7-30-08 Movie Night at the Coliseum

For some reason, I had to make my way to the Coliseum tonight. Don't ask why. I have no answer. Guess it was curiosity. It wasn't the movie showing of "Miracle." Uh... I own it. Makes me cry every time, no matter how often I watch it. But with the summer being what it is, I wanted to see who would show up.

Well... it was all sorts. Families came with strollers and little ones. You really have to love the inflatables. The kids get such a kick out of them. Even Mr. Bill was there. And I, like Mr. Bill, just had to be there. I couldn't help it. All the new ticket reps, smiling and eager to help. It looked like Disney world with clip boards.

Once inside the arena, with the Jumbotron down in the center, you were allowed to sit anywhere to enjoy the show. But you had to careful where you were walking because you were apt to trip over a rug rat.

"I love hockey!!" one 4 year-old told one of the ticket reps. "Well, hockey loves you!" he said. Every kid who walked through the doors was handed a street hockey stick. They were smiling from ear to ear. As we walked in, we were also handed a bag of Indiana Popcorn and a flyer about the next I.C.E. tour stop.

There was a table set up with minimal merchandise, some of it new. Yeah... so damn new that they had Weight and Streit jerseys along with Campoli jerseys. What was missing? Ahem. How about the damn Bergenheim jerseys now that he's been signed for two years?? Uh... HELLO? Okay, I digress.

Chris Campoli was doing his due diligence during his tour of duty sitting by the RV and signing autographs.

"Did you see? He has off on Saturday. I was trying to get him a booking." I got a sly smile. It was a joke. "Sure, maybe there's a sweet 16 or something he can do." I laughed.

"Did you notice we're going to have one of the best looking teams in the NHL?" Okay, so yes, we've got some NHL darlings on our team now, but my answer, "Yeah, but can they SKATE?" I was told Chris' shoulder is doing well and he's looking forward to getting going.

My favorite announcers were not at this event, but I did find out that we will probably be seeing a little more of Billy Jaffe next season, which is definitely a bonus for us fans.

"Where did those suits get the beers?" I said to myself while I was sitting in the stands taking notes. Along with the rug rats were a group of young business men meeting up to watch the movie. Somehow, they found out the one concession stand that was open was selling beer. Bet you $5 there was no wine at that concession. But I couldn't stick around to find out.

There were so many new faces around the coliseum, I'm feeling a little lost.

Oh, and PS, the Where's Morrow thing that was running around our NYIC board? Well, Ken was invited to be there personally but he couldn't make it. He lives in like Kansas, or something. You know with Dorothy and Auntie Emm.

Tim Beach did the honors on the microphone, and as the lights were dimmed he told us that Aug 9th would be the next open house from 10 - 12, and the first official appearance of Doug Weight as an Islander. It was also the date of the Ice Girls try outs, if you're interested.

They will also be unveiling their new partial ticket plans with something for everyone to afford.

This was a very interesting concept in marketing and family entertainment. I think it worked. Everyone looked very happy. I did have to leave, so I don't know how it all ended up. But I'm thinking that even better than watching Miracle on the jumbotron would be to have an ADULT movie night and have a screening of SlapShot and invite Steve Carlson from the Hanson Bros. back to Uniondale.

But then again... I'm not marketing... right? Hell... I'm not even employed there.

BTW... the popcorn was awesome. Big Angry Man ate it in a heartbeat.