In Pursuit of Purple Passion

Other than Anne Boleyn, I don't know anyone who dreaded a trip to the tower more than this acrophobe. But with the Ravens in the playoff hunt, Camden Yards needs to put on our brightest purple face.  Or faces.

That's right -- when the sun goes down tonight, the clock tower of Camden Station will be beaming purple in all four directions.

This is the third straight year we've made the trip to the tower, armed with violet gels, and this is the highest I've ever made it.  Admittedly, the hatch on the roof is a sissy place to stop, but it did give me a good vantage point to snap our electricians as they made their way to the clock tower. 

(Special thanks to Ray Winfrey, on the left, and Donendo Bryant on the right. John Waters, who led the mission, is already scaling up the inside.)



Yesterday was Paint the Town Purple Day, and the most visible sign is this Ravens logo on War Memorial Plaza at City Hall.  This year, Ravens fans went on a stealth recon mission, hitting the streets of Baltimore under the cover of darkness to spray washable lavender chalk paint onto Raven head stencils with WIN  -- What's Important Now -- in black under them.

(Lest you think we are encouraging tagging, fear not. This graffiti is legit because the chalk washes off in the rain.)

So join in the fun and mark your territory for the home team.

These stencils and supplies are available for $10 through the Ravens Store at the Sports Legends Museum, where you can get Ravens gear and other spirit merchandise.

You won't have any trouble finding Sports Legends Museum here at Camden Yards.  Just look for the clock tower with the four purple faces as your beacon.

 

As the World Watches . . .

We got word yesterday that American Le Mans action will be seen this season on ESPN and ABC.

That is great news for Baltimore and Maryland because American Le Mans is a featured performer in the Baltimore Grand Prix this coming September.


ALMS competes on North America’s premier road courses such as Sebring International Raceway. ALMS includes multiple classes of cars – Prototype and Grand Touring – which race on the track at the same time to create compelling race action and constant passing.

According to ALMS and ESPN, all ALMS races will be carried live in their entirety and fully produced on ESPN3.com, with ESPN2 and ABC providing televised coverage on a delayed basis.

The combination of two premier race series (IndyCar and LeMans) in one location on the same weekend is a great opportunity for race fans. This has contributed greatly to the success of the events in Long Beach and St. Petersburg.


More fans, more network coverage -- what's not to love?

That means aerial shots of the harbor, great views of the Convention Center crowds, some action on Pit Row (where the cacaphony continues under my window) and visits to the ALMS paddock here in Camden Yards.

Here's the best part -- the 2011 ESPN telecast package also includes a two-hour documentary-style broadcast from our inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix, to be produced by Intersport, an award winning media and marketing agency. 

In other words, a freebie travelog on the best of Baltimore, from all angles, with non-stop excitement, appearing on a premier sports platform.


This event keeps getting better and better.  And we still have eight months to go before the checkered flags fall.

Zippity Zamboni !!

Breathes there a fan with a soul so dead that never once sat in a rink and thought:

WOULDN'T IT BE A GAS TO DRIVE THE ZAMBONI?

Of course you have.  Admit it.  Everyone wants to take the icer for a spin, maybe slip-sliding around the corners and steaming designs into the surface.

Well, thanks to the good folks at the Gardens Ice House in Laurel, you can learn to do just that.

Yes, one of the premier indoor skating facilities in the state is offering Driver's Ed for aspiring Zamboni-ites.  And the next class is registering now.

Ice House has a fleet of  four to keep their rinks in top shape.  But don't think this means bumper cars or drag racing on ice.  These vehicles cost about $80,000 each, so you won't be joy riding in them.

For the last several years, Ice House has hosted Zamboni driving schools around the holidays. Actually,  Zamboni classes are given frequently, but this time of year makes a lesson a particularly nice gift for those who have everything.

In addition to learning how to operate the Zamboni, students will also be given a history lesson about the innovative machines and the family who built them by hand shortly after World War II using the frames of old army jeeps.

The engineering principles of the ice cutter and melter will be explained, and after you know all the mechanics of the machine, you'll be allowed to take it for a spin.

Proceeds from the class tuition will go towards maintaining the stable of Zambonis and also supporting the Ice House's youth hockey program and elite travel squad.

Opened in 1996, the Gardens Ice House is home to the Potomac Curling Club and the University of Maryland hockey team, among others.   They have three sheets of ice - two NHL size, and one Olympic rink. During the summer, two of the rinks are used for roller hockey while the third is maintained for ice skating.

Ice House has spectator seating, a cafe, and pro shop.  You can rent skates (figure and hockey), and take lessons.  There are also party rooms, a fitness center, and meeting or conference facilities.
All that, and Zamboni Ed, too.

On Time, On Budget

For the people I work with, it's more than a mantra.  On time, on budget is a promise made and kept.

While I've always admired the work ethic that comes that commitment, this is the first time I've lived with it.  In this case, it means heavy construction projects with a tight schedule.  Under my window.  It's an eye opener rather than earache, though.  It shows just how skillfully our professionals plan things.

Because Camden Yards operates 365 days a year as an office complex, visitor attraction, and transit center as well as sports complex, our engineers coordinate work around those functions.  Their juggling is worthy of Cirque du Soleil.

Right now, it is well below freezing with high winds making the chill factor much lower.  But work began on the Pit Lane improvements long before I arrived this morning.  Like the widening of Lee Street by the City, construction had to begin as soon as the Orioles season ended, and completed before their return in the spring.

That's a pretty narrow window, and doesn't leave much wiggle room for bad weather or anything else.  And yes, there is some discomfort for Ravens home games, but that will be more than compensated by improved traffic flow and some additional parking when the project is complete.

Pit Row is not the only project that has battled the elements.  Here is a picture of the work on the seating bowl that continued during the February blizzards earlier this year.  Again, the new seats and drainage trenches had to be installed by Opening Day.  Neither rain, nor snow, nor other meterological surprises could stop the work.

And it didn't.  Additional work on the seating bowl has continued this off season, and we can guarantee you, it will be finished no matter what Mother Nature throws at us this year.  (Hard to top last year, Mom.)

So while we all look forward to the wonderful experiences we have at Camden Yards, (and will have at the Baltimore Grand Prix over Labor Day,)  take a moment to appreciate what goes into keeping our facilities the best of the best. 

Even if it occasionally sounds like a woodpecker on steroids outside your window.

Vrooming up Russell Street

Terry and I were ambling towards our favorite haunt beyond center field late yesterday afternoon.  The streets were nearly deserted as we crossed Russell Street, as most folks already checked out for the holidays.

Out of nowhere a car careened around the corner, creating a bit of excitement.

"I think the Grand Prix is underway," Terry quipped as we dashed across the median.  Terry had good reason to think so, based on the good news he'd just heard.

Hard to believe, but in a few short months that median will be covered with grandstands.  And, as Terry shared with me when we were safely seated in our watering hole, those grandstands are well on their way to being filled.  Phones were ringing even as we sipped our holiday cheer.

Here's what he heard from organizers:  after two initial online offerings, more than 20,000 tickets for the Labor Day "Festival of Speed" have been sold.  Spectators will be coming from all over the country. To date, tickets have been sold in thirty three states and Puerto Rico.  These include every Eastern Seaboard state from Maine to Florida, and across the country to include most of the Midwest and the entire West Coast.

While the IZOD and BRD folks are gratified, you know the hotels and restaurants must be doing handsprings.  This kind of response indicates a diverse, affluent visitor that will be encamped locally for several days.  Much as we love the home crowds, it's those out of staters who really get the economy jumping.

This is the kind of news that energizes everyone.  Gives us one more good thing to look forward to in the New Year.  Even those jackhammers under my window are beginning to sound like jingle bells.  Or cash registers.

Don't get left in the dust.  Get your tickets now.

Diving Well

If you're like me, you hear those two words as a gerund and adverb.  A description that might be used for the athlete in this picture. 

But not when Terry is describing why Maryland, and specifically Montgomery County, is positioned to attract many more scholastic and amateur aquatic competitions.  For in Terry-speak, diving well is a present participle and noun.  It is a specialized facility within a natatorium, and Maryland has some of the best.

When Terry called from his recent treasure hunt, he gave me a quick tutorial on an amazing public venue in Montgomery County I knew nothing about.  The Germantown Indoor Swim Center, located near the SoccerPlex in Boyds, is operated by the Montgomery County Department of Recreation.  Completed in 2006, it has already hosted a national diving competition and several regional swimming meets.  But the state-of-the-art facility was designed to accommodate recreational swimmers, senior citizens, children and families as well as swim teams.

Approximately 60,000 square feet in size, the swim center has a competition pool, a recreation pool, and a leisure pool, as well as two separate hydrotherapy pools.

It also has two serpentine water slides, suspended 35 feet above the interactive leisure swimming area.

What caught Terry's attention was the diving well.  This consists of two 1-meter springboards, two 3-meter springboards, and the platforms of 5, 7, and 10 meters.

It also has things like a bubbler system, a trampoline, and a dryland training area.

In short, the Germantown facility is diving nirvana.

 As you can see from these pictures, the height and the lighting in this swim park make it spacious as well as accommodating for crowds.  It is divided into sections that allow multiple uses to take place at the same time.

Naturally, Terry was touting all these attractions to the tournament groups who plan their national competitions years in advance. 

Despite its relatively recent appearance on the swim scene, this gem of a facility is pretty well known in water world.  (which means people who know that a diving well is a place and not a score.)

Anyway, I need to express my envy of the good folks in Montgomery County who have access to this beautiful facility as a quality of life amenity.  There was certainly nothing like this when I was lifeguarding in Laurel.

No Reindeer Required

You never know what you're going to see on Ravens Walk.  As the band filed through the festive crowd yesterday, one of the Saints fans said it reminded him of Mardi Gras.

But this little trinket, wrapped nicely with a Christmas bow, didn't look like anything you'd see on Bourbon Street.  More than a few onlookers said they'd like to find it under their tree.

While that probably isn't possible, there is always the next best thing --- tickets to the 2011 Baltimore Grand Prix.  Which is just what this vendor was encouraging fans to do.

After so many weeks of behind the scenes activity, the Labor Day event is all over the airwaves now that tickets are available.  Folks streaming across the construction on Lee Street could see how the work is incorporated into the race by studying the exhibit on display with the car.

With these visuals, the layout is easier to understand.  Instead of a mere concept, the event is a reality -- and coming soon to Camden Yards.

It was only a few months ago we were gathered at the Convention Center for the official announcement of the race.  Now, you can hear the buzz all over town (not to mention the din under Bin 400)  If you haven't reserved your tickets, now is a good time to do so.   The good seats are going fast.

As our friends on Ravens Walk reminded us -- tickets make a great gift idea.  And they're easy to wrap (or stuff in a stocking.)