Speaking of… The Edmonton Prospects

_{This article is not about hockey.} Instead, we wanted to give a shout out to our good friends at the Edmonton Prospects. In the last ten years, semi-professional baseball has been struggling in Edmonton, but the Prospects have risen from the ashes, and are making baseball cool again in Edmonton.

I had the opportunity to attend an open tryout for the Prospects last month. Baggedmilk & Jeanshorts told me to cancel my plans for the weekend because they had something crazy planned for me as usual. As usual, they kept me wondering for a few days before telling me what their plans were. Tryout day was totally worth the wait, and the embarrassment of being cut. Hanging around the stadium, and getting treated like a player, was definitely something I won’t forget. The Prospect coaches had no idea that I was there for a half joke/half real tryout and it made the day even more real. Here’s the video in cased you missed it.

As expected, I crashed, burned and didn’t make the team. I thought that my experience of being a bench warmer for a decently competitive high school team would have given me a leg up, but I guess not. Unfortunately, playing with the BrewJays, where heavy drinking is required every game, didn’t help me either. Actually taking reps with some of the Prospects really put into perspective how good these guys are, and how how I am not. They make every play look so easy on the field, while I was just trying to not look like a turd out there.

The Nation crew got out to a game on Wednesday afternoon this week to watch them play Brooks. The Prospects beat them pretty handily, only allowing two earned runs through the whole game. There wasn’t a huge turnout as it was an afternoon game, but it was still a ton of fun. They put on a great show and the baseball was awesome to watch. We’re definitely excited to get out to more games this year, and look forward to hopefully watch the Prospect fan base grow as well. 

We want to see some Nation Citizens get out to the Edmonton Ball Park (formerly, Telus Field) this summer. So I’ll be giving away some free NationGear to the first five people to send me some photos of them rocking their NationGear at the ballpark. You can tweet them at me (@thenationchris), or email them to chris@oilersnation.com. 

We will also be hosting our very own OilersNation night at the ballpark on Saturday, July 9th. The Prospects are playing Lethbridge that night, and we plan on making it the most fun night of your summer. Stay tuned for upcoming contests, as we’ll be giving away a bunch of tickets to some lucky individuals. If you are involved with any charitable organizations and are looking to take a group to the game, you can give Adam an email at adam@oilersnation.com, and he can try hook you up with some! 

 

There are few certainties in life – we can always count on the sun coming up in the morning, Edmonton winters being dreadful, and the Oilers missing the playoffs. As such, we present the annual OilersNation Draft Party! It’s time to honour the the anniversary of drafting our beloved Connor, celebrate the rewards of another failed season, and raise some money for charity.

Here’s what you need to know…

The party is happening at the Pint Downtown on Friday, June 24th. The goal is to raise as much money as possible for the Red Cross and their efforts to bring normalcy back to Fort McMurray, and have a little bit of fun while we’re at it. For $30 you get a Draft Party t-shirt, a $10 Pint GC, a $10 Oodle Noodle GC, a draft party collectors cup, and a chance for prizes and eternal glory.

All proceeds from tickets sold will be donated directly to the Red Cross so bring your friends, get involved, and help us support a community in need. Tickets are still available here.

One day, the Oilers will be a good hockey team and we’ll all be able to laugh about this. Until then, we party.

This week the boys are joined by the newest member of Oilersnation, Kyla the Intern! Chris recaps his tryout with the Edmonton Prospects baseball team, the gang talks about the resurrection of Justin Schultz, before diving into the season finale of 60 Days In, before jumping into another life affirming round of Ask The Idiots!