Maryland Events Nominated for SportsTravel Awards

The state of Maryland hosted two events this year that have been nominated for a 2011 SportsTravel Award: the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championships and the 2011 USGA U.S. Open!  The 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championships are nominated for the Best Sports Event Series or Circuit in the Collegiate Sporting Event category, and the 2011 USGA U.S. Open is nominated for Best Single-Sport Event in the Professional Sporting Event category.

Both events are eligible for Sports Event of the Year.  But in order for us to take home the top prize, we need your vote! Go to SportsTravel Magazine’s website to vote! Voting ends on August 15^th, so don’t delay! Help show the sports community that Maryland is here to play!

Where the Wild Things Are

It’s a beautiful day at Camden Yards.  Crisp, sunny, and not too hot.  Perfect day for planting the crape myrtle that has been rooming with me in Bin 400 of the Warehouse for the past two weeks.

The Muskogee will someday bloom a lovely shade of purple at the southern gateway to M&T Bank Stadium.  Along with the one planted a few weeks ago along the Ostend Street bridge, it will also edge the rain garden that helps to control stormwater runoff from the stadium lots.

(Note:  no government time or dollars have been expended in this landscaping enhancement.  Strictly volunteer.)

So armed with my trusty shovel, I headed to the edge of the ornamental grasses.  Although installed just a year ago, they’ve done a splendid job of stemming erosion and filtering ground water.  They also make a much more welcoming approach to the stadium complex.

I had just finished digging the hole when one of the security guards came by.  He asked if I’d seen the visitor who ambled through just a few minutes before.

No, I responded.  It was pretty quiet here in the rain garden.  Just me, the crapes and a couple of butterflies. No misplaced Yankee fans.

Well, you have company, said he.  And he pulled out his trust BlackBerry to show me who strolled into the grassy swale shortly before I arrived.

Look at the critter at the base of the tree.  He’s about 20 inches long with a broad tale (not visible behind the tree)  He wasn’t in any hurry, just meandering along into the marshy lowland.

The guard thought it was a beaver, but Bucky wasn’t smiling so he didn’t get a good look at choppers.  The idea of an urban beaver is not so far-fetched when you consider our remote stormwater pond just below the swale.  There’s a veritable wild kingdom down there. Enough rodents and reptiles to keep even Eagle fans at bay.

It could possibly be a groundhog, though.  We displaced a coterie when we planted the butterfly garden below the pedestrian bridge.  But this fellow looks a little big (and slow) to be a groundhog.  And his tail certainly didn’t fit the species.

Whatever he is, he seemed friendly to the guard.  And as long as he doesn’t sharpen those incisors on my crapes, he’s welcome to hang around.  Never too many stormwater engineers in a fragile watershed like ours.

Shore ‘Nuff

The Merry Marketeers are mustering and shortly Team Terry will be storming the bridge for the Tour de Shore. 

Stay tuned . . . .

The Value of Volunteers

There are many reasons why Maryland can be pitched as the ideal place to hold major events. Certainly our quality facilities, central location, easy access, compact size and wealth of natural resources are all significant factors.

But one thing that drives the large, multi-day tournaments so lucrative for host regions is an active, willing, reliable volunteer force. And fortunately, this is really where Maryland shines.

From the Special Olympics (which just celebrated its 40th birthday) to the Polar Bear Plunge that raises funds for it, volunteers from all over the area make the multitude of activities possible.

Volunteers (frequently known as Mom and Dad) are the backbone of most local rec leagues and youth organizations. Maryland has a plethora of these programs, and we are trying to host more of their regional tournaments. When the regional and national organizers look for sites, a volunteer labor force is a major consideration.

Today was the annual Tour Dem Parks, Hon bicycle celebration in Baltimore. Tour Dem Parks began several years ago, prompted by a group of bicycle advocates who wanted an activity to promote the newly opened Gwynns Falls Trail.  This small committee — all volunteers — developed the concept, planned the routes, and made all the arrangements themselves. They had a lot of help from the folks in City of Baltimore’s planning and recreation departments (whom they had worked with to build the trail) willing to do this in their spare time.

Since Camden Yards sits on the Gwynns Falls Trail, we’ve come to know a lot of these folks as community partners, so it’s nice to go to this celebration and appreciate just how popular it has become. (The exercise helps, too.)  I’m guessing that despite the heat there were more than 1,000 participants who came to ride, train, or just enjoy a day picnicking in the park.  From the folks at the registration tables to the mom who flipped the burgers, all of the organizers were volunteers.

The funds raised from the ride go back into trail development and park beautification.  One person who rides every year said she particularly enjoys seeing how the trees along the trail continue to mature since it first opened.  Responses like that are the motivation that continues to drives these activists.

If we get a Tour de Maryland, it will require a regiment of volunteers at every stop. But one thing you can count on: in this state, those bicycle folks are well connected, and very energetic. There may not seem to be a lot in common between the folks who use their bikes for recreation or commuting and those who wear spandex and race, but a strong bond exists. Any event that focuses attention on bicycles in Maryland is going to have no trouble finding people who are ready to get involved.

Gearing Up

Baltimore’s Board of Estimates is meeting now.  I’m not sure where the contract with Baltimore Racing Development for the 2011 Grand Prix is on the agenda, but today’s Baltimore Sun story makes it sound like the green flag is already waving and there are plenty of people saluting.

There is supposed to be a press conference after the BOE vote, where the next steps will be outlined.  However, it sounds like Indy Race (the governing body of the circuit) is ready to bless Baltimore just as soon as the City signs the dotted line.

I love this kind of story because it keeps unfolding as more people discover the opportunities an event like this brings to the regional economy.  As with the Preakness, the benefits have a ripple effect as different segments of the hospitality and transportation industries realize what’s in it for them.  Lots and lots of out of state visitors looking for places to stay, eat and visit.  Lots of yachts looking for marinas to accommodate them and service their vessels.  Lots of international stars to watch and cameras to catch the action.

And lots of adrenaline-fueled excitement for us locals with a view.  (Warehouse Bin 400 overlooks two tight turns on the course.  Can’t wait to hear the swarming buzz.)

We’ll have more as the story develops.  But today’s contract ratification means the ignition key has been turned and the race to establishing a world class event in August, 2011 is underway.

The Makeshift Melter at M&T

MSA staffers are known for their resourcefulness.  Like Seabees, their “can do” approach to challenges just won’t quit.

After enduring the third (or was it fourth?) major snowstorm of the season, Jeff Provenzano (Director of Football Operations) had enough.  As the dump trucks and front end loaders continued to deposit their drifts, Jeff cooked up (literally) a plan to assist the rising temperatures in making them disappear.

Using an old dumpster and some steamfitting talent from nearby Trigen, Jeff designed his own snow melter on the south side of the stadium.

It isn’t as fancy or as mobile as the hired gun the City brought in from Canada, but it doesn’t cost the same hourly rate ($300) as a good divorce lawyer, either.  It was patched together with materials at hand.

I dropped in last week for the test run.  The device was still getting welded together.  While the first trials indicated the pipes needed to be extended further inside, the technology was very promising.

Jeff plans to hang on to his melter until the end of snow season.  While forecasts have been scaled back considerably, Jeff isn’t taking any chances.  Any new snow is going to get cooked onsight rather than packed into a mountain range.

Modest souls that we are, we didn’t publicize our MacGuyverized melter.  The Canadian snow dragon got all the plaudits. 

Reminds me of another steam tycoon forgotten by history.  Do you know who invented the first steamboat?  You probably think it’s Robert Fulton but in fact it is James Rumsey, a blacksmith who developed the technology and demonstrated it on the Potomac in 1787 — twenty years before Fulton launched the Clermont in New York.  Fulton’s successful commercial enterprise on the Hudson gives him the credit for being the father of the steamboat industry, whereas Rumsey had to settle for a neat oblisk monument in Shepherdstown.

So even if Jeff isn’t remembered for introducing steam powered snow melting technology to Baltimore, maybe we can commemorate his invention in a marble monument of some sort at M&T.