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Vipers welcomed to Northern League

February 16, 2005 - Northern League (NL)
Calgary Vipers News Release


Calgary's new Northern League professional baseball team will be called the Calgary Vipers. Northern League Commissioner Mike Stone was joined by Vipers owner Jeffrey Gidney in making the announcement today.

Mr. Gidney also announced that Peter Young has been appointed the President and Chief Operating Officer of the Northern League expansion team. A veteran network television broadcaster in Canada, Young began his sports management career with the Winnipeg Goldeyes in 1994 and 1995. He rejoined the Goldeyes for the 1999 season and more recently acted as President, Hockey Operations for the Orlando Seals, Jacksonville Barracudas and Miami Manatees of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League, President of the WHA2, and President, Hockey Operations of the WHA.

The Vipers join their provincial rivals, the Edmonton Cracker Cats, as the league's two newest teams. They bring to 12 the number of teams in the 13- year-old independent circuit.

The Vipers will start their 96 game season on May 20th in Sioux City, Iowa. Their first home game is May 27th against the Joliet JackHammers.

The team also unveiled their primary logo, cap logo and team colours. The primary colours are black, grey and maroon. The team will wear white at home, grey on the road, and a third special game jersey at home.

The Vipers have short listed their selection of managers and expect to have their field boss in place by March 1st.

Also introduced was Calgary's first selection in the Northern League expansion draft, Greg Morrison, from Medicine Hat, Alberta. The slugging first baseman was a star on Canada's bronze medal winning team at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg. A former Toronto Blue Jays farmhand Morrison started his Northern League carrier with the Duluth-Superior Dukes and played the past two seasons with the Winnipeg Goldeyes.

Viper's tickets will go on sale immediately through the team website, www.calgaryvipers.com and their ticket line (403) 235-BASE (2273). Season ticket prices range from an average of less than $12.50 for reds to less than $6.25 for greys. Single game tickets will sell for $15.50, $12.50 and $8.50.

The Vipers have signed an exclusive ticketing contract with Calgary based RepeatSeat. RepeatSeat is a leading global entertainment services company, offering private label ticketing in the United States, Canada and Europe. Company President and C.E.O. George Davidson said "From a personal point of view, as a proud Calgarian I am pleased to see high caliber baseball return to the city. Corporately, RepeatSeat is honoured to have been selected by the Vipers to provide ticketing services for the franchise. This is yet another example of the broad based acceptance of our product offering in the marketplace today and further serves to illustrate the strength and robustness of our software."

The Vipers will hold a free agent camp at Foothills Stadium on May 7th and 8th and will open their inaugural season training camp on Tuesday, May 10th. They will also host Edmonton for two preseason games.



Northern League Stories from February 16, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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