More Miranda...

Check out the time lapse video. This supersedes the previous post.

It includes set-up and tear-down. Remarkable!!!

The same can be said for our staff. It's not like we handed this off to a contractor. Over 36 very intense hours, they knocked themselves out. There's no business like show business...in the Bull City.

The Miranda Lambert concert afforded yet another video production opportunity to Bulls' Explorer Post 50. The students handled technical directing and camera work for the giant video screen.

Miranda Lambert Wins in Durham!

Five thousand Miranda Lambert fans took possession of the the Durham Bulls infield Thursday evening...

...and they were possessed by the rising star from east Texas. Her avid admirers seemed to know each and every word of every one of her songs!

It was a BIG night at the DBAP - our first country concert in a town better known for the blues - but the ballpark was rockin' to Josh Kelly, Eric Church and Miranda Lambert as the CMT Tour stopped in Durham.

Miranda Lambert's web site

CMT-on-Tour web site

Eric Church rocks the DBAP

My Miranda Lambert autograph

Bulls' GM Mike Birling, last in line for the meet & greet

The concert encore...in Bulls' jerseys:

Cover Your Grass

10/14 @ noon: This just in...
Time lapse video of field/stage set-up from Bulls' media guru John Blotzer:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Preparation has begun for Thursday night's Miranda Lambert Concert. You can watch the transformation on our web cam. CLICK HERE...frequently...over the next day. You will be amazed at the conversion from baseball diamond to outdoor concert venue. Nashville comes to downtown Durham!

Step One: Cover the field. The NC State Turfgrass Student Club is helping us install a protective flooring system...sort of a giant Legoland. This is good experience for the students. They learn how to grow grass at State while we offer a serious, real-world lesson in "turf abuse."


We will see you at the concert Thursday. Click here for tickets.

Making Connections for the Homeless

Project Homeless Connect made some serious connections at the DBAP on October 7th. The ballpark was transformed into a service center for the community’s homeless…and connections were made for housing, healthcare, jobs, food, clothing and counseling.

PHC was a big success, but that’s a double edge sword. Yes, copious aid was dispensed…but lots of assistance is needed due to the weak economy. Additionally, there are more vets on the street due to war in Iran and Afghanistan.

Dawn Baumgartner Vaughn tells the story in the Herald-Sun. Click here.

Durham Mayor Pro Tem Cora Cole-McFadden welcomes the 480 volunteers on Thursday morning. The objective was to have a volunteer for each client. Mission accomplished thanks to twenty-five organizations from state and local government, non-profits and businesses. When the event ended 481 people had checked in for help.

Our pizza stand was replaced by the state’s JobLink Career Center. Used clothing was distributed in our MVP Club.

For the first time vets were specifically included in PHC as a “Stand Down” for homeless veterans - just over one hundred former soldiers are thought to be living on Bull City streets.

Bulls’ concessionaire Centerplate provided a spaghetti lunch for one thousand people. The Interfaith Food Shuttle contributed 300 pounds of ground beef for pasta sauce.

Wool E. Bull gets a blood pressure check from Duke nurses.

We needed a little levity, because the stats around homelessness are sobering:

• 1,992 Durham homes entered foreclosure in the past year – a 27% increase over the previous year
• 40,000 Durham households are “at risk” according to the US Census Bureau
• 535 Durham County children experienced periods of homelessness during the last school year

Say it ain’t so, but I’m pretty sure the Bulls will be hosting PHC again next fall.

Ducks Race in Durham

It was a gorgeous fall afternoon in Durham for the Fox50 Family Fest.

The highlight of the Saturday event was the Great American Tobacco Duck Race on the Old Bull River.

Our Explorer Post 50 has raised just over $10,000 for its college scholarship program selling rubber ducks for the race. [updated 10/5/10...as pledges & cash trickle in]

This was a major money raiser for Post 50 as we have recently established the scholarship fund at the Triangle Community Foundation. We're off to a good start!


Thanks to the Post members for selling all those ducks. Schlepping tiny, yellow, rubber duckies was a challenging assignment for high school students. (No one died of embarrassment, though.) Post 50 advisor Ken Bland (volunteer extraordinaire) and Bulls media relations manager Matt DeMargel deserve high fives, too.


...and THANK YOU to our business partners who purchased the high-end, top-notch corporate ducks:

Design Hammer - Bulls' web site
SportsMedia - TV broadcast scoring system
USA Baseball - HQ at the DBAP
Ticket Return - Bulls' ticket system
AMI Graphics - digital sign printer for the DBAP
Worldwide Ticketcraft - Bulls' ticket stock provider

We appreciate your support of Explorer Post 50. Thanks!

A tsunami of rubber ducks in the Old Bull River at American Tobacco.

Farewell to the 2010 Season

Great season. Another Division Championship. Another Governors’ Cup run. Well, it didn’t end quite the way we had hoped, but we can’t be greedy. Bulls’ Manager Charlie Montoyo provided perspective to the News & Observer:

"It's always disappointing to get to this point and not win, but when you think about it, since 1967 only four teams [including the current Bulls] have made it to the finals four straight times…so I'm not going to be mad because it's tough to get to this point."



I’ve got a great highlight reel in my memory bank for 2010:

• The Easter weekend Exhibition Game with the Tampa Bay Rays
• The Duke National Basketball Champs joining us for Opening Night
• 2009 National Championship Ring ceremony
• The May retro game at the venerable Durham Athletic Park
• Bulls' games televised nationally on the MLB Network
• Tobacco Road Sports Café opens atop the Blue Monster outfield wall
• Our own beer, Bullpen Pale Ale, on tap at the DBAP
• Canine mascot Lucky Jr. premiers
• Charlie Montoyo chosen Manager of the Year
• Scott Strickland receives Turf Manager of the Year award
• A record number of wins - 92
  
• South Division Championship
• Paid attendance rebounds above the half million mark

There was yet another record…the heat! Our players and staff accomplished much of the above during the hottest summer on record in North Carolina. Time to chill…

Cover Shots

Do you remember "Cover of the Rollin' Stone" by Dr. Hook?

...the thrill that'll getcha
when you get your picture
on the cover of the Rollin' Stone.

That's how I feel about the cover of Baseball America, our sport's most authoritative publication (with its offices right here in Durham.)

BA's current cover features former Bulls' pitcher Jeremy Hellickson, promoted back in August to the Tampa Bay Rays. He's in a Bulls' uniform...playing at the DBAP...with Bull City fans in the background.

Yet another tribute to Jeremy, to the Rays' organization and the Bulls bask in the glow of it all.

Just a few of Hellickson's accolades:

2009 Triple-A National Championship MVP

2010 International League Most Valuable Pitcher

2010 USA Today Player of the Year

2010 Baseball America Player of the Year

The cover of Baseball America has been good to the Bulls...

Player of the Year covers:
Delmon Young - 2005
Rocco Baldelli - 2002
Andruw Jones - 1996

Other covers:
Evan Longoria - 2007
David Price - 2009
Durham Bulls staff - 2002

Seven covers....always a thrill!