All-Access Pass HE’S AT EVERY SACRAMENTO EVENT, HELPING OUT AND MAKING FRIENDS
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ou probably don’t know his name. But if you ever met him, he’d remember your name. And after that, you probably wouldn’t forget his. At 56, Randy Brink has spent a lifetime building relationships, working—for free—for many of Sacramento’s leading sports teams and community organizations. A volunteer for the Sacramento Kings for 31 years, he attends all the home games, holding the titles of chief sound engineer and certified stagehand. For the Sacramento River Cats, he’s assistant for stadium operations and fireworks safety officer. For the Sacramento Republic FC, he’s the director of pitch. “Randy has just always been here,” says Jeff Savage, president of the Sacramento River Cats. “I don’t know how he gets in or gets tickets, but he does. I’ll see him in the hallway, in the office or around the stadium.” Brink’s secret: He makes friends easily and at all levels inside an organization. He quickly learns people’s names and becomes part of the team. “He’s a fixture around the River Cats,” says Savage. “Most of the staff knows him.” “Everyone loves Randy,” says Warren Smith, a former River Cats executive and now president of Sacramento Republic. He and Brink
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Randy Brink with River Cats president Jeff Savage. Photo courtesy of Kaylee Creevan.
met in 1991, when Smith was working to bring the River Cats to Sacramento and get a stadium built in West Sacramento. “He just walked right up to me and said, ‘I’m going work for the River Cats,’” Smith recalls. “I said, ‘What do you want to do?’ Randy became fire marshal for the team and stadium.” Later, Brink followed Smith to the Sacramento Republic soccer team. At every home game, as director of pitch, Brink escorts officials and referees onto the field to start the game.
“Randy will walk around the rest of the game,” said Smith. “He’ll talk with staff and the people he knows. The players love him. Fans love him. He’s a special guy.” Kings and River Cats games and Republic matches aren’t the only places you’ll see Brink. That was him at this summer’s California State Fair, where he holds the title of state fair goodwill ambassador. He helps open every meeting of the fair’s board of directors, and he says an opening prayer at Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau board meetings.
From farm-to-fork events and firework shows to Junior Olympics and NCAA Track and Field Championships, Brink is there, with all-access passes around his neck and a title for every activity. Brink’s volunteer resume is long and varied: He announces the baseball games at McClatchy High School. He’s facilities manager at Crocker & Crocker, emergency response manager for the West Sacramento Fire Department, DOWNTOWN page 38