Just wanted to thank our readers for a tremendous 2007. The site continues to grow, both in readership and content which makes the whole experience rewarding for me personally.
I am looking forward to 2008, which will be the 10 year anniversary of Gameops.com. I have a long list of plans that will be vetted in the next month so I can sort out what’s realistic to achieve….but rest assured there will be lots of new content and upgrades to the site.
I also wanted to thank Isaac and Shantiel here at Mark Out Productions for all their efforts. I am lucky to work with people who are both hard-working and talented, but make coming to the office a real pleasure.
Have a safe and happy New Year. Here’s looking forward to 2008.
Eric Mcmahon, who plays team mascot Grizz, to take medical leave while undergoing treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Memphis, December 19, 2007 – Eric McMahon, who is team mascot Grizz, has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and will take an immediate leave of absence to undergo treatment. The team will not replace Eric during his absence, and as a result Grizz will not be appearing at any games or be making any community appearances while he undergoes treatment. (more)
Our thoughts and prayers go out to our friend Eric McMahon. Eric is an up and coming mascot in the NBA whose best days are still to come.
While this is a possibly unprecedented move by the team to go public with his name and vacate the character for a time, I think it is the right move. On a personal level it shows support and loyalty to the performer at a time when it will mean a great deal to him. It also creates support, awareness and depth for the character.
As a general rule I really dislike having multiple performers in one character. It merely highlights it’s a person in a costume when your ultimate goal is create a character, one that is the same every night. Filling the costume at this time with someone else belittles the character and Eric’s unique skills and time developing Grizz.
In general telling people the person inside the costume is out of action is in direct conflict with creating a character were people suspend reality that it’s a person in a costume. However in this instance I think the ends justify the means, and in the long run will be a wise decision for the Grizzlies, Grizz and Eric.
The team is also connecting Eric’s recovery with a local hospital with a newly created Friends of Grizz program. “The Grizzlies Den Team Store at FedExForum will begin selling Friends of Grizz wristbands. Proceeds from sales of the wristbands will go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.”
Look for the community of NBA mascots to pull together in a show of support for Eric, who is widely respected and admired.
I was checking in to a local business that rents inflatables out to see if they would considering purchasing a set of the human hamster balls. They said that they were afraid their insurance wouldn’t cover them because of the lack of air for those inside. Is that really a concern? How much time can a person be in the ball?
Thank you for your input!
Sincerely,
Valerie M
Albion, IL
Thanks for your question Val.
I am far from a scientist, but I have two answers for this.
First for a standard sports time out use (less than 5 minutes) this is not a problem. Units are 7 feet high and have plenty of air for people. Most our uses are for 5 minutes or less, so this is never a problem.
Second, I sharpened up a pencil and took a crack at this. I welcome anyone with more insight (or math skills to correct me if this is incorrect).
I get this question enough that I did some quick research (source web link).
Looks like from this research that a running adult human would breathe about 50 liters of air per minute.
Theses balls are inflated with fresh air via blower, so the volume of air insides when inflated is about:
Volume of a sphere is: 4/3*Pi*R^3
1 foot = 0.3048 meters
7 foot sphere = 2.13m, radius = 1.065m
4/3*3.14* (radius)^3
1.33 * 3.14 * (1.065^3) = 5.04 cubic meters of volume inside
Cubic Meters:
A metric unit of volume. One cubic meter equals 1000 liters.
So there is approximately 5044 liters of air in the sphere, meaning you’d have about 100 minutes inside the sphere before the air is used up (if you were just breathing it and exhaling outside the sphere). Clearly it’s not safe to have someone inside for 100 minutes, but this shows that 5 minutes is pretty safe, since you would be using about 250 liters of air out of 5000+ liters (about 5% of the air inside).
Each sphere has two zippers. One zips on the outside that is used to load people inside and inflate. It is the primary zipper you would use (usually the only one). There is a second zipper inside that can be unzipped from the inside. It is a safety zipper for people inside in case they panic or in case the first zipper breaks.
Just heard about a great promotion at the ball park that the Oklahoma City Redhawks started last year…Snow Tubing.
And this isn’t just sliding down the gentle slopes of the outfield berm. This is serious stuff. As you can see, the huge ramp starts in the second deck and takes tubers all the way out to second base.
The weather in OKC calls for snow this weekend, so business is about to pick up.
Go extreme this winter, when you go Chesapeake Snow Tubing at the Brick, on the nation’s largest manmade snow tubing slope. Feel the wind in your face as you cruise down the hills at thrilling speeds. Presented by Chesapeake, you can’t beat the great family fun of snow tubing at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark. (OKC Redhawks website)
While many people think of parachute drops as a uniquely indoor promotion, I found this clip of an outdoor parachute drop. It’s in Spanish, but you don’t have to be bi-lingual to see the effects of this promotion.
The Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL are on a quest to find the “finest cheesesteak” in Philadelphia. Two of the team’s public relations department staffers along with players, coaches, team executives, and others will travel throughout the city taste-tasting cheesesteaks.
“We are looking at this as more of a public service–something that needs to be done,” says Mike Thornton of the public relations department. “When teams come in to Philadelphia to play the Phantoms, they want to know the best place to go to get a cheesesteak. After some sure-to-be exhaustive research, we’ll have that answer before the start of the season in October.” The team will post an account of each cheesesteak eaten on their web site, along with photos, audio segments, directions to the establishments, tips, and a rating.
While this might be an excuse to expense lunch around town, it’s a clever excuse and some great web content from the Phantoms.
In all the team did nearly twenty steak shop reviews around town. You can get the full story here. It’s mandatory reading if you are planning a trip to Philly or if you are looking for ideas on how to get your team to pay for your next lunch.
Just wanted to thank our readers for a tremendous 2007. The site continues to grow, both in readership and content which makes the whole experience rewarding for me personally.
The team is also connecting Eric’s recovery with a local hospital with a newly created Friends of Grizz program. “The Grizzlies Den Team Store at FedExForum will begin selling Friends of Grizz wristbands. Proceeds from sales of the wristbands will go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.”
From: Valerie M.
Just heard about a great promotion at the ball park that the Oklahoma City Redhawks started last year…Snow Tubing.
“We are looking at this as more of a public service–something that needs to be done,” says Mike Thornton of the public relations department. “When teams come in to Philadelphia to play the Phantoms, they want to know the best place to go to get a cheesesteak. After some sure-to-be exhaustive research, we’ll have that answer before the start of the season in October.” The team will post an account of each cheesesteak eaten on their web site, along with photos, audio segments, directions to the establishments, tips, and a rating.