The REAL. BIG. Blog

If you know the state where every school in the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament is located, then I can safely say you have too much time on your hands. OK, some are pretty easy – North Texas is probably in Texas. South Dakota State is probably not in California. It turns out Oakland is not in California, but Michigan. Go figure. But where in the world is Wofford?

Some of these schools are what TV producers and broadcasters crave – air time filler, the Cinderella story, the little known school with big time hopes. So let’s take the example of Wofford. At under 1500 students it’s about the size of the Division III college I went to as an undergrad. How did they make it to Division I? You might think it was by focusing nearly exclusively on athletics but the school is ranked as one of the top 60 national private, liberal arts colleges in the country and has produced five Rhodes Scholars.  They are one of the smallest schools ever to go to the NCAA tournament but they’re not the 16 seed you might expect – they’ve earned  a 13 seed and are slated to play Wisconsin. If I were the Badgers I’d watch out for these guys. They’re nicknamed the Terriers and it’s always the small dogs with big attitude that end up biting your finger.

Anyway, I figure the Big Dance is always a good time to find out something about a school you’ve never heard of. If your alma mater is playing this week, or you just want to wave the flag about your school, give us a shout and tell us what makes your school special. By the way, Wofford is located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. You can add that to your bracketknowledgey.

Wofford College

Fathead and sister company Quicken Loans are elated to be celebrating and supporting Motown’s accomplishments over the past 50 years. This weekend as Berry Gordy and the rest of the Motown family return to the Motown’s birthplace of Detroit for two nights of parties celebrating the legendary record company’s 50th anniversary to benefit the Motown Historical Museum. Fathead has gone BIG for the weekend’s events and has produced the classic images of the many talented groups and individuals that captured our hearts and ears for years for fans to adorn and take pictures with while attending the events. The celebration takes place tonight at the Roostertail nightclub on the Detroit River — the scene of many a Motown performance and party during the 1960s and early ’70s — for a private alumni reception.

On Saturday, the museum hosts a Motown 50 Golden Gala fundraiser, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Kid Rock are slated to perform for an expected crowd of 500 at the ballroom in the GM Renaissance Center’s Marriott hotel. Comedian Sinbad hosts, with special honors given to early Motowners Smokey Robinson, Brian Holland, Robert Bateman, Janie Bradford and Raynoma Singleton.

By John Fontana

Queue the marching band. Queue the cheerleaders. Queue the coaches, the team and the trainer. And for the sake of college football and all its excitement, queue the University of Colorado’s Ralphie, http://www.autumnspectacle.com/Pageantry/Ralphie-runout.jpg the greatest live mascot http://www.fathead.com/college/colorado-buffaloes/colorado-buffaloes-logo/ in college sports – hands down. Nothing strikes fear in the hearts of young men like the sight of a 1,300-pound hulk of hairy buffalo (actually an American Bison) bearing down on them when Ralphie makes her (yes, her) pregame run right into the teeth of the opponent’s warm-ups. There have been more than a few players who have had to change their pants even before the game started.

A tradition since 1967, Ralphie V made her debut Sunday at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver (three days after Barack Obama accepted the Democratic presidential nomination at the same venue), leading the Colorado Buffaloes into their annual in-state rivalry against Colorado State (represented by a docile old Ram that wets itself at the site of the great buffalo). Talkn’ smack? You bet. My wife went to CSU. I went to CU.   Colorado won the game, 38-17.

There is nothing like college rivalry to light the flame in a college football fan’s heart. It’s the game that puts a glint in a fan’s eye as sharp as Ralphie’s horns.  Michigan-Ohio State. Miami-Florida State. Oklahoma-Texas. Alabama-Auburn. USC-Notre Dame. Army-Navy. Florida-Georgia. Harvard-Yale. Cal-Stanford. Minnesota-Wisconsin. Alabama-Tennessee. Washington-Washington State. Clemson-South Carolina.

Colorado Buffalos Logo by Fathead

Every fan wants to see their college team win on Saturday, but with a rivalry game it’s about pain, suffering, and a guaranteed 365 days of bragging rights until next year.  Rivalry is about opening the portal to that dark spot on your heart; about that shooting pain of contempt, about the one win that rescues even a season of crushing defeats. It’s everything that makes college football the best way to spend a fall afternoon.
The smell of tailgate barbeques, the sound of college fight songs, and the sight of Ralphie bearing down on those silly enough to stand in her way.