Post by Darren Ford on Aug 3, 2011 23:31:22 GMT -5
If Darren did nothing more then start a forum, then why did he get invited into the press conference when they announced the Jets where coming back? Why did Mark Chipman become his friend? He just started a forum, nothing more....
C'mon man, give your head a shake.
I can speak directly to this point. Seeing as the forum is set to be shut down by the end of the week, I might as well post the significant bits of my time at the press conference.
I met Darren Ford for the first time at the MTS Centre on the day of the press conference. I was there as a representative from The Manitoban (I've been writing for them for the past couple years, always tried to write as many pro-Return of the Jets articles as my editors would allow), and I immediately noticed Darren hanging out around the Tim Hortons in the arena, on the phone doing and setting up interviews for different outlets.
Since I got to the MTS Centre well before the press conference was scheduled to start, I sat down and talked to Darren for about 30-45 minutes. We talked about all things Jets and ROTJ. I will be honest, when I first approached him, I thought he MIGHT be the type of Go Jets Go that every troll tries to paint him as, but it couldn't be farther from the truth. He was incredibly easy to talk to and was just super friendly.
Anyways, to get to the crux of the issue, when I brought up how I was actually going to be able to get into the press conference, and how excited I was, he explained how he wasn't even 100% aware the press conference was going to be at the MTS Centre or not. He mentioned considering getting ahold of Scott Brown (TNSE media relations), but figured that today was a busy enough day for the folks of TNSE, and as much as he would have loved to get in there, he just didn't want to try to talk his way into the press conference.
Darren also went over the history of his interactions with Mark Chipman and TN over the years, and how he had gone from a 'potential crazy person' to a trusted confidante.
When it was time for me to get down to the press conference room, I bid Darren farewell and good luck with all his celebrations throughout the day. As I sat in the press conference room waiting for the presser to start, I followed twitter and saw Darren tweet that Mark Chipman himself was going to be leading him through the check point. After hearing Darren talk about his relationship with TNSE, and specifically Mr. Chipman, it just does not surprise me that Mark would call Darren hours before the big announcement.
And finding out that Darren was hanging around the MTS Centre, why wouldn't he invite him into the press conference? despite the significance of the press conference, it wasn't packed to capacity in there, and there were a couple open seats even during the press conference.
The very necessary tl;dr
Darren is a great dude, and it was pretty much a lucky coincidence and an example of our owner Mark Chipman's loyalty that he invited Darren into the press conference.
Darren, feel free to correct anything that I might have stated incorrectly, or misquoted you on!
- Marc L
Pretty accurate although I knew it was at MTSC I just wasn't sure I'd get in. Thanks Marc, that is a morning and day I will never forget. It seemed to move in slow motion at the time. And what a great experience for yourself as well. Hey we got the only two Bettman pics in the room. Never seen a media scrum like that and probably never will, that is, until we win the Stanley Cup!
;D
DF
