On The Riverboat

Sam's Casino Pics should be around in a few days...

Yesterday's Casino Night was a very nice event. The whole shindig was done with class. It was a good call to name the trophy the Jim Nelson award and to present the award to the Nordecke. I couldn't complain with the player awards either. Every player that deserved major recognition received it.

Awards
Team MVP - Guillermo Barros Schelotto
Fan's Choice Trophy - Guillermo Barros Schelotto
Golden Boot - Alejandro Moreno
Coaches Award - Alejandro Moreno + Brian Carroll
Comeback Player -Chad Marshall
Defender of the Year - Chad Marshall
Newcomer of the Year - Gino Padula
Man of the Year - Frankie Hejduk
Humanitarian of the Year - Eddie Gaven
Goal of the Year - Robbie Rogers
Fan of the Year - Nordecke

Other Interesting Parts of Last Night:

**It was interesting going up on stage with the 50 or so fellow Nordecke members. I think maybe one of us could have prepared some sort of speech though, :-). For a while we just stood up there, not sure if we should leave the stage or not after accepting the reward.

It was a cool moment though. There were many people on that stage that put alot of work into the section and more people that were not there. Even though it's about the players and the team, it was nice for everyone to get a round of applause. Although we would do it either way, it was still a good feeling, we came a long way since March 29th.

We are lucky to have an organization that appreciates it compared to pre-2004.

**When I went up with everyone on stage. I forgot to put down my beer. So, like a fool I continued drinking it on stage. Luckily, Frankie was of the same mindset when he accepted his Glidden Man of The Year Award.

**I talked to Frankie for about 5 minutes last night. Mainly about his chugging making it on the Telegraph, he seemed as surprised about it too and thought it was really cool. Should have asked him for an interview some time but figured that would be a lame thing to do. Very nice guy to stay around while I slurred my words. I would be surprised if I was making any sense at all.

**Myself and this other kid that hangs out at Ruby's asked Duncan if he was taking any applications for bartenders at his new place. We were sort of joking around and so was he. He said that when it's open, come on down. He also said that this idea is the real deal with investors. He talked about where he should put the bar at with us. "Do you guys think Short North or Arena?" I have no clue what we answered or what expertise we would have. All I know is too bad I'm flat out broke, I would love to be a business partner. I just told him, "it's got to be a place where everyone can watch the games." Best obvious advice I could come up with, too many drinks. Duncan also said that he would be joining us in the stands in a few years.

Good luck to Duncan on the business venture.

**Ekpo, Stanley, and Ricardo seemed like best buds most of the night. Said hi to all three of them. I think Stanley and Ricardo were surprised that people knew their names since they haven't been on the field often.

**Chad Marshall when getting his awards was Mr. Comedy. You wouldn't have guessed it with his serious demeanor on the field. But, he totally showed up C-Bus's version of Ryan Seacrest at the podium.

**Said hi to Andy Iro. That guy is even bigger up close. I think junior21 took a picture of a few of us with him.

**Gino Padula danced with his little daughter on the dance floor which was cute.

**It was all a good time until I saw my tab for $43 dollars. I swear I at most had 4 32 oz. beers but I guess they said I had 7. After the tip that was $48 dollars down the drain. Ouch.

**Winning a prize made up for it though. And, I picked up some Crewzer digits. So not all that bad for a Monday night. But, I was feeling it this morning.