The Draft

[Czar Jake]

Oh and I almost forgot...

WE DIDN'T TAKE AGOOS!!!! :p

[Czar Jake]

Yeah and one more thing... who WAS that guy who took the pictures of us with Kreis? Where will these pictures be shown? Any way we could get them for our websites?

[Deuce]

Originally Posted by Czar Jake

Yeah and one more thing... who WAS that guy who took the pictures of us with Kreis? Where will these pictures be shown? Any way we could get them for our websites?

The guy was an AP photographer hired by the MLS. I asked him about them and he said they would be given to Trey...

I later spoke with Allison and was told that I should get in touch after thanksgiving and she would chase them up for us.

Hope that helps...

now of course if someone can talk to Trey directly then they will probably do better.

[Czar Jake]

good thing those of us who attended the last Loyalists meeting all have his cell phone #! I'll bet Dysko will call him, because I've seen him call Trey's cell before with my own eyes. Anyone else want to?

[montgjules]

Originally Posted by Czar Jake

good thing those of us who attended the last Loyalists meeting all have his cell phone #! I'll bet Dysko will call him, because I've seen him call Trey's cell before with my own eyes. Anyone else want to?

He's good about returning emails.

[Jim Umber]

🙂 It was pleasant having the company on the ride up.

:D It was great meeting Jason Kreis and it would be great to have one of the photos taken with him on the website.

😎 For those who are ex-RAFs, Stacy and Chris were there, wearing RSL pins. It looks like they are part of the RSL, now. So we can stop worrying about them. They both seemed happy. I hope they are.

:D For the most part, we did some cheers and songs and had fun.

[montgjules]

Okay, a more long-winded version of the social scene at the draft for those who are interested.

When we got there, the RSL FO had a table set up to welcome people. They got my name and gave us a table number. They said they had found a couple other Loyalists to fill in our table, which was very good planning on their parts. We had a huge table in the center of the room with a perfect view of everything going on. If I remember correctly, we had a table with myself, scilaci, my sister, czar jake, neil, jim umber, loyal1 and, for a while, whats-his-nickname (sorry, it's too long to remember, so I'll just say: John.) We also saw dysko, deuce and lucky13 for a while, as well as whatshisname who has never posted!

Trey (director of marketing) brought Jason Kreis up to visit with us all for a few minutes. He shook hands, introduced himself to those who hadn't met him on Wednesday, and encouraged us.

During the draft, we had the huge screen in front of us and the actual broadcast was being filmed around the corner from us. Whenever they would announce another name for the draft, we would all cheer and make a lot of noise and then hear it 10 seconds later on the broadcast. At one point, when they were interviewing Jason, he appeared to have trouble hearing because of all the noise we were making. :D (A job well-done by the Loyalists!)

After the broadcast was finished, Trey gathered us for an official presentation of the "Welcome to Utah" gift that I put together. That was very cool and I wasn't expecting that! All the present Loyalists gathered on stage, Loyal1 made a few remarks (I knew he'd be the best choice for that), and we presented Jason with his very heavy gift. Thanks to everyone who supported that idea so much. Several people came to the draft w/ things to add to the gift "basket" or money to help subsidize it all (No, I didn't make a profit on it--it turned out just right since I'd gone over-budget.) 😉

Since several people asked what went into the basket in the end, here's a brief list: small sports cooler to hold it all, tickets to a temple square event, a book about Mormonism, a book about Utah recreation, a book titled "Utah 24/7" (looked very cool.. I think Neil brought that?), Lime Jell-O, Caffeine-free Mountain Dew, salt water taffy, a chocolate bar, scrapbooking supplies for his wife (or himself, I guess), three framed pictures taken by Deuce (thank you! lovely!), a VERY ugly necktie from Czar Jake (more are available for Christmas gifts. Don't wait until they're all gone! Buy one today! (No, they're not all ugly, and they're I-tal-ian. Genuine High Quality Silk (maybe))), a chunk of salt and nice Utah keychain that Loyal1 brought.... Uhhh.... anything I'm missing? Sorry if I forgot anybody's contribution! Jason mentioned that his welcome to Utah has been "second to none" and he's incredibly pleased to be bringing his family to Utah. Yea!

Trey arranged for the WireImage photographer to take several pictures of the Loyalists w/ Jason. (I should have skipped that part...) That was all very cool.

After that, the area was opened up to journalists and the audience for questions. Pastorino did a great job replying to a couple in Spanish, and I loved the way he was holding his toddler son while trying to look professional. He'll definitely fit in around here. Loyal1 tried to worm some information about other potential players out of them, but they refused to take the bait, and answered in very broad terms. Of course. (But good try!)

Umm, there's the social report of what happened. Hope you enjoyed it. Other things of note (no, I didn't say interest): they were selling RSL gear there so it was a good chance for several people to pick up a few more things, they handed out nice pictures of Jason for people to take home, Trey Fitz-Gerald and Chris Keeney went out of their ways to come talk to us for a while, Jim Umber typed up some cheers for people to use and started an official Utah County register for future potential carpooling and whatnot, Loyal13 and Deuce got stuck up in a booth on the other side of the room 🙁, one of the television cameras got pointed directly at us while I was rummaging through my purse looking for something (way to look excited, me!), it looks like we can use the official RSL logo for our shirts if we want (I'll start a separate thread talking about shirts sometime) and get a good price for them, and last, but not least: the SkyBox is going to be an awesome venue for future Loyalists events! I hope the FO throws a couple more parties like that in the future; it was great.

Any questions? :D

p.s. This is my One Hundredth post. What a good one for #100!

[SoccerPrime]

Hi guys, I just got back from Ohio (WCQ match, fun stuff!). Anyway, I was able to learn about the draft from dysko (Dave) who gratiously agreed to call me during the rounds. I heard you guys screaming in-between. Good job!
I am ReAL excited about our new team!

[Jim Umber]

...And a great time was had by all!:D

Great report, Montgjules. My remarks tend to get abreviated, so it's a good thing you were there, too.

[Jose Luis Luviano]

Dude Love's take on the draft

At the bottom of this article, the very funny Dan Loney has some opinions on the draft.