Fathead Blog

The Fathead Events Team travels to various cities throughout the year to participate in some pretty cool events.  The 2010 MLB All-Star Fanfest was one of them.  This year it was held in Anaheim, CA and we were all excited to attend.  It meant 12-14 hour days in our booth at Fanfest, but we love getting to interact with our fans, and we have a blast doing it.  Because four of us were going to be out there for over a week, we decided to rent a great vacation house right next to Disneyland instead of staying in hotel rooms to be more comfortable and keep costs down.

We arrived at the house and immediately walked through the whole place to get a lay of the land.  It was a very nice comfortable space with enough bedrooms for the four of us and a full kitchen and big living room along with an nice outside deck and pool area with patio furniture, tables and grills.  We were all set!  As we were walking back through the house to jump in the SUV to go get a week’s worth of groceries, when all of us suddenly felt eyes on us…we stopped and looked around…nothing.  Then, Tim stopped us and said, “Look!”  We glanced over towards a big picture window overlooking the pool and there IT was…The Reclining Clown!! (cue the Psycho music – eeeee   eeeee   eeeee!!!)  We all kind of jumped back like Oh Sh- -!!!  What the heck is that!  He was just laying on the table staring at us making this creepy little piece sign with his stubby little fingers.  Where did he come from, and what was he doing in our living room!?!  We all just kind of backed out of the room and out of the house.

We forgot about “RC,” as he became to be known.  We were focused on our strategy for the first day of MLB All-Star.  Our booth was all set up at the Convention Center and ready for tomorrow’s opening day of Fanfest where thousands of baseball fans would converge on Anaheim.  That 1^st night we made a big meal on the grill — steak, corn, salad — and just relaxed, listening to the Grateful Dead as Marc told us hilarious stories of his Dead exploits.  Around midnight we all realized we were exhausted, all of us having started our travels 20 hours earlier in a couple of time zones over.  We all decided on a early morning call time and mumbled our goodnights.  Everyone retired to their rooms deeper in the house.  About 20 minutes into the quiet of the house we all heard, ”AAAARrrrrgghhhhhhh!!!  What the &*$^%!!!!”

Marc comes bolting out of his room like he was on fire!  We all jumped up to see what the deal was and when we looked in his room…there was “RC” in his BED!!!!  (EEEEE   EEEEEEE   EEEEEE!!!)  We all were doubled over with hysterical laughter, tears flowing out of our eyes…our neighbors must have thought we had gone absolutely insane.  We moved “RC” back to his place in the living room on the table where he just looked at us with that goofy creepy smile on his face…peace!

Well, each night, needless to say, each and every one of us was visited by “RC”!  No one ever admitted to putting him in our rooms but each time someone went to bed or even got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night “RC” would be in his/her bed or on the dresser or floor.  Each time it scared the crap out of us…followed by raucous laughter that carried on well into the night.  One night Tim laughed himself to sleep after Megan found that stupid clown on her guest bed like a roommate. 

While we’ll miss many things upon leaving that very cool guest house…Reclining Clown is NOT one of them!!!

The day has finally come, again, to all woefully hopeful Detroiters. Day by day as we approach the start of the NFL season we attempt wash away the stench of another abysmal losing season. The only thing statistically easier than shortening up our memory to exclude our past embarrassments is to actually win one football game in a season. I mean you have to at least win one, right? RIGHT? …I digress.

The level at which the Detroit Lion fan base is able to shake off 2nd half meltdowns, commit inexcusable penalties and show a sub-collegiate performance that happened mere months ago is beyond human comprehension. With 2 wins in the past 32 games, some in this fan base aren’t hoping for a .500 season, they’re talking playoffs! They will all tell you that something is different this year, and I don’t necessarily have the capacity to remember back to when something was actually different.

Well, you’ll never win the lotto unless you play, but it seems like this team actually does have something different about them. The strides that Matthew Stafford has made and the potential he has shown entering his sophomore year is something that even the hardest Motown critic can’t help but get starry-eyed at. The GM, Martin Mayhew, was able to successfully overhaul a roster build during an 8 year span where logic failed to penetrate the front office. Jim Schwartz has a winning pedigree and doesn’t ‘Mariucci’ himself out of direct questions with the press. Most importantly, the fans aren’t left scratching their heads at the end of draft day and can get excited about the talent they have because many of their draft picks gain national appraise.

Don’t put your deposit down on playoff tickets yet boys; we still have a ways to go. Don’t lather yourselves up in Honolulu and get ready for a ‘Suh’per Bowl, but enjoy the flashes of what you’ll see this year, the second year of what an actual rebuilding period looks like. You won’t clinch an NFC championship, but you could gain some national respect. You won’t sniff the playoffs but you don’t have to be overpowered with the stench of what you left out on the gridiron last year. Enjoy this time of year Leo fans.  It is undeniably, historically and statistically the best time of the year to be a fan of the Detroit Lions.

Fathead of Batman Full Throttle:   $89.99.

Ground shipping:   $9.99.

The look on my nephew’s face when he saw a life size Batman on his bedroom wall:   PRICELESS.

My 3-year-old nephew is a Batman fanatic. He has the pajamas, the sheets, the towel, and the bathing suit, but I have never seen him so excited as he was when he walked into his bedroom and saw the full size Batman on his bedroom wall. I would have paid $1000 for that look of pure joy. It also doesn’t hurt that I am now the favorite aunt.

Although, Wimbledon, undoubtedly, is the most coveted prize for any tennis player, arguably, the most anticipated and exciting tournament this year for tennis fans is the US Open! The question on everyone’s mind and all the buzz is centered one man: Rafael Nadal!

Will Rafael Nadal stun us all and achieve the coveted and rare Career Grand Slam? Can the “King of Clay” and World’s number one player win on the speedy hard courts?  Will the man with the big guns blasts his opponents and all of the doubters off the court this year?

I say, “YES”! Sure, Nadal was demolished in uncharacteristic fashion by Andy Murray at the Roger’s Cup…However, we have all seen and know that Murray isn’t very mentally tough when it counts, and we know what that can do to one’s tennis career. Remember Amelie Mauresmo?  Nadal’s performance last week in Cincinnati, and the best comeback performance of the US Open Series, thus far, proves that although he may not have the best hard-court game on tour, he has the best heart .  Down a set and at match point against the Frenchman, Bennitaeu, Nadal fought back and won the match in a decisive fashion. No one else on tour can do that, not even Federer!

Although it will be tough, Baghdatis is back and better than ever, Federer is in hot pursuit of trying to achieve 20 Majors, the “Joker” and Roddick want to add a second Major to their resume, and Soderling, Murray, and Berdych all want a piece of the pie, but the man to beat, hands down, is Nadal.  My prediction for the final: Murray and Nadal in a stunning five setter.

Vamos Rafa!

I recently visited my Aunt and Uncle in Indy for a weekend.  Up until a year ago, they lived in Michigan; both born and raised.  They had always been hardcore fans of the Tigers, the Lions, the Red Wings, the Pistons, MSU Spartans, and U of M Wolverines.  As I walked through their garage, I remarked on the awesome Detroit Tiger Fathead they had on the wall.  My Aunt said, “Oh, we need all the Detroit and Michigan Fatheads.  I want to fill all these walls!”

Later that evening, we went to dinner and I brought up the fact that my Aunt just didn’t seem very happy in Indianapolis.  It seemed like a decent place to me—nice people with a little touch of southern charm seemed to be the norm.  My Uncle rolled his eyes as if to say “Oh no, here we go again…”   She hemmed and hawed for a few minutes talking about Indy just being different than Michigan and she can’t get used to it, etc. and finally she just blurted out, “I hate the Colts, ok?!”

Seemed like a good enough reason to me…