I arrived at Native New Yorker in Glendale about 9:15 to help set-up. Before we were even finished setting up, people started arriving. Yes, people showed up before 10. About in hour/hour and a half into the event we had about 300 people. By the end the count was up to about 500.
We had many valley media in attendance. I saw channels 3, 12 and 15. Someone told me 10 had also been there. The only local channel that didn’t come was channel 5. FSN also stopped by. As far as print media, I confirmed that Phoenix New Times and the East Valley Trib were there but not the Arizona Republic. C’mon Jim G, you are our man! Where were you today? We were the opening story on channel 12 news at 6. It brought a tear to my eye. Channel 15 made me wait to see their story but they did it right. They checked their facts and got the correct number of supporters who showed up. They also gave the link on camera and said they would post it on their website. I have a new respect for channel 15 news!
I, of course, avoided the cameras as much as possible. The 3 TV guy finally caught me but of course I didn’t want to talk to him. He asked me if Canada could have our team. I responded “Hell No!” and then I realized that it was a TV camera and probably shouldn‘t use such language. The channel 15 guy caught me taking a pic of him so I think he kept trying to get me on camera too. I hid many times behind our posters.
Many thanks to our sponsors: Native New Yorker, The Fan 1060AM (Unofficial home of the Coyotes) and Wild Flower Bread Company. Native New Yorker provided us with the location and even opened an hour earlier to serve the fans. Wild Flower Bread Company brought bottled water to keep us all hydrated and the Fan 1060 broadcast live for the entire event.
I keep hearing about all these other events that were going on in the valley and it makes me even more proud that we had about 500 show up!!! The NRA was in town, there was the Duck Race in Tempe and a Cardinals camp for high school students. I am sure there were many other events going on. Also, during the week I heard a lot of people saying they had to work or had other engagements. I was surprised and happy to see that 500 people took time out of their busy lives to come and support the Yotes (and on such short notice – this was put together in a week and the location was secured only 3 days in advance).
For now, those involved are going to take a few days off at least until the hearing on Tuesday. Many have not slept in weeks and have been busy planning, planning, planning. Many thanks to those who organized and I wish I could have done more to help. I was the official coalition photographer #2 today and I helped take donations. All the donations will go to buying season tickets for kids.
As the official photog #2, I took a bunch of pics and 2 short videos of the rally. I will see what I can post on here, so look for those to come soon.
I feel today was quite successful. For an event expected to draw only 50 people (according to many people out there) we were. We got Coyotes fans together. We were loud and proud. We talked hockey. We had some great food and drinks. Native New Yorker also had a special drink for us: Coyotes Shooter. It was a shot of vodka with cherry flavoring, dropped into monster energy drink. It was delicious. And a great end to the rally! I know I will be having the Coyotes Shooter more often. I will also be frequenting Native New Yorker in Glendale and Wild Flower Bread Company. They didn’t have to help us today but they realize what the Coyotes leaving would do to the Valley. I cannot thank them enough.
In closing, we made sure people heard us. We love hockey and we won’t let it leave! We are looking into organizing many more rallies this off-season. This was just the first of many so stay tuned!
Spread the word, spread the love, spread the hockey – Hipchecks
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