T-shirt gatling gun provides entertainment during Bucks' games
NEW BERLIN -- When Milwaukee Bucks supporters file into the BMO Harris Bradley Center, they expect to be entertained by the team's players and their opponents. However, one Milwaukee-area company wants to be sure it's not just basketball that sends the fans home happy.
Todd Scheel works with the Milwaukee Bucks and other professional and collegiate teams on music and in-game presentations.
"We live in the MTV world, where sometimes you go to a sporting event and the team may not be doing as well, so now there's a time out. We want something more entertaining during that break," Scheel said.
The team has some long-standing fan favorites performing, and this year, a new piece of equipment that seems to be on its way to becoming very well-liked.
At the request of the Philadelphia 76ers, Scheel's company adapted its T-shirt gatling gun to create the double-barrel T-shirt gatling gun, which can put a team product directly in the hands of many more fans -- 60 shirts in about five seconds!
"The best thing about it is the team can sponsor it and make money on it, as well as give away products that it's going to give away anyhow, so it's a win-win for everybody. The fans win, the sponsors win, the team wins and we win," Scheel said.
This particular product uses CO2 gas to propel the shirts into the air, and a little mascot training is required to maximize distribution.
"They pull both hammers back, which starts the barrel to spin. This one right now is set up on a 10-second revolution, and then they have these thumb triggers. One will do the outside barrel and one will do the inside barrel," Scheel said.
This creativity emanates from a company called Exciting Events, with an office in a nondescript building in New Berlin. Stepping inside, it's anything but nondescript. Scheel feels like he works in a candy store.
"I think my dad said something to me, I don't know how many years ago. I was blowing something or other up, and he said 'are you ever going to grow up?' And I said 'hopefully never,'" Scheel said.
The Milwaukee Bucks' next home game is Saturday night, November 10th against the Boston Celtics.