Friday, May 21, 2010

First days in Austin

My name is Cody Poteat and I am originally from the great state of Nebraska. However recently I have joined the Aztex team as a Marketing and Communications intern. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to learn from some very gifted people about the things it takes to have a prosperous and successful career in this field. This is exactly what I want to do with my life down the road so the chance to work with this great group of people was one that I felt I absolutely had to take.

It was exciting for me to get here after a long 14 hour trip. My dad was able to schedule a couple of meetings with clients in the area so I was fortunate o have him be able to travel with me. At first it seemed like we were making good time but then my dad decided it was necessary to stop every couple of hours so it really strung out the drive more than it had to be. Even with the long drive I was still able to use my excitement to get down to Austin as a jolt of energy for me to get me through the drive.

We hit the road Monday morning and arrived late Monday night. Thus, Tuesday was the first day I was actually able to waste a little time and just hang out in my new city. I also spent much of Tuesday getting myself moved into my new apartment and gathering the necessities for everyday living. The new apartment is a pretty nice little place. The backyard essentially consists of a pool, basketball court, and golf course so I certainly cannot complain!

Wednesday soon came and it was time for me to get focused and get to work. The morning was quite hectic. I couldn’t seem to find the office to save my life and I think I was lost in the city of Austin for about an hour and a half. That wasn’t even the worst of it! I was attempting to ramp onto a crowded street when some gentlemen was kind enough to let me in. I waved my hand out the window to signal “thank you” when suddenly my favorite watch began to dangle off the end of my hand. Sadly, the watch fell off my wrist and out onto the middle of the busy road. Seconds later it was crushed by a school bus traveling the same way as me.

I was pretty heartbroken over the ordeal and it really did not begin my first day of work very nicely. Through all the turmoil I was still excited to make it into the office that day. Finally I found it and it was a huge sigh of relief. Only about 45 minutes late, not a bad impression at all! My boss, Andrew Tanker, was extremely generous and understood the reason why I was late so he didn’t hold it against me too much. Throughout the day I was able to meet everyone associated with the club and was greeted by a friendly face from each of them.

That night was game night and everyone was buzzing with excitement over the big game. I arrived a few hours early to try and help set up in any way I could. The set up went rather smoothly with no major hiccups and I was anxious for the start of the game. People started pouring into the stands and that flood didn’t cease until almost 25 minutes into the game! It was awesome to see this many people be as excited about the sport that I love.

The game was very entertaining and a whole lot of fun to watch but right after is when the real grunt work began. Stats, stats, and more stats seemed to be my mindset for the night and that is pretty much what my main responsibility was. I was also given the liberty to write the game recap and update the website in order to make sure the fans were informed of the events that occurred within the game. After I accomplished my tasks, Andrew took me to the gathering place at Cuatros to meet the players and Aztex staff on more of a social level. This experience was exciting for me and I really cannot wait until the next home game against the Puerto Rico Islanders on June 5!

That was a basic recap of my first few days in Austin. I can only hope that there is more of where that came from. This experience is going to be a great one for me and I am absolutely stoked for the rest of the season. I hope that everyone who was able to make it to the last game is able to return June 5 when the Aztex take on the Islanders. The huge crowd supporting both the Aztex and the game of soccer in general is always a joy to see!

Go Aztex!

Cody

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Soccer, football, futebol, футбол, フットボール


Phil, John and I went to Tampa for the game yesterday - great to see how much support they drew but the field - urgh! We sat level with the half way line but because of having to avoid the mound, the right half of the the field was much further away and the touch line was blocked by the advertising boards. I hate to think what will happen if it rains - the ball bounced very differently on the two surfaces. I know we moan about the lines at House but they suddenly didn't seem so bad.
We were joined by many of the USL front office plus a group of coast guards that Phil and Adrian had met in a restaurant the night before. Turns out one of them was from Austin so he brought 5 of the other coast guards with him to the game to cheer on our lads. We were very disappointed with the draw - the last penalty decision was a joke - but we are unbeaten so far on the road and joint second in the table.

The English Premier League is over and Stoke City finished in a respectable 11th place. Seems to have some last minute drama in the dressing room and in the tabloids and now, the supporters are unhappy with the new Adidas kit. It DOES appear to be a bog-standard red Adidas shirt with added logos.

On a happier note, the World Cup starts soon so all will be forgotten as the whole country comes to a standstill to watch the games. It is quite eerie to drive around any town or city when England are playing and to not see a soul! England play the US on June 12th - it's an afternoon kick off then the Aztex take on the Whitecaps that same evening. Should be a great day all round.

I'm looking forward to our next game on Sunday - I'm hoping that many of the folks who came out for the Haiti game will return, a big crowd cheering on the lads would be awesome.

Go Aztex!
Kay