The Residency Visits Begin!…GR Simsters!

Because of what I have perceived as an increased interest in residencies, I have undertaken a trip around the world to check out the home turf of some of the Sims top places to join with your stables. The trip is being sponsored by those lovely ladies at the BTB as they realize how much our readers will enjoy this inside look.

I decided that I would start my residency journey with a trip to the GR Simsters. There are a few reasons for this. They have one of the most recognizable residencies and I’m sure that there will be an interest there. They responded early to my “self invitations” and welcomed me. I didn’t have any problem finding an early flight there and last but not least, I keep worrying that Roys back at the BTB is going to pull the plug on this little hop scotch around the world when she sees these expense vouchers so I wanted to get them worked in early!

I flew in and expected to grab a rental car to make the 45 minute drive to Simsters Headquarters but I was surprised to be greeted at the airport by a driver holding my name on a placard. At first I thought there was a mistake but then I wondered how many other PazJazzes there could be at the airport! Another surprise awaited me when he whisked me across the airport to a small private area and pulled up to a beautiful Bell JetRanger Helicopter with the props just starting to get revved up. It had the GR Simsters logo on the side and was ready to roll. I climbed in and we quickly saw a tall building directly ahead. It was the beautiful Simsters Headquarters building and we landed right at the top. It was one of my first rides in a copter and had already made the trip worthwhile!

I was immediately met on the roof by the GR Simsters president himself, Given and we quickly walked into their opulent penthouse office.

Given – PazJazz, thanks for flying into GR Simsters headquarters. I trust that your helicopter ride to the top of our world-class office building was to your liking. Why don’t we go downstairs to our excellent steakhouse, GR Gibson’s, and talk over some dinner. Our chef has a tantalizing menu tonight, featuring a lobster tail appetizer and a mouth-watering peppercorn-encrusted Kobe filet mignon for a main course. To appease our members, we also boast a fine selection of the world’s greatest beers and wines. My personal favorite is a beer called Paulaner Salvator, a German doppelbock. As we head down to the restaurant level, I encourage you to take in the modern, clean atmosphere of our headquarters. We were able to build this phenomenal compound from sponsorship revenue that we brought in following our victory in the 2004 Equinics. It is a state-of-the-art facility that our members absolutely love!

PazJazz-This place is awesome and I loved the helicopter. I could get used to this.

As we sat down in the dining room, we were attentively tended to by an extremely professional wait staff. I took a sip of the imported beer and asked about the residency.

PazJazz– One thing that I was wondering about the Simsters, is there a theme or a region for your residency? Do you have certain tracks that you have as home tracks?.

Given– We don’t have a region or group of tracks that are associated with the GR Simsters. The beginnings of our residency go back to the Playstation game Gallop Racer. At Jim Cougar’s fantastic website www.orlworld.com, there sprouted up a league for Gallop Racer enthusiasts. I was very involved in that game and those leagues for a number of years. Then Geoff (aka. Galileo), who I knew from the Tecmo Board Gallop Racer forums, introduced me to the Sim. As a breeding and pedigree enthusiast, it didn’t take long for me to become addicted to it. Geoff and I introduced some other Gallop Racer players to the Sim, and eventually we had a big enough group that we were able to start a residency. So I suppose that the theme for our group is mainly players of Gallop Racer and different games supported by the ORLWorld site. The GR in GR Simsters stands for Gallop Racer!

PazJazz How long has the residency been in existence?

Given – The GR Simsters first week of existence was Sim Week 2048, which was in early 2004. We’re celebrating our fourth year in existence.

PazJazz– How many members do you have and do you have any rules about how many stables you can have?

Given – The GR Simsters currently have close to 25 active members. We have no rules regarding number of stables that our members must support with.

PazJazz– Do you have any Annual Race Days or Festivals for either the member or the Sim in general?

Given – We have a number of events that we are very proud to host. First and foremost is the Smackdown. This event started in 2005 and will occur for the fourth time this coming July. The Smackdown consists of around 20 restricted races worth $500,000 each. Each year we invite residencies to compete against us in the Smackdown. Typically, five horses from each residency will go postward with the chance to earn points with a top five finish. So far, the GR Simsters have won all three of the Smackdowns, although this year will be the toughest battle yet, going against Minnesota and DelPenn. As an added bonus to the Sim, on Smackdown Day we usually purchase a number of open G1 races. However, with the Equinics coming five weeks after the Smackdown this year, we may cut back on the number of open G1 races this year.

Our second biggest event is the GR Simsters Championships. These are members-only races that form our equivalent of the Breeders Bowl. We usually have around 15 races that comprise this event. In addition, we have other races and contests throughout the year, including our versions of the Triple Crown, big juvenile stakes races, state-bred contests, and many more!

PazJazz– What kinds of contests do you offer? Anything new coming up?

Given – Our next contest will be week 3497. This is the first week of juvenile racing, and to celebrate that we put together two stakes races, one on the dirt, and one on the turf. There is a beautifully-bred prize horse that will go to the member whose juveniles perform the best. We try to spice things up with random prize horse giveaways throughout the year as well. For example, we may give a prize horse to the member who has the highest losing speed figure for the week, or the member with the lowest winning speed figure.

PazJazz– Gee, I could probably come up with lots of horses with the lowest LOSING speed figure. Too bad you don’t have a prize for that! LOL Is there a way for members to connect to one another? For example, do you have a message board or forum?

Given – Most certainly! One of the best aspects of our residency is the camaraderie that we all share. Our message board is located at our stellar website, www.grsimsters.com. This site was developed by our web guru Brian (aka. PadreBri).

PazJazz If you’ve ever read the Auction articles by my Editor Roys, you know how much she appreciates “Star Gazing” for Sim celebrities. She would want me to ask if there any “Sim Famous” members of your Rez that our readers would recognize?

Given – We have many recognizable members of the Sim community! Of course there is Ryan (aka. Lenny), who heads up the Lennbrenner Empire. You could spend all day looking through his amazing stables. Geoff (aka. Galileo), pulled off what may be the greatest Sim feat to date, winning both the English Derby and the English Oaks in the same year with Lex Luthor and Wicked Wench, respectively. Tracy (aka. Squirrel) is known by many throughout the Sim for her dedication to the game, as she runs the Sim Trainer Contest and writes many great BTB articles. I could go on and on about our great members, and would urge anyone who is interested to come visit out website and have a chat with them!

PazJazz– The Equinics are coming up again this year, does your Residency compete in the Equinics?

Given The GR Simsters are proud to be the reigning 2006 Equinics Champions. The first Equinics we took part in were the 2004 edition. At that point our residency was barely off the ground, and our lone top-three finisher was Phil’s (aka. Daninja) awesome turfer Ziklag. That raceday, myself, Ryan (aka. Lenny), Brian (aka. PadreBri), and Todd (aka. WarEmblem) were all together on a trip to the Arlington Million. I’ll never forget watching those races in our hotel room with them, as horse after horse of ours got slaughtered! It was really funny. Who would have thought that we would win the next Equinics! We are looking forward to defending our title this upcoming August. It certainly will be tough, but we are going to attempt to be the first residency to win back-to-back Equinics!

We chatted for a while longer but right after dessert and coffee, Given was called away for some matter in the office. I was given a tour of the building and surrounding stables with growing awe every step of the way. I was even surprised that they had luxurious guest rooms for out of town owners and guests so that I saved the BTB some money on that one! The only thing I found that they were missing was a gift shop. Now where on earth will I be able to find a Snow Globe around here…

I am beat after a long day of travel and touring but I must admit I was very impressed with the facilities here. Our first stop on our tour has really raised the bar and I’m kind of itching to try out the next rez.

Looking forward to seeing you in your little corner of the world!

Email your comments to pazjazz.btb@gmail.comI love to hear from you!