Devils Power Player Application
I’ll admit it: I like dressing up as a mascot. I’ve been Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus and on two occasions, an Arabian dancer (don’t ask) at various times in an assortment of ice rinks, office buildings and downtown Manhattan subway stations. I am also a rather loud fan, as anyone who has been within a nautical mile of me at a game can attest. I like to cheer. I like to make sing-song phrases in French and Czech, perhaps picking on Martin St. Louis a bit too much and a bit too loudly. I once had someone at the Meadowlands ask me to cheer more quietly, so I switched to more colorful language. In Russian. There were kids present.
What if I cleaned up my act, put on some new skates, and tried to do this for real? Like as a member of the Devils Fan Interactive Team, also known as the Devils Power Players? It would rank up there with my dream jobs of being Stanley C. Panther (the Florida Panther mascot) or SJ Sharkey (in San Jose). So tonight inspiration struck: I’m filling out an application to be a Devils Power Player. Seriously. So what if I’m 45, grey, slightly snowman shaped, and can only list “doing the Hustle in 8th grade” as my previous dance experience? I’m an insane Devils fan. I know hockey. I can skate. I love to make people, especially kids, laugh. I want to see people come to the Rock, and if they come to see what the fat old guy is going to do next, sign me up. Please.
Here’s what my application says:
I have been a Devils fan since thee 1999-2000 season, when my son began to play hockey and we bought into a group of season ticket holders to begin enjoying games together. Since then, we have attended approximately 100 games and developed our own rituals for “game day” involving our jerseys, t-shirts, what food we eat, and when we take bathroom breaks. Part of being a father (and an uncle) has been enjoying my children and my siblings’, cousins’, and friends’ children as they’ve grown up, and I’ve constantly delighted in ways to make them laugh. Few things are as fun for me as mixing sports and family, and I believe that combination is the root of building a strong current and future fan base for the Devils. Today’s fans who are school aged will be the equivalent of my peers who grew up on a steady diet of NY Rangers hockey and remain “blue fans” to this day. I want them to live, breathe and eat Devils red and black, and it starts with making strong memories for them of their experience with the things they can see, touch and hear up close: Power Players, cheers, the mascot, and a game experience that they can’t wait to repeat.
Hearing a young child squeal as he or she gets to play with Frosty the Snowman, or having a co-worker’s child hop on my Santa-colored lap and tell me something they’ve not told their parents (and then relaying the message, so that Christmas is really a miracle for that kid), are some of the best moments I can recall. On the less serious but more creative side, I’ve had signs I’ve made show up on CN8 and ESPN; I’ve thrown a rubber chicken into the ESPN court-side shot (at a March madness game); I’ve hollered cheers with math phrases, Russian, Czech and French in poorly pronounced rhyme. We’ve printed up “Happy Birthday Patrik” signs in Czech, and last year I managed to convince a friend to come to his first game in 3 years; a long-time fan was re-born.
I want to once again combine sports, cheering, creativity and a bit of ice skating as a New Jersey Devils Power Player. I’m not your typical cheerleader: I’m 45, graying, a bit overweight, but in good physical condition. I make up for that with enthusiasm, love of the NJ Devils, and the ability to create lasting impressions with people that will make them want to come back to see what happens next. I want to feel The Rock shake; I want to see what happens when the house is sold out and so loud that the visiting coach can’t hear his own players swearing on the ice.
I would love to be N.J. Devil, the team mascot, even for a game or a local event. It’s the next logical step after the big man in red and the round guy in white. I’d be thrilled to be a Power Player; if not for the whole season then as an experiment. I’d blog about it; which is sure to generate interest if not genuine attention and attendance. I’d share my entire experience, and provide a view into what life is like as a die-hard fan, much as I do in my public blog. I offer the Devils organization a chance to reach fans of my age and my childrens’ ages; to show that the Devils can have fun and not take themselves too seriously (this isn’t the NFL, it’s hockey!); and to remind everyone why it’s better to be there in person, where you might see someone who looks like the guy who fixes your computer leading a cheer in Section 8.
I’m not hopeful that I’ll hear back, but if someone reads my application and gets a laugh, who knows?