First Day in Arizona For Fancave Top 30

by Dave Barclay

You guys, this whole thing is crazy. Last night I did an interview at 1:15 AM on TSN 990 (You can check it out here; I'm on at 1:56 but the whole show is great) and then left my house at 5:45 to go to the airport for a 9:40 flight to Arizona (I was worried about customs, so I left myself lots of time).

A lady gave me a voucher to use the special Maple Leaf Lounge, which meant free yogourt, but my good fortune turned to bad as the plane had some kind of toilet problem, and we were delayed for three hours as we had to switch to another plane

I arrived in Phoenix, foggy headed and loopy, at 3:30 and was quickly shuttled to Chase Field, home of MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks. There I was greeted with much enthusiasm by my 29 comrades, who it turns out are just as delightful in person as they were via social media. They had all been worried about me, which was very touching, and welcomed me with open arms.

Then things got real, fast, as I was on a trivia superteam with Benjamin Christensen of beard and tattoo fame and Lindsay Guentzel of Minnesota, and we dominated the MLB IQ Fancave Trivia challenge and won the right to be on a morning show in Phoenix tomorrow.

Then we had a lovely dinner in Chase Field and I participated in another all-star team, this time in the arena of Kareoke, joining Cardinals fan (and great singer) Kelsey Shea Weinrich and Angels fan (and great turn-arounder) Ricardo Marquez in a stirring rendition of Total Eclipse of the Heart. Did I mention this was all in Chase Field, the home of the Diamondbacks? It was.

This trip is turning out to be just as fun and mind-blowing as I'd hoped, and I haven't even interviewed 2003 playoff hero Aaron Boone yet. Tomorrow is a crazy busy day, and I'll try and keep you posted best I can as I go. Now I have to manage the difficult balance between work and sleep in the scant hours I have left here in desert paradise.

Top 30 Fancave Finalist!!

by Dave Barclay

You guys, Thanks to your votes and tweets and attendance at voting parties and telling me you're pulling for me I'm going to Arizona on Tuesday to participate in the Spring Training portion of the MLB Fancave competition.

So, an official blog thank you to everyone from close friends to complete strangers who have decided to aid me over the past two weeks. I'll be in 'Zona from Tuesday through Thursday, I don't know much at all about what's going to happen there, and I'm really excited to meet the other contestants for the first time.* There are 30 of us left, and the other 29 are all pretty cool dudes and dudettes.

There is no voting for me at this point, although if I make it to New York there may be some kind of voting process there, I'm not sure. If you feel the need to help the Dave for Cave movement right now, go ahead and keep tweeting the hashtag #daveforcave, or tell someone you know in the media to do a story on me. Or just tell someone about it, or wish really hard. All of this will help me, because the general buzz created back here in Toronto will factor into the judges' final decision.

Anyway thanks again. DAVE FOR CAVE!




* Except Travis Miller. I already met him in Chicago. Helluva guy.

The 10 Best Things About Being a Jays Fan

by Dave Barclay


This is an article inspired by the series on Big League Stew, one of my fave baseball blogs. If you are reading this on Wednesday, February 22nd, please go here and vote for me for the MLB FanCave. It's a fun, popular activity.

1) Memories of the Early 90s

If you are a Blue Jays fan, your mental file of “good memories” is right next to a file labeled “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and, if you are in your twenties or thirties, “awkward conversations with girls/boys”. Everything was weird in the early nineties, because the Jays were the best team in baseball, had the biggest payroll, and shattered attendance records. The ‘90s Jays had swagger too. Everyone hated us (especially Orioles fans) and Todd Stottlemyre told the mayor of Philadelphia to kiss his behind at the victory parade in 1993.

And now, when the team is finishing fourth every year, all Jays fans still connect over shared memories of Alomar, Carter, Gruber, tight uniforms, mullets and box cuts. It’s a hilarious time to be nostalgic about.

Press Release for the Dave Barclay MLB FanCave Campaign

by Dave Barclay


Hey folks, here's a press release I wrote earlier this week for the campaign. If you know any media, feel free to send it their way. Yours, Dave

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                  February 16, 2012

DAVE BARCLAY ENTERS FINAL WEEK 
OF CAMPAIGN FOR MLB FANCAVE

One of two Top 50 Finalists From Toronto 
selected from over 22,000 entries

On February 8th, Major League Baseball revealed the Top 50 finalists for the MLB Fancave, including Dave Barclay, Toronto comedian and a huge fan of the Toronto Blue Jays. The winner of the competition will spend the 2012 baseball season in New York City watching all 2,430 Major League Baseball games on a large wall of big screen Sony televisions, and chronicling their experiences online with social media, blogs, and comedy videos made with some of MLB’s biggest stars, including Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista. 

To be considered for the cave, Dave submitted a 2,000 word essay and a video demonstrating that he is one of the most entertaining baseball fans in North America. This video is posted on MLBFanCave.com and fans can vote on it as their favourite. If Dave gets enough support and makes it into the Top 30, he will go to spring training in Arizona at the end of February and compete in a series of challenges to determine the final group of contestants.

Dave is a comedian who grew up in the GTA and currently lives in Toronto, and has a Blue Jays season’s pass. He co-hosts a podcast, Sunday Afternoon Baseball with Paul and Dave (sundayafternoonbaseball.blogspot.com) with Paul Frank and blogs at Sunday Afternoon Baseball Essays (sabessays.blogspot.com). Dave graduated from the Comedy Writing and Performance program at Humber College. He is a member of the vaudeville duo Parker and Seville and has been performing standup in Toronto for over six years.

Dave wrote and shot his video shortly after seeing the movie Inception, which heavily influenced his script. In the video Dave wakes up from a series of dreams where he is Jays Shortstop Yunel Escobar, a Cardinals fan, in a world where the Jays have won the world series (and his head explodes), and finally as an English Policeman or “Bobby.” 

Since the Top 50 were revealed, Dave has received support on Twitter from Jays fans from all over Canada (and beyond) hoping to put a Jays fan in the FanCave, inspiring the hashtag #daveforcave. He has received endorsements from Jonah Keri, writer of The Extra 2% and the website/quarterly Grantland, and Jays blogger Tao of Stieb, who blogs for Sportsnet and his own blog (taoofstieb.com). 

Dave can be followed on twitter (@davebarc) and you can vote for him at MLBFanCave.com. Voting closes on Wednesday, February 22nd.

# # #

Contact: Dave Barclay at dpbarclay@gmail.com or 647-881-4489

Poster by Tracey MacIsaac (tmacphotography.com)

Video: Dave for Cave Strikes Again

by Dave Barclay

Here is my second video for the MLB Fancave! After enjoying this proceed immediately to http://tinyurl.com/7gz3apd to vote Dave for Cave. Thank you.

Endorsements: People joining the Dave for Cave Revolution

by Dave Barclay

You guys, being a MLB FanCave finalist has been a lot of fun, not only because it has enabled my narcissistic tendencies, but also because of the love and support so many people have given me through social media and whatnot. Lot's of people, including friends and family, Jays fans, Canadians, and people who like rhyming slogans have rallied to the cause. With a few days to go in the campaign, I wanted to share with you some real kind words I've received in two categories: Real and Imagined

If Wins Were Losses and Losses Were Wins: The Blorld Series Part 1

by Dave Barclay

Sometimes I like to imagine what a world would be like if mediocrity were celebrated instead of success.  We all know the story of the thrilling 2011 playoffs, but what if the standings were reversed, and we focused on those forgotten teams that regularly lose over 90 games a year? In that vein, I'd like to call attention to the outstanding losers from 2011 in a Bizarro World Series, or Blorld Series, where wins are losses and losses are wins, hot dogs and beer taste bad and everyone in the stadium eats salad and drinks tonic water.

Now, we can't just give the Blorld Series title to the Astros for having the most regular season losses, oh no. Just like the real baseball world, there had to be some postseason to shake things up and open up the possibility that the worst regular season team might not actually lose it all and have a backwards parade down Shame Avenue. But how did I create this tournament of ineptitude? By taking some regular season matchups between the big losing teams.

Here are the teams that would make the playoffs if wins were losses and vice versa:

Official Platform for MLB Fan Cave 2012

by Dave Barclay

You guys, against the odds I recently became a Top 50 finalist for the MLB Fancave. Now I have to convince the kind folks of the internet to vote for me, with the final goal of putting me in a cave for the entire Major League Baseball Season to watch 2430 games and make sure they are all actually played.

With that in mind here is a full platform of what I promise to do and not do once elected to the MLB Fancave, covering all the major issues. If at any time you are convinced to vote for me, or you want to see a really well edited video, go here and look for me. (Look for a man in a bathrobe and a jays logo)

1) If elected to the Fancave, I will represent Canada and the Blue Jays with distinction and honour (there is one other Jays Fan in the running, and you can vote for both of us. Her name is Sarah Lever) I will do this by dropping the names of former prime ministers into everyday conversations ("I really Diefenbakered this air hockey game")

2) If elected to the Fancave, I will not reveal that I am a weird mutant penguin (see Oswald Cobblepot)

3) If elected to the top 30 finalists in Arizona, I will bring you back a Arizonian souvenir, like a baby cactus or gila monster.

4) If I continue on to NYC, I will bring you back a New Yorkian souvenir, like a broadway playbill or a slice of pizza that someone used as an ashtray.

5) During my Fancave campaign, I will not use a thirty foot poster of myself prominently featuring my double chin. (It didn't work for Citizen Kane)

6) In the fancave there's a crazy 3D map of north America featuring all the MLB stadiums. If elected, I will fill those little stadiums with even littler people made of toothpicks and embroidery floss.

7) If elected to the MLB fancave, I will have the ability to reach things on the top shelf, as I am above-average in height (6'3")

8) If elected to the MLB Fancave, I will maintain a cool demeanour around my favourite MLB players and other celebrities, and refrain from kissing them full on the lips.

9) If elected to the MLB Fancave, I will bring back the Montreal Expos. (Through expansion, don't worry Nats fans!!!1)

10) If elected to the MLB Fancave, I will fight any crime that wanders into the fancave with my bobby stick (see video)

11) I'll do whatever you want. I am that desperate/powerful.

Please vote early and often, and if you want to know more about me check out my podcast, Sunday Afternoon Baseball with Paul and Dave that I do with my good friend Paul Frank, or look at some of the other articles on this blog.

Yours,

Dave Barclay