Tagged: Boise
Droppings from the Nest, July 28th
Driving by the stadium on my way to work this morning, I noticed all of the guys piling off the bus. I can only imagine that bus ride–brutal. But, they have the day off and I am sure while some will be catching up on the sleep they didn’t get on the bus last night, others will be out enjoying Boise.
Now, to the (limited) droppings:
- The Idaho Statesman recaps last night’s 10-2 loss in Eugene.
- The Idaho Press-Tribune also recaps last night’s game
Bromance extras: You can check out my article on the Hak-Ju Lee-Logan Watkins “bromance” on www.boisehawks.com, but also be sure to look at the photo album of all Boise Hawks “bromances”. And as an extra little tidbit, here is my interview with Hak-Ju Lee about his “bromance” with Logan Watkins (with Watkins serving as the translator); it’s pretty raw, but funny nonetheless.
Lee on Watkins Bromance.wav
And to clarify, a “bromance” is a close, non-sexual relationship between two men–essentially, they are best friends.
Off-day Adventures in Boise
With the guys in Vancouver for five days, my coworkers and I enjoyed some nice R&R…even getting our first “real” weekend since the beginning of the season.
Adventure #1: Whitewater rafting the Payette River
I am scared of drowning. I once watched this video that showed people rafting the Colorado River and I remember thinking: “There is absolutely no way I would ever go whitewater rafting…”
Unless it was connected to my job.
How on Earth did I find a job that would be able to tie in whitewater rafting?! It’s not like my job was on the line if I didn’t go whitewater rafting, but my boss did invite me, along with another office member, to go with her family.
Leading up to Thursday, I was so nervous, all I could think about was rafting…and falling out of the raft. That morning I couldn’t eat breakfast for fear of a nervous stomach. But I did manage to chow down some granola (I was trying to get into the outdoorsy mode) and some Tums.
Turns out most of my anxiety was unneeded as no one in our raft fell out and our guide told us we were the best paddling team he’d seen in a long time…although I’m pretty sure my knuckles were sore the next day from the death-grip I had on my paddle. We ended up doing “The Rush” half-day trip, riafting through Class III and IV rapids with such names as Bronco Billy, Staircase, Slalom, Dog Leg and Tight and Right. Great choice for a first-timer, ha!
I think my favorite part was when we were coming up on our last Class IV rapid, Slalom, and our guide was explaining that we need to avoid a monster hole named Seemore. It’s named Seemore because, as our guide explained, “you see more boats flip and you see more people swim than at any other point of the trip.” Glorious.
Seconds before we were about to meet Seemore face-to-face, the guide says, “Change of plans, we’re not going to try to avoid Seemore…we’re going right through him.”
I thought I was going to puke. But before I knew it my mind switched from thoughts of puking to thoughts of paddling as fast as I could. After a couple huge splashes and what looked like a massive water-cave, I spun around and shouted, “Was that Seemore?!” The guide confirmed that we did, in fact, make it through Seemore alive…I was so excited I almost fell out of the raft celebrating.
I guess that’s one more thing to check off my bucket list–even though I’m pretty sure it wasn’t there to begin with.
I’m starting to feel like I’m crossing a lot off my bucket list here in Boise. Zip lining is the next big thing to do–but that will have to be after our upcoming eight-game homestand against Yakima and Salem-Keiser. The guys get back in town tomorrow and take on the Yakima Bears at 7:15. Check out www.boisehawks.com for tickets or call us at (208) 322-500.
Go Hawks!
Season Whirlwind Begins Now
…or maybe I should say it began earlier today, say, around 1:13 p.m.
But before I tell you what happened at the special time of 1:13, I just want to say, welcome, to the first of many, many entries at A Bird’s Eye View. As one of three members of Hawks Advanced Media (HAM), I’ll be bringing you “slices” of Hawks info and insight throughout the season. Unlike my collegues’ blogs (On the Mike with Mike Safford and Sharp Visions), I will be bringing an interesting perspective from the front office and the behind the scenes stories that come with it.
But, enough about me (if you wanted to know more about that, you would’ve been reading my bio), let’s get to the stuff that’s really important: the Hawks.
So what happened at 1:13? The 2009 Hawks landed in their new nest. Host families (more to come on them later) and members of the front office (your’s truly included) met the 27 players and three coaches right when they stepped off the plane.
While I was waiting with other members of the staff, the media and the host familes, I wondered: do these guys realize how cool this is? To be greeted by fans and media just for short-season ball?
For most of them, it is their first taste of pro ball…a tiny glimpse of their futures. And because of that, I think most of them were terrified walking through those doors.
I would have loved to be inside their brains, listening to their thoughts as they walked through the glass doors of the airport and saw a throng of people–fans holding signs, tv crews with cameras ready for action and, of course, all of the Hawks staff in electric orange polos–if nothing else, our shirts probably startled them a bit. Just imagine…
And then think…what if you’ve never heard of Boise before? Which, we learned later, only a handful of the 27 guys had heard of Boise. It isn’t as bad as it sounds–the Hawks consist of 15 foreign players–three from Venezuela, three from Korea and eight from Dominican Republic–so they get a free pass on U.S. geography. And even for the guys who had heard of Boise, they still didn’t know what to expect of their new home.
Recent 15th Round Draft Pick, Cody Shields immediately noticed the mountains surrounding the Treasure Valley.
“I’ve never seen mountains before,” Shields, a Florida-native said. “They’re awesome! I just can’t believe them. I’ve never been farther west than New Orleans.”
For most of these guys, Boise is just the first stop on the road to their big league dreams…they’ll get to know a lot of different cities they’ve never even thought about before. But–for the time being, I’m really glad they’re here.
A Bird's Eye View 