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Road Trip With The Panthers Last season (02-03) as part of "Early Renewal" there was a contest called "Buy Now, Fly Later" in which approximately 25 lucky season ticket holders would be awarded a road trip with the team. Everyone who renewed early and filled out the entry coupon was entered. Originally, the trip was scheduled to take place at the beginning of the 2003-2004 season on a weekend date, but, it was postponed to a future date. I kept the fact that I had won a secret. Since the winner's list wasn't given out, I didn't know who else had won. (There were a few of our list members present on the trip, but I won't put their names here -- they can do that on their own if they wish). The trip included round-trip transportation to the destination city with the team on the team plane, one night hotel room, a meet and greet with the players, and tickets to the game. All other expenses were to be our responsibility. That was the advertised package, as it were. Reminds me of the famous advertising quote "Pictured item may differ slightly from actual." As it turns out, there were 98 people on the trip excluding media, team personnel, and the team. I was later told by a Panther official (whose name I shall not reveal) that a number of marketing partners and other people were also added on resulting in the much larger number. I only mention this because the number of people is going to have a material impact on the story as it unfolds. On October 6th, 2003, the team finally indicated approximately when the trip was going to take place -- sometime in Winter 2003 or Spring 2004. On January 6th, 2004 they gave us the dates, though the promised weekend date vanished. On February 3rd, we were given forms to complete and fax in with various details. We were also given a prospective itinerary. Finally, just before the trip on March 8th, we were sent dress code and team etiquette forms along with other last minute details. Everything indicated this was a well-planned, flawlessly organized trip. On Thursday, 18 March 2004, we were instructed to meet at Office Depot Center (ODC) home of the Panthers in the underground garage. The night before we have a Panther game which means I don't get home until late. After the game, I get home and try to sleep but I am so excited, it's hard for me to sleep. I get less than three hours of sleep that night. I arrived at ODC around 10:45am for our 11:00am meeting. There was a bit of confusion as everybody started going in the wrong door, but that was figured out after a few moments. We get to the correct entrance. A list was checked, and then our luggage was checked in and taken from us. We were then taken to the press area and given a packet with our seat assignments for the plane, bus number, a bag of snacks, and given tags to put on our luggage which was lined up in the staging area. After that we were ushered into the press room. We met Stanley C Panther and also got to see who else was on the trip. I was happy to see some familiar faces. Our reception included an ample supply of beverages and cookies. At various times, announcements were made with additional details. Just shy of an hour of waiting, we were told there was going to be a delay because our plane hadn't left New York on time. New York? Well, the normal plane simply wouldn't hold all the people making the trip, so they had to charter a special aircraft (a North American Airlines 757) to hold all of us. The team normally flies a Miami Air 727. They decided to take us up to the Johnnie Walker Lounge to wait because there was air conditioning and the press room where we were was overcrowded and stuffy. Upon our arrival in the Johnnie Walker Lounge, we were given more cookies and beverages. They put the NCAA tournament on the TV screens to keep us entertained, though most people just sat around and talked about our trip. A little after noon, we were given a cold-cut, fruit, and cheese lunch (more cookies too!) which wasn't part of the agenda since we were supposed to be en-route at this point. The Panthers staff had kindly went to a local Publix Supermarket and bought lunch for all 98 of us. It wasn't part of the plan, but it was well appreciated. The trip organizers remained professional and organized despite the adversity. At this point we were all still in relatively good humour and taking it all in stride. Finally, it was time to board the bus to the airport. It was around 130pm. I was on bus number two, the first bus to depart, since we were in the back of plane. Boarding the bus was a simple process. We arrived at the Fort Lauderdale Jet Center about twenty minutes later. The Jet Center is an auxiliary area off of the main airport (FLL) where small jets depart. We arrived and there were beverages, brownies, and cookies. (If you don't sense a theme here, you're slow.) We were supposed to board the plane prior to the next bus arriving, however that didn't quite work out as the second bus rolled in less than 30 minutes later and we were still waiting for the plane to be catered. In the Jet Center lounge we encountered Jiggs McDonald, Jeff Rimer, and Randy Moller. They kept to themselves except for Randy who said "hi" to some of us. Roberto Luongo and some other players started arriving but they were all in a separate roped-off area. Finally, the plane was catered fully and it was boarding time and we began to go through security. Security here was just like the real airport except it was done by hand wands and hand search as there were no x-ray machines. That made the process at bit slower. I board to find out that I am, indeed, in the VERY last row of the plane. We can't sit in our row because the flight attendants have used it for storage. So, I help them take everything in that row (quite a few twelve-packs of beer) and put it all in the overhead compartments (don't tell the FAA). We're finally seated. We then find out that the last row seats do NOT recline. They also have much less leg room -- actually as a side note, this plane has the worst seat pitch of any jet aircraft I have ever flown and it is extraordinarily uncomfortable. But that's ok, because I'm still having fun on this unique experience. I wonder to myself if being stuck in the back row is a secret form of punishment from the Panthers organization. I need to point out that the Boeing 757 has the most powerful engines of any Boeing aircraft in that size class. In fact, they actually have the same engine as the much larger 767. I know you probably don't care, but it will explain the next part of the story. As you can see, this story is complicated so I have to keep providing background details. I'm not sure what the Jet Center staff were thinking bringing this plane into the Jet Center which rarely even sees 727 or 737 aircraft, much less a 757. But they do. Once we're all finally boarded, the pilot informs us we're going to be towed out before he can start the engines because if he starts them in the loading area, he'll damage the other planes. This make sense because our aircraft dwarfs the Cessna, Piper, and Beechcraft aircraft parked all over. The blast would knock them over like dominoes. Many of the passengers don't believe it, so I spend some time explaining this to people around me. (My background in commercial aircraft is based simply on the fact I've logged nearly one million miles on aircraft so far. Flying that much and talking to pilots and crew, you're bound to absorb something.) To tow us out, they must disconnect the power to the plane. This should take no more than a few minutes, so it's no big deal. As expected, we're towed out sitting in the dark because the engines aren't on and we're not plugged in. We get to the taxiway in under five minutes. They turn on the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) to start the plane. The plug isn't long enough. The plane is growing hotter rapidly. A few moments later, a longer plug is obtained. They plug it in and turn on the APU only to find that the APU isn't strong enough to start a 757. It's becoming sweltering, and the temperature inside the plane is rapidly approaching triple digits. We're like dogs left in a car in the parking lot. The players begin taking off their shirts and putting on shorts (no joke) because the temperature inside the plane is unbearable. Most of us are wearing long-sleeves because we were told to wear business attire for the flight. We're drenched in sweat. The flight attendants start passing out water. Yay, water! Finally, a second APU is located. After much mucking about, it's hooked up and we have power. We taxi over to the main FLL runway. Judging from the veering runway roll and subsequent bumpy take-off, the pilot is new, or at least new to a 757. But, we're under way. Yay! We're served lunch -- rather tasty sandwiches. It surprises nobody to see it has a cookie as well. Please note that, in theory, this was a working flight and fans were not allowed up front to mingle with the players. This was part of our written instruction sheet. Everybody is very well-behaved and we all stay in our section of the aircraft. We arrive in Atlanta some ninety minutes later. It's a very violent landing, reinforcing my theory that the pilot is new. Specifically, an aircraft is designed to land rear-wheels first followed immediately by the front wheels. No commercial plane is designed to land nose wheels first as these wheels simply cannot support the full impact of landing. We land front wheels first and it's a hard landing followed by some bouncing. As you'll see later in this report, we will find out that the aircraft was damaged on landing and will be unable to fly us home. We unload ourselves from the plane and get on our bus. The players bus leaves well in advance of ours as we have to wait for our luggage. There are also trucks which take the team's equipment. We're told by Randy Sieminski that the Meet & Greet is cancelled due to our late arrival and that players can't have their schedule mucked up on our account. Most of us are okay with it, because we understand the game is more important than our entertainment, and we're just guests. A few people are discontent -- there's always one in every crowd. I mention to Evan that I bet the players are not happy at having us on the trip since our group is fundamentally the reason we're late. After all, if there weren't 98 extra people, we wouldn't have needed a larger plane. We know it really isn't our fault, of course. That's just how we hockey people think. We arrive at our hotel within thirty minutes. The fans are housed at the Hyatt downtown on Peachtree Street while the players are three blocks away at the swanky Ritz-Carlton. After getting off the bus, we have to find our luggage. Finding mine was easy because I was smart enough not to bring the black "Season Ticket Holder" duffel bag most people brought and instead used my BellSouth multi-coloured Olympic bag. We walk into the lobby to check in where we have a reception with beverages, chips, candy, and (drum roll) cookies. The Hyatt hostess seems a bit put out that people won't eat the cookies. Even though we have 98 people, only four cookies disappear. I take pity on her and explain why we aren't interested in cookies. I do not take enough pity on her to actually take a cookie. She's amused. I wonder what they did with all the leftover cookies. Our card-keys are lain out on a big table in alphabetical order. We get them and go to our respective rooms (I'm roommates with Evan). The rooms are very nice and the Panthers had arranged a 3:30pm checkout the next day. Evan and I go to dinner and then take a walk around Atlanta for a bit. We walk through the lobby of the Ritz Carlton, and hold the door open for a few of the players on the way in. It's a nice, swanky hotel. We don't identify ourselves as fans or even give an indication we know who they are so as not to bother them or anything. We return to our room and watch TV and pass out sometime before 11pm, after successfully accomplishing nothing except eating the first day. We wake up, go to the City Diner for breakfast. It's got good food, but a scary atmosphere complete with glow-in-the-dark carpet (really). I name the restaurant "Little Minsk." If you want to know why, go and eat there. After breakfast, we walk to the World of Coca-Cola and take the tour. After that, we go and pick up tickets for a later-that-day tour of CNN. Next door to CNN is Philips Arena where our opponents, the Atlanta Thrashers, play. A large group of us go to the loading dock, and file through arena security, walk through the bowels of the arena and into the stands to watch the team practice. It's nice to see that almost everyone who made the trip came to the practice. Considering everything that happened so far, I was a bit surprised, though pleased. Philips Arena is very nice. Their club section is vastly different than ours. Instead of having a "bowl" format like ours, the club section is slice of the lower bowl. Four sections are designated as club. One complete side of the arena is ALL suites from top to almost bottom. There is no seating in that area. It's a wall of suites looking down on the ice. It's an odd design and took some getting used to, but I liked it. I'm not sure how having a suite way up top would be though. At the top of the club section there is a food court with a number of stands. These are operated by local restaurants and the food is much better (but not cheaper) than one would expect. Even outside the club section, the food selection in Atlanta is much wider than ours. They have everything conceivable. There are cooked to order pizzas, made to order sandwiches, proper Southern BBQ, and more (and cookies too if you wanted any). Of course, since it practice it's not open right now. After practice, Evan and I go have lunch and then follow that by taking the CNN tour. (I am leaving out details of the World of Coke and CNN Tour out since this is a hockey story. If you are interested, let me know and I will write a report on those separately.) We return to our hotel on foot and rest while watching CNN with renewed interest after having just completed the tour. I have very tired feet. Promptly at 3:31pm housekeeping knocks on our door and politely evicts us. Evan and I go to the special bell captain area and turn our luggage in. While waiting for the bus, we visit with other fans in the lobby for next 90 or so minutes. There's a raffle for some autographed items. I win nothing but that's ok because the big prize goes to a little kid. That's good. Poor Carrie looks very bothered, hectic, and frazzled. We find out that the plane we flew to Atlanta is broken and they're trying to get us back to Fort Lauderdale some other way. No wonder she's not happy. I don't blame her a bit. We board our respective busses to go to Philips Arena and are given our new plane seating assignments for later that night. I am no longer in the last row: salvation! On the bus, we're all given a game ticket (Club Level), VIP pass (all access!) and some further instructions about the plans for the remainder of the evening. Upon entering Philips Arena, all fans are given FREE programs. They're small like a PlayBill, and they have the center pages that change like our Yellow Pages. Sure, their program is mostly advertising but I think this may be better than our system. A few other arenas use this system too. Philips Arena is very nice and has some great features, many of which I've already mentioned. I make an irritated mental note that I still never got the call that Michael Yormark promised me because I see some of my ideas implemented here. These ideas would vastly improve the ODC experience. The food here is very tasty as I find out first-hand. The Arena is pleasant and the staff are very polite. Although I think our arena is nicer overall, from a visitor standpoint, I really like it here. I've been to a number of NHL arenas and this is on the top part of the list. If you want an NHL arena with no personality, I direct you to the Ice Palace. In the main concourse there's a silent auction for charity. One of the items is Team-Signed Panthers jersey; of course there are a dozen Thrasher items as well. I make minimum bid on the Panther jersey as a joke figuring it will go for much more. I was wrong, and I end up winning it. YAY! The scoreboard here is fantastic. Of course compared to ours, most any scoreboard that works is fantastic. Our scoreboard has been broken since day one and doesn't stay fixed for more than a few days. But since Philips is a sponsor and they make great electronics, the video system is amazing. Speaking of video, when a player goes to the box from the opposing team (that's us!) they play these hysterical videos making fun of the opponent. It's very creative. The whole arena experience is much more enjoyable than ours. There's more creativity, more variety, and it's something we should steal. Anyway, back to the game. The game is fun for the first 58 minutes. The Panthers draw first blood. Atlanta later ties it up. The officiating is horrendous. By that I mean it's worse than usual. I know all fans complain about the officiating, but this was substandard by any accounting. During the second period, Thrash the mascot comes over and tries to harass our group. We win that little contest by shouting him down. Thrash leaves and the crowd heckles us. While in the stands, we fans exchange lots of business cards and e-mail addresses with fellow fans to trade pictures. We're on TV back home. How do we know? People's mobile phones start ringing all at once letting their friends and/or family all know that "WE SAW YOU!" In the last few minutes, the Panthers then proceed to totally collapse in spectacular fashion. It's unfortunate because they had this one in the bag. It was a disappointing end to the game. After the game, we leave our seats and proceed down into the basement of the arena and board our busses. All the Arena staff are so polite to us, and on the way out thank us for coming. Like all arenas in all sports, the traffic to leave is horrible. Although, once we get out of the arena, we arrive at the airport quickly. We're told we have to be cleared through security and on board the plane before the team gets there. There is no terminal, so we unload directly on the tarmac. There are tables set up near the plane for security purposes. Security is disorganized, and this makes it inefficient and slow. As each person clears, we start to board the plane (a brand new Miami Air 737-800). Only about eight of us get up the stairs before the flight attendant orders everyone to get back off. We start going back down the stairs. The Panthers staff at the bottom and security starts yelling at us to go back on. We tell them it's not our fault. The Panthers officials and cabin crew have a row. We finish de-boarding the plane. We're sorted into two lines on the tarmac: checked by security and not-checked. It would have been easy to cheat system had we wanted to. The plane is deemed ready and we re-board the plane. The only glitch is that the players arrive before most people have even been through security. This new plane has less rows (29 versus 36). I'm not sure how they got everyone on it or maybe some media got left behind. I don't really care, I suppose since I'm on it. The return flight is very pleasant until we find the meal has a (GASP!) cookie in it. The return flight takes under 90 minutes. Nothing like late night flights in uncrowded airspace. As I said before, commingling of fans and player on theplane is banned. However, Darcy Hordichuk, nice guy that he is, comes to the back of plane and goes to each and every person and individually thanks them. He shakes hands, signs autographs, takes pictures, and makes small talk. He's a real class act. He's still working the crowd as the plane is flying over I-595 & University Drive when the flight attendant gets on the PA and loudly yells "DARCY! PLEASE SIT DOWN!" -- everyone on the plane breaks out into uproarious applause including the media and his fellow teammates. We arrive at the Jet Center, are off-loaded, and board our busses after a few moments confusion over luggage procedures. We return to ODC at around 145am, get off the bus and claim our luggage. I make it home just past 235am. If it sounds like there were problems, yes there were. If it sounds like I'm complaining, absolutely not. I had a fantastic time except for the part where the outbound plane was stuck without electricity. I'd gladly do it again if permitted. I thank the Panthers organization for a wonderful, unique experience. However I think that after this bad experience, the Panthers will never make this offer to fans again. The players clearly hated it, and they blamed us for the loss. That's a bad thing. No fan wants to be the reason his team lost. In fact, Olli Jokinen said in both today's (3-20-04) Herald and Sun Sentinel that he hates to make excuses but he blames the flight to Atlanta yesterday for the loss. Nice. I knew it. It IS our fault. |