Day 5
Winnipeg, Manitoba - It lightly snowed last night and it's now about 10 degrees outside. I'm told by the local Winnipegers that this is nothing; if we stick around until February, they have weeks of -30 degrees at a time. Too bad we finish shooting in December...
Other than the appreciably cool weather, this is a very nice town. The license plates say "Friendly Manitoba." That couldn't be more accurate. The crew and locals are amazingly friendly. It's also a great sports town. On the Sunday before we started shooting, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were in the Grey Cup (Canada's Super Bowl). Sadly, the Bombers pulled a Seattle Mariners - finishing with a League best 14-2 record only to fall short in the big one. It looked like redemption would come quickly. Last Sunday, the University of Manitoba Bisons traveled to Toronto to play in the Vanier Cup, which is the equivalent of our BCS Championship Bowl game. Canada, unlike us, actually has a college football tournament. Manitoba hadn't made it to this game in over thirty years, but despite a great effort, they lost to the St. Mary's Huskies.
Today, we are staying warm back in the confines of the Indiana locker room and Coach Knight's office ("the cave"). It's our last day at this location. On
Monday, we begin work at our version of Assembly Hall, which happens to be the Winnipeg Arena, where the NHL Jets used to play. The locker room we are using as IU's is in the Winnipeg Goldeyes' Baseball Stadium. The Goldeyes are a semi-pro baseball team. A "goldeye" is a local fish, which populates nearby Lake Manitoba. While it may not be the San Diego Chicken, you gotta love a big yellow fish wearing a baseball cap, holding a bat in its fins.
The stadium seats about 6,000 fans and even has a level of luxury boxes. It was built about six years ago and is reminiscent of southern minor league parks, like the one depicted in Bull Durham. You can see the river flowing behind left field and the highway running along right field. I hear that more than one foul ball has made it over the netting and onto a passing car!
The Goldeyes play a 90-game season in a league comprised of teams in the neighboring American region. Teams from the Dakotas, Illinois and
Minneapolis make up this league. The Winnipeg Goldeyes are coached by former San Francisco Giant infielder and Astros manager Hal Lanier.
It is Hal Lanier and his Goldeyes' locker room that we were using as the
Hoosier locker room this week. It's nice to get a little taste of the local sports flavor while making ESPN's first film. It just seems right.
Past Diaries
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
|
 |
