By Lauren Jennings
Hello there, everyone! Long time no see. I'll take the blame for that one.
Since we, er, I last spoke, quite a bit has happened. I'm still taking tickets with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, but I am also exploring some other job opportunities.
Wait, the last time I wrote was in February of 2015... Woah!
Anyway, since then, I have been a writer for the CSUSB Coyote Chronicle and am now the editor of the sports section! I still write every now and then, but nowhere near as much as I used to. In addition to editing, I have been asked to help with score and stat keeping for multiple sports teams at CSUSB. I haven't officially started that yet, but I am certainly looking forward to it. I will also be meeting with the Inland Empire 66ers about possibly writing for them. If something doesn't pan out, I plan to do an internship, hopefully with the Quakes, but I won't turn down the opportunity of working for another team. Anywhere I can learn is a good place.
Anyway, enough about all that. The main reason I decided to pick up the laptop and write this article was to talk about my experience at Star Wars night, hosted by the Lake Elsinore Storm.
Now, this was the third Star Wars night I have attended this year, after attending, and working, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes edition, and attending Star Wars night with the Fresno Grizzlies.
Out of the three, the Storm really nailed it, with the Quakes following them in second.
Fans could take pictures with Darth Vader, multiple Storm Troopers, Rey, and several members of both the dark and light sides of the force.
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| Rey and I |
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| Bark Vader and I |
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| Some mini fans learning about the dark side |
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| Zick Solo and I |
In addition to the many photo opportunities, the Storm held multiple contests throughout the game. There was a Chewbacca look alike contest and a droid scavenger hunt.
One thing that was really unique was a Tie Fighter promotion. Two fans were brought onto the field wearing ties and hats that had cups on them. The cups held a ball inside that needed to be knocked off for their to be a winner. The two participants took turns trying to knock the cups off with their ties. Pretty great, right?
Other promos included a cup game similar to water pong(pictured below). Unfortunately, I couldn't tell you what this one was because I had gotten to the stadium a little late :/
However, I do recall there being a costume contest with the winners receiving a prize from Famous Zick, er, Zick Solo...
The game went by fairly quickly as the score remained low and the pitching from both sides was pretty superb. For most of the game, the score was 3-1 in favor of the Storm. However, in the bottom of the 8th, the Storm decided to add onto their lead when Josh Naylor hit a grand slam.
I just so happened to be recording myself doing a little play-by-play for fun when he hit it, so that's something I will always have in both my head and as a recording.
Thunder, er, Bark Vader was very impressed with the Storm's addition to the scoreboard.
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| Bark Vader showing his true colors... Taking a foam paw from a fan |
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| Ok, not really. He's too nice for that. He gave it back. |
The Storm ended up taking game three of the series against the Bakersfield Blaze by a final score of 7-1. They had already won the first two games against the Blaze, so they will be going for the sweep later today.
To finish this one up, I'm just going to throw in a few more pictures I took of the Star Wars cosplayers.
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| Caution: Lightsaber battle in progress |
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| Zick Solo with a... radar gun? |
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| Commander Cody dancing to some music |
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| I guess not all Storm Troopers are bad... |
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| Bark Vader meeting a young fan. Not as evil as he looks |
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| Who knew Rey was a Storm fan? |
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| Lord Vader making his way around the concourse |
Hope you enjoyed seeing Star Wars night through my eyes. I'll try and post more, sooner rather than later. In the meantime, thanks for reading and may the force be with you.
