This weekend will be a great opportunity for Allen to get four points at home before playing six straight road games starting February 10th with a three game series in Alaska.
Will have a complete Allen vs Utah game preview on Friday but did notice that while Allen is taking three days off and practicing on Thursday, Utah will be traveling to Tulsa where they play the Oilers Thursday night before traveling to Allen for the game on Friday night. It is not always relevant but the Americans will be the more rested team.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
Something that has struck me over the years is the special relationship that develops between the players and fans of the Allen Americans and I know it is the same all over minor pro hockey. Fans embrace the players in an unique way and the players reciprocate by opening up to the fans. Life long friendships are established and there really is a family atmosphere. I have heard of so many instances where fans have spent time and money to help the players just because they care. Here is a list of acts of kindness and friendship I have heard over the years that are examples of "It Takes a Village" to support the team.
You can't start a list without singling out the Allen Americans fan club. They provide food for the guys on the bus, meals during training camp, they pick up and drop off players at the airport, set up apartments for the players at the beginning of the season, help clean up the apartment at the end of the season and this is just the tip of the iceberg. You see the fan club in the concourse at home games selling their items but behind the scenes they do a tremendous amount of work for the team.
There are so many things that individual season ticket holders/fans do for the guys in a quiet, anonymous way just because they care. Here are just a few of those things:
- Drop off food for the guys to have at the apartments (casseroles, soups, brisket, lasagna etc.)
- Babysit
- Pet Sit
- Loan a vehicle
- Donate a bike
- Take them out for lunch and dinner
- Take them fishing
- Provide free golf/golf balls
- Take them hunting
- Gifts for their children
- Provide Thanksgiving dinner for the team on the road
I came across another one of these random acts of kindness last Friday and asked if I could share it in the blog and Ryan and Jerrica Stalcup kindly agreed. Ryan and Jerrica are season ticket holders and asked if they could provide a post game meal for the team. Ryan loves to cook and the spread the Stalcups put out for the team was unbelievably. Wish I could remember the names Ryan gave to all of the dishes which are his special recipes. How about a hamburger bun stacked with a hamburger patty, some brisket, onion strings and a special sauce. The other entrees were brisket, pork tenderloin, and chicken. Throw in Ryan's special potato dish and apple dessert and it was a real feast. What was most impressive is the amount of time the Stalcup's devoted to buying all of the ingredients, preparing all of the food, setting everything up in the locker room and then serving the food. A job well done by Ryan and Jerrica and very much appreciated by the team.
 |
| Ryan & Jerrica Stalcup |
DID YOU KNOW: The Allen Americans fan club gives a bag of food to all the players and staff every time they leave on a road trip. It takes a lot of time for the fan club members to buy the food, make sandwiches, and make up 25 or so bags with the food and snacks. Over the years they have tried to give each player their favorite snacks for the long bus rides.
Thanks for sharing about the Fan Club. Wow, that is a lot, way to go Fan Club.
ReplyDeleteWow that is a lot of wonderful things people are doing. I heard all about that food the Stalcups made last weekend!!!! I heard it was fabulous! What a huge job that was and I think very much appreciated by those they served.
ReplyDelete