosball. Joe and Jon stationed at the goal kicking place where they shot balls at willing kids. Ariel was at the radar station where people would kick and a radar would tell how fast they kicked. Eddie, Ramiro, and Dwayne were at the inflatable slide watching and enjoying kids come tumbling down the slide. Lucci and Devin were having a blast in the mini soccer field as did Jimmy. Wade was placed at the rock climbing place and was always interested in convo. Chris, Richard, Manny and Ronnie walked around meeting the fans who came out to support them. Landon stayed at the autograph session the whole time and met his girl fans. Jeff signed autographs for a short period of time but was still generous. Great time!
I thought there were a couple of smart improvements over last year's event. First, only Frank Yallop, Johnny Moore, Jed (media relations guy), and four players who are team leaders attended the Q&A session. That was perfectly enough, and it allowed other players to mix with the fans and sign autographs. Last year, the entire team was standing there, and most of the questions were directed at Yallop. Second, the team lockers were left open for fans to walk through whenever they wanted. Bruce Morgan was there to answer questions, but it really didn't warrant an organized tour. My favorite discovery was that an inscribed sign saying "Frodo Baggins #12" has replaced the name card atop Jeff Agoos' locker. Classic! This kind of event is so important to the fans, and the players are very personable and truly appreciative of their supporters. Good work all around!
There were a lot of good ones, but one that I liked (and has been somewhat overlooked) was about the size of Spartan's pitch and whether it is so disadvantageous to visiting teams and so advantageous to the Quakes (almost every set of visiting announcers uses it as an excuse for the defeat of their team). Frank very pointedly answered with a question (and I paraphrase), "If the field made that much difference, why didn't the Clash win all the time?" Meaning: this is a good team and that's why it wins, doesn't have anything to do with the field. His view on why we lose away games is that the leaders, Dayak and Agoos, are not out there to solidify.
Did anyone notice the different jerseys in the lockers? At the Q&A, they confirmed what a good number of us already knew--that the team will have new kits next year. Batfam noticed them in the lockers right away and when we got out to the elements, we asked Ian if those were the new uniforms or practice jerseys? He said he thought they must be the new ones because he hadn't seen them before. They look VERY sharp!! I'm sure it was just a sneak peak, though. Can't imagine seeing those before a grand unveiling next season opener. I love the event! Well worth the time. The guys are outstanding, especially with the kids. It's criminal the way this team gets ignored by most of the media. LD made my niece and daughter's day by accepting the bag of Jelly Bellys they brought for him and waving to them as he drove in. I was delighted to have a great one-on-one chat with Johnny Moore for about 10-15 minutes, which I thought was more than generous considering how busy the day was. A fantastic job by Johnny and his whole organization. WELL DONE, QUAKES!!
Ditto.... The event was first class. It is cool to chat with the players without thousands of people stepping all over ya. The new uniforms looked really sharp, definitely better than I expected. Go Quakes!