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Give Me A Brake
While Phantoms marketing coordinator Adam Goldberg isn't really new to the staff, having come on board last fall, he's in his first summer with the club. As such, it's his first time running the Phantoms Inflatable tour. The monstrous street hockey game is all over the greater Philadelphia region this summer, and will soon be coming to an event near you. Click here for the upcoming schedule.
Throughout the summer, Adam will be keeping a blog here on Phantomshockey.com about his fun adventures with the inflatable.
A couple hours into my day on Saturday, I couldn’t help but think, “This is going to make a good blog.”
On Saturday the Phantoms were double-booked. I was with the old inflatable down in Wildwood, NJ at the Philadelphia Soul Summer Slam ’07, and the new inflatable was with Lauren and Becky in Center City at the Please Touch Museum Kindergarten Mixer. The Kindergarten Mixer went well and all was smooth on their end, but I put the wild back in Wildwood.
Since Lauren and Becky were not with me I headed down to the shore with some Orange and Black Pack members (Lindsay, Scott, Carlos, and Mike). We met Carlos and Mike down at the event while Lindsay, Scott and myself drove the OBP Bus. Please keep in mind the bus has over 190K miles already but this thing was holding up well. When any car gets that much usage though there is always something rattling or shaking, but this thing is like a tank and just keeps moving. All was well all the way down to the shore, but just as we were pulling into Wildwood the brakes decided to take a break, along with the power steering. The steering wheel was so hard to turn it felt like I was trying to open a valve at the Hoover Dam. We were able to get to safety thanks to Wildwood’s Finest giving us a police escort to a parking lot.
These events may get any average man down but not us, not the Orange and Black Pack. Not only did we laugh in the face of adversity, I distracted adversity while Scott kneeled behind it and we pushed it right over.
We pulled the Inflatable out of the bus and set it up right on the sand in Wildwood next to the amusement park and boardwalk. Thousands of people came though the event with live bands, food, multiple inflatables, and Soul players. The day started out cloudy but the sun burned through and then it started to burn me so I decided to go buy some sunscreen. I went into the store to get some sun block and they had only two options left. The first was SPF 4 tanning oil and the other was SPF 15 with bronzer. 
Adam Goldberg under the influence of bronzer
(Artist's Rendering) |
Since I did not want to smell like Colonel Sanders Original Recipe, I went with the bronzer. Before this day I was very unfamiliar with bronzer. For those of you who have never used bronzer before, just go to your local grocery store, buy some chocolate pudding and rub it all over. By the end of the day my shirt had smears of bronze all over it and my skin had a hue that George Hamilton would be envious of.
Mike ended up giving us a ride back to Philly and we arrived back at the Wachovia Complex safe and sound.
This Saturday we will be at the Lakewood BlueClaws game in Lakewood, NJ. Come on out to the ball game and make sure I make it there safely.
Posted by Adam Goldberg at 9:00 AM on Thursday, August 16, 2007
A Different Kind of Travel
Hello Phantom Faithful!
Well this past week I felt incredibly professional. My appearance was not at a Boy Scout Jamboree, a Kindergarten Mixer, or even a hockey related event. Actually, I didn’t even have the inflatable. I had the pleasure of visiting Springfield, MA (headquarters of the AHL) for the AHL Sales and Marketing Summit. Sales, marketing and public relations employees from around the league unified to discuss how we could make our league a better place for our fans. All of the great minds were there. I felt like I was in that old Batman movie with Adam West when all of the great villains come together, except we are all good guys. Although, we did have the Penguin (Wilkes-Barre), the Joker (various presenters that gave us a laugh), and the Riddler (speakers that questioned us on how to improve the league) all playing a part at the meetings.
Philadelphia was well represented in Springfield. Frank Miceli gave a speech on the first day to everyone who came and Matt Coppola (former Director of Game Presentation for the Flyers and current 3601 Creative genius) educated all of the game operations staff in attendance. Adela Katkic, Mike Thornton, Brian Smith, and our new Director of Sales Heath Bennett from our front office were all there eating up the ideas and information like Joey Chestnut and ready to regurgitate it like cow cud (quite a visual, huh?) for all of you to make this coming season as fun as humanly possible.
There was only one thing that went awry the whole week and that was the ride home. We were scheduled to get on a train at 3 and ended up getting aboard at 4:45. For those of you that have never been to the Springfield train station, let’s just say I hope you have good company. We finally got on the train and grabbed a seat. I think that we got a train that was responsible for transporting Popsicles to the eastern seaboard because I could see my breath in the train car. I would have put something warmer on but I packed my bag thinking it was August, silly me.
Honestly, it was not the worst thing in the world but I am interested to hear from you. Since I get to write about all of my travels, I would like to hear about yours. Email me your best travel horror story and I will put it on the next entry. Just click here to send me your terrible trip tale.
Posted by Adam Goldberg at 9:00 AM on Saturday, August 04, 2007
The First Half of July
I have recently put up the miles that I have traveled on my inflatable adventures. This number is the “official” mileage of the trip. It does not take into consideration the multitude of wrong turns and U-turns that have been made in the Phantoms van. I am no Galileo but I think I have a decent sense of direction, but there are towns that just do not believe in street signs or like to put tiny signs in very obscure corners of intersections. Maybe there is a trick or some sort of uniformity that I haven’t figured it out yet. Would it be that difficult to put large street signs on intersections so that I know what street it is before I am halfway through the intersection already? My theory is that it is the navigation companies go out at night and cut off random street signs to get you to buy their equipment. Well at least now I know why Ben Franklin invented bifocals. It was so he could see the street signs as he was traveling around on his carriage. There is no “I” in TEAM but there is in COMPLAIN.
I digress. Let’s move onto the appearances shall we? We shall.
Back on Independence Day, I got the opportunity to be in the Philadelphia 4th of July Parade down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. I again teamed up with the Flyers Orange and Black Pack for this parade downtown and I got the responsibility of driving the van down the street. I coasted down the street as Mya Gupta, the Flyers Game Presentation and Fan Development Coordinator, passed all kinds of goodies out the window of the van to the Pack that was showering all of the fans on the side of the road.
Speaking of showering, I don’t know if any of you reading this attended the parade or watched it on TV but Philadelphia was flirting with dark clouds all afternoon and midway through the parade they started to open up. I have had my parade rained on figuratively before but this was my first literal rainy parade. Luckily for me I was driving the van so I was protected but I can’t say the same for the Orange and Black Pack. Surprisingly, the great Philadelphia crowd didn’t budge. The fans just popped open their umbrellas, put on their rain jackets and trash bags and weathered the storm.
I was told at the beginning of the parade to stay approximately 50 feet behind the people in front of us, which happened to be the most devoted group of dancers I have ever seen. It was a group of Bolivian dancers with heavily sequined outfits with large bells covering their lower leg. These men and women from Bolivia put Michael Flatley and that Riverdance to shame. They were stomping, twisting, turning, and jumping all the way down the parade without stopping. They were so devoted that they even had their own water boys.
After the parade there was a concert scheduled at the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. I thought it would be cancelled due to the rain and thunder but as Queen used to say “The show must go on”. The concert featured Patty “Get Me an Umbrella” LaBelle with headliner Hall and “Soggy” Oates. I was going to stay and watch but I didn’t have any protection from the elements so I watched the concert on TV. Patty looked about as happy as a fisherman in the desert, but that didn’t keep her from rocking out.
Last Thursday, Lauren and I went to the Flyers New Face Party at the AT&T Pavilion. All of the new faces including Daniel Briere, Jason Smith, and the second overall pick from this year’s draft, James van Riemsdyk, were in attendance to sign autographs. New season ticket holders for the Flyers were invited and about 300 people showed up for the great event. Jason Smith actually walked aimlessly down to the inflatable and I had to ask him if he wanted to take a shot but he was actually just trying to figure out where he was supposed to go. He was pointed in the right direction and walked away along with my hope of having a Flyer shoot on the inflatable.
On Friday we were in Norristown for a baseball tournament skills challenge. There were Little Leagues from around the area competing in base-running, throwing accuracy, and of course the home run derby. I was positioned out in dead center field but after seeing the first few kids get up and take their hacks I wasn’t too worried about getting a home run to the back of the head. That was until the Greg Oden of Little League came up to bat. He was supposedly 10 years old but I think we need to conduct a Danny Almonte investigation. This “kid” was about 5’10” and had to weigh over 200 pounds. When he stepped in the batters box the kids that were shagging the fly balls ran screaming backwards to the fence like they were being chased by a swarm of bees. I had to put a halt to the inflatable while he batted for the safety and well being of everyone around. He ended up hitting two monstrous shots over the fence that prompted 200 people to simultaneously scream “LOOK OUT”. After he was done we were back to business as usual.
Saturday was the Trial on the Isle. The event was for all Flyers prospects and they split up and half ran down the beach and the other half kayaked in the bay down in Avalon, NJ. After the run/kayak they played a softball game against the local fire and police departments as well as some special armed forces guests. The prospects ended up losing a hard-fought 9-inning game 3-2. Rarely do you see a slow-pitch softball score that low after 9 innings but there were web gems all over the field. Rob Bellamy patrolled left field like an antelope, not letting anything by him. After the game there was an autograph session at the Whitebrier for all fans (including two loyal Patrollers) that showed up for the day’s festivities.
This week I will be at the Philadelphia Zoo on Wednesday for their Razzle Dazzle event, Thursday we will be in Wilmington and in Malvern on Friday. Check our schedule for all future appearances.
Posted by Adam Goldberg at 9:00 AM on Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Journey To Ice Works
Distance Traveled this weekend – 34 miles
Total Distance traveled this summer – 1139 miles
If you ask anyone on the street whom their sports hero was growing up most people would name a hockey, basketball, football, or baseball player. If you ask me who my hero was growing up I would have to say Bill Kazmaier or Magnus Ver Magnusson. While most kids got excited for a great dunk or a homerun, my blood would pump when I saw a good log press or anchor and chain pull. Yes, of course I am referring to the World’s Strongest Man Competition. There is nothing better than seeing men trying to bend inch-thick steel bars over their heads or seeing how far they can walk with 200 kilogram refrigerators strapped to their back.
The reason I bring up my childhood heroes is because I had my own Strong Man appearance this weekend. The Saturday started out like any other appearance. Our summer intern, Becky, and I drove the van to pick up the inflatable. This inflatable weighs roughly 125 kilograms (275 pounds for all of you reading this in the United States) so it is usually a struggle to move this mountain of merriment around. Becky and I end up dead lifting the inflatable into the car and we were on our way to a hockey tournament at Ice Works in Aston, PA. As we were exiting 95 South, I noticed a damsel in distress. A woman had run out of gas right in the middle of the road. I saw two older gentlemen pushing the car with not much luck and I knew this was my time to shine. This was the car push event I have been waiting for. I quickly and safely pulled over to the side of the road and pushed like I have never pushed before. After the other two men faded off I kept pushing the car to the corner of the street. It was a sedan so I would guess it weighs about 1200 kilograms. I think my time in the event could improve but I was happy considering I didn’t have my weight lifting belt and chalk on me.
After my dead lift and car-push it was onto an endurance event; entertaining kids for hours in the sun. All was going smoothly until my arch nemesis, wind, reared its ugly head. This new inflatable is much more resistant to the wind but it was still a struggle to keep it in place. My endurance test quickly turned into an inflatable pull. I was able to wrestle with the wind and keep the inflatable running smoothly. When the appearance ended I had to get the inflatable into the car with one more dead lift for good measure.
By the end of the day I had somehow acquired a Swedish accent and I was calling myself Sven. After my protein shake on Saturday night I was fully recovered by Sunday ready to take on any heavy lifting that might come my way. I think I will stick to my day job but I will always wonder what could have been if my mom had been given a boulder to play with instead of a tennis racket.
See the photos of Adam's foray to Iceworks here.
Posted by Adam Goldberg. at 9:00 AM on Monday, July 02, 2007
Back To Work
Well after a small hiatus on the West Coast, I got back in the saddle ready to inflate. I was out in California visiting the family and I think I started to go through inflatable withdrawals. I started blowing up balloons, turning on all of the fans around the house, and it just got ugly quickly. It was nice to hear the hum of the blower and get the hockey sticks back in my hand.
Before I get into the appearances I wanted to quickly talk about the NHL Draft on Friday. If you didn’t get a chance to see it or even read about it this weekend the Flyers took James vanRiemsdyk with the second overall pick. I was happy to see the Flyers take a guy from the area but what I really liked was seeing the GMs go up to the podium themselves to announce their picks. This was my first NHL Draft experience so they may do this every year but I think every sport should do this. It shows that the team is excited to introduce their new player to their fans. It seems silly to me that these teams spend 12 straight months meticulously studying every hockey prospect on the planet and then not even get to announce who they pick after all of their hard work. (Steps off soapbox)
OK, back to the appearances. It is official now that my least favorite thing in this world is wind. Inflatables work as well in the wind as a solar powered car in a tunnel. Due to the wind it has become more and more important to have a teammate at the appearances. We need one to help the kids have fun and the other to make sure the inflatable doesn’t turn into a real Philadelphia Flyer. On Saturday morning Lauren and I pulled into the parking lot for the Northeast Philadelphia Community Day and we were ready to take the wind head on. It was a great event and was for a great cause.
There was a SWAT Team and local police at the event and besides showing off their intense riot gear, they were taking fingerprints and ID pictures of all of the kids at the event. I thought it was a great service to take advantage of. Having this information on file helps the police identify missing children much quicker. If you are interested in having your child fingerprinted and given an ID just contact your local Community Relations Department.
With the political races heating up maybe I will just throw my name in the hat with my platform consisting of GMs announcing their draftees, huge walls around the country to block all wind, and have all children fingerprinted and ID'd. Plus I would wear a Phantoms jersey at my inauguration. Wouldn’t you want a man in office that could offer all of that? I thought so.
This Saturday we will be campaigning at IceWorks in Aston, PA. I hope to see you there.
Posted by Adam Goldberg at 9:00 AM on Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Let's Go Racin'
I’m sure all of you have heard of the term “Christmas in July.” A couple of weekends ago down at Dover International Speedway in Delaware, I experienced “Hanukkah in June”.
The Phantoms organization was kind enough to purchase a new inflatable game this summer and I could not be happier. It is almost embarrassing to see the progression of what things make me happy now. I used to be happy getting a new G.I. Joe and now I can barely contain myself with an enormous hockey shot inflatable game. When I saw this new monstrosity I couldn’t help but compare my feelings to those that Hulk Hogan must have had when he got his first bandana, or when Prince found his first pair of platform shoes. It was total jubilation and I was ready to show it off, and what better arena to show it off at than a NASCAR race.
I made the journey to Dover on June 2nd and was joined by one of our summer interns, Becky, along with the Flyers Orange and Black Pack. The FOBP is a new group of high-energy college students that bring excitement wherever they go, and they did not disappoint.
We arrived at around 9 AM and Dover was kind enough to preheat the parking lot to about 110 degrees. We had BOTH Phantoms inflatables set up at our station by around 10. Since we had some time to kill, Becky and I decided to go exploring. We were able to finagle our way up into the stands to watch the practice laps and snap a few pictures. The cars were absolutely flying around the track and it was as loud as a jet engine roaring past us.
After we took a few pictures of the track we walked around the entire outside of the track. Before I go any further I think I should let you know that it was my first NASCAR event, and if you have never been it is a whole new world. I was blown away by the amount of merchandise they had to offer. They were selling everything from Dale Earnhardt Jr. spelunking equipment to dolls names Penelope Pitstop (A real-life Penelope was actually in the trailer signing autographs and taking pictures).
NASCAR was so nice we did it twice. On Friday, June 8th we returned to NASCAR country at Pocono Raceway. This track definitely has a different feel than Dover. If you have never been to the track in Pocono you pretty much have to drive into the mountains until you get lost, make a right turn and there it is.
We were put into the middle of all of the corporate trailers we had seen just a few days before in Dover. This time the Flyers Orange and Black Pack as well as the Phantoms marketing other intern, Lauren, joined me. Again, I was amazed at the NASCAR fan outfits. Everyone had some sort of NASCAR brand on their body, even the man that won my “Outfit of the Day Award”.
I came across a man early in the morning walking through the gates and he was absolutely impossible to miss. He wore a bright green Pocono Speedway tank top, a pair of Pittsburgh Steelers Zubaz pants (if you don’t remember what Zubaz pants were back in the day I highly recommend Googling it), and to top (or bottom) it off he wore bright blue sneakers. These sneakers were shiny as well. The whole ensemble would stop any man in his tracks to admire the fashion statement.
Unfortunately, NASCAR does not come back to the area for a while so I will just have to count down the days to the return to Pocono and Dover. Until then keep checking our inflatable schedule to come hang out with the Phantoms employee with the most “inflated” opinion of himself.
Click here for photos from Dover.
Photos from Pocono are coming soon.
Posted by Adam Goldberg at 9:00 AM on Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Phantoms Summer Inflatable Tour
Well, the Phantoms summer tour of the Delaware Valley is in full swing. Since the season ended a month and a half ago, the Phantoms Inflatable Game has made 10 appearances so far. It is always a good time getting out into different parts of the area and meeting our fans. I am still fairly new to the area so it also helps me to become familiar with my surroundings.
I have been everywhere from a street hockey tournament to a Boy Scout Jamboree and everything in between, with the sunburn to prove it. A lot of the kids that try the game have little hockey experience, so I try to give all the kids pointers on how to hold the hockey stick and how to shoot it. They tend to listen fairly closely until they find out that I neither play for the Phantoms nor am I Neil Little’s son.
I personally enjoy watching the parent/child interactions the most at each appearance. There is a wide range of the level of participation for the parents. Some parents like to take a hands-on approach to helping their kid shoot, while others stand back and watch them hack away.
The one that takes the “cake” was at the JCC Kidsland a week ago. There were a lot of tables set up in this children-themed expo and one booth was a bakery that brought cupcakes to sample. As the day progressed the faces of the kids started to look like a Picasso painting with blue, yellow, and red icing smeared all over them. I saw one 4-year-old kid in particular in line that really dug her hands into the cupcake and proceeded to create her own pair of icing mittens.
I try to keep the hockey sticks as sanitary as possible so I suggested maybe a napkin was in order. The mother was a quick thinker and decided the best way to clean up her daughter’s sugary hands was to put them in her mouth. The mother absolutely went to town on her daughter’s hands. It was actually quite entertaining to watch. After a few seconds of maternal hand cleansing, the child was ready for her turn. Considering she was only 4 years old and she just had her hands covered in mom slobber she took some good shots. Needless to say, we don’t use that hockey stick anymore.
This weekend is the big appearance down at the Dover International Speedway. I have never been to a NASCAR event before but I have heard only good things. We are going to be in the Kids Zone right behind the North Grandstand from 11:00AM – 3:00PM on Saturday, June 2nd.
Posted by Adam Goldberg at 9:00 AM on Wednesday, May 30, 2007
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