Archive for the ‘College Tire Covers’ Category
Acceptance!
Not long after I wrote the last post my brother received his acceptance letter from his top choice university. He was nervous at first because the envelope was thin. Traditionally a thin letter means rejection. Fortunately, the opposite was true. The envelope was simply thin because a larger packet will be mailed, pending his agreement to attend the university.
Not surprisingly, my brother was thrilled (still is thrilled). My parents, however, are over the moon. They bought even more university paraphernalia, including college tire covers. I can’t remember them being this enthusiastic when I went off to school, but then again, I didn’t choose their alma mater like my brother.
USC Trojans
The athletic teams representing the University of Southern California are known as the USC Trojans. (Officially, the women’s teams are referred to either as Trojans or Women of Troy). As part of the Pac-12, the Trojans have won 116 national championships, including 94 NCAA national championships.
The Trojans have a fierce rivalry with UCLA in both sports and academics. The rivalry between the two California schools is pre-dated by a rivalry between USC and Notre Dame. USC fans are incredibly loyal and demonstrate their pride by dressing up as Trojans for games, putting USC Trojans tire covers on their cars, and singing along with “Tusk” during the fourth quarter of home football games.
Top Basketball Rivalry
As a little girl growing up in Connecticut, my idols were the women of the UConn women’s basketball team. Every girl in my town wanted to be Rebecca Lobo, Jenn Rizzotti, or Missy Rose. They dominated the competition, and unlike many women’s athletic programs, they had – and continue to have – strong support from the entire state.
The games we lived for were the match-ups against the Lady Vols, led by tough as nails coach Pat Summitt. Every victory over Tennessee was cause for a major celebration and every defeat a deep wound. They’ve met up time and time again in the post-season, and never fail to deliver an explosive game. It’s unfortunate that Summitt declined to continue the regular season match-ups; even die-hard fans like me could tolerate seeing Tennessee Volunteers tire covers in Storrs, Connecticut if it meant a spectacular match.
Snow Tires
When you live in parts of the country with heavy snowfall, snow tires are highly recommended. These tires are specifically designed to increase traction in slushy, snowy, and icy conditions. The tinier treads allow for water to escape from under the tire more easily, thus reducing risk of hydroplaning.
While some consumers believe that two snow tires are enough, four snow tires are actually recommended to ensure effectiveness and safety. In addition to equipping a car with snow tires during the winter months, it’s a good idea to also have a spare tire in case of emergency. Select quality sports team tire covers to protect the spare so you will be able to get back into your warm car and on the road as quickly as possible after a blow-out.
2006 Champs Sports Bowl
In recent history, I haven’t gotten to travel to exceptional bowl games to support my team, the Maryland Terrapins. Though former head coach Ralph Friedgen turned things around in his final year, there were a couple of mediocre and plain awful seasons for Maryland football. That being said, in 2006 I traveled down to Florida to see the Terps take on the Boilermakers in the Champs Sports Bowl.
By my recollection, there were an equal number of Purdue Boilermaker tire covers and Maryland Terrapin tire covers in the parking lot at the game. Of course, I think the Maryland fans were much more supportive. After all, we wind up winning the game 24-7 and the Maryland quarterback, Sam Hollenbach, was named MVP.
Spotlight On: Sherri Coale
The name Sherri Coale may not mean a lot to most people, but it means something to the students, alumni, and fans of Oklahoma State University. Coale is currently the head coach of Oklahoma’s women’s basketball team. She has brought the program from the brink of extinction to a consistently top 25 ranked team.
In 1974 the women’s basketball team at Oklahoma was founded as an afterthought to the men’s program and performed below average. In 1990, the team averaged only 65 attendees per game and was on the verge of being dropped. In 1996, Coale was brought on from a local high school and in a few short seasons turned the team around, even leading them to the 2002 post-season where they played in the National Title game. They average around 9,000 fans at every home game. I’m sure plenty of those fans’ cars sport Oklahoma Sooners tire covers purely in support of Coale and the women’s team.
Ohio State Names New Offensive Corrdinator
New Head Coach Urban Meyer has named Tom Herman as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for The Ohio State University. Herman has an impressive resume, so it is not surprising that Meyer pursued him for the job. Prior to his new gig at OSU, Herman was the offensive coordinator at Iowa State University for three seasons.
Overall, Herman has 13 years experience as a collegiate coach, if you count his two years as a graduate assistant at Texas. His time coaching at Rice is of particular note; over 40 school records for offenses were broken and in his second season the Owls went to a bowl game for the first time since 1954. If he has as much success in Ohio, I wonder if they’ll start printing Ohio State Buckeyes tire covers with his face on them?
Regis Philbin, Number One Fan
Anyone who owns a television set knows the face and voice of . He does, after all, hold the Guinness World Record for “most hours on camera.” It’s pretty common knowledge that Regis Philbin is the Notre Dame’s biggest fan.
He proudly supports the Fighting Irish in all sorts of endeavors. Philbin even narrated the audio CDs accompanying Joe Garner’s book, “Echoes of Notre Dame Football: Great and Memorable Moments of the Fighting Irish.” Several Notre Dame football coaches have appeared on his former talk show. How many Notre Dame tire covers, grill covers, and other fan gear do you think he owns?
Ugly Uniforms Face Off
Indulge me for one more post about the Maryland Terrapins. Personally, I am not a giant fan of the 527 combinations of uniforms that were unveiled this season (okay maybe the number is a bit of an exaggeration). I thought our uniforms from the past few seasons were classic and fully representative of our state.
I’m still not a big fan of the uniforms, but after seeing what Notre Dame wears, I know it could be worse. Let’s just say that the gold helmets with bright green clovers were way too cheesy. I couldn’t stop thinking about leprechauns and Lucky Charms the entire game! I doubt Notre Dame fans would want those helmet designs on their NCAA tire covers, so why put them on the helmets of their players?
Kansas University AD Speaks Out
This past weekend, Kansas University suffered an embarrassing lost against their rival KSU. KU’s Athletic Director Sheahon Zenger recently made public comments about the future of coach Turner Gill. Thus far, Gill is just 5-14 at KU and has a 1-11 record in the Big 12.
Said Zenger, “I don’t expect any player, coach, administrator, fan or alum to accept the performance on the field today or in recent weeks…We will continue to evaluate the program on a week-by-week basis.” It doesn’t sound like Zenger is ready to let Gill go, but it’s obvious he’s unhappy. I’m guessing that unhappiness may be fueled in part by the number of Kansas State tire covers that popped up in KU’s parking lot last weekend.