A possible clue?

30 days isn't enough time. The animation isn't going to be ready, and we haven't been able to stock up enough fish. I need to call Dean and Woodie tomorrow and ask if we can push things back two or three weeks. Do you guys mind if we postpone kick-off to around January 26 or so? We can still keep the ship date on February 20, if that isn't a problem.-dave

and one response:
OK, this must be a hint. Let's analyze. "January 26" - Michigan is admitted to the Union as the 26th state."haven't been able to stock up enough fish" - Michigan is known for it's sport fishing. Brook trout, salmon, walleye, lake perch.So obviously we will have some object with protruding "eyes" (walleye) that we will have to perch 26 feet into the air.

and mine:
sounds like the end of the alaskan king crab season to me...