Last of Feb

Last of February!
Pitchers and catchers have reported, the Yanks already have an injury - Granderson - the RedSox are already looking for someone to blame - owner Henry - the Cubs are already trying to trade their veterans - Soriano and Garza - and its not even March yet!

Knows where his bread is buttered

In Biscuits news, the teams rent for the past three months was the lowest ever, which means the team brought in the lowest amount of money since its inception. That just illustrates what I have been saying here in the blog and at the park... the Biscuits need to step it up or lose revenue.

When downtown favorite Boomer T's closes down and the owner says it "just cant compete anymore" with other local businesses it should send the same message to the team. Being the only baseball team in town doesnt mean being the only entertainment. Montgomery people are wise about their dollars and the Biscuits will have to lower prices more than they did last summer or learn the harsh lesson in Montgomery economics.

This is why other Montgomery entertainment venues go bad - they start well by offering competitive prices. After the initial setup they jack prices up. At that point people will stop coming. Its not just baseball, though the Montgomery Rebels felt the pinch when they raised prices and it eventually cost the city its team to poor attendance.

Is the Basket half full or half empty?

Its also Jubilee Cityfest, the recently deceased festival that was the best thing to happen to the city when it started. Of course, when it started it was FREE. Once it got to the point that organizers were paid huge salaries to turn it into a way to harvest local wallet-stuffing the citizens saw and realized it for what it was. The more they tried to herd families into chain link fenced areas and charged more and more to get in, those families stayed away in droves.

Fans make loud statements quietly

We dont truck with ripoff artists or snake oil salesmen. We want a good level of entertainment for our dollar, and if its a value we will gladly pay for it. Some even pay for a double helping. But if we think you have tipped the scales or shortchanged us, we here in Montgomery wont make a fuss. We will just quietly walk away and in most cases, not come back.

Biscuits ownership has fallen into a rut of propping up the team in spring only to abandon the efforts when it gets warm in Lansing. With each new team the owners catering company signs on with, the concessions at home suffer. There may come a day when they need to decide if they are baseball owners or concessionaires.

Sometimes owners can be motivating

Simply put, something has to give, and its not likely going to be the fans with the wallets. As has been shown by the figures upon which the rent is paid, those fans are walking away.

Desmond Jennings vs James Russell

On the flip side, the Biscuits do alot of things right. Among the best in baseball, part of the reason there is no excuse for slacking is that they have had some of the most impressive customer service for any entertainment venue. They also give a huge effort in the fan experience department, and to that effect now we need a new emcee!

The Biscuit Bunch needs emcee

In the past, the emcee job was Heath or Mickey. No last names given, probly a wise choice considering. Both these guys did well, fans seemed to really like Mickey and his physical comedy/dance skills. However after 2011 Mickey went to Italy to learn to be a clown. Really, like a pro clown, not a rodeo clown or a guy who makes balloon animals at kids parties. Heath is more of a laid back average-guy type, a pro with the mic while interviewing fans in between innings. However Heath gives the impression he has something better to do or would rather be golfing, so he isnt always available.

2012 was supposed to be the first season of the *new* emcee, but (supposedly) just days before the season opener, the new emcee was injured and couldn't perform for six months. Knee injury or realization of whats about to happen - you make the call! Heath ended up filling in most of the time, though you could tell his thoughts were elsewhere. It was pretty much like usual, and nobody noticed that there wasnt a new emcee.


So now we have auditions, you can get in touch with Molly, who not only has the power to set up emcee auditions - she is what we might consider the best option for singing the National Anthem if the person supposed to do it isnt there by game time. In fact, she is often a BETTER option than the person singing it on most given days! This past year she also was the one who took the photos on the annual jersey auction night, although I have to admit my pics looked like they were taken thru the wrong end of a telescope.

Maybe get Molly a zoom lens for her camera

Molly is always cheerful and she has been with the team for several years, moving up the ladder in terms of responsibilities. Shes always to be found on the concourse during games, with an eye towards the next in game promotion or arranging a giveaway or giving the babies sugar ahead of the baby races to make sure they have enough pep to crawl to their parents while five thousand drunks cheer under the lights.

Hopefully she is getting a nice upgrade in the paycheck area as well, she seems to be a busy staffer!

Next time: Big Mo