I started a Caps hockey blog

My brother and I started a Caps hockey blog. It’s called Brooks Laichyear and this initial post explains a little about it. Check it out and I hope you enjoy it. And thanks to all of you who have read my Caps post here on this blog. I imagine I’ll still be blogging here but that most or all of the Caps material will end up on BrooksLaichyear.com instead.

USA Today Sports QR Code

I like this use of a QR code in the USA Today Sports section.

Fans on the Mavs bench

As my brother commented on Facebook after I posted this video there:
“These men define the word hero.”

QR Code on a Krispy Kreme box

This is a cool use of QR codes by Krispy Kreme on their doughnut boxes.

Related articles

• QR Code on a banana (mikeholden.com)

Afternoon beer

Enjoyed an afternoon beer and a sandwich at Gilly’s in Rockville on a relaxing day off. The Boulder oatmeal stout was awesome.

 

To find CSN+

I’m noticing some web traffic on the blog already today from people wondering where they can find CSN+ so they can watch the Caps game tonight. Just check out this page on CSN Washington’s website, plug in your zip code and then your provider, and it will tell you what channel CSN+ is for you. Go Caps!

Related articles

• Verizon Fios Frustrating Some Caps Fans in D.C. Area (mikeholden.com)
• An update on the Verizon FiOS & CSN+ situation (mikeholden.com)
• Verizon FiOS Adding CSN+ By Tomorrow; Friday Caps & Wizards Broadcasts Moved (mikeholden.com)

 

Co-ed adult dodgeball

Earlier this year, WAKA branched out into dodgeball after nearly 15 years in the kickball business. We launched leagues in Boston and Dallas that are now up and running. And we now have four additional leagues open for registration (Atlanta, Austin, Portland and a new season in Dallas), with more to come. We also use soft-play dodgeballs, which sting a lot less than the ones people might remember using in elementary school. You can see a picture of the ball in the latest WAKA blog post on our co-ed adult dodgeball leagues.

Related articles

• The Boston Bruins won a ferocious game of dodgeball on Sunday (offthebench.nbcsports.com)

Airborne advertising 2.0

The Baltimore Sun ran an article in the business section last week on Bootcamp Lights, the company that recently ran some WAKA kickball and dodgeball advertisements for us. They refer to it as “airborne advertising 2.0″. Check out part of our WAKA helicopter ad on YouTube through that last link.

Kevin Weekes says Caps now “the main team” in DC area sports scene

Speaking on the NHL Network about the Anaheim Ducks hiring of former Caps coach Bruce Boudreau, Kevin Weekes praised Boudreau for putting Caps “back on the radar” and said, “they’re now the main team back in the DC area in terms of the sports scene.” True? Do the Caps come ahead of the Skins as DC’s “main team” right now?

Brand Loyalty: WAKA Kickball Tattoo

How’s this for brand loyalty? One of our employees and players got a WAKA Kickball tattoo!

Related articles

• Tank Carder’s Rose Bowl MVP, Kickball Trophies Are Equally Important (sbnation.com)
• Yes, the Kickball World Championship will be held in Las Vegas on Saturday, and it will be glorious (offthebench.nbcsports.com)

QR code on a banana

I love QR codes and enjoy seeing the creative ways people are starting to use them, like on Chaquita bananas to promote a recipe contest.

Advertising on a helicopter

We tried something new last week in promoting winter WAKA Kickball and Dodgeball leagues, displaying ads on a helicopter over rush hour traffic with Bootcamp Lights. Check out the video below.

Monumental I.P.A.

I tried this the other day for the first time and really enjoyed it. It’s local for me, from Port City Brewing Company in Alexandria, Virginia.

Alexandria, Virginia's Port City Brewing Company's Monumental I.P.A.

Tank Carder of TCU & WAKA Kickball

TCU linebacker and ESPN Preseason All-American Tank Carder sent WAKA this picture of his mantel this week, which has his 2011 Rose Bowl defensive MVP trophy displayed right in between two WAKA Kickball trophies from one of our Fort Worth area kickball leagues.

We tweeted it (Carder retweeted it too), shared it on Facebook and sent it to a few sports bloggers. Here are some bloggers that picked up the story:

Yahoo Sports – Tank Carder displays his Rose Bowl mantelpiece between two kickball trophies

SB Nation College Football – Tank Carder’s Rose Bowl MVP, Kickball Trophies Are Equally Important

SB Nation Mountain West Connection – Tank Carder’s Rose Bowl MVP trophy between two WAKA Kickball trophies

Carder’s team qualified for our 60-team Founders Cup kickball tournament in Las Vegas this October, where the winner will be crowned World Kickball Champion. But I’m told he’ll miss it, which makes sense — it’s football season and TCU plays at San Diego State that night. But the WAKA trophies do look great next to the Rose Bowl trophy on the mantel!

Related articles

• There are no lockouts in kickball (mikeholden.wordpress.com)
• Cam Newton in a charity tournament with the official WAKA kickball (mikeholden.wordpress.com)
• Competitive kickball (mikeholden.wordpress.com)

Nice press for WAKA Kickball

There’s been some good press for WAKA Kickball recently and this week there were two articles from California I really liked. Both pieces nicely showcase the great social aspects of WAKA and have some nice quotes. They also both mention the charity work our players do.

The writer of a San Jose Mercury News article on WAKA describes joining one of our leagues as, “Best decision ever!” And one player says, “I originally got involved because I heard about it from a friend who was starting a team. I fell in love with it. I’ve never done anything else that’s so fun and attracts so many amazing people.”

And then there’s one from Thousand Oaks, California, which has several great quotes, one of my favorites being: “The majority of my social circle is made up of kickball players.”

Related articles

• No longer just a kids’ game, kickball finds resurgence among N.J. adult players (nj.com)
• The social side of sports (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Kickball in DC on NBC (mikeholden.wordpress.com)