Sorry for the layoff between blog entries.  I have been at my desk sulking because my suggestion of a turquoise third jersey did not make it off the ground.  Hey, odd colors work for some teams…[Tar Heel joke deleted by editor]. 

Doug Warf

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All joking aside, we have been very busy over the last two months as the season rapidly approaches. 

The first thing that has kept me very busy is the hiring of a new member of our team.  Mike King, the community relations coordinator for the past three seasons, is abandoning us.  Ok, in all honesty he received a terrific offer to work closely on the planning and implementation of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver (don’t ask for hockey tickets, we have all already hit him up about 20 times) and he is nice enough to stick around and run one last golf tournament. 

Lucky for us, the person who will be filling his role started last week and has hit the ground running.  Katharine Kelley will be our newest blog contributor and she received the job over 500 other well-qualified applicants.  I think I had lengthy interviews with over 30 people for the position (there went August) and I was blown away by the number of talented people who applied.   

Though the decision was tough, Katharine is the right choice and a great fit for us.  She was an intern in our department during the 2007-08 season, at which time she was working on her master’s in sports management at NC State (where she earned a 4.0 last year and the graduate student of the year award).   Not only is Katharine much smarter than me, but she is a better athlete too.  She was a four year player, and two-year captain, on the very competitive Furman University soccer team.  So officially, welcome Katharine. 

On top of my eyes being crossed from resumes and cover letters (see Eye Care Associates for any eye problems), we also just had our grant request deadline for the first of two cycles for this hockey season.  We received a single cycle record of 32 grant requests that total just over $734,000.  Despite the current economy, our Kids ‘N Community Foundation is still trying to function above normal capacity.  We are working on new fund raisers for this year so that hopefully we can say “yes” more than we say “no”.  Thanks to all the Caniacs who have supported our Foundation. 

What else is new?  Cam Ward filmed a PSA yesterday for the American Heart Association’s “Start! Triangle Heart Walk”.  The walk will be held Sunday, October 19th, and though the team is on our west coast swing, Stormy, Storm Squad and Hurricanes inflatable games will be at the Start! Heart Walk.  For more information, check www.starttriangle.org

Also, Wake Teen has their “A Pair to Remember” auction coming up Thursday the 18th.  Wake Teen is a great local organization and we were able to donate a pair of autographed, game-used, Rod Brind’Amour skates.  They are actually the skates he wore during the 06-07 season that have a custom-fit protective boot around the ankle.  If you want a shot at this really unique item, check waketeen.org . 

We have a lot more around the corner, but I will wait for another entry.