Hello all,
I’m working on my DVD set from the Portland Regional in 2004. Mark Leon was the MC. I’ve pulled his short talk from Friday After Lunch.
-Jim
That’s a blast from the past. It’s always fun to see Mark Leon at work, and that was the first regional I ever went to. What’s this DVD set you’re working on?
Do the math. Always an inspiration.
I spy with my little eye an Andy Baker referee at 1:02
Yep! That was a memorable event. Bob Mimlitch (co-owner of IFI) is seen at 0:44. This is back when IFI provided and supported all of the field control electronics.
Also at this event were Jason Morrella (Regional Director), Blair Hundertmark (announcer), and Eddie Romanita as a first-time Show Ready Event manager. Jason asked me to be the head referee at the event, and I was honored to do so.
Mark was fun to work with. While he was so energetic on the field, we would also be found taking naps under the scoring table during down times.
Andy B.
Mark wasn’t actually taking a nap. He was recharging his battery off of the scorpion case so he’d be at full power for the afternoon.
I will always remember his breathing cycle: Two short breaths in, one long breath out. The man literally had an on/off switch and it was an incredible process to witness.
The beginning of this video pretty much gives you the insight to Mark from turning on the mic to early to weird sounds to the energy you saw in the intros all this is missing is a front flip roll (can’t remember the name he used for this).
Oh I miss Mark and his enthusiasm, but I’ll never miss building that field especially our first year in Atlanta.
I’m working on my DVD set…
Deviating a little bit from the main thread, theres a lot of relatively high quality footage that you’ve uploaded. Really cool to see.