Edmonton’s Hot to Huddle 2010 Grey Cup Festival Kick-off!

By Mack D. Male · November 24, 2010 at 8:27pm

Tonight the 2010 Grey Cup Festival officially started here in Edmonton with a big kick-off party outside City Hall. Hundreds of people braved the cold to see the Grey Cup in person, to experience the flashmob and fireworks, and to get a first look at Huddle Town.

Purolator delivered the “special guest” that everyone was hoping to see.

There were fans of all teams on hand to celebrate!

With the Zipline in the background, everyone listened for the official kick-off of the festivities.

After the dignitaries had spoken, there was a big flashmob on the CN field (I suppose no one saw it coming, but the large group of people lined up on the field, with security preventing others from joining in, made it clear that something was up…not to mention the volunteer for the flashmob page on the website).

Fireworks quickly followed the entertaining dance number!

The trophy was so close you could almost touch it.

The end of the kick-off program meant the official opening of Huddle Town, the giant heated tent in Churchill Square.

Meanwhile, a Peewee football game was played on the CN field.

Here’s an overhead shot of City Hall and Huddle Town.

The festival is now officially underway!

You can see upcoming events at the official site (when it works) or at ShareEdmonton (and subscribe to the iCal here). You can see the rest of my photos from the evening here.

Ready, set, huddle!

Edmonton Capitals win for Homeward Trust volunteers!

By Mack D. Male · July 7, 2010 at 11:06pm

Homeward Trust held its annual volunteer appreciation event tonight. Instead of the typical drinks-and-thank-you-speech outing, this year they decided to invite everyone to an Edmonton Capitals baseball game. Neither Sharon nor I had been to Telus Field since the team was still known as the Trappers, so we thought it would be a fun night. It was!

All of the Homeward Trust volunteers sat in section H, on the east side of the field. That meant we were in the sun for most of the game. After a few innings the heat got to us, so we decided to explore. We met Razzle:

And we discovered the specialty hotdogs at Telus Field. Sharon couldn’t resist the Perogy Dog with fried potatoes, bacon, onions, sour cream, and cheese:

We ventured back to our seats for the 5th inning and stayed for the rest of the game (thankfully it got much cooler once the sun disappeared behind the buildings). The Capitals won their ninth straight over the Tijuana Cimarrones, 14-5.

Baseball isn’t really my thing, but I enjoyed tonight. If you’d like to check out a Capitals game, tickets are just $10. Tomorrow night the Oilers top prospects will be in attendance, including Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle.

Thanks Homeward Trust!

You can see more photos here.

Canada Celebrates in Edmonton

By Mack D. Male · June 29, 2010 at 10:00am

Last night was the Canada Celebrates event at Commonwealth Stadium here in Edmonton. Or at least that’s what the ticket said. There wasn’t much promotion in advance, but what few things I did see tended to call it “For the Love of Country and For the Love of Hockey”. Whatever it was called, the nationally televised event was an opportunity to pay tribute to our Olympic heroes, as well as our heroes in the Canadian Forces. It also raised funds for the Hockey Canada Foundation.

There were maybe 10,000 people in attendance, nowhere close to the number of people that Commonwealth Stadium can accommodate. I have to agree with Terry Jones – promotion of the event could have been much better. The Mayor proclaimed the day Canada’s Heroes Day last Tuesday, but I’d bet that most Edmontonians still hadn’t heard of the event by the time it got started. It probably looked worse than it was though, because almost everyone in the stands made their way to the field once invited to do so. I’m sure that made the empty seats even more noticeable on TV.

Canada Celebrates was a great opportunity for those who did attend and for everyone who watched across the country to reflect back on Canada’s golden Winter Olympics and to salute the military. There were lots of little kids on the field, and they seemed to be having a great time! The flyover was pretty exciting too.

The event was by no means a failure, but it probably didn’t go as well as the organizers had hoped it would. My guess is that they didn’t have a lot of time to pull it together, but did so anyway. Kudos to them for seizing the opportunity to showcase the City of Champions. It’s just too bad we didn’t have time to fill the stands a little more.

You can see the rest of my photos here. You can see the Edmonton Journal’s photo gallery here (story is here).

Edmonton Tweets during the Men’s Gold Medal Hockey Game

By Mack D. Male · March 9, 2010 at 12:15pm

I’m sure you’ve seen by now the chart that EPCOR released showing water consumption in Edmonton during the men’s gold medal hockey game on February 28th. It’s pretty amazing how closely the data matches the end of the periods! I’m sure the game had an impact on many other parts of our lives as well. For instance, tweeting!

Here’s how much Edmontonians were tweeting during the game:

I’ve also stuck February 21 and March 7 in there, so you can see the difference from normal. We posted 27 tweets per minute from noon until 6pm on game day. That’s about three times more than normal!

Here’s what we were tweeting about:

No surprise there! I’ll have more Twitter stats up soon.

Hockey season returns: on the ice and in the blogs

By Mack D. Male · September 22, 2008 at 6:39pm

nhl logo With variations depending on where you look, a few main categories tend to dominate the 130 million or so blogs available on the web. There are plenty of news and political blogs such as the Daily Kos, especially with the upcoming U.S. election. Some of the most highly-trafficked blogs focus on entertainment, such as TMZ. There are also lots of technology and business blogs, such as TechCrunch. And of course, there are millions of personal blogs written by people just like you. The Alberta blogosphere (blogs written by Albertans, taken collectively) has its fair share of blogs in each of these categories, as well as another popular category – hockey blogs.

Not only do Albertans love to watch hockey, they apparently love to write about it too! There are dozens of blogs about hockey in our province. At least 20 of them focus on the Calgary Flames, the Edmonton Oilers, or both. Perhaps the most well known of all of these blogs is The Battle of Alberta. Written by Calgarian Matt Fenwick and Edmontonian Andy Grabia (with various contributors from time to time) the blog covers all things related to the Flames and Oilers, and frequently hosts passionate discussions in the comments section. The Battle of Alberta was created in September 2005 and averages 1500 page views per day.

Edmonton writer and National Post contributor Colby Cosh doesn’t write solely about hockey, but he does post quite often about the Oilers on his blog. Other popular blogs devoted to the Oilers include Covered in Oil, Lowetide, Hot Oil, and Irreverent Oiler Fans. Don’t worry if you get hooked reading these blogs – many of them frequently post in the off-season, and there are plenty of other Oiler blogs you can check out. In fact, there are so many blogs that write about the Oilers that they have given themselves a name – the Oilogosphere.

There are quite a few blogs for Flames fans also. Some of the more popular ones include Five Hole Fanatics, Completely Hammered, Hit The Post, Inside the Flames, and Igniting the Flame.

The great thing about these blogs is that they’re written by passionate fans. These bloggers generally aren’t interested in making money, and as a result tend to post things that you wouldn’t necessarily find in your local newspaper. For instance, The Battle of Alberta has done an excellent job of pointing out the rhetoric coming from all parties involved in the potential new hockey arena in Edmonton. Also unlike newspapers, Alberta’s hockey blogs are free of any restrictions on format or content. You’ll find team analysis, game recaps, statistics, news and rumors about trades and signings, discussion of articles in the mainstream media, and much more.

And from time to time you’ll even find some humor amongst the blog posts. The members of the Oilogosphere like to use their own terms to refer to players, plays, and other things such as the Colin Campbell Wheel of Justice – which refers to “the method by which the length of NHL suspensions is determined.” You can find an up-to-date glossary on The Battle of Alberta – they update it each season.

I’m quite excited for the return of hockey, and I’m sure Alberta’s hockey bloggers are too!

The Oilers begin their preseason tonight at home to the Canucks. You can find the game notes and a live stream here. The Flames get underway tomorrow night at home to the Panthers.

David Beckham in Edmonton!

By Mack D. Male · May 13, 2008 at 11:59pm

Tonight I went to Commonwealth Stadium with Megan to watch an exhibition Major League Soccer game between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Los Angeles Galaxy. I hadn’t really been paying attention I guess, so didn’t realize the event was happening until Megan asked me last week if I wanted to go. I said yes, curious about how soccer would go over in Edmonton and of course, about David Beckham.

He didn’t score a goal, but he was awarded an assist. The Galaxy ended up losing 2-1, but it could have been far worse if not for their keeper. Vancouver was clearly the stronger team tonight. For more on the game, check out CBC.

Every time Beckham touched the ball, the crowd would cheer! It was kind of funny and kind of annoying all at the same time. At one point everyone started doing the wave. Megan and I couldn’t help but think, “this isn’t a hockey game!” For the most part though everyone seemed to be having a good time (despite the intermittent rain), and very few left after Beckham was replaced in the 75th minute.

While walking to the LRT station after the game, we ran into the crowd of people waiting to catch a glimpse of Beckham getting on the bus to leave the stadium. We hung around for a while and eventually saw him emerge, but the photos didn’t turn out so well. He signed a few autographs, but disappeared rather quickly.

In the end, I’d say that soccer is more enjoyable on television (keeping in mind that I’ve never been to a game in say, Europe). I eagerly await the World Cup, for instance! Bringing the exhibition game to Edmonton probably had the desired effect though – to capitalize on Beckham’s popularity as a way to introduce more people to MLS.

Here are my pictures from the game.

Edmonton Oilers Arena Feasibility Report – Link Roundup

By Mack D. Male · March 27, 2008 at 5:36pm

edmonton oilers Earlier this week, the nine-member committee studying the feasibility of building a new hockey arena in Edmonton released their report. It contains no surprises, and recommends that if a new facility is to be built, it should be built downtown. I’m sure you’ve heard all about it on the news, but there are lots of excellent blog posts on the story that should not be missed. Here they are, with quotes.

From Covered in Oil:

The other question, whether a new arena would be better off in another part of the City will have to go unanswered, as the Feasibility Committee didn’t seem to even bother to look anywhere else.

From Grandinite:

If I get the underlying logic of this development, bringing people downtown will bring in cash. but that cash will flow out of the area if the owners do not live downtown. Sure, money will be spent at restaurants and casinos, but where do the profits go?

From Colby Cosh:

I’m not too clear after reading the summary just what is wrong with the existing Rexall Place. I was looking forward to some clear public explanation of this, but all we’ve been given is a lot of wind about “downtown revitalization.”

From The Battle of Alberta:

Dear Mr. Lowe,
We already have a hockey shrine in Edmonton. It’s called the Northlands Coliseum. You might remember it. You won five Stanley Cups there.
A arena without a history of accomplishment is not a shrine. It’s a mall with seats.

From Fighting for Taxpayers:

Dr. Brad Humphreys, the foremost expert on the economic benefits of professional sport teams and arenas has proven that there is not an economic growth, but merely a shift of where the money is spent.

From daveberta.ca:

Of course I want Edmonton’s downtown to become vibrant, but building a giant hockey rink won’t automatically put Edmonton in a position to rival downtown Montreal or New York (like some of the article’s have alluded). I’m still not convinced that spending upwards of $450 million (plus land costs) on an arena that will draw the suburbs downtown for a couple hours 2-3 nights a week is what will revitalize downtown.

From Alberta: Get Rich or Die Trying:

There will be a new arena and it will be downtown, any alternatives have pretty much been steamrolled over by the municipal government and the Edmonton media. There will be public funding, not direct tax increases, but by other means, and the province will give nothing.

From A Blog Of Pucks:

It would be an 18,000 seat 450 Million dollar arena. That’s great but once again I’ll ask the difficult question: Is this really going to make the wives like living in Edmonton any better? The committee better ask Pronger’s better half first.

And finally, this one isn’t a blog but an article at CBC today:

A new downtown Edmonton arena to replace Rexall Place could threaten one of the biggest annual events in the city, say officials with the Canadian Finals Rodeo.
The owners of Rexall Place, Edmonton Northlands, are ruling out the possibility of keeping it open as is, if a new arena is built.
“We can’t have two competing large-scale facilities,” Jerry Bouma, chair of the board, said Wednesday.

Also, be sure to check out this interview with Brad Humphreys.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. Stay tuned.

Reading between the lines

By Mack D. Male · March 6, 2008 at 6:47pm

This billboard has started appearing around Edmonton recently:

It reads: “Millions of fans, only so many seats.”

Yes Daryl Katz, we know you want a new hockey arena in Edmonton.

Daryl Katz wants a new arena in Edmonton

By Mack D. Male · February 6, 2008 at 6:25pm

rexall Daryl Katz, founder of the Rexall pharmacy company, announced yesterday that he had acquired 100% of the outstanding shares in the Edmonton Investors Group (EIG), making him the new owner of the Edmonton Oilers (pending league approval which is widely expected to come without any problems). Here’s what the somewhat reclusive Katz said in yesterday’s statement:

“Like the EIG and all Edmontonians, I want what is best for the team, the
community and the city. I want to help secure a world-class building and
continue the EIG’s legacy by bringing the Cup back to Edmonton.”

Today he held a press conference with select members of the media, which I listened to on 630ched. It was the first time since he started pursuing the Oilers last March that we’ve heard him speak about his motivations. I found most of his answers to be fairly simplistic, without much meat behind them. He said “I can’t comment on that” quite a few times.

One thing he did make clear, however, is that he is eager to see a new arena built in the heart of downtown. He wants the Oilers to play at the centre of the community.

Katz has suggested he’d be willing to commit $100 million towards the construction of a new arena. With estimates for the project ranging from $250 million to over $500 million (and possibly as high as $1 billion depending on the scope), there’s a lot of funding that will need to come from somewhere else. As I’ve said before, I don’t believe it should come from taxpayers. All Katz said today was that “there are lots of ways to fund real estate.”

I’m glad Katz is the new owner of the Oilers. Almost everyone associated with the team seems to like him, and I don’t think there’s any question that he’s got Edmonton’s best interests at heart. He also seems fairly level-headed about things, making clear today that he wants to read a pending report on the feasibility of a new arena before making any decisions.

That said, I hope his eagerness to build a new rink in Edmonton’s downtown does not turn into blind determination. Katz needs to be able to say no if it becomes clear that a new arena will only happen with significant public funding, at the expense of other, more important public projects.

Bid on an Oilers jersey signed by the entire team!

By Mack D. Male · October 13, 2007 at 12:09am

Tomorrow evening is the 2nd Annual RestorAction Charity Gala, presented by the Youth Restorative Action Project (YRAP) and the Elizabeth Fry Society of Edmonton (EFRY). In addition to comedy, live music, and dancing, the event features a silent auction. One of the big ticket items in the auction is an Edmonton Oilers jersey.

This isn’t just any Oilers jersey though – it is signed by the entire team! If that doesn’t make you drool hockey fans, nothing will.

Here’s the best part: you can make a bid even if you aren’t attending the gala tomorrow! To do so:

Come up with your maximum bid amount.
Email it to me at mastermaq@gmail.com no later than 3:45 PM tomorrow, October 13th, 2007.

Everyone attending the gala will have the final opportunity to bid, between 6:30 PM and 9:30 PM tomorrow. There are still a few tickets available ($70) if you’d like to attend.

Happy bidding!

UPDATE: The jersey ended up going for $675! Thanks everyone!

Read: RestorAction