Only a week til Christmas, so its a little late for wish lists. I won’t be asking for anything extraordinary from my family and friends at this point. Get me the sweater, the book, the DVD, and I’m a happy guy.
But let’s pretend for a moment there is a sports Santa Claus. A sports version of St. Nick who is very interested in making the wishes of sports fans come true. Well Mr. Claus, I’ve been pretty good this year and I have a few requests.
Here is what I want for Christmas:
I WANT A COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
Don't the unbeaten Horned Frogs at least deserve a shot at a national championship? Maybe one day they'll get that chance. (courtesy realclearsports.com)
I know Santa, you get this one a lot, but I’m never going to stop wishing for this. I’m thrilled with an Oregon/Auburn matchup in the title game, but the BCS continues to get lucky and that can’t last forever. I’ll even admit TCU probably isn’t as good as Oregon or Auburn, but shouldn’t that be decided on the field? The Horned Frogs did absolutely everything that was asked of them, but won’t get a sniff of a championship simply because of discrimination toward smaller schools and non-traditional powers. I don’t care how big or small the playoff is, I just want a level playing field here. And spare me the excuses of extra games, protecting student-athletes, and preserving the bowl system. The bowl system is a middling mess of mediocrity. You mean we might miss out on Florida International vs. Toledo in the Little Caesar’s Bowl? Good, I’d rather watch curling anyway. Trust me Santa, if you want to stop receiving these letters, you’ll find a way to make this happen for me and the countless fans who hate seeing this sport’s champion be crowned by ignorant human voters and soulless computers.
I WANT THE NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT TO STAY AT 65 TEAMS
College football may get it wrong, but college basketball gets it right. There is no need to expand March Madness to 96 teams as is being discussed by the NCAA. 65 teams means the little guy still has a shot and that’s all the little guy is asking for.
All of us should count our blessings everyday, but this time of year, we all put a little more thought into what we’re thankful for. Family, friends, and turkey are the obvious choices. Even though there are few things I like more than a plump, juicy bird on my table, I don’t know what I would do without sports.
So, to get you ready for the week ahead, I present to you 101 things that bring me happiness in the wonderful world of sports.
I am thankful for…
Football on Thanksgiving
Being able to watch Sportscenter on a loop every morning
Whoever invented fantasy football
Every time I see a game live
The NHL playoffs
An entire channel devoted to nothing but tennis
The voice of Mike Shannon on the Cardinals’ radio network
Rivalries in any sport
March madness
Winning the March madness office pool
A summer evening at the ballpark with a hotdog in one hand and a cold beer in the other
Norman-based Old Hat (OH) Creative is a sports ad agency. Their mission is to tell the stories of their clients, and tell them well. And if you visit their OH website, you could probably park your hiney in a chair for the next few hours because they’ve created enough cool content to keep anyone entertained for a good long while.
But there is a difference when you see their story in person.
If you review their website, you get the impression of energy, humor, sharp and creative individuals who take their work very seriously. Okay – maybe there are similarities between the online and in-person story.
If you review their website you get the impression that the team is cohesive, that they really care about their clients, their craft, about learning and growing…and about performing together as a well-oiled and evolving system, willing to take risks and think without boundaries. Okay, this is getting silly…those messages are clear when you visit them in person as well.
Damn, their website is pretty good at telling their story!
Tracie Hitz and Walter Colindres pose with Lil' Duey, the Old Hat Creative mascot. Visit Duey's webiste page for more on this travels, arch enemies and lifestyle.
So what can we add for you this morning? Perhaps a third dimension of warmth, of genuine regard for each other as a team. And of the dichotomy between a screaming football stadium of fans where their ads may be running on the big screen compared to the pristine quiet when you walk into their office – all their professionals working on iMacs with headphones on, completely focused on their task at hand.
I spoke to Tracie Hitz, their Director of Business Development, this week and she talked about why she moved from Illinois to Oklahoma in order to join OH. She said that the Chicago area is filled with ad agencies, and a sub-group of sports ad agencies…that it’s a fast paced and challenging life, and fits the image of what you might hope to have working in their industry. At the same time, however, she related that working for the Northwestern University athletic department was – in a sense – an established system with very little room for creative influence in terms of their mission or direction. They already were how they were going to be.
When Tracie moved here, she got two things. The ability to contribute and influence the way OH was developing – she said that founder Zac Logsdon listens to her ideas, considers them and frequently she’ll see them implemented. And, she got “settled down,” a sense of stability and permanence of community. When I listened to her “two things,” I thought… “Well, that’s Oklahoma. Creative and homey.” But it’s certainly OH as well.
Old Hat's "living room," AKA their reception area.
And perhaps that’s the thing we can tell you about when wrapping up our shout out this morning. When you walk into the OH “living room,” it feels comfortable. When you talk with their staff, they are friendly and inviting…and funny. And when you think about their website information as a whole, you get the sense that the team is a family.
I spoke to a Norman resident Wednesday night and mentioned I had visited OH and he perked up, “Yeah, they’re making waves around town!”
“Good waves?” I asked, “What kind of waves?”
“They’re well-respected, over-achievers…a really good thing,” he replied.
So, maybe that’s the rest of the story. A creative family of overachieving professionals who make good waves in their community….but you can get that from their website too. And their Twitter account. And their Facebook page.
And…you can get the chance to win a ‘Lil Duey T-Shirt and an OH hat just by Tweeting this article (see icon below), or visiting the new RDC Twitter account and mentioning us. Just Tweet a message and “@RDChronicles” today, and we’ll enter you in the drawing…and contact you tomorrow if you won.
Here’s to you, Old Hat – we’re “tipping our RDC hat” to you and yours. All the best!
***
Editor’s Note: I was a high school drama teacher for eight years. OH Founder, Zac Logsdon, was one of my former students. He and his wife Jill played the leads (mother and father) in our first off-site play, “Cheaper by the Dozen.” It’s interesting that now it seems they are sort of the mother and father of a dozen or so children at OH, all of whom are very special people...warms my heart to see them doing what they’re doing.
The pop machine. An integral part of the OH living room.Win this hat and t-shirt...Tweet this essay or mention @RDChronicles on your Twitter account!
That was my thought as I stared at the boxes piled high in my garage. Clearing out my house in preparation for a move, made me come face to face with the harsh reality of just how many things I actually own.
There were several items that flat out needed to be trashed, while many others made for great garage sale material. However, there were a couple enormous boxes I didn’t even think about tossing, donating, or selling. These were the special boxes, the “don’t you even think about throwing that stuff away” boxes. Those squares of cardboard contained all of my sports tokens, souvenirs, apparel, memorabilia, and mementos.
A shoebox full of media credentials from my days in TV, everything from bass tournaments to college basketball to arena football.
I wouldn’t call it a collection. It’s more of a random gathering with absolutely no rhyme or reason. There are the obvious items like the jerseys and the posters. There are the things which take me back to my childhood like the football cards, the action figures of my favorite players, and the stickers I used to put on my closet door. And then…well, then there’s the other stuff. I don’t know why I have this stuff, but I don’t want to get rid of it either. I have a souvenir baseball from the Class A Clearwater (Florida) Threshers. Long story, don’t ask. There is a single golf ball commemorating the 10th anniversary of Texas Motor Speedway. I’ve never been to Texas Motor Speedway, never teed it up, don’t need it, but kind of like it. And speaking of worthless, look no further than the 2007 Indiana Football Media Guide. I picked that up at the Insight Bowl a few years back when the Hoosiers faced Oklahoma State. Haven’t looked at it once, not quite ready to chuck it.
I acknowledge that I have a problem, but I also feel like these things tell my own personal sports history. They are the fabric of what makes me a fan. I don’t know if you can put a price on that. All my stuff is worth a couple hundred bucks, tops. In other words, its junk. But there’s a difference between junk and stuff I have a connection with.
A $3 racket turned into a little piece of family history.
Take for example, the old wooden racket I picked up at a thrift store. When I showed it to my dad, he told me it was the exact frame he played with when he was in high school. Now I’ll never look at that racket the same way. For three bucks I got myself a reminder of my father, the man who got me started playing the game I love so much.
Unpacking the boxes, I stumbled across a dozen different Dallas Cowboys’ hats. They were dirty, sweat stained, and beautiful. As a young Cowboys fan, I would watch every game with several hats at my disposal. If my ‘Boys weren’t performing well, obviously the hat wasn’t performing well, and so a change needed to be made. This hat rotation went on for years and I’m so glad I still have every single one. Maybe I can pass them on to my son one day, and tell him about the tradition as we suffer through Cowboys games together.
Hats from the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa. Do I need three almost identical hats? Probably not. Will I get rid of one? Definitely not.
My girlfriend doesn’t understand this obsession. My mom really wishes I’d stop using my old closet as a long distance storage space. They don’t get it, but they don’t have to get it. I need these things to feel at home, to feel like myself. I like to walk into my apartment and be surrounded by my stuff. Maybe it’s wrong, shallow, superficial, and psychologically weird, but my stuff is me. The pennants, the pucks, the sweatshirts that don’t fit anymore, it’s all me. The golf club head covers, the stained coasters, and those stadium cups you get with your nine dollar soda (I’ve got six), all me as well.
A reminder of a trip to Wrigley, one of the coldest nights of my life watching Kerry Wood throw a 4-hit shutout of my Redbirds.
I’ve got the ticket stub from every sporting event I’ve ever attended. I’ve saved countless issues of Sports Illustrated, and cut out newspaper headlines from some of my most memorable sports moments. The one that stands out is from the front page of the Calgary Sun on June 6th, 2004. It’s a picture from game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals with my beloved Calgary Flames and the Tampa Bay Lightning. The photo shows the puck resting on the goal line as two Flames’ players crash the net. I was in Calgary that day, ready to erupt with the rest of the city. My brother and I promised each other we’d find a way to make it to Calgary if the Flames had a chance to win the Cup on home ice. Tickets were too expensive, but we settled into a sports bar, just two anonymous fans in the “C” of red. The puck didn’t go in. Tampa Bay won the game in double overtime, and won the Cup in game 7 two days later. I’ll never forget walking the streets of Calgary with my brother, consoling complete strangers, and reliving every moment of that game. The headline reads, “THAT CLOSE.” Funny how a piece of paper can connect me to one of the best and worst sports memories of my life.
Looking at this is a form of self-torture, but also a reminder of my brother and the greatest spur-of-the-moment sports trip ever taken.
I don’t have the space right now, but maybe one day I’ll realize the dream of displaying all my stuff in one big room of my house. It will be like my own personal sports bar, the man cave of all man caves. Until then, I will continue to search, clip, buy, and yes, save this stuff.
I want to know I’m not alone. Please tell me about your weird sports collection, or that one item that means the world to you, but very little to anyone else. Leave a comment, tell me your stories, or just tell me about something cool you stumbled across at an estate sale. Make me feel better about myself, don’t let me think I’m the only sports hoarder out there.
Showcasing Red Dirt culture ~ authored and managed by contributors with connections to the great state of Oklahoma.
All of us should count our blessings everyday, but this time of year, we all put a little more thought into what we’re thankful for. Family, friends, and turkey are the obvious choices. Even though there are few things I like more than a plump, juicy bird on my table, I don’t know what I would do without sports.
