Hello and welcome to the first of many blog postings. My name is Garrett Martz and I am an Account Executive for the Mad Ants. I will get into what an “Account Executive” does in another blog.  I am going to try to do one blog update a week. So if you go by Jeff Potter’s standard, that translates to either one a month or six postings in the same day depending on the type of mood I am in. If you don’t get that joke, then please go read Jeff’s Blog and realize he is supposed to be posting every Tuesday/Friday.  Jeff is just a free spirit and does not abide by the laws of man.

                If you are reading this blog in the hopes of getting some great basketball insight, you will probably be disappointed. I have not played organized basketball since sixth grade, and I am not going to try to pretend that I know what I am talking about. I do not have answers to the questions such as why Walker Russell Jr has not received a call-up yet. Apparently you have to average 20 assists a game before you get the nod. 

                I can answer questions about what unique things we have coming up at our next home stretch. The first game we have back is Tuesday, February 10^th, which is Detroit Pistons Affiliate Night. This means that the Piston’s entertainment crew will be in attendance performing with Hooper the Mascot, Flight Crew Dunk Team, and the Automotion Dance Team.  So don’t bother driving the three hours to a Pistons game, just come down to the Coliseum on Feb. 10^th.  Did I mention that Automotion will be here!?!?!  Granted, they have nothing on the Madame Ants but they certainly add to the atmosphere. Now Mr. Dumars just needs to assign a Piston player down to the Mad Ants for a game to make the night complete. If you recall last year, Cheikh Sambs first game with the Mad Ants was appropriately on Piston’s Affiliate night (more on Cheikh later).

                If you need your basketball fix before that you can watch all of our games (both road and away) on NBA’s Futurecast via the web.  If you have a decent internet connection this allows you to watch the road games in real-time. The next game you can watch is on January 31^st  (Saturday Night) against “Boom Tho” Rod Benson and the Dakota Wizards. 

                Although I am new to this blogging thing, I would like to end this blog by being a little anti-establishment. It’s less of a shot and more of a receipt. You see around here we don’t take kindly to NBA bloggers ripping on guys who have donned the Maroon and Gold.  You want to rip on Cheikh Samb Mr. John Schumann from NBA.com? Then you answer to me! If you have no idea what I’m talking about you may want to check out the NBA’s current Power Rankings at http://www.nba.com/2009/news/powerrankings/01/26/week13/index.html . I was a big fan of Cheikh when he was a Mad Ant last year. I have continued to follow his career from being involved in the blockbuster trade that sent him to Denver in exchange for Allen Iverson going to the Pistons (Some Billups guys may have been involved in that trade as well), to him winding up with the Clippers. He is a tall, long, shot-blocking machine and does not deserve this harsh criticism.  If Cheikh continues to add weight and muscle, I think he will enjoy a nice career in the NBA. He has a great opportunity right now with the Clippers to get some playing time and show what he can do in there.

                                Well I feel like this blog is on it’s a way to living up to its namesake. If you have any topics that you would like me to touch on, shoot me an email at garrett.martz@fortwaynehoops.com . The best topic will receive a personal response from me thanking you for your input and nothing else! Thanks for reading and check back next week for a new blog.