The REAL. BIG. Blog

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.

Congratulations to the New York Yankees on winning their 27th World Series title. The exhausting MLB season has finally come to a close, along with the best time of the year for sports…

October and November are some of the most exciting months for sports fans. It is the only time of the year that all 4 major sports are on at the same time.

The MLB Playoffs are nearing the end, where every pitch, every catch and every move matters. This year in the playoff you had two of the more storied franchises in all of sports with the Yankees and Dodgers. Let’s not forget the Red Sox and Cardinals who have both won a World Series title in the past 3 years. And then there are the two most consistent teams in baseball: the Twins and Angels. Year after year, those two teams always seem to be near, or at the top of their respected divisions. After starting 19-28 and firing their head coach, the Rockies came back and made another impressive run to the postseason.

The NFL is in full swing with intriguing story lines, bone-crushing hits and highlight reel plays. There are always surprises with the NFL. Who would have thought that at age 40, Brett Favre would be playing as well as he is… who would have thought that in week 9 we would still have two undefeated teams (Indianapolis and New Orleans both 7-0)… Who would have thought that the Wildcat would make defensive coordinators cringe… From the Ram’s, Lion’s and Buccaneers to the Saints, Colts and Vikings, Sunday’s are days where you can always find excitement with any team.

The NBA season tips off. A clean slate for every team. The Clippers look to spring forward with Blake Griffin, Stephen Curry looks to show off his sweet shot at the professional level, and the rest of the NBA Rookies look to make their mark on the league. This is a league full of superstars. From LeBron and Kobe to Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade, each player brings a different dynamic to the court that can only be classified as incredible.

And finally, the puck drops in the NHL. After a come from behind win against the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Penguins are looking for the first repeat since the Red Wings went back to back in ‘97 and ‘98. With all the free agent moves and offseason trades, the tides may be turning for some teams in the NHL.

Of course, I cannot forget College football. Every sports fan has a favorite NCAA team. With tailgaiting, face painting, BCS discussions, conference title hopes, stadiums with 100,000+ people, and bowl games… College football definitely demonstrates the true passion of fans and athletes.

Ah yes, it really is a great time of year!

With all the new products we’ve been putting up at Fathead, everything from NBA and MLB Classic Logos, to new NHL, MLB and NBA Players, to Xeko Animals, you may not have noticed that we now have a full complement of MLS Logos.  If you follow soccer then you know that MLS stands for Major League Soccer. If you don’t follow it, you should. Why? Not because it’s the most popular sport in the world. That would be easy. MLS is great because of what it represents for sports in America – an opportunity. Isn’t that what every American kid hopes for – a chance?

America keeps giving soccer a chance and I’m confident we’re going to get it right. It’s not something we can just tune in for every few years during the World Cup or sneak a peek at on Entertainment Tonight because they’re talking about David Beckham. We have thousands of kids playing soccer in this country and we have fifteen teams now in the MLS; the latest, the Seattle Sounders, has fans in that city turning up in droves. There are great players, great teams and great fans of soccer in America right now.

So I challenge you. Give soccer a chance. Give MLS a chance. And, if you have a story about your love for soccer or your experience with MLS, share it with us.

One of the coolest things about working for Fathead is that we get to see new products come together from start to finish.

After an athlete is deemed Fathead-worthy, it can be a very difficult process finding a suitable photograph. The resolution has to be amazing, the pose should reflect the athlete at his/her best, and we always want to include the athlete’s face.  I think our designers do an extraordinary job selecting the best images.

With that in mind, I present to you what I believe are the top 5 Fathead images.  Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to post your comments here.  After the overwhelming response to my last post, I’m predicting a huge reaction.  Please note:  Because we can’t do justice to the images on our blog, I didn’t want to post them here.  You’ll have to click through the links to see each image.

Number 5:  Tim Lincecum

In the heart of his wind-up, his eyes staring you down, this shot of Lincecum is great:  Exactly what the fans in the seats behind home plate see.

Number 4:  Nate Robinson

Taken from the Slam Dunk Contest, this may be our only top-view image.

Number 3:  Jonathan Toews

Right in the middle of a slap shot, and the look on his face shows how much effort he is putting into it.

Number 2:  Joe Mauer

Mask off, chasing down a ball popped foul.  You can see in his eyes exactly where that ball is.

Number 1:  LeBron James

One of our first NBA images, and still one of the best sellers:  King James about to throw it down, captured at the height of intensity in amazing high-def clarity.

A game so simple and sweet

One that gets people on their feet.

Baseballs hit that touch the stands

Bring cheers from adoring fans.

Yankees, Phillies, Cubs, and Rays

Cardinals, Tigers, Sox, and Jays.

Many will play, a few will win

The pennant race that will soon begin.

Games will end, but memories will live

Forever in the hearts of those who give

A FATHEAD, the gift that brings passion to others,

Anybody know if Hanley and Manny are brothers?

-E. Allen Po-Excuseforapoet

Dear Detroit Tigers,

After months and months of cold winter, spring has finally arrived, and, with it, the start of the baseball season.  I’ve been earnestly waiting for this moment—following every offseason move, scouring last season’s stats, and planning my entire summer, including weddings, baptisms, and funerals, around your schedule.  I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited to be alive, and I just thought you should know that.

I’m not sure how to properly say this without making you feel awkward, so I’m just going to be blunt:  I think I’m in love with you.  I think about you all the time.  When you’re on the TV, I can’t take my eyes off of you; when you’re not on the TV, I wish you were.  You complete me.  You make me want to be a better man.  I’m scared of walking out of this room and never feeling in my whole life the way I feel when I’m with you.

I know I haven’t always been perfect.  There have been other teams—I’ll admit that.  The Pistons, the Lions, the Red Wings.  And these teams will always hold a special place in my heart.  But I’m ready to dedicate myself to you, or at least I will be after the NBA and NHL playoffs are done.

And let’s face it, you haven’t been perfect either.  Remember last season?  Remember in March how you offered the promise of a great season and how you completely reneged?  Have you forgotten how much love I showed you, and how you reciprocated with one of the most disappointing seasons in the history of baseball?

I haven’t forgotten.  The final tally of 74-88 is burned into my brain and probably will be forever.  But I’m willing to look past it.  Let’s let bygones be bygones and focus on our relationship moving forward.  I’ll focus on being a better fan for you, and you can focus on being a better team for me, and we can make this work.  After all, love means never having to say you’re sorry.

Tonight, I’m moving my Tigers logo Fathead into the center of my rec room.  I’m taking down all of the silly sports posters and concentrating my fan efforts on you.  I’m ready to give you all I’ve got, and I hope you’re ready to do the same.  Let’s forget about the 0-2 start and focus on us.  We’re too right for each other to let this slip away.

Forever yours,

Jake

P.S.  We’ll always have ’84.

Wow! Promise yourself now that someday you will go to a Final Four game. I finally got a chance to do it on Saturday here in Detroit and it was awesome. Sure, sure, you think you got a better view of the action at home on your 50” mega-tube and you probably did. You got the commentary and the professional insight of the seasoned analyst.  You got the reverse-angle, close-up, slow-mo, rewind and repeat view of the action. But the action wasn’t just on the hardwood.

Over 72,000 people packed into Ford Field, the most ever for a Final Four. There were something like another 30,000 outside the stadium. With MSU only 92 miles away the chorus of “Go White! Go Green!” spilled out into the streets for blocks around. And that was before the tip-off. It’s Monday now and my ears are still ringing.

The last 15 minutes of the game, when all the Spartan fans began to think that the improbable might be possible, there was a human wave of emotion that you could physically see. It started with the in-bounds pass of either team. As the ball traveled up the court the wave would begin when a few fans down front would jump up. Each row in succession would rise until, in a matter of seconds, everyone was on their feet right up to the rafters. The last five minutes no one sat down.   

I give the UConnfans a lot of credit. They had to walk into the fires of hell on Saturday night and they stayed true to their team.  The teenage girl in front of me, sitting with her Dad in her UConn Tee, never gave up and never showed any fear.

Here at Fathead we talk about being Fathead Worthy. It’s what captures the essence of what Fathead is all about – the passion, the excellence, the memorable moments that you never want to lose.  We don’t do what we do because of the athletes and the entertainers. We do it because of the fans. After what I experienced on Saturday night in Detroit I just want to say that college hoops fans are truly Fathead worthy.

The Men’s Final Four are set and they’re headed to Detroit which is right in Fathead’s front yard. As the number one sports city in America, Detroit takes great pride in hosting these sorts of events: The MLB All Star game, the Super Bowl and now the Final Four in a matter of just a couple of years. The Pistons, Red Wings and Tigers have all contributed to civic pride in the past few years by bringing post-season games and championships to the city.

Now the Michigan State Spartans have the chance to shine in front of the home-town faithful. I’ll admit that I didn’t pick MSU to win it all this year when I filled in my bracket a couple of weeks ago but I did have them making it this far. After these last two games I’m starting to believe that joining President Obama in my selection of North Carolinato emerge as national champions may not have been the best call. In fact, I’d gladly give up a bracket win for the much more meaningful victory of Sparty at Ford Field.

This raises in my mind the reasons we pick the teams we do when we fill out our brackets. Logic would seem to dictate that the largely more knowledgeable tournament selection committee does the seeding to represent those in the best position to advance and we should all just pick the number one seeds for the final four. We also know that it rarely turns out that way though this year it turned out pretty close to the truth. We all want our teams to win and it’s just really hard to accept that they might not. I spent eight years teaching at the University of Oklahoma and I always want the Sooners to do well. When I picked UConnto beat OU in the regional finals I was going against what my emotions wanted me to do and listening to what my brain and the selection committee told me was most likely to happen. Did I feel good when UConn advanced and my bracket standing went up – not really. Should we just embrace the madness that is March and forget about the seeding?

For now, yes. May the home team win! Let the people of Detroit and Michigan celebrate again! I know I’d rather see the Spartans win than be right about picking some teams I don’t really care about.

I’m sure you can imagine how much time we spend here at Fathead talking about the sports, players, and entertainers we represent and the ones we’d love to bring on board. Provided they’re Fathead worthy that is. March Madness has us speculating about which basketball players we expect to make the Fathead roster once they turn pro. We can’t do a Fathead of a college athlete no matter how good they are so let’s not even go there. Still, we’ve been throwing some names around here at Fathead Central and we thought we’d open up the forum to all of you out there in Fathead Nation. Tell us which players you’ve been watching this past week that you think are Fathead worthy and why. You never know what might sway us.

While the game of basketball is serious business, it is always nice to see the players out there just having fun!

LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Shaquille O’Neal (Phoenix Suns) battle each other for the best pre-game ritual.

You decide, who does it better?