Andre is on the front page of the online edition of the Metro (I haven’t seen the paper version). It doesn’t have any juicey bits of info about new players or staff or future plans but in it Levingston re-iterates a lot of the things that make him so likeable. It’s pretty much impossible to meet that guy and not genuinely like him.
Levingston in Metro, Calls Halifax Home
June 22, 2009 by chris902What Happens When Newspapers Gut the Newsroom?
June 21, 2009 by chris902It’s a rhetorical question.
This was an “article” written by the PR department at Dalhousie and posted on the Dal website. The Metro picked it up as a weekend online feature without even re-writing it.
I think we still get scores and game results, but the thing that is seriously missing when newspapers gut staff and pages is features and longer, in depth articles. It’s sort of annoying when it comes to sports but hard news is in just as bad situation.
For the record, I love noon hoops although I haven’t been out in months (and showed up rarely even when I did go). I just think it’s absurd for a newspaper to rely on PR departments for content.
Les Berry to Return as Head Coach
June 11, 2009 by chris902The Metro is reporting that Les Berry will be back as the head coach of the Rainmen next year. Great move. I’m happy. If he has the freedom to build this team from the ground up on his own, go through a proper training camp, play some exhibition games and make all the personnel decisions then I see no reason why the Rainmen can’t be a contender next year. He did great coming into an absolutely terrible situation this year and if he is allowed to do his job unhindered then I think we’re in for a great season.
On the PR front, it is great to have the coach return and even better that it’s a local guy who people are already familiar with.
I can’t find many details, but I don’t imagine there will be many more released. I sort of feel like this was a bad time to announce it – the NBA finals are happening, we have a new government and tomorow’s sports coverage dominated by the Stanley Cup finals which are happening tonight.
Darrell Dexter Wins Majority Government
June 9, 2009 by chris902Not directly NDP related, but Darrell is the only party leader with season tickets to the Rainmen, Eric did a campaign event for the NDP and, according to Frank Magazine, the NDP hired Nancy Sheppard on contract to help out with PR work.
I wouldn’t expect this to have a substantive impact on the operation of the Rainmen. The MetroCentre is managed by Trade Centre limited which is a provincial corporation, but it’s safe to say that the interim president, Scott Ferguson, was a vice president before that and is likely to stay on as president in the long term. The one impact that this could have is Darrell and his wife Kelly being too busy to renew their season tickets. I will try to get a hold of him and ask.
In self indulgent note: The CBC read a hilarious e-mail that I wrote on the air. Good times.
Profile of Eric Crookshank
June 8, 2009 by chris902There’s a pretty good longform interview with Eric on the Haligonia website. It’s 12 minutes long and while there aren’t tons of new details in it I think it gives you a pretty accurate idea of what Eric is like.
Interview with Jermaine Anderson
June 6, 2009 by chris902The best player to ever suit up for the Rainmen gave an interview a few weeks ago which I just found. It’s a bit fluffy with not a lot of details but there was one very interesting quote:
You had a tremendous individual season, what were the reasons behind your success?
J – First and foremost any success that I have is through God’s will, and the way I felt in some games it was through his grace I was able to even play. But I worked extremely hard in the offseason with a guy named Daniel Frieberg and playing in the summers with the national team really helped my game develop. Having the opportunity to play against teams such as Greece, Germany, USA, and Argentina has given me valuable game experience against some of the best teams and players in the world. Any time I get a chance to play for my country is definitely a blessing and a way to get better.
Eric Appears at NDP Campaign Event
May 27, 2009 by chris902Under the category of “hey, what are they doing this summer?” Eric appeared at an NDP campaign event in Sackville yesterday. Stories and pictures in The Herald and The Metro.
Darrell and his wife Kelly have season tickets in section 22 and Darrell plays both noon hoops and in the over 50 league when he has time.
My favourite part: Eric making fun of Darrell’s free throw shooting.
Rainmen Have a Busy Summer
May 26, 2009 by chris902Looks like it’ll be a busy summer for the Rainmen:
RAINMEN RELEASE SUMMER PROGRAM SCHEDULE
(Halifax, N.S.) The Halifax Rainmen has released its summer programming schedule that includes three 5-day skills camps for kids and youth, and three, 3-on-3 tournaments. The schedule kicks off on June 29th with a skills camp in Truro.
“We wanted to take our camp outside Halifax this year to give kids in another part of the province a chance to train with the Rainmen,” said Team Owner Andre Levingston.
The camps are headed by Rainmen Head Coach Les Berry and the team’s 2 Assistants Coaches, Shannon Hanson and Jeff Paris. Rainmen Power Forward Eric Crookshank has also joined the coaching staff for the summer camps.
“Any excuse I can find to stay in Halifax, I am going to do. I love it here,” said Crookshank.
The camps will be held in Truro at the NSCC, in Eastern Passage at the Tallahassee Recreation Centre and at Citadel Community Centre in Halifax. All camps are slated for July. On the weekend following each camp, the Rainmen will host a 3-on-3 tournament open to the public.
“We are challenging every street team, every company, really anyone who likes a little friendly competition to come out and register for these tournaments. Come show us what you got Halifax,” says Levingston.
Winners of the 3-on-3 will receive season tickets to next year’s Rainmen games at the Halifax Metro Centre. All camp and 3-on-3 registration information is now on the Rainmen website www.rainmenbasketball.ca.
Since the NBA 3on3 tournament stops at Moncton I think the 3 on 3 tournaments are a fun idea, but I think the most interesting thing is that Les Berry is running the camps. I don’t want to read too much into it, but you’d think he wouldn’t have time to be running summer camps if he was back at his regular job.
Eric, Twyman, Strick Go Winless in Black Basketball Tournament
May 23, 2009 by chris902The annual black basketball tournament happened last week and due to some pretty terrible PR work and a never updated website no one really knew it was happening. Only three teams played in the A-division this year, but shockingly a team which included Eric Crookshank, Jimmy Twyman and Strick managed to go winless and finish at the bottom of the heap. I couldn’t make it out to any games because of work, which is sort of unfortunate.
Despite being a smaller field than in previous years the tournament actually included a few players I think the Rainmen should be seriously looking at: Sheron Edwards (former all-Canadian with UPEI), Garry Gallimore (the former X player who was recently at the centre of a silly controversy as an assistant coach), and Tyler Richardson (star guard for the X men).
Season Will Be 20 Games Next Year
May 14, 2009 by chris902The spring PBL owners meeting happened this week and the Metro interviewed Andre to get some details.
The big thing to note is the season will be 20 games again next year. Andre and the organization are looking at adding two MetroCentre home games.
Other things that I’ve heard are that Montreal, Mid-Michigan, Chicago and Augusta are out for next year.
