Friday, January 06, 2006
WJC: More 'mediot' musings
A few more interesting tidbits from my time in the innards and press box of GM Place.
Pat Quinn - I stood behind him in the elevator, and he is one BIG dude. I wonder how big he was before he lost weight?! He was being told that he was going to do an interview during the 12 minute mark of the period (which ended up being the 2nd period) and he was less than thrilled.
When he did do the interview (shown live on the center-ice scoreboard), Quinn got a HUGE pop! Patt got a standing ovation that was louder than I've heard from a crowd in Vancouver for some time. Obviously, Canucks fans still have the love for Pat Quinn, even if he's with Toronto (Vancouverites love to jeer anything Toronto-related).
The standard 50/50 jackpot for the WJC games and for many Canucks game was in the $20,000ish area. Last night's jackpot was over $71,000!!! Damn, that will buy a lot of gloves and sticks for some lucky kids in minor hockey.
The Swiss journalist on my right-hand side was really into the game, tapping his cup to the beat of the music. The Swiss journalist on my left side was really into the buffet table, loading up two full plates in a 5-minute span plus dessert! The beef kabobs looked delectable.
According to one of the volunteers, Tiger Williams tried to get up to the box seats but wasn't allowed to because he didn't have a special ticket (All celebs have to get one). Do you really want to piss off Tiger Williams? Me? I'd escort him to his seat and pray he doesn't give me a 3rd grade concussion.
Media Guides - Only Finland, Canada, and the USA produced any guides for the media. This is quite annoying, as it's hard enough to get information about kids you've never seen or heard about before. Really, how can we write much about Team Norway or Team Switzerland if we don't even have some basic idea of who they are? The IIHF should look at making media guides, even basic ones, a requirement for each federation.
Team Finland also had postcards at the media centre. Postcards!! I wish I had grabbed more of them, since there was a huge pile and nobody else seemed interested in them. I could have mailed some greetings to a few Swedish 'friends' :)
Hockey Canada produced a daily report that was quick thick with game previews, facts, and statistics. It's amazing how much stuff Hockey Canada will put out for the media, but it sort of coincides with the amount of coverage Team Canada gets compared to all other countries. Team USA put out a special lineup sheet before each game, which was a nice touch. As a final thought, I must say the volunteers at both GM Place and the Pacific Coliseum were extremely helpful and kind. I didn't have one bad experience with anyone and they really went out of their way to help the media be comfortable and have access to wireless internet, information, etc. For example: After each period, we were given summaries by one of the 'runners'. Oh, and I enjoyed the free all-you-can-eat popcorn buffet ;)
When he did do the interview (shown live on the center-ice scoreboard), Quinn got a HUGE pop! Patt got a standing ovation that was louder than I've heard from a crowd in Vancouver for some time. Obviously, Canucks fans still have the love for Pat Quinn, even if he's with Toronto (Vancouverites love to jeer anything Toronto-related).
