Welcome back WAK-off

On a cold night in mid April the Mariners found themselves down seven runs to the Blue Jays with only nine outs remaining. With a little help from the Jays pitching staff and big hits from Milton Bradley and Justin Smoak the Mariners found themselves down only one run in the ninth. With two on, two out and a 2-2 count utility man Luis Rodriguez pounded a slider into the right center gap to score two and win. This was easily one of the most exciting games of the Mariners season. Throughout the game I had been following the tweets of Seattle radio personality Mike Salk. (@BrockandSalk) Not long after Ichiro touched home to complete the come-back, Salk asked his Facebook and Twitter followers including Mariners VP of Marketing, Kevin Martinez (@Kevin_Martinez) to "name the comeback." Immediately I was intrigued and figured an opportunity to combine my creativity and Mariners knowledge had to be taken advantage of. That night's game was the first time former Mariner Manager Don Wakamatsu "Wak" was back at Safeco Field, this time in the opposing dugout. It came to me almost right away..the "Welcome back WAK-off!" Salk loved it and I even got a shout out from Martinez. Salk used the name as the title of his blog post early that morning as well as a topic of conversation during the next day's radio broadcast. Check out the article at Welcome Back Wak-Off and listen to the broadcast at Wak-off podcast (The conversation begins at 31:00).

Bob and Groz at Safeco

Whether at home, on the bus, or at work I have my earphones in listening to 710 AM ESPN Seattle. From noon to three, Bob and Groz fill the airways with entertaining sports talk. In August they gave their fans the opportunity to be a part of their promotional video at Safeco Field. I responded to the call on Facebook and was the first participant chosen for the shoot. For the last few weeks of the 2010/2011 season and throughout next season you will be able to see me pass a half eaten hot dog to Bob as I watch the game. (I am the one in the Northwest Green Mariners t-shirt)

Rally Fries

Players, fans and even announcers will do anything to to spark a rally for their home team. The Angels have their Rally Monkey, the Steelers wave their Terrible Towels and fans across the country at any arena can be seen with their hats twisted and turned every which way for a Rally Cap. When the Seattle Mariners are in need of some late inning runs or a big hit they turn to RALLY FRIES! The tradition began in 2007 when a fan spilled his fries and tarter sauce onto the field. Announcers Mike Blowers and Dave Sims decided to deliver some new fries to the fan. Later that inning the Mariner rallied to win the game and a tradition was born! Fans find clever ways to ask Blowers and Sims for free fries and one lucky fan or group of fans will get Ivar's fries delivered to their seats! 

On the first day of September in 2009, I went to the Mariners game against the hated Anaheim Angels with my friend Erik Schmidt. Before the game we got a Ken Griffey Jr. bobble-head from an interesting girl in the parking lot and we thought that would be the highlight of our day, but we would be wrong. It happened to be Singles Night at Safeco field so I planned my sign accordingly. My sign read "I just want to meet Lindsey but bring fries for the guys!"  Erik described our situation as poor college students looking for fries rather than our normal Ramen meals. 


In the 7th inning the nice couple sitting next to us got up to get some food and use the bathroom but shortly after came running down and told us to get ready. We weren't really sure what was happening but the fans around us started to murmur. Before we could really figure out what was about to happen Lindsey the Rally Fry girl showed up with two plates of Rally Fries with loads of tarter sauce! It was so much fun, Lindsey was extremely nice and obliged to our hug requests but always made sure we were looking in the direction of the camera. As the story goes Sims and Blowers loved us and we were on camera for an abnormal amount of time. When we finally got to sit down and enjoy our fries we began texting everyone we knew asking if they were watching the game and saw us! We made sure to share our reward with everyone around us, making sure to spoil the nice woman who took my camera and documented the whole thing!

In my opinion the best story of the night is what was happening at my parents house during this whole adventure. In the Mariners at-bats before we got fries they had a runner on 3rd with no outs and were unable to score the run. My Dad got so frustrated with how the team was performing he turned the game off in frustration! Just a few minutes later they got a call from my Aunt asking if they saw me on TV and of course they had not. They still haven't seen the video and neither have I but the experience was awesome! Another fun bonus is the fact that Lindsey has Erik and I as the background to her Twitter Page along with Mason Foster and The Kid himself Ken Griffey Jr.!

Fun with Dopplegangers

One of the most fun people to follow on twitter in Seattle is Danny O'Neil (@dannyoneil). O'Neil is a sports writer for The Seattle Times. O'Neil always has a fun and interesting take on Seattle sports and athletes. His last twitter venture was looking for Seahawks players who have famous doppelgangers! When I looked through his tweets he had posted Charlie Whitehurst/Keanu Reeves as well as Patrick Kerney/Buzz Lightyear. I tried thinking of a few off the top of my head and had a few but one I looked them up they weren't the best. I went to Seahawks.com and Russell Okung's picture came up and the first thing I thought was Notorious B.I.G so I photo-shopped the two pics together and sent it in. Danny O'Neil obviously appreciated it and it made it in his piece on The Seattle Times webpage. Its always fun to see my @NickSchnepf tag on a site like The Seattle Times.

The Travel Bug

I was never one who felt the need to travel and see the world. However, after spending just over two weeks in Japan with my family I was hooked. I was ignorant to the fact that there were so many things to learn just from being in a foreign country and immersing yourself in the culture. I thought that anything I would need from a different country could be shipped via FedEx and anything I would want to see I could do so on the Discovery Channel. But after witnessing a sunrise from the top of Mt. Fuji with my dad after a two day climb to the summit, I quickly realized there are things you must live to truly understand.

You learn more spending a day jumping from train to train with nothing but  hope you will end up in the right place then you ever could in a classroom or from any television program. I’m a bit concerned for my bank account in the future because I have definitely been bitten by the travel bug and I won’t be shaking it anytime soon.

My next adventure will be a six week trip throughout Europe. From June 14^th to July 27^th I will be embarking on a journey like nothing I have experienced before. I will start in Lisbon Portugal with six of the best friends a person could ever dream of having and end in Rome with three of those friends. Our trip will last 42 days, cover 9 countries, countless miles and endless adventures!

My mom said it best when she told me that "there are few times in your life when you will be able to travel with people you enjoy traveling with". She has my dad and I have a group of friends that cant be beat. I can't wait to dip my feet into the pristine waters of the Mediterranean in Barcelona, feel the romance of Paris under the Eiffel Tower, enter Berlin through the symbol of the 3rd Reich at the Brandenburg Gate and simply lay my eyes on, in my opinion, the single most astonishing sporting structure ever built, the mighty Colosseum in Rome!

This trip is bound to be an adventure, not everything will go as planned, the weather may not always cooperate, our feet will definitely hurt and I'm sure we will lose our way a time or two..but those will surely be the best moments!

Not Just a Game

Of all the words that come to mind when I think of Madden NFL video games RESPECT wouldn't normally be one. But after reading an interview with John Madden in The New York Time I have a greater respect for the game. The Madden NFL franchise has provided endless hours of gaming for millions of gamers since its introduction in 1988. The game has progressed with graphics, player profiles and overall realness over the past 23 years allowing it to be the 2nd highest selling sports game series of all time. The latest upgrade however, may be the most important in the franchises storied history. In the interview John Madden announced that players who have sustained a concussion during the game will not be able to return. In previous Madden games when a player is injured the gamer is given the option to let them play or take them out. This option wont be given to concussion victims in Madden NFL 2012. Helmet to helmet hits will also be removed as well as hits leading with the head. Even though James Harrison won't be rushing to his nearest game store in August I believe these new rules will be well received by Madden gamers. Madden says the motivation of these changes stemmed from the demographic of players; "It starts with young kids - they start in video games." The intention of the Madden franchise isn't to act as a social change project but they do take action to make a difference and I commend them greatly for these actions.


Another way Madden NFL is keeping up with the times is following the trend of user generated content and crowd-sourcing. The distinction of being the cover model for Madden 2012 will be decided by fan voting. The 12th Man has already been eliminated so my vote will be for the winner between Mike Vick and Andre Johnson! To cast your vote visit http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/feature/madden2012cover

Not a fan of Cinderella

Its early Saturday afternoon, just hours before tip off of the 2011 NCAA Mens Final Four. This event is the  culmination of a season that began five short months ago and will come to a climax on Monday night. I woke up with no intention of watching the contest between the 8 seed Butler Bulldogs and 11 seeded VCU Rams. The fear of disgust and anger that I would have watching the team that knocked out my pick to win it all experience the joy and elation of this moment seemed too much to bear. VCU handed the blue blooded Kansas Jayhawks another crushing defeat in the madness of March. I've watched them fall to 14 seeded Bucknell in '05, 13 seeded Bradley in '06, the 9 seed Northern Illinois in '10 and now the 11 seed VCU Rams, all of which came as a top 5 seed. But as the day grows older I have decided that at 3:09 when the ball is thrown up I will be glued to the television with a cool beverage in hand. The reason I felt sick on the afternoon of March 27th in Houston is the same reason I love this greatest tournament in sports! Sixty-eight teams came into this tournament with aspirations of winning 6 games and hoisting the National Championship trophy this Monday. 67 teams and millions of fans will have their dreams ended suddenly and with a finality that is unmatched in an sports arena. Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu said "Without darkness there can be no light." I say without the disappointment of failure there is no happiness in success. If the top programs were to win year after year and the brackets were "chalk" then the tournament wouldn't be the spectacle it has become! There would've been nothing better than to hear the chants of Rock Chalk Jayhawk rain down from the crowd Monday night but I, like so many others, will be forced to wait another year and appreciate the greatest playoff in all of sports!