July 20, 2023 • 33 mins
With three major venues just steps from each other, the Arena District has transformed dramatically over the years into a vibrant, walkable hub for pro sports. Hear the personal experiences and stories of two longtime Arena District personnel, Todd Sharrock (Columbus Blue Jackets, Dir. of Communications) and Dave Redelberger (Columbus Arenas Sports & Entertainment, Dir. of Communications and Interactive Marketing)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Fund Experience Columbuses Live Forward Live podcastintroduces you to a new frontier of undiscovered
possibility. Columbus is a city withan energy of its own. Join Boxer,
(00:20):
Kelsey and their guests for an insider'slook at a destination that invites visitors
and locals alike to share and explore. We'll go behind the scenes of popular
attractions, uncover best kept secrets forthings to see and do, and meet
people who embody what it means tolive forward. Welcome back to another episode
(00:41):
of Live Forward, Live and ExperiencedColumbus podcast with your hosts, me,
Boxer and Kelsey. We are backtalking, this time of celebrating the beautiful
neighborhoods of Columbus, the charm withthem, what makes them different and special
stand out And today we're talking totwo I think pretty heavy hitters, two
(01:02):
guys, Two guys who I thinkhave some pretty amazing jobs, Like I
think they're killer jobs. One guy'sname is Dave Rettelberger Clumbus Arena, Sports
and Entertainment. Another one of ourguests Todd Shrock, who's going to be
joining us in just a little bitfrom the Clumbus Blue Jackets. He's the
vice president of Communications. First ofall, let's welcome you. While Todd's
(01:25):
on his way in, Dave,welcome to this podcast. Sir. Hey,
it's great to see you. Guys. It's good to see you.
Can I just start off by saying, I don't know how long you've been
doing it, but if you goto a concert at any of the venge,
especially like Nationwide Arena, you dothese pre concert tape broadcasts, and
Dave, I love them. I'minfatuated when I get to see you now,
(01:48):
I love You've gotten to be ona couple over the over there here,
thank you. You know. Yeah, So I have this old persona
the Dave, the arena dude.So I am tasked with going out and
sharing the message about all the allthe shows, you know, Nationwide Arena,
the Shotstein Center, Ohio Stadium,Marshall Auditorium. So but you know,
it's it's a beautiful day here inthe arena district. And I love
you know what I love is whenwe get to host fans. You know,
(02:08):
there's just that's that's that's what Ilive for. Right. A lot
of days we're just working in theoffice, but when we get to host
those events with live fans and Iget to go out and talk to them,
and it is the best day oftheir week. It's the best day
of the month, best day oftheir year. And sometimes you remember,
sometimes, especially when you were younger, that's the best day of your life
right where you're like, oh,I never forget September seventeenth, nineteen eighty
(02:32):
eight, when you and Bill andI all got in the car we went
into that concert, and you know, it's just it's just such a great
thing, and giving people those memoriesis such a blessing with a great way
to I know. And by theway, and Kelsey, I don't know
if you've seen it, but thosethose little social media broadcasts, they get
me excited for the show that's comingin and it reminds me of like back
(02:53):
in your day when you were doingradio and and this is just the one
level up from that. So youknow, it's it is a lot of
fun and and and Kelsey, youknow this. You know it's like when
you you know, sometimes you're inyou're in a studio all day, you
know, when you're you're talking andyou're in a little walls, and but
when you actually get out and seethe people, it just gives you this
energy and you absorb their energy.It's just such a positive vibe that you
(03:14):
can share with people, right,because when you're alone, that's one thing
you feel like you're just talking tothe people around you. But then when
you're part of the community, theenergy just you get this high and you're
elevated and you're all like on thesame team. Go Columbus, Go Arina
District. I have goosebumps thinking aboutit, you know, like it's just
(03:34):
I do I get thing when you'redown here, you know, for it
for a show and the district hashopping people are just like lined aboutside the
camp. Wait you get in.There's just such an energy that you it's
hard to replicate. Right, You'reright, those are the good days.
We love those days. There areno bad days, right, there are
no bad days in your world.Dave Ruttlberger. You know I mentioned your
background is radio, but your connectionand history to Columbus to tell us about
(03:59):
your back yeah, so, uh, you know I came in nineteen ninety
seven, I moved to Columbus,and you know, it was a great
opportunity to you know, kind ofget to know the city and all the
fun there. And so one ofthe neat things was I started in radio
and I'm one of my first daytonOhio. I'm date in Ohio guy.
But I lived in Chicago Land fora while and came back to go to
ud Okay. But then you know, I started my job in ninety seven
(04:24):
in radio and Columbus after doing somestuff in Beack in Illinois and Ohio.
And one of the first things I'mpulled into the office and told is,
hey, there is no arena inColumbus and we are trying whatever we you
know, from I worked at QFMninety six, right, so it was
a rock station and it was wehave to do whatever it takes to try
(04:45):
to get an arena in Columbus becausewe need we're missing out on so many
big shows. And so it wasdefinitely from the almost day one, it
was a part of my job.And so you know, I was very
involved with the arenas from the verybeginning. So even when I was in
radio, I hosted the very firstevent at Nationwide Arena, which was a
wedding on the floor of the arenawhile it was still under construction. I
(05:08):
didn't know, oh yeah, Sowe did a wedding on the floor of
the arena still under so it's notthe official first event, right, but
that was that was you know againyou know, radio guys trying to get
fun stuff. And then at theshot, you know, for the grand
opening, they invited all the mediain to do a flush test, which
is where you know, at halftimeof a basketball game at all, at
the shot, every fan goes outand every toilet gets flushed the same time.
(05:31):
How do you test that? Right, Well, they invited all the
media out and we all got toflush the toilets as part of the bit.
So again, being there from dayone at the Arenas has been just
a wonderful thing, and so it'sbeen a great way to start my career.
So, Dave, you literally witnessedthe transformation of the Arena district,
like literally the birth of it becausethe prison was still here. You're not
wrong, right, So yeah,so people forget what it was like,
(05:55):
you know, twenty plus years agothough this was there was nothing here.
You know, it was a itwas a it was a crumbling, falling
down prison. And so the arenaobviously gave the roots to the Arena District
and watching it grow and even youknow, during the pandemic, right when
we were at home for a whileand I came back, there were new
(06:15):
buildings. And so every time Icome down, I feel like there's something
new in the Arena District, right, It's so exciting to see and and
I just I love what's happened toColumbus. I feel like the Arena District
specifically has just kind of been thatthat spark that you know, kind of
drives downtown Columbus. In Downtown Columbusis wonderful, and so many different areas,
you know, from the short northof the German Village. But what
(06:36):
I love is, you know,the Arena District, you know, with
the life that it has brought todowntown is something I don't see in a
lot of other cities. Yeah,I want to welcome Todd Sharak Todd,
good to see you, everybody.I like the half zip up there the
Blue Jackets. Where can we getone of those? I know some people
(06:57):
Todd is with this seas from theclub is Blue Jacket vice president of Communications.
You're a Buckeye, right like,you graduated from the Ohio State University,
right d Yeah, I grew upabout an hour north of here in
Galleon undergrad journalism, grad school sportmanagement. So I threw and through.
Yeah, but you've you know,you've been in Columbus a long time,
but you know, looking at yourresume, you you've been to other places
(07:19):
like Texas or something, right.Yeah, as soon as I got out
of school, I moved to Dallas. I worked for a minor league hockey
team for a year. Then Iworked for the Stars the first year they
relocated from Minnesota. Then I spentfive years in Houston. And the interesting
thing was when I was in Houston, the owner of our team was part
of the group that was trying toget an NHL expansion team to Houston in
(07:42):
the same class that ended up pickingColumbus in Atlanta and Saint Paul and Nashville.
So we were through that whole processon that side of it. And
I'll never forget when the NHL announcedthe four expansion cities and Houston wasn't one
of them. Everybody down there,all my friends down Everybody's like, how
(08:03):
could they pick Columbus over Houston?Wait? Wait, wait, wait,
wait a second, let me tellyou a little something I said. You
know, yeah, I'm disappointed too, because I wanted Houston to have a
team because I was looking for futurejob opportunities. Yeah, I said,
but something you need to know aboutColumbus. So I started listing all the
companies that were headquartered here, andthis is in nineteen ninety six, all
(08:28):
the companies that were here, thesize of the city. I'm like,
this is Columbus is the largest cityin the US that doesn't have one of
the big four major professional sports teams. So like, slow your role on
criptiquing Columbus. But in their minds, it was Austin. All they knew
was state capitol, big college footballtown and that was pretty much it.
(08:52):
And even Austin then wasn't what itis now, much like Columbus has grown.
So I had a unique perspective.And then you know, I started
pursuing this job. And I've beenhere since February two thousand. The first
time I came down here to seethis, it was a construction site.
And having been somebody who went toschool now at the time, High Street
(09:13):
was different. When you went toOhio State in the nineties and late eighties,
you didn't need to leave the generalarea much. But when we did,
like we may go down the Brewerydistrict or something like that. But
you came by here, and you'dcome by in the old dilapidated prison was
still there and and there was nothing. So you know, I echo days
comments to see what it was thento what it is now is it's just
(09:37):
mind blowing to be able to witnessthat in the transformation of what it was
and what it's become now. Andit's not just it's it's multipurpose too.
It's not just arenas and venues,it's people actually living down here and walking
to work. Yeah. That,I mean, that's the biggest thing because
again, as somebody who lived here, you know, prior to all this,
(09:58):
you never went downtown. There wasno reason unless you worked here.
I mean, I remember when CityCenter Mall opened. That was like the
biggest hit Columbus like ever, Likeit was ridiculous, but that was the
only reason to come downtown. Andnow and that that really speaks to the
(10:20):
vision of of nationwide. Um.You know, Diamond McPherson at the time
partnered with mister McConnell, and misterMcConnell said, find a way to build
the arena and I'll bring the teamhere. But to have that foresight too,
you know, do all the otherdevelopment that's happened. UM has really
(10:41):
been phenomenal because now you know,and I've been to every other NHL city,
every other arena, and really thesetup that we have here is is
pretty much second to none. Wewere the first team to have the practice
facility attached to a downtown arena UMin a driving you know, you can
(11:03):
eat here, you can drink here, you can play here, you can
live here, you can go tosporting events and concerts here. It's really
unique. I mean, obviously insome of the big cities, like in
New York you got Madison Square Garden, which is in the heart of everything.
But most places aren't like that.It's true, you know, you
don't have everything right here. Andand a lot of teams still in the
NHL, you know, they onlysee their game arena when they play games
(11:26):
because their practice facilities out in thesuburbs, so they're they're between two places.
I think New Jersey and Detroit mightbe the only other two teams that
have their practice facilities attached and everything. It just all like it's for people
that don't know any different. Theyprobably can't wrap their arms around, just
(11:48):
how dramatic this development is done andwhat it's done for the city, And
to echo echo what Todd saying,you know, right, I actually I'm
an arena nerd now right where Ilove to go and visit arenas all around
the country. And so many arenasare in a little outskirt part of town
and they're surrounded by gigantic parking lotsand they don't have that feeling that you
get here in the arena district whereyou know, even sitting here today in
(12:11):
the experience Columbus Visitors Center, right, I'm looking out at you know,
these beautiful buildings and restaurants and stuffsurrounding us. It's just it's so full
of life. A favorite is alwaysopening night for the Jackets, right.
The energy that you feel down hereis just so electric. It's just so
neat to see what the district hasgrown into. So for me, first
(12:33):
of all, I'm loving this historylesson by two people who have witnessed it
and been such an integral part ofit, and you're both so passionate about
it. But I moved to Columbusin the year two thousand to go to
Ohio State, so I was righthere at the beginning of the Jackets,
you know, I remember, yeah, So and then I met Larry Larson
(12:54):
at WTVNA in the press box atOhio State, who got me an internship
at WTVN, which eventually led tomy job at w NCI. Like these
are these huge little you know,you meet these people, these little moments
that make, you know, definemy life journey. Um. But then
furthermore, I started dating a guythat worked concessions at the Jackets and at
(13:20):
the Starbucks here, and then um, he broke my heart and so I
started stalking him. So I hadto, like I had a park over
here all the time, walk overthe Starbucks, see if he was working,
like look into the window and belike, Hi, I'm just stopping
by for us to latte. Um. So, like this this little area
was my life. I'd come drivedown here all the time. I was
(13:43):
crazy. I had some issues.We all had some right, we all
go for that, right, who'sthis guy by the way, Oh,
Kevin Kevin. But like this,so like for me, the Jackets,
Larry Larson, the Arena, Distrop, some names. Yeah, all of
this was like like such a hugepart of my life. You know,
(14:03):
Larry sent me, texted me yesterdaya picture from nineteen fifty five, So
he's twelve year old basketball team andme too. Did you get it right?
I got it right too. Ithought I was the only one.
But you know, Larry's out inCalifornia, live in the good life.
Yeah, yeah, still stays intouch with everybody. But I remember,
you know, you know, bringingguys into w NCI when when Kelsey was
(14:26):
the intern. Wow. And bythe way, speaking of those guys,
that that's a testament to I thinkthe Blue Jackets Columbus the Arena district is
to see guys like Jody Shelley,Rick Nash, who John Luke, Yeah,
yeah, come back and be apart of the organization after their careers.
Yeah, we've got I think we'reup to fourteen former players that still
(14:50):
live here and we've only been aroundtwenty three years. When you think about
that, yeah, you know,that's that's pretty impressive because none of them
actually are from here. R Jwent to scho wool here at Ohio State.
But other than that, they're allfrom other places. Like Freddie Modeen
is from Sweden and Freddie played anumber of different places and he played a
couple of places after he left Columbus, but his wife and kids loved Columbus
(15:13):
so much that they stayed. So, you know, we Columbus in general
has a bit of an identity problem. We've talked about it, you know,
I'm on the board of the SportsCommission, and I know experienced Columbus
has talked about it too. Ishow do you get people to fully understand
what this city is. And we'vedealt with that too as a smaller market
(15:35):
team in the NHL. But whenyou've got guys that have played in other
places who choose to live here,that says a lot. And and those
guys, you know, if we'vehad four hundred players play for US over
the twenty three years, you won'tfind five that have a bad thing to
say about Columbus because it's it's sucha great city. It's got everything you
(15:56):
want with a lot of things thatyou don't want in a big city.
Yeah, you know, because anywhere, no matter what part of town you
live in, you can get herein twenty minutes. Yep. And a
lot of guys to your point aboutall the development here, it's it's it's
interesting to see the development because usuallythey start out as single guys living in
apartments or condos around here. Yeah, and then they get married, yeah,
(16:18):
and then they move out to thesuburbs. Um once they have kids
and all of that. But it'suh, you know, we're we're pretty
proud of the city and and proudof our guys that you have chosen to
live here. Being on hockey.Todd Schrock is with us from the Columbus
Blue Jackets. Dave Rettelberger, directorof Marketing and Interactive Communications with the Arena
(16:38):
Sports and Entertainment. We're talking aboutthe Arena District on this podcast with experienced
Columbus. It's lived Forward Live.You know. You you talked about um.
You know, the team taught alittle bit earlier. But with regards
to the excitement, it was atough last season. There were a lot
of injuries. But then you know, your example of people that want players
(17:02):
that want to come here. Ican't think of a better example currently than
Johnny Goodreau. Yeah, no questionabout it. You know, we've had
some players in the past U thatchose to leave. Yeah. Um,
and most of it, you know, and I'll use our Tammy Pinerin as
an example. It wasn't because theydidn't like Columbus. They didn't enjoy their
time here. But in Bred's case, like he always wanted I think live
(17:26):
in New York. He wanted thatexperience. Yeah, you know, as
a kid who grew up in asmall town in Russia, that's kind of
always what he wanted. So,you know, when he had the opportunity
to go, he went. Butto have Johnny, who was the top
free agent available a year ago,you know, choose Columbus, it kind
of crushed that narrative that players don'twant to play here. Um. So
(17:49):
that was a that was a tremendous, you know event for us. We
thought was springboard us. And thenwe had a season you know, like
everything that possibly could have gone wrongdid. We didn't play well at the
start, we had a ton ofinjuries, and everything snowballed from there.
But I guess if there is asilver lining to having that type of year,
(18:10):
the timing was good for it fromthe standpoint that this year's draft was
so strong, particularly at the topof the draft, that if you were
gonna have a Murphy's Law year,this was the time to do it.
And you know, fortunately it translatedinto Adam Fantilly at the draft, we
think, congrats on that one,going to be a very very special player.
And so that's kind of like,right, maybe it was I don't
(18:33):
want to say it was worth it, but maybe it was kind of worth
it. Yeah, quite a fewWolverines on that team. Oh yeah,
that's the irony of it, youknow, that's the irony of it is.
And I go back to my dayswhen I was in Houston. Three
of the guys that was closest withall our team were all Michigan guys,
So I kind of have learned toaccept them. But every guy we've had,
(18:59):
going back back to the first coupleof years, we had a kid
named Blake Sloan to Jack Johnson,to Zach Warenski, and now we have
kJ and Blanks and Adam and GavinBrindley coming. They're just great people,
really good people who have embraced beinghere. You know, Jack came in
at a tough time. You know, we traded Jeff Carter that didn't work
out, and Jack went from ateam that ended up winning the Stanley Cup
(19:23):
to a team that wasn't going tomake the playoffs and actually had the worst
record in the league that year.And he was all in. He bought
in, he was he was terrific. And you know, despite their questionable
choices of where to matriculate in college, they're all great people and great players.
So so there so they're they're bluejackets now. So it's all good
(19:48):
and it you know, we havesome we have some fun and some last
year around November every year or so. So, so where do you both
live now? And when you're notin the arena district, where do you
enjoy going in Columbus? You know, I live in I live in Hilliard.
My son goes to Ohio State.Oh wow, so we are,
(20:10):
you know, constantly bouncing around time. My wife works for the city of
Columbus. So it's you know,I feel like, you know, it's
we're just part of the I don'tknow, it's part of the whole city.
Right. We lived in a Worthingtonfor a while, but you know,
it's just a matter of oh geez, you know, like you were
saying, twenty minutes to anywhere inthe city. Right. So that's what
I love is that they can justhop in the car and you know,
(20:30):
whether I'm heading down to the Shotor Nationwide Arena or you know, even
over to easton right, it's justboom, you're just there, Yeah,
Todd, We're in New Albany.My kids are a little bit younger.
I've got a rising sophomore and arising sixth grader, so who are into
things. So we spend most ofour time in the burbs when I'm not
(20:51):
down here nine months out of theyear. But the beauty of it is
is is my wife Crystal and Iwe try to get out during the offseason
and get go places we haven't been, you know, so whether it's dinner
at a place in the Short Northor you know, German village and and
for me, it's great to getout because I'm always finding something new,
you know, being far removed frommy my single days and when I spent
(21:14):
more time down here and chill alot of a lot of times ask me
what do you want to do.I'm like, I don't, I don't
know. There's so much, somuch changes every year. Yeah, so,
but it's fun to come out andand find new places, whether it's
a coffee shop or a bookstore oryou know, a restaurant and and just
you know experience or even you know, going out to Dublin to Bridge Park.
Um, you know, since that'sbeen been to, it's pretty amazing
(21:37):
phenomenal out there too. So that'sthe thing. And oh yeah, we
try to uh um, we tryto get my best friend from Jeez my
junior year in high school. Heand his family live in Old Town East.
They used to live right at FranklinPark. They bought a house he
was refurbishing while they were in there, and so they kind of they get
(22:02):
us out and know all the placesdown there. Um. But there's just
literally something for everybody here. Ifif you come to Columbus and you don't
have a good experience, it's it'son you. Yeah, it's on you.
Yeause there's plenty of, plenty ofdifferent options that appeal to everybody.
And for us, one of thebig appeals to is golf because occuyplayers love
to play golf, oh do they, Okay, And and there's no shortage
(22:26):
of great golf courses here. Sothat's that's one of our pitches when when
Rick and our staff are out,you know, pitching for free agents and
college free agents or veteran guys.It's that's one of the pitches comes up.
Yeah, we have Merefield, wehave the new Albany country Club,
we have illegal the golf club likeyou name it. There's I mean,
those are four that are the topand top one hundred courses in the country
(22:48):
and they're all here. Isn't thatsomething Todd and Dave, you've worked in
the arena district for years. Uh. For those that are coming here just
for a concert or to spend sometime, maybe it's a Clippers game,
crew soccer blue jackets, but justto walk around, any suggestions on where
to eat, where's your go towhat? So I have to meditate?
(23:11):
Yeah, you know, it's it'sgreat, you know, and it does
get busy down here on a onan event day, right, So my
biggest devices just get down here early, right because there's so many options.
So you can get down here,have an early dinner, you know,
and then you know, if yougot a little extra time to still kill,
you can go grab a festive beverageand just kind of walk around because
there's so many people that we've talkedabout at the beginning that that shared energy,
(23:33):
uh, you know, and soso for me, you know,
obviously we we always like Boston's right, it's just right there. It's been
there forever. But you can getin there and it's always always a good
crowd at Bostons because it's right acrossfrom the arena as a as a you
know, kind of a pre showuh hang out, and you know,
it's it's great to just kind ofwander and find something new. Like I
was just out the other day andif you've been to the Creole to Go
place, it is so good.It's this woman her mom had a friend
(24:00):
a family member who was kind ofraised in New Orleans and so they kind
of got this Creole influences and soshe just opened up this place just outside
the arena, Creole to Go.And that's my new favorite spot. Am
mine too when I lived in Houston, I mean I love Cajun food.
Yeah, and it's hard to find. There's a Popados in Cincinnati and that
was my favorite restaurant when I livedin Houston. And then so I tried
(24:22):
this and yeah, it's it's spoton. It's spot on you know for
me. Um. You know,I like, you know some of the
old school places like Barley's, likethe pearl Um you know, Martinis.
There's so many and again that's thething, and that's one the one thing
when people come here, whether it'sfor for anything in the district, it's
(24:44):
it's so convenient. It's really uniqueto this city because you can park anywhere.
There's parking garages, service lots,one of the best parking spirit.
I know it's not always easy,right, but compared to a lot of
other places, it's a one.It's phenomenal. And then you have so
many options to eat. That's onething. I love my alma mater and
I love the shot, but that'sthe one thing that it doesn't have.
(25:07):
When you park there, you goto an event, you know, usually
got a plan to eat somewhere elseand then you got to come in or
you're gonna eat at the arena,whereas here, you know, pick a
spot to park, and then you'vegot your choice of every kind of from
top end steakhouses to you know,greasy you know food, to everything in
(25:27):
between. Sometimes there's everything, andit's so it's just so easy. And
that's one of the things, youknow, we had We had some people
ask us and just in Nashville todraft, I was talking to league people
because you know, we had apoor year on the ice last year,
but we had our highest attendance intwenty years. Wow, this was impressive
(25:48):
to YEA for home games at NationwideArena, and we sold out eight of
the last nine games. And peopleare like, how does that happen?
Because it does not happen really toany sports team that that ruggles, you
know, in competition like that.And I think it's twofold. One is
the district, Um, And Iknow a lot of people that, um,
(26:10):
the diehard, Our die hard fansare great, and I know a
lot of people are more casual fans. They want us to do well,
but they just love coming down ifthey love coming to games, you know,
they love the experience. Bring yourkids down here, yeah exactly,
Oh my gosh, you're a blastout of jacket game. And so I
think a lot of that is whythat's that's that's was part of why we
(26:33):
had, you know, the attendancewe've had and why we've had you know,
the fans support really consistently for twentythree years, um, even when
we haven't won as much as we'dliked. And it's a lot of that
is due to the arena, thework we put into to make sure people
have a good time here, andthe district Um, it's just a great
time out, Todd. The officialdraft party that you guys held, and
(26:53):
I think it was on ABC sixthat I saw it, but I thought
of you because when they announced Fantasyit, those fans went bananas for the
Blue Jackets, and that had tohave made you feel so good. It
was great because you know, whenwe had the draft lottery in early May,
it was the opposite because you know, we were in the two slot.
(27:15):
We actually dropped the three, which, if Amanus, didn't shock me
because of all the times we've beenin the lottery, we've only moved up
once, we stayed the same sumand we dropped back before. But um,
you know, to drop to threewas was kind of a gut punch,
especially for our fans. Now weknew with the strength of this year's
draft that you know, if you'relong as you were in the top four,
(27:36):
we were going to get a centerthat that would be a difference maker
for us. But you know,we really wanted to be in the top
two, so to have Anaheim goand and select Leo Carlson. Like I
was at the draft table and Ihad a jersey and one of them had
fan Tilly's name, on. Ipractically threw it across the table at Yarmoh,
like, get up there, let'sgo, let's get it going.
Let's not wait so somebody change theirmind or and and it was funny because
(28:00):
I saw too. I was followingTwitter, like at the draft, after
the players taken, I meet himwalking around a bunch of interviews and photo
booths and all kinds of things,and you know, so I was checking
Twitter and I saw somebody had tweetedthe fan. So I showed it to
Adam because I told him, Isaid, I guarantee you people in Columbus
(28:21):
are going nuts right now for this. Even though you went to Michigan,
they're going there. So I showedhim the footage from pins and he was
blown away, like he was like, that's just awesome. And I thought,
ye, here's another one. Anduh, by the way, Carlson
(28:41):
is no slouch either. But butwere you shocked that Anaheim took Carlson?
You know, before the draft,there was a lot of chatter about,
oh, you know, and Imight not take fan Tilly. But usually,
like with any draft, whether it'sthe NFL draft, NBA draft,
NHL draft, you can't believe anything. You hear right before. Okay,
you don't know what's true and youdon't know what's you know, smoke and
(29:03):
mirrors. Um, but I knowthat Carlson from you know, just stuff
that I read and things that Iheard that it had really had a strong
finished to his season. He hada great World Championships and so um,
there there was some talk that youknow, it's not a foregone conclusion,
but I still was like, they'regonna take They're gonna take Vantilly, and
(29:26):
I firmly believe that. But um, they didn't, and we got him
and he signed and he's going tobe a Blue Jacket and a great one
for a long time. Can't waitfor this fall, guys. I know
we have to wrap up here.Um, you guys have been doing what
you've been doing for a long timein our city. I would imagine in
that time you've had other great opportunitiesto leave. Why did you stay in
(29:48):
Columbus? What? What was it? You know, it's kind of it's
kind of like what Kelsey was sayingearlier, Right, It's a great place
to raise a family, and Ilove the community and I love It's just
it's it's just a feeling like everywhereI go, I'm going to see somebody
I know, right, but youcan also escape away a little bit too.
The food for me, I lovethe out of the food. I
love that there's so many different cuisines. My wife and I love on Saturday
(30:12):
mornings, who let the boys sleepin and then we go out and find
some new little breakfast place or coffeeshop like you were talking about, and
just experience that little bit of Clumbusthat we haven't had a chance to try
before. And you know what,we can get in the car and go
do it and come back home andit's always something new, Like there's there
is literally so much going on,but everything is still so close together and
(30:33):
we're avoiding so much of that thatbig city drama that we can. And
so I just I amy, Ilove Columbus and I think I just think
it's a great place to raise afamily. Todd, Yeah, I'd say
a lot of the same things,um having lived other places, and I
really enjoyed, you know, thecities in Texas that I lived in.
(30:53):
Big cities, big metropolitan area hasalways something to do. But you know,
Lumbus has a little bit of everything. It's got everything you'd want in
the big city. We get allthe shows, we get all the concerts.
We've got the symphony, we've gotthe arts, we have all of
that. We have you know,the Buckeyes, we have professional sports.
There's really everything you can have.And you know, when you look at
(31:15):
cost of living, ease to getaround, like, you know, I'll
sometimes catch myself because it's been youknow, twenty three years now takes me
thirty minutes to get into instead oftwenty and I'm like, yeah, watch
of the traffic, but like forgettingthe fact that when I lived in Houston,
it would take me forty five minutesto an hour to get to work
and I lived like five miles fromwork as opposed to seventeen. So it
(31:40):
just has a little bit you knowfor everybody. And my wife who grew
up in southern California, and youknow, even she's like, this is
we'd go back there, and she'slike, yeah, this is nice to
visit, but I don't think Icould live back. Yeah, it's you
know, this is it's got everything. The schools are great, so it's
(32:00):
it's just a great place to Iand I just and I love also the
feeling of community within you know,the district. And beyond the fact that
I can walk across the street fromNisitionwide Arena and talk with Mark over at
the Clippers, and we can puttogether some kind of cross promotion, and
we've got our friends over at lowerdot Com and you know, it's just
everybody kind of working together to elevatethe city. And I just think that's
a that's a wonderful thing. Yeah, that's really important. We do a
(32:22):
lot of things with you know,with our friends at the Crew and the
Clippers, and in Ohio State anda lot of cities, they don't bitter
rivals, right, So it's thereis there's a real sense of community here
that I don't think you find everywhere. You know, that's interesting. As
we wrap up, doctor Bertley ofCOOSI has said that he's like, you
know, I came in for myinterview. I thought it was just going
(32:45):
to be someone from KOSI here.There were business and community leaders all interviewing
him on his job interview, ifhe was going to get to stay or
get the job or not. Ithought that was interesting. So so your
point I just had. We justhad a day where a mayor of a
major, major city came in withhis staff and they sat down with us
(33:05):
and they said, how are youguys doing it? How are you guys
doing it here in Columbus, Andit was just they were blown away by
the collaborations that we were able topull together. Amazing Todd's Rocket, the
Blue Jackets and Dave Rehtelberger of theColumbus Arena Sports and Entertainment. We appreciate
both you gentlemen. I love thestories and it's always good to catch up
with you. Thanks for being apart of this podcast. Thanks thanks for
(33:36):
listening to Experience Columbuses Live. ForLive for this podcast and others, go
to Experience Columbus dot com.
Fund Experience Columbuses Live Forward Live podcastintroduces you to a new frontier of undiscovered
possibility. Columbus is a city withan energy of its own. Join Boxer,
(00:20):
Kelsey and their guests for an insider'slook at a destination that invites visitors
and locals alike to share and explore. We'll go behind the scenes of popular
attractions, uncover best kept secrets forthings to see and do, and meet
people who embody what it means tolive forward. Welcome back to another episode
(00:41):
of Live Forward, Live and ExperiencedColumbus podcast with your hosts, me,
Boxer and Kelsey. We are backtalking, this time of celebrating the beautiful
neighborhoods of Columbus, the charm withthem, what makes them different and special
stand out And today we're talking totwo I think pretty heavy hitters, two
(01:02):
guys, Two guys who I thinkhave some pretty amazing jobs, Like I
think they're killer jobs. One guy'sname is Dave Rettelberger Clumbus Arena, Sports
and Entertainment. Another one of ourguests Todd Shrock, who's going to be
joining us in just a little bitfrom the Clumbus Blue Jackets. He's the
vice president of Communications. First ofall, let's welcome you. While Todd's
(01:25):
on his way in, Dave,welcome to this podcast. Sir. Hey,
it's great to see you. Guys. It's good to see you.
Can I just start off by saying, I don't know how long you've been
doing it, but if you goto a concert at any of the venge,
especially like Nationwide Arena, you dothese pre concert tape broadcasts, and
Dave, I love them. I'minfatuated when I get to see you now,
(01:48):
I love You've gotten to be ona couple over the over there here,
thank you. You know. Yeah, So I have this old persona
the Dave, the arena dude.So I am tasked with going out and
sharing the message about all the allthe shows, you know, Nationwide Arena,
the Shotstein Center, Ohio Stadium,Marshall Auditorium. So but you know,
it's it's a beautiful day here inthe arena district. And I love
you know what I love is whenwe get to host fans. You know,
(02:08):
there's just that's that's that's what Ilive for. Right. A lot
of days we're just working in theoffice, but when we get to host
those events with live fans and Iget to go out and talk to them,
and it is the best day oftheir week. It's the best day
of the month, best day oftheir year. And sometimes you remember,
sometimes, especially when you were younger, that's the best day of your life
right where you're like, oh,I never forget September seventeenth, nineteen eighty
(02:32):
eight, when you and Bill andI all got in the car we went
into that concert, and you know, it's just it's just such a great
thing, and giving people those memoriesis such a blessing with a great way
to I know. And by theway, and Kelsey, I don't know
if you've seen it, but thosethose little social media broadcasts, they get
me excited for the show that's comingin and it reminds me of like back
(02:53):
in your day when you were doingradio and and this is just the one
level up from that. So youknow, it's it is a lot of
fun and and and Kelsey, youknow this. You know it's like when
you you know, sometimes you're inyou're in a studio all day, you
know, when you're you're talking andyou're in a little walls, and but
when you actually get out and seethe people, it just gives you this
energy and you absorb their energy.It's just such a positive vibe that you
(03:14):
can share with people, right,because when you're alone, that's one thing
you feel like you're just talking tothe people around you. But then when
you're part of the community, theenergy just you get this high and you're
elevated and you're all like on thesame team. Go Columbus, Go Arina
District. I have goosebumps thinking aboutit, you know, like it's just
(03:34):
I do I get thing when you'redown here, you know, for it
for a show and the district hashopping people are just like lined aboutside the
camp. Wait you get in.There's just such an energy that you it's
hard to replicate. Right, You'reright, those are the good days.
We love those days. There areno bad days, right, there are
no bad days in your world.Dave Ruttlberger. You know I mentioned your
background is radio, but your connectionand history to Columbus to tell us about
(03:59):
your back yeah, so, uh, you know I came in nineteen ninety
seven, I moved to Columbus,and you know, it was a great
opportunity to you know, kind ofget to know the city and all the
fun there. And so one ofthe neat things was I started in radio
and I'm one of my first daytonOhio. I'm date in Ohio guy.
But I lived in Chicago Land fora while and came back to go to
ud Okay. But then you know, I started my job in ninety seven
(04:24):
in radio and Columbus after doing somestuff in Beack in Illinois and Ohio.
And one of the first things I'mpulled into the office and told is,
hey, there is no arena inColumbus and we are trying whatever we you
know, from I worked at QFMninety six, right, so it was
a rock station and it was wehave to do whatever it takes to try
(04:45):
to get an arena in Columbus becausewe need we're missing out on so many
big shows. And so it wasdefinitely from the almost day one, it
was a part of my job.And so you know, I was very
involved with the arenas from the verybeginning. So even when I was in
radio, I hosted the very firstevent at Nationwide Arena, which was a
wedding on the floor of the arenawhile it was still under construction. I
(05:08):
didn't know, oh yeah, Sowe did a wedding on the floor of
the arena still under so it's notthe official first event, right, but
that was that was you know againyou know, radio guys trying to get
fun stuff. And then at theshot, you know, for the grand
opening, they invited all the mediain to do a flush test, which
is where you know, at halftimeof a basketball game at all, at
the shot, every fan goes outand every toilet gets flushed the same time.
(05:31):
How do you test that? Right, Well, they invited all the
media out and we all got toflush the toilets as part of the bit.
So again, being there from dayone at the Arenas has been just
a wonderful thing, and so it'sbeen a great way to start my career.
So, Dave, you literally witnessedthe transformation of the Arena district,
like literally the birth of it becausethe prison was still here. You're not
wrong, right, So yeah,so people forget what it was like,
(05:55):
you know, twenty plus years agothough this was there was nothing here.
You know, it was a itwas a it was a crumbling, falling
down prison. And so the arenaobviously gave the roots to the Arena District
and watching it grow and even youknow, during the pandemic, right when
we were at home for a whileand I came back, there were new
(06:15):
buildings. And so every time Icome down, I feel like there's something
new in the Arena District, right, It's so exciting to see and and
I just I love what's happened toColumbus. I feel like the Arena District
specifically has just kind of been thatthat spark that you know, kind of
drives downtown Columbus. In Downtown Columbusis wonderful, and so many different areas,
you know, from the short northof the German Village. But what
(06:36):
I love is, you know,the Arena District, you know, with
the life that it has brought todowntown is something I don't see in a
lot of other cities. Yeah,I want to welcome Todd Sharak Todd,
good to see you, everybody.I like the half zip up there the
Blue Jackets. Where can we getone of those? I know some people
(06:57):
Todd is with this seas from theclub is Blue Jacket vice president of Communications.
You're a Buckeye, right like,you graduated from the Ohio State University,
right d Yeah, I grew upabout an hour north of here in
Galleon undergrad journalism, grad school sportmanagement. So I threw and through.
Yeah, but you've you know,you've been in Columbus a long time,
but you know, looking at yourresume, you you've been to other places
(07:19):
like Texas or something, right.Yeah, as soon as I got out
of school, I moved to Dallas. I worked for a minor league hockey
team for a year. Then Iworked for the Stars the first year they
relocated from Minnesota. Then I spentfive years in Houston. And the interesting
thing was when I was in Houston, the owner of our team was part
of the group that was trying toget an NHL expansion team to Houston in
(07:42):
the same class that ended up pickingColumbus in Atlanta and Saint Paul and Nashville.
So we were through that whole processon that side of it. And
I'll never forget when the NHL announcedthe four expansion cities and Houston wasn't one
of them. Everybody down there,all my friends down Everybody's like, how
(08:03):
could they pick Columbus over Houston?Wait? Wait, wait, wait,
wait a second, let me tellyou a little something I said. You
know, yeah, I'm disappointed too, because I wanted Houston to have a
team because I was looking for futurejob opportunities. Yeah, I said,
but something you need to know aboutColumbus. So I started listing all the
companies that were headquartered here, andthis is in nineteen ninety six, all
(08:28):
the companies that were here, thesize of the city. I'm like,
this is Columbus is the largest cityin the US that doesn't have one of
the big four major professional sports teams. So like, slow your role on
criptiquing Columbus. But in their minds, it was Austin. All they knew
was state capitol, big college footballtown and that was pretty much it.
(08:52):
And even Austin then wasn't what itis now, much like Columbus has grown.
So I had a unique perspective.And then you know, I started
pursuing this job. And I've beenhere since February two thousand. The first
time I came down here to seethis, it was a construction site.
And having been somebody who went toschool now at the time, High Street
(09:13):
was different. When you went toOhio State in the nineties and late eighties,
you didn't need to leave the generalarea much. But when we did,
like we may go down the Brewerydistrict or something like that. But
you came by here, and you'dcome by in the old dilapidated prison was
still there and and there was nothing. So you know, I echo days
comments to see what it was thento what it is now is it's just
(09:37):
mind blowing to be able to witnessthat in the transformation of what it was
and what it's become now. Andit's not just it's it's multipurpose too.
It's not just arenas and venues,it's people actually living down here and walking
to work. Yeah. That,I mean, that's the biggest thing because
again, as somebody who lived here, you know, prior to all this,
(09:58):
you never went downtown. There wasno reason unless you worked here.
I mean, I remember when CityCenter Mall opened. That was like the
biggest hit Columbus like ever, Likeit was ridiculous, but that was the
only reason to come downtown. Andnow and that that really speaks to the
(10:20):
vision of of nationwide. Um.You know, Diamond McPherson at the time
partnered with mister McConnell, and misterMcConnell said, find a way to build
the arena and I'll bring the teamhere. But to have that foresight too,
you know, do all the otherdevelopment that's happened. UM has really
(10:41):
been phenomenal because now you know,and I've been to every other NHL city,
every other arena, and really thesetup that we have here is is
pretty much second to none. Wewere the first team to have the practice
facility attached to a downtown arena UMin a driving you know, you can
(11:03):
eat here, you can drink here, you can play here, you can
live here, you can go tosporting events and concerts here. It's really
unique. I mean, obviously insome of the big cities, like in
New York you got Madison Square Garden, which is in the heart of everything.
But most places aren't like that.It's true, you know, you
don't have everything right here. Andand a lot of teams still in the
NHL, you know, they onlysee their game arena when they play games
(11:26):
because their practice facilities out in thesuburbs, so they're they're between two places.
I think New Jersey and Detroit mightbe the only other two teams that
have their practice facilities attached and everything. It just all like it's for people
that don't know any different. Theyprobably can't wrap their arms around, just
(11:48):
how dramatic this development is done andwhat it's done for the city, And
to echo echo what Todd saying,you know, right, I actually I'm
an arena nerd now right where Ilove to go and visit arenas all around
the country. And so many arenasare in a little outskirt part of town
and they're surrounded by gigantic parking lotsand they don't have that feeling that you
get here in the arena district whereyou know, even sitting here today in
(12:11):
the experience Columbus Visitors Center, right, I'm looking out at you know,
these beautiful buildings and restaurants and stuffsurrounding us. It's just it's so full
of life. A favorite is alwaysopening night for the Jackets, right.
The energy that you feel down hereis just so electric. It's just so
neat to see what the district hasgrown into. So for me, first
(12:33):
of all, I'm loving this historylesson by two people who have witnessed it
and been such an integral part ofit, and you're both so passionate about
it. But I moved to Columbusin the year two thousand to go to
Ohio State, so I was righthere at the beginning of the Jackets,
you know, I remember, yeah, So and then I met Larry Larson
(12:54):
at WTVNA in the press box atOhio State, who got me an internship
at WTVN, which eventually led tomy job at w NCI. Like these
are these huge little you know,you meet these people, these little moments
that make, you know, definemy life journey. Um. But then
furthermore, I started dating a guythat worked concessions at the Jackets and at
(13:20):
the Starbucks here, and then um, he broke my heart and so I
started stalking him. So I hadto, like I had a park over
here all the time, walk overthe Starbucks, see if he was working,
like look into the window and belike, Hi, I'm just stopping
by for us to latte. Um. So, like this this little area
was my life. I'd come drivedown here all the time. I was
(13:43):
crazy. I had some issues.We all had some right, we all
go for that, right, who'sthis guy by the way, Oh,
Kevin Kevin. But like this,so like for me, the Jackets,
Larry Larson, the Arena, Distrop, some names. Yeah, all of
this was like like such a hugepart of my life. You know,
(14:03):
Larry sent me, texted me yesterdaya picture from nineteen fifty five, So
he's twelve year old basketball team andme too. Did you get it right?
I got it right too. Ithought I was the only one.
But you know, Larry's out inCalifornia, live in the good life.
Yeah, yeah, still stays intouch with everybody. But I remember,
you know, you know, bringingguys into w NCI when when Kelsey was
(14:26):
the intern. Wow. And bythe way, speaking of those guys,
that that's a testament to I thinkthe Blue Jackets Columbus the Arena district is
to see guys like Jody Shelley,Rick Nash, who John Luke, Yeah,
yeah, come back and be apart of the organization after their careers.
Yeah, we've got I think we'reup to fourteen former players that still
(14:50):
live here and we've only been aroundtwenty three years. When you think about
that, yeah, you know,that's that's pretty impressive because none of them
actually are from here. R Jwent to scho wool here at Ohio State.
But other than that, they're allfrom other places. Like Freddie Modeen
is from Sweden and Freddie played anumber of different places and he played a
couple of places after he left Columbus, but his wife and kids loved Columbus
(15:13):
so much that they stayed. So, you know, we Columbus in general
has a bit of an identity problem. We've talked about it, you know,
I'm on the board of the SportsCommission, and I know experienced Columbus
has talked about it too. Ishow do you get people to fully understand
what this city is. And we'vedealt with that too as a smaller market
(15:35):
team in the NHL. But whenyou've got guys that have played in other
places who choose to live here,that says a lot. And and those
guys, you know, if we'vehad four hundred players play for US over
the twenty three years, you won'tfind five that have a bad thing to
say about Columbus because it's it's sucha great city. It's got everything you
(15:56):
want with a lot of things thatyou don't want in a big city.
Yeah, you know, because anywhere, no matter what part of town you
live in, you can get herein twenty minutes. Yep. And a
lot of guys to your point aboutall the development here, it's it's it's
interesting to see the development because usuallythey start out as single guys living in
apartments or condos around here. Yeah, and then they get married, yeah,
(16:18):
and then they move out to thesuburbs. Um once they have kids
and all of that. But it'suh, you know, we're we're pretty
proud of the city and and proudof our guys that you have chosen to
live here. Being on hockey.Todd Schrock is with us from the Columbus
Blue Jackets. Dave Rettelberger, directorof Marketing and Interactive Communications with the Arena
(16:38):
Sports and Entertainment. We're talking aboutthe Arena District on this podcast with experienced
Columbus. It's lived Forward Live.You know. You you talked about um.
You know, the team taught alittle bit earlier. But with regards
to the excitement, it was atough last season. There were a lot
of injuries. But then you know, your example of people that want players
(17:02):
that want to come here. Ican't think of a better example currently than
Johnny Goodreau. Yeah, no questionabout it. You know, we've had
some players in the past U thatchose to leave. Yeah. Um,
and most of it, you know, and I'll use our Tammy Pinerin as
an example. It wasn't because theydidn't like Columbus. They didn't enjoy their
time here. But in Bred's case, like he always wanted I think live
(17:26):
in New York. He wanted thatexperience. Yeah, you know, as
a kid who grew up in asmall town in Russia, that's kind of
always what he wanted. So,you know, when he had the opportunity
to go, he went. Butto have Johnny, who was the top
free agent available a year ago,you know, choose Columbus, it kind
of crushed that narrative that players don'twant to play here. Um. So
(17:49):
that was a that was a tremendous, you know event for us. We
thought was springboard us. And thenwe had a season you know, like
everything that possibly could have gone wrongdid. We didn't play well at the
start, we had a ton ofinjuries, and everything snowballed from there.
But I guess if there is asilver lining to having that type of year,
(18:10):
the timing was good for it fromthe standpoint that this year's draft was
so strong, particularly at the topof the draft, that if you were
gonna have a Murphy's Law year,this was the time to do it.
And you know, fortunately it translatedinto Adam Fantilly at the draft, we
think, congrats on that one,going to be a very very special player.
And so that's kind of like,right, maybe it was I don't
(18:33):
want to say it was worth it, but maybe it was kind of worth
it. Yeah, quite a fewWolverines on that team. Oh yeah,
that's the irony of it, youknow, that's the irony of it is.
And I go back to my dayswhen I was in Houston. Three
of the guys that was closest withall our team were all Michigan guys,
So I kind of have learned toaccept them. But every guy we've had,
(18:59):
going back back to the first coupleof years, we had a kid
named Blake Sloan to Jack Johnson,to Zach Warenski, and now we have
kJ and Blanks and Adam and GavinBrindley coming. They're just great people,
really good people who have embraced beinghere. You know, Jack came in
at a tough time. You know, we traded Jeff Carter that didn't work
out, and Jack went from ateam that ended up winning the Stanley Cup
(19:23):
to a team that wasn't going tomake the playoffs and actually had the worst
record in the league that year.And he was all in. He bought
in, he was he was terrific. And you know, despite their questionable
choices of where to matriculate in college, they're all great people and great players.
So so there so they're they're bluejackets now. So it's all good
(19:48):
and it you know, we havesome we have some fun and some last
year around November every year or so. So, so where do you both
live now? And when you're notin the arena district, where do you
enjoy going in Columbus? You know, I live in I live in Hilliard.
My son goes to Ohio State.Oh wow, so we are,
(20:10):
you know, constantly bouncing around time. My wife works for the city of
Columbus. So it's you know,I feel like, you know, it's
we're just part of the I don'tknow, it's part of the whole city.
Right. We lived in a Worthingtonfor a while, but you know,
it's just a matter of oh geez, you know, like you were
saying, twenty minutes to anywhere inthe city. Right. So that's what
I love is that they can justhop in the car and you know,
(20:30):
whether I'm heading down to the Shotor Nationwide Arena or you know, even
over to easton right, it's justboom, you're just there, Yeah,
Todd, We're in New Albany.My kids are a little bit younger.
I've got a rising sophomore and arising sixth grader, so who are into
things. So we spend most ofour time in the burbs when I'm not
(20:51):
down here nine months out of theyear. But the beauty of it is
is is my wife Crystal and Iwe try to get out during the offseason
and get go places we haven't been, you know, so whether it's dinner
at a place in the Short Northor you know, German village and and
for me, it's great to getout because I'm always finding something new,
you know, being far removed frommy my single days and when I spent
(21:14):
more time down here and chill alot of a lot of times ask me
what do you want to do.I'm like, I don't, I don't
know. There's so much, somuch changes every year. Yeah, so,
but it's fun to come out andand find new places, whether it's
a coffee shop or a bookstore oryou know, a restaurant and and just
you know experience or even you know, going out to Dublin to Bridge Park.
Um, you know, since that'sbeen been to, it's pretty amazing
(21:37):
phenomenal out there too. So that'sthe thing. And oh yeah, we
try to uh um, we tryto get my best friend from Jeez my
junior year in high school. Heand his family live in Old Town East.
They used to live right at FranklinPark. They bought a house he
was refurbishing while they were in there, and so they kind of they get
(22:02):
us out and know all the placesdown there. Um. But there's just
literally something for everybody here. Ifif you come to Columbus and you don't
have a good experience, it's it'son you. Yeah, it's on you.
Yeause there's plenty of, plenty ofdifferent options that appeal to everybody.
And for us, one of thebig appeals to is golf because occuyplayers love
to play golf, oh do they, Okay, And and there's no shortage
(22:26):
of great golf courses here. Sothat's that's one of our pitches when when
Rick and our staff are out,you know, pitching for free agents and
college free agents or veteran guys.It's that's one of the pitches comes up.
Yeah, we have Merefield, wehave the new Albany country Club,
we have illegal the golf club likeyou name it. There's I mean,
those are four that are the topand top one hundred courses in the country
(22:48):
and they're all here. Isn't thatsomething Todd and Dave, you've worked in
the arena district for years. Uh. For those that are coming here just
for a concert or to spend sometime, maybe it's a Clippers game,
crew soccer blue jackets, but justto walk around, any suggestions on where
to eat, where's your go towhat? So I have to meditate?
(23:11):
Yeah, you know, it's it'sgreat, you know, and it does
get busy down here on a onan event day, right, So my
biggest devices just get down here early, right because there's so many options.
So you can get down here,have an early dinner, you know,
and then you know, if yougot a little extra time to still kill,
you can go grab a festive beverageand just kind of walk around because
there's so many people that we've talkedabout at the beginning that that shared energy,
(23:33):
uh, you know, and soso for me, you know,
obviously we we always like Boston's right, it's just right there. It's been
there forever. But you can getin there and it's always always a good
crowd at Bostons because it's right acrossfrom the arena as a as a you
know, kind of a pre showuh hang out, and you know,
it's it's great to just kind ofwander and find something new. Like I
was just out the other day andif you've been to the Creole to Go
place, it is so good.It's this woman her mom had a friend
(24:00):
a family member who was kind ofraised in New Orleans and so they kind
of got this Creole influences and soshe just opened up this place just outside
the arena, Creole to Go.And that's my new favorite spot. Am
mine too when I lived in Houston, I mean I love Cajun food.
Yeah, and it's hard to find. There's a Popados in Cincinnati and that
was my favorite restaurant when I livedin Houston. And then so I tried
(24:22):
this and yeah, it's it's spoton. It's spot on you know for
me. Um. You know,I like, you know some of the
old school places like Barley's, likethe pearl Um you know, Martinis.
There's so many and again that's thething, and that's one the one thing
when people come here, whether it'sfor for anything in the district, it's
(24:44):
it's so convenient. It's really uniqueto this city because you can park anywhere.
There's parking garages, service lots,one of the best parking spirit.
I know it's not always easy,right, but compared to a lot of
other places, it's a one.It's phenomenal. And then you have so
many options to eat. That's onething. I love my alma mater and
I love the shot, but that'sthe one thing that it doesn't have.
(25:07):
When you park there, you goto an event, you know, usually
got a plan to eat somewhere elseand then you got to come in or
you're gonna eat at the arena,whereas here, you know, pick a
spot to park, and then you'vegot your choice of every kind of from
top end steakhouses to you know,greasy you know food, to everything in
(25:27):
between. Sometimes there's everything, andit's so it's just so easy. And
that's one of the things, youknow, we had We had some people
ask us and just in Nashville todraft, I was talking to league people
because you know, we had apoor year on the ice last year,
but we had our highest attendance intwenty years. Wow, this was impressive
(25:48):
to YEA for home games at NationwideArena, and we sold out eight of
the last nine games. And peopleare like, how does that happen?
Because it does not happen really toany sports team that that ruggles, you
know, in competition like that.And I think it's twofold. One is
the district, Um, And Iknow a lot of people that, um,
(26:10):
the diehard, Our die hard fansare great, and I know a
lot of people are more casual fans. They want us to do well,
but they just love coming down ifthey love coming to games, you know,
they love the experience. Bring yourkids down here, yeah exactly,
Oh my gosh, you're a blastout of jacket game. And so I
think a lot of that is whythat's that's that's was part of why we
(26:33):
had, you know, the attendancewe've had and why we've had you know,
the fans support really consistently for twentythree years, um, even when
we haven't won as much as we'dliked. And it's a lot of that
is due to the arena, thework we put into to make sure people
have a good time here, andthe district Um, it's just a great
time out, Todd. The officialdraft party that you guys held, and
(26:53):
I think it was on ABC sixthat I saw it, but I thought
of you because when they announced Fantasyit, those fans went bananas for the
Blue Jackets, and that had tohave made you feel so good. It
was great because you know, whenwe had the draft lottery in early May,
it was the opposite because you know, we were in the two slot.
(27:15):
We actually dropped the three, which, if Amanus, didn't shock me
because of all the times we've beenin the lottery, we've only moved up
once, we stayed the same sumand we dropped back before. But um,
you know, to drop to threewas was kind of a gut punch,
especially for our fans. Now weknew with the strength of this year's
draft that you know, if you'relong as you were in the top four,
(27:36):
we were going to get a centerthat that would be a difference maker
for us. But you know,we really wanted to be in the top
two, so to have Anaheim goand and select Leo Carlson. Like I
was at the draft table and Ihad a jersey and one of them had
fan Tilly's name, on. Ipractically threw it across the table at Yarmoh,
like, get up there, let'sgo, let's get it going.
Let's not wait so somebody change theirmind or and and it was funny because
(28:00):
I saw too. I was followingTwitter, like at the draft, after
the players taken, I meet himwalking around a bunch of interviews and photo
booths and all kinds of things,and you know, so I was checking
Twitter and I saw somebody had tweetedthe fan. So I showed it to
Adam because I told him, Isaid, I guarantee you people in Columbus
(28:21):
are going nuts right now for this. Even though you went to Michigan,
they're going there. So I showedhim the footage from pins and he was
blown away, like he was like, that's just awesome. And I thought,
ye, here's another one. Anduh, by the way, Carlson
(28:41):
is no slouch either. But butwere you shocked that Anaheim took Carlson?
You know, before the draft,there was a lot of chatter about,
oh, you know, and Imight not take fan Tilly. But usually,
like with any draft, whether it'sthe NFL draft, NBA draft,
NHL draft, you can't believe anything. You hear right before. Okay,
you don't know what's true and youdon't know what's you know, smoke and
(29:03):
mirrors. Um, but I knowthat Carlson from you know, just stuff
that I read and things that Iheard that it had really had a strong
finished to his season. He hada great World Championships and so um,
there there was some talk that youknow, it's not a foregone conclusion,
but I still was like, they'regonna take They're gonna take Vantilly, and
(29:26):
I firmly believe that. But um, they didn't, and we got him
and he signed and he's going tobe a Blue Jacket and a great one
for a long time. Can't waitfor this fall, guys. I know
we have to wrap up here.Um, you guys have been doing what
you've been doing for a long timein our city. I would imagine in
that time you've had other great opportunitiesto leave. Why did you stay in
(29:48):
Columbus? What? What was it? You know, it's kind of it's
kind of like what Kelsey was sayingearlier, Right, It's a great place
to raise a family, and Ilove the community and I love It's just
it's it's just a feeling like everywhereI go, I'm going to see somebody
I know, right, but youcan also escape away a little bit too.
The food for me, I lovethe out of the food. I
love that there's so many different cuisines. My wife and I love on Saturday
(30:12):
mornings, who let the boys sleepin and then we go out and find
some new little breakfast place or coffeeshop like you were talking about, and
just experience that little bit of Clumbusthat we haven't had a chance to try
before. And you know what,we can get in the car and go
do it and come back home andit's always something new, Like there's there
is literally so much going on,but everything is still so close together and
(30:33):
we're avoiding so much of that thatbig city drama that we can. And
so I just I amy, Ilove Columbus and I think I just think
it's a great place to raise afamily. Todd, Yeah, I'd say
a lot of the same things,um having lived other places, and I
really enjoyed, you know, thecities in Texas that I lived in.
(30:53):
Big cities, big metropolitan area hasalways something to do. But you know,
Lumbus has a little bit of everything. It's got everything you'd want in
the big city. We get allthe shows, we get all the concerts.
We've got the symphony, we've gotthe arts, we have all of
that. We have you know,the Buckeyes, we have professional sports.
There's really everything you can have.And you know, when you look at
(31:15):
cost of living, ease to getaround, like, you know, I'll
sometimes catch myself because it's been youknow, twenty three years now takes me
thirty minutes to get into instead oftwenty and I'm like, yeah, watch
of the traffic, but like forgettingthe fact that when I lived in Houston,
it would take me forty five minutesto an hour to get to work
and I lived like five miles fromwork as opposed to seventeen. So it
(31:40):
just has a little bit you knowfor everybody. And my wife who grew
up in southern California, and youknow, even she's like, this is
we'd go back there, and she'slike, yeah, this is nice to
visit, but I don't think Icould live back. Yeah, it's you
know, this is it's got everything. The schools are great, so it's
(32:00):
it's just a great place to Iand I just and I love also the
feeling of community within you know,the district. And beyond the fact that
I can walk across the street fromNisitionwide Arena and talk with Mark over at
the Clippers, and we can puttogether some kind of cross promotion, and
we've got our friends over at lowerdot Com and you know, it's just
everybody kind of working together to elevatethe city. And I just think that's
a that's a wonderful thing. Yeah, that's really important. We do a
(32:22):
lot of things with you know,with our friends at the Crew and the
Clippers, and in Ohio State anda lot of cities, they don't bitter
rivals, right, So it's thereis there's a real sense of community here
that I don't think you find everywhere. You know, that's interesting. As
we wrap up, doctor Bertley ofCOOSI has said that he's like, you
know, I came in for myinterview. I thought it was just going
(32:45):
to be someone from KOSI here.There were business and community leaders all interviewing
him on his job interview, ifhe was going to get to stay or
get the job or not. Ithought that was interesting. So so your
point I just had. We justhad a day where a mayor of a
major, major city came in withhis staff and they sat down with us
(33:05):
and they said, how are youguys doing it? How are you guys
doing it here in Columbus, Andit was just they were blown away by
the collaborations that we were able topull together. Amazing Todd's Rocket, the
Blue Jackets and Dave Rehtelberger of theColumbus Arena Sports and Entertainment. We appreciate
both you gentlemen. I love thestories and it's always good to catch up
with you. Thanks for being apart of this podcast. Thanks thanks for
(33:36):
listening to Experience Columbuses Live. ForLive for this podcast and others, go
to Experience Columbus dot com.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.