The Best Ever???


Broncos Two Best Players Ever Make Headlines in the Same Week

Joe Sakic is beyond a doubt the most noteworthy hockey player to ever wear a Swift Current Bronco jersey. A CHL player of the year as a Bronco, an olympic gold medalist, two time Stanley Cup winner, not to mention other NHL awards including NHL MVP, Joe is one of hockey's all time greats. Bronco fans watching hockey night in Canada were always quick to point out he was once one of ours. Be it as a Bronco or as a Nordique/Avalanche, I have watched Joe Sakic play hockey as long as I can remember. For kids who cheered for the Broncos after they moved back from Lethbridge, I don't think you can name a sports figure who gave us more good memories than Joe Sakic.

Dan Lambert is a new assistant coach in Kelowna. This announcement isn't getting as much hype as it should given Joe Sakic's news. This is why the Rockets organization is as good as it is, and more often than not a contender in the WHL championship scheme. They are going to look like geniuses for giving "Pep" his first coaching gig.

The names Dan Lambert and Joe Sakic are often spoke in the same sentence by me. While most would readily call Joe the best Bronco ever, I would disagree. Joe was the most skilled hands down and he did achieve the most after leaving Swift. Dan Lambert was a Bronco longer. He wore the "C" for two seasons, played in Swift for four, helped the organization win a Memorial Cup and paved the way with his leadership for the Bronco's 93 WHL title too. He put up hundreds of points as a D-man and despite being generously listed as "5'8" he was a man among boys on the ice in terms of skill and maturity. He is about to be the first Bronco inducted into the Bronco Hall of Fame TWICE, and this will only be the seventh induction ceremony.

The two best Broncos ever...both getting headlines in the same week. One for ending an amazing journey, the other for starting one.

R$

ryanswitzer@hotmail.com

Picture Dump

I was going through my digital camera after my Dinner in the Sky. Here are some pics of the experience as well as I few I snapped in Okotoks from Swift Current Indians Baseball Play by Play.




The dinner table pre-launch for Dinner in the Sky.



Me enjoying champagne in the Sky, and getting the sweet "cool places" profile pic I was looking for.



SIGA's Media relations guy Steve Shaheen enjoying the food and the view of the luxurious Bessborough Hotel.

It was a totally awesome experience. Between trips to Jamaica and stuff like this, radio has been very good to me this year.



Just before lunch I went to meditate by Saskatoon's bust of Ghandi. A symbol of peace, understanding, compassion and good Kharma. As this picture was taken, I was asked by a local for some spare change. I told him to "get a job!"



Indians in Okotoks, June 12.




The Tribe prepares for the WMBL main event vs. The Dawgs







No expense was spared in the making of Seaman Stadium




The Tribe prepares to face the 'always tough' Dawgs bats. There is seldom an easy out vs. Okotoks. The Dawgs would win this game 6-3.



Me fueling up before the broadcast.

R$

ryanswitzer@hotmail.com

above pic snapped at Tim Horton's in Swift Current. Vehicle had BC plates.

Holiday Blogging

I'm in the midst of some time off. Not going anywhere, just blogging and drinking coffee. I haven't updated in a few days because nothing has been on my brain. I don't really have much on my mind now, but I'm on my laptop with some time to kill so lets see what oozes out of my brain through the keyboard.

-I saw Transformers 2. Critics hate it, fanboys want to love it. It wasn't awful by any means. There was a lot of Robot fighting. You couldn't tell which robot was winning the fights as they are big and clunky. There was explosions, emotions, death and carnage...and all of it for some magic dust. Yes, without spoiling too much of the movie, the plot and fate of the world rests on magic dust. The movie will contunue to make a killing and sell merchandise...so critics don't have to like it.

-The post that I was debating about posting, won't see the light of day. The important people already know me, and some people who like to judge quite frankly don't deserve an in depth look into my life.

-If I had a nickel for everytime someone asked me who the Swift Current Broncos next coach is, I'd be buying a house. When the news breaks Jon will have it first. Having said that...my prediction based on everything I've heard is Mark Lamb. Yes, his mom is my kids' sitter, but "Gramma Willa" is not my source...in fact I don't have a source, I'm just making a semi educated guess. For all I know it's Scotty Bowman.

Please don't hit any WHL related forums saying "Switzer says Scotty Bowman is the new coach of the Broncos".

-Michael Jackson. I'm amazed no one saw this coming. He was constantly photographed in wheelchairs, he could barely speak above a whisper and he wore a mask to hide his face. Rehearsing for a show probably killed him. So frail.

What a sad life. He had NO hope of ever being a normal adult. From 5 years old, he was a product. When he should have been going through normal teenage growing pains and admiring the underwear section of the Sears Catalog, he was performing on Johnny Carson and playing sold out shows. It's no wonder he always wanted to surround himself with children...he ever had the chance to grow up. He probably never touched a kid in a bad way, but he had billions of dollars and was an EASY and incredibly naive target.

Of course he was weird. Fame does that to kids. Look how messed up Britney Spears is. She was introduced to fame at age 17. She had a normal childhood until 17. Michael Jackson was pushed into the spotlight at five. FIVE YEARS OLD! All parenting and upbringing stopped at age five. At that point he became a product. He didn't have a prayer in the real world. Surrounded by people who didn't care about him except to make a dollar off him. His only friend where the only people he could relate to. Children...children who had parent who, like everyone else, tried to make a buck off him.

...And now his Dad is using the media spotlight of his son's death to pimp his new record label. The music industry is an UGLY place.

-Radio people using facebook to push their shows...Interesting and insightful, annoying or "don't care". Please leave your thoughts in the comment section.

-Upon further review and studying, the "rat" that I had on my patio has been ruled a squirrel. A mangy disgusting squirrel...but it came back and I got a better look. The radio station crew walked in the Frontier Days Parade, shaking hands and greeting people along the way. I was amazed at how many people referenced that blog post along the way. Thanks for reading and taking an interest in my boring life.

-I had the priveledge of having coffee today with former Swift Current Indians MVP and WMBL pitcher of the year Kelly Horaska, current coach and former WMBL MVP Joe Carnahan, Indians third baseman and last year's WMBL coach of the year Jordan Blundell and multiple WMBL coach of the year winner Harv Martinez. Quite the round table. As a guy who broadcasts games, it was my turn to be the quiet one and just take in their conversation. I've called nearly a hundred WMBL games over the last five years, but I learn so much more about the game everytime I'm within earshot of that crew.

-Lots of houses for sale in Swift Current right now. What are prices like? Still expensive, or has it cooled down a little?

-That's all I can muster for now. Maybe I'll do this again tomorrow.

R$

ryanswitzer@hotmail.com

...Almost Friday

Welcome back to my little corner of the web.

As I type this, the Swift Current Indians have lost four of their last five. It's not that they are playing bad (although they aren't great) it's that the rest of the WMBL has caught up to them. Since 1995 the Tribe has DOMINATED the league. The fact that they haven't won a league title since 2006 is almost Swift Current baseball fan blasphemy.

The rest of the league, for the most part, has evolved to catch up to the tribe. Melville has SEVEN returning players on their team. For the WMBL that's great. Anytime you can get guys with league experience on your roster, it's huge.

The Swift Current Indians will be fine...but so will the rest of the league. Great competitive baseball.

On paper, I still like the tribe the best.

Frontier Days is in Swift Current this week. This means we can focus our attention on carnies instead of rats.

R$

ryanswitzer@hotmail.com

Indians On The Air

It's another Swift Current Indians WMBL Baseball broadcast for me tonight. Kyle Albright (pictured above), his league leading 5 homeruns and the Swift Current Indians take on Melville on The Mighty Eagle 94.1. Pre-game show at 6:50.

Send an e-mail directly to me on the air. tribevoice@hotmail.com.

Listen online by clicking here.

Go TRIBE!

R$

ryanswitzer@hotmail.com

Rat Sighting

I know this picture is very grainy and Bigfoot like. Swift Current is in the midst of what is becoming a rat problem. Many residents have a "rat story" from the past few weeks. This is mine. Big black thing in my BIRD FEEDER outside my SECOND STORY APARTMENT! Damn thing climbed a tree!

I snapped that pic on the run, and it scampered away before I could get a second clearer pic.

YUCK!

R$

ryanswitzer@hotmail.com

Saturday Night


The Swift Current Indians are good again this year. Will it be a championship year? In the WMBL it's impossible to answer that question in June. Imports can leave, new imports can be signed, players could get homesick...but they do look good. My only worry is that players go through hot and cold streaks at some point in the season...and the tribe has A LOT of hot players in June. They need to be hot in August.

I can't get into Twitter. It seems to only exist as a marketing tool for celebrities to reach their audience on a more personal level. I don't see it lasting. Myspace is a TOTAL thing of the past. Facebook will stick around, but will slow down. 250,000 people in Saskatchewan are on it, but how many regularly? I have nearly 600 friends, but maybe 1/10th of them are updating on a regular basis. I think all this over communicated geekery will be another fad we joke about 10 years from now. I predict that in 2019 we'll laugh at the thought of going online to "update our status" and to "poke" people.

SIGA and the Living Sky Casino have invited me to take part in their Dinner in The Sky July 3rd. One media nerd from every SIGA center gets to do it. I'm EXTREMELY excited to try this. Of course the goal is to get a good facebook profile pic.

Do anyone else's brats read the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series? My son is all over it. He has PUT DOWN the Nintendo DS to read!

I can almost look out my window and see Dean Chynoweth's garage sale from my apartment. Yes, Swift Current is that small. People ask me who I think the next coach of the Broncos will be. I have heard ZERO about it. I get all my Bronco related gossip from Keen, and I usually get it maybe two minutes before it hits his blog. Every now and then I'd see Dean at the Training Zone and he'd throw a news nugget my way, but I won't be getting those anymore. All I know is I will not be going on this blog and name dropping who I think SHOULDN'T get the job. I learned that lesson from a fellow blogger, current WHL play by play master and a guy who did his radio time in Swift Current too.

I also heard the Bronco's 12 person board of directors is now down to 8. Four stepped down recently...right around the same time Marc Habscheid signed with Chilliwack...but I'm sure the two events are not related.

Boy that Ryan Huska has done a great job coaching in Kelowna. Who would have thought? I know Regan Bartel, voice of the Rockets, had him pegged as a winner from day 1!

Thanks to Bronco PR/Media dude Keegan Goodrich for reminding me that I predicted Dean Chynoweth would be the next WHL coach who goes pro. Since 1986 the Broncos have had five coaches. Two have moved on to NHL gigs.

What ever happened to former head coach Randy Smith? Where is he now? To be honest, I always thought Randy Smith got a raw deal getting fired. The team is a reflection of the coach. Anyone who did their homework on Randy Smith should have realized his style and respected the fact the he gave us the league's TWO top scorers and A LOT of offense that year. If you don't want a high flying team that shys away from the corners...DON'T HIRE HIM IN THE first place! The goal of that team was to get Jeremy Williams 50 goals and win Tyler Redenbach the Bobby Clarke trophy, and THEY DID.

Hey Ryan, 2004 called, they want their local conversation topic back!

Slo Pitch really pisses me off somedays. It's a sport that I just can't get good at. Actually I can't stay consistently good at it. I have my games where I can't be stopped and hit hard line drives and deep shots every at bat...but today I had a game all about heading back to the dug out in shame after a foul ball/strike three call. I wish slo-pitch was like hockey in the sense that if I had a brutal game I could re-deem myself with a fight, a hard body check, blocking a shot or working hard but on a day when the bat and glove aren't working, you're pretty much a tool. I did destroy my leg sliding into a base today...and I'm typing this as a distraction from the sting of hydrogen peroxide on an open wound.

The best and most effective thing I've ever seen a player do to get out of a hitting slump was Antonio Aldridge with the 2007 Swift Current Indians team. Tony was a big dude who came up from Sacremento. When he arrived in Swift Current in June he was put in the lead off spot. From there he had some of the worst at bats the league has ever seen. A string of strikes outs and infield fly outs moved him to the bottom half of the order. Then Tony started treating his bats like a member of the team. Tony made sure they rode beside him on the bus...not under it with the rest of the gear. He took them home with him, hung out with them and eventually went on a hot streak and became the most dangerous hitter in the league. I don't get asked more about a former player more than I do Antonio Aldridge. I'd love to do a "where are they now" type feature on the guy in an upcoming Indians broadcast. There's a lot of kids who wear baggy clothes and sideways hats who think they are hardcore gangstas. Tony was straight outta the 'hood. Covered in tats and a scar on his stomach that I recall was from a shooting. I hope he is well. I won't get into it on this blog, but ask me sometime about a roadtrip to Lethbridge and some locals trying to get tough with Tony at closing time. Here is the only image I can find of Big T from google. It's his facebook profile pic.













I have good days and I have bad days, but I've learned that I've been able to control the outcomes through my actions. Treat people as you'd want to be treated. NEVER be reckless with other people's feelings. Think through everything you do and the potential consequences and you'll always do alright. Life is simple. Keep it simple and you'll do okay.

R$

ryanswitzer@hotmail.com

West Ed Mall Blogging.

I'm on the road with the Swift Current Indians ball team doing play by play. Last night in Okotoks, tonite in Edmonton. Right now I'm chillin' at West Edmonton Mall. Taking a break from the madness of it all for a quick update.

The Tribe was denied victory by the baseball gods lastnight in Okotoks. The Dawgs hit some bleeders and the Tribe booted the ball around to the tune of a 6-3 Dawgs win. They try again tonight in Edmonton. Its on the Eagle and Swift Current Online at 6:50.

I have set up and e-mail account for you to e-mail the broadcast directly. Tribevoice@hotmail.com. I'm going interactive with the broadcast this year. Listen and e-mail your thoughts on the game, comments, questions...or just your name and where you're listening from. Its all good.

Off to the Roller Coaster.

R$

Ryanswitzer@hotmail.com