mixed tapes

So I recently purchased a new car (new to me) and it had this brand new invention in it that I was not accustomed to called the CD player. For the last couple years I have been driving a stellar 97' Stanford Tree green Tauras with a tape player. I probably listened to the same best of Jimmy Buffett tape about 104 times. While I was at my parents house this past weekend I picked up some of the old mix cds that I had made in high school/early college to listen to in the car. Wow, it is pretty amazing how much your musical tastes can change. In one CD I have songs from Prince, Andrew WK, and Eminem. I have always been a pretty eclectic taste when it came to music ( I have no idea if I just used the word eclectic) correctly. Nothing like going to "Little Red Corvette" to "White America" and then back to a little "Margaritaville". I guess I was never in to making themed CDs.

I want to talk some Mad Ants for you but I really don't have much news. It's all up to the big guy to make the big reveal of the new Head Coach in the coming weeks. I can tell you that from what I have heard in the office, regardless of who Jeff picks our fans should be very happy and confident in the Mad Ants chances next season.

The biggest news I have in regards to the Mad Ants is the return of the "Mad Ants Office Podcast!!!!" tomorrow. It should be up by tomorrow afternoon. I have no idea what we will talk about (that's probably not a good incentive for you to listen) but it will be entertaining. You can find the podcast on the main page of the Mad Ants website.

Have a good Memorial Day Weekend!

The Blog Goes ON

Okay, first things first, what you call came to find out. Yes I worked out today, I couldn't force myself to get out of bed this morning but I made it to the Y after work. Two more workout days and then a nice relaxing weekend at the lake.

RealClearSports recently created the list of the top ten weirdest mascots. The Mad Ant made it to the fifth spot. I think this a real honor and great recognition for the team. The Mad Ant is such a great recognizable icon for the team. Just today the Mad Ant participated in a JDRV walk at Hickory Elementary School. The students at this school helped to raise over $4200 dollars towards Juvenile Diabetes research. Great Job Hickory Center!

My second favorite mascot on the list is easily the Standford Tree . It is also the favorite mascot of tree huging hippies everywhere!

I will be going for my first wakeboarding session of the summer this weekend. I love wakeboarding but never seem to get much better it summer after summer. I think I started a few years too late, or maybe it's because I have the athletic ability of Shawn Bradley.

Well, I have to finish watching Homicide Life on the Streets Season 1, so I am going to wrap up this blog. Tune in tomorrow for more mindless drivel!

NBA Draft

Just finished watching the NBA Lottery Selection, congratulations to the Clippers for getting the first pick. The Clippers have a strong starting lineup on paper, I know they were hampered by injuries this past season. Hopefully they can turn things around with this pick.

It was interesting hearing David Stern's comments about the Nuggets/WWE date situation. He basically threw the Nuggets under the bus, which it sounds like is what they deserve given the situation. Nonetheless, the NBA wins date smackdowns!

Oh how could I forget about what you all came to my blog to read about. The fact that yes I worked out this morning. I even managed to go for a short run after work. Now I just need to maintain it the rest of the week.

Okay enough blogging for one night, feel free to shoot me any topics or questions you would want me to blog about. My email address is garrett.martz@fortwaynehoops.com .

Good Day,

Garrett

Day 2

Well I have completed one of my two goals for the day. For those who tuned back in to see if I really worked out this morning (I heard their was paparazzi at the Central Branch YMCA at six am waiting).....I didn't make it. So hopefully you are the type of person who does not like to see others succeed or better themselves. Because then you were able to get a little joy out of my failure. My new goal is to workout for the next four mornings in a row (normally I take Wednesday off). I'll keep you updated on my progress, maybe I'll even encourage a few people to start working out (or pretending like they are going to start working out). The goal I did complete for today? THIS BLOG! Which I almost forgot to do until about twenty minutes ago. This is going to be a long month...

I really do recommend working out in the morning, it gives you energy the rest of the day. It also helps you to fall asleep at a normal time at night. Or it may cause me to fall asleep at 7:30 pm and not wake up until Wednesday morning. But hey, at least tomorrow is Tuesday, not like there is anything on TV.....(an alarm just went off in David Stern's office)

Okay but seriously, it's the NBA Conference Finals! The playoffs have been great so far with some great stories. The Bulls/Celtics series was amazing, and the Rockets taking the Lakers to a game seven without Yao or McGrady!!!

Part of me wants to believe that the Magic have a shot against the Cavs, part of me thinks it will be over in four games. There is just no stopping Lebron, and the rest of the team seems to have really come together as well. So I will pick the Cavs in a 4-1 series.

The Nuggets have been exciting to watch this post-season as well. How about former Mad Ant Dahntay Jones throwing down two ESPN Highlight dunks in one week??? I was a big fan of Chris Anderson a few years back before his two year suspension, and am glad to see him doing so well now. Chauncey has really brought that team together.

On the other hand I have always disliked the Lakers. It really started when they put the "super team" together of Shaq, Kobe, Karl Malone, and Gary Payton. It felt so good to see them lose that year in the Finals! With that being said, I am picking the Lakers in this series 4-2. The Lakers are just too stacked. When Lamar Odom can come off the bench, you know you are good.

So I have really went out on a limb with my picks thus far (BTW the alarm in David Stern's stopped going off). The perfect NBA matchup, Lakers vs Cavs, Kobe vs Lebron, Vince McMahon vs The Pepsi Center (read that article or the rest of this blog makes no sense)

Okay, so I just read about the Nuggets having a conflict with the WWE regarding game 4 of the western conference finals next Monday. How hilarious is that? How does something like that even happen? Vince McMahon is a guy who usually gets what he wants, so it will be interesting to see how this pans out. Coming from a kid who used to tape WWF Superstars at 1am every Saturday, I am rooting for the WWE in this one. Wow, I just realized how much it pains me to even call them the WWE. Darn tree hugging hippies at the World Wildlife Foundation.....

Well it's 10pm and if I really want to work out in the morning I better head to bed.

Preaching to an empty room

Admit it, you thought you saw the last of my blogging. You were wrong...dead wrong. Not only is this blog back, it's back in a way that is almost unfathomable. But guess what, it's JUST BEEN FATHOMED!!!!

I am going to do what Jeff Potter could only dream of doing, and what Ridiculous Scott makes look easy. I proclaim that from this day forward (May 17th), I will blog for 30 straight days.

Now before you get too excited, please think about what this means. For me to blog for thirty days in a row, you are going to have to read some extremely trivial and uneventful blogs. It's not like I am living the Rod Benson lifestyle of making music videos and playing professional basketball in mid-sized cities across America. The most exciting thing I did this weekend was run a 10k at the local Warbird Brewery. How do you make running and eating a burrito afterward exciting?

I mean the biggest question in my life right now is, am I really going to get up at 5:30 am tomorrow to go work out at the YMCA before going to the office. I am currently giving myself an 83% chance of doing it. Wait a second....did I just build suspense? Will you really come back to my blog to find out if I am actually sick enough to work out that early in the morning? You know, now that I think about it, you just might be.

So you get the picture, I'll be blogging everyday, so put me back into the rotation of websites to visit when you are bored at work.

Well we have some exciting stuff going on in Mad Ants land. Jeff Potter is searching for the new Head Coach of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. I would name some of the candidates for you but Jeff Potter might not like that. So instead of potentially angering the 6'9 redhead in the office who is kind enough to frequently buy the office lunch, I'll go in a different direction with my thought process.

In minor league sports I think there are two huge factors in selecting a coach. The first factor is the obvious one, will this coach get wins? I think for a sport like basketball this is a little more important, than say baseball. Fans will come out to support a team if you create a buzz with getting a huge winning streak going. It also helps the team get increased media coverage, which will also mean more fans. Okay, now you are probably thinking, "Wow! Your first factor in a coach is brilliant! You think a coach needs to get wins??" I can read your thought now, "Why is this guy not running the helm of an NBA franchise?" Bear with me. (No really, there is a bear in my room, please HELP!)

The other factor is the notoriety of the coach. Do fans know or care who this guy is? Is the Coach himself going to draw fans/attention to the games on his own merit.

So the question is, would you rather have someone of local significance/former NBA/NCAA player or a guy with a proven track record in the D-League who you have never really heard of.

After two losing seasons, my answer is the guy who gets us the most wins and gives us a chance at the playoffs. With that being said if Reggie Miller comes knocking on the door, I think you have to say yes! Now, Reggie Miller is not a candidate for the Head Coach of the Mad Ants. But I think that makes my point. Reggie is a guy with no coaching experience, but would be such a huge draw in Fort Wayne, that the franchise as a business would almost have to say yes if the price was right. So where is the line?

The Mad Ants are most likely going to choose a coach who knows the D-League and has a history of winning. He will probably won't be a guy who the average fan knows much about. Which is okay with me! I think everyone in the office is ready to see what a winning season feels looks and feels like. More importantly our fans are ready!

So be on the lookout during the next thirty days for the Mad Ants naming a new coach, and more importantly my daily blog posts!

-Garrett

PS Get your Mad Ants season tickets today! :)

80's Extravaganza and DJ WHITE???

Wow, I am really really bad at this blogging deal! I would make a promise to stay on schedule but I don't want to be called a liar.

We had 80's night this past Sunday night and it was just as much fun as I thought it would be. Plus, I was the official (Not sure if their are rogue bowl-throwers) bowl-thrower for the one and only Red Panda. She is truly amazing and her performance on Sunday cemented her as my favorite half-time Act of all time.

Some of you may not know who I am dressed up above, if you do not then you probably are not a Fort Wayne native or you are under the age of 21. I am dressed as Fort Wayne LEGEND Happy the Hobo. He had a kid's television show that aired on Fox-55 after school during the week. This show ran from 1981 - 1997 and was a staple in thousands upon thousands of kids lives. It seems like every one has a great Happy the Hobo story. You see, his show would have a live audience full of kids. So it was the highlight of your year when you got to be on Happy's Place. My favorite memory is of my sister literally trying to bite Happy's microphone when he was interviewing her. Apparently she was angered when Happy mistakenly thought our cousin was in fact our sister. Of course the next time I went on the show I had to copy my older sister. So for some reason, unprovoked, I too try to bite Happy's microphone. Luckily Happy was not injured in either of these encounters.

It was a fun night overall and their were quite a few great costumers. My costumer, however, was clearly the most original and overall best. If you are a fan of Happy the Hobo I encourage you to check out his page on facebook . Now, this is the ORIGINAL Happy the Hobo that maintains this page. This is a very important fact when it comes to Happy fans, because we all know Cousin Happy never quite cut it.

Now on to some big news in Mad Ants land. DJ White was just re-assigned to the Tulsa 66ers, this is very important as the Mad Ants play Tulsa at the Coliseum on Sunday. If you do not know who DJ White is, well you probably don't care much about Indiana basketball. (Mom, it's okay if you didn't know who he was). He graduated from IU last year and was drafted by the Pistons and then traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He had jaw surgery during the pre-season which put him on the shelf for the majority of the year. The Thunder has now assigned him to Tulsa in the D-League to get him back into shape. So barring an injury or the Thunder recalling him, you can watch DJ White take on the Mad Ants this Sunday night at 6pm. For the official press release just click here.

We have three more Mad Ants home games this season, April 3rd (Fri), April 5th (Sun), and April 10th (Fri), and I hope to see you at one of them.

Good Day,

Garrett

I love the 80's....

The Mad Ants continue to struggle on the road with a couple of tough losses early on in the week. You can watch the Ants take on Reno tonight via Futurecast. One of my favorite bloggers Rod Benson was recently traded to Reno and this will be his first game with the team. It will be interesting to see how he does with Reno. He was a top prospect to get an NBA call-up last year and I don't feel like he was getting the best opportunity to show what he can do after returning to Dakota from France.

I am really looking forward to our next home game on March 15th. It should be a packed house, plus it's Pacer's Affiliate Night. The Pacer's mascots Boomer & Bowser will both be performing at the game, this is a great game to bring the kids out to (as are all Mad Ants games, hey it's my first parentheses of the blog!). I know the players will be happy to be home after this long road trip.

Win or lose, one thing the Mad Ants like to do is have fun. As you can see by the above picture (Me, my mom, friend Carol, and Madame Ants Choreographer Sheenah) , we go big or go home when it comes to theme nights. Seventies Night was so much fun last year and this year. On March 29th we will be having our first Eighties Night theme. I am taking suggestions on what to wear. I was thinking about Michael Jackson or maybe Pee Wee Herman. Send in your ideas to garrett.martz@fortwaynehoops.com .

One of my favorite memories from last season came on our last home game of the year. We were playing the Dakota Wizards and we ended up losing the game. If you followed the Mad Ants last year, you know that are record was pretty similar to what it is this year. Also with no shot at the playoffs, our final home game was also are second highest attended game of the year (over 6,200). With that said, after final whistle blew, the Mad Ants staff and the Madame Ants came onto the court and threw tons of confetti into the air. The song "Celebrate" starts blaring over the sound system and everyone is jumping around like we won the championship. I remember looking over at the Dakota Wizards as they slowly walked off the court. They were looking at us with disbelief thinking "Do these fools know they just lost to us two nights in a row?" No matter what happens with wins and losses we are always going to have fun and make sure are fans have a great night of entertainment for their spending dollars.

So if you have not came out to a Mad Ants game, give us a shot. I can't guarantee you a win, but I can guarantee you will have a good time.

I apologize for the lack of parentheses in this blog, I promise many more next week!

-Garrett