This week’s edition of ESPN College Gameday was in Colorado Springs for the Air Force/Army game, and I was very impressed with the crowd and the signage. This was the third Gameday broadcast from Air Force, the last being in 2002. Wondering why they chose Air Force rather than Ohio St./Penn St. and LSU/Bama? ESPN did this as part of their continuing tribute to the United States armed forces, and kudos to ESPN for doing so. On behalf of That Fan I also want to thank all military personnel out there for all you do.
A few observations from this week: 1) The guest picker was Lt. Colonel Scott “Spike” Thomas, an all-American safety at Air Force in 1985. Spike’s plane was shot down in Iraq in the original Gulf War. 2) Jenn Brown was back again and yes, she’s still pretty damn hot. 3) No one won this week’s That Fan contest, so we will try again next week. 4) There were quite a few guys proposing to their significant other via a Gameday sign.
Now let’s move onto the best signs of the day. With this being a rivalry game there were obviously a lot of signs slamming the other team, but it sure is odd seeing signs making fun of the armed forces. First up, lets start with all the rivalry signs:
"The Good (Air Force), The Bad (Navy), The Ugly (Army)"
Again, this is very odd posting signs that say these types of things but if our armed forces can make the signs, I figured I could at least post them…
"Bomb Army"
"Hey Army: We're gonna pound you into the ground!"
"E.S.P.N.: Air Force, fixin' Army's problems since 1947"
Double bonus here with the sign and the website. Be sure to thank our troops and visit www.ourmilitary.mil:
I think this was an Army guy making fun of Air Force grammar…I think:
"Me like planes"
This is a two-sign combo, comparing Steve Urkel to Air Force linebacker Andre Morris (click here for a better Morris picture). Has anyone seen both of these guys in the same room at the same time?:
"The Good Urkel, The Bad A$$ Morris"
Another two sign combo, this time a serious version:
"Two teams, one nation" & "Thank you soldiers! College Gameday, Veteran's day, EVERYDAY!"
As much as civilians thank the armed forces, they would like to show some love back:
"Thank you TAXPAYERS!"
I wish I could have gotten a full shot of this one:
"E.S.P.N.: Taxpayer Dollars Pay My Tuition!"
Air Force fans wanted Corso to pick them…
"Lee, flip us the bird"
…and he did just that:
Lastly, I’ve got to show the Washington State flags flying proudly…special story on this to come this week:
That’s all the signs from today’s episode. Be sure to check back today or tomorrow for the poll to vote for your favorite sign of the week. I’ll put together a survey at the end of the year for people to select the best sign of the year. If you didn’t vote for last week’s sign yet, you can do so HERE.
Lastly, I want to remind everyone that I am starting a contest where those of you who couldn’t make it to Gameday can still show off your signs to fans around the world. Use the template below and photoshop or edit your message. Click HERE to learn more details on how to enter the contest!
How many of you have ever been to an actual ESPN College Gameday broadcast? Hopefully a lot of you, buy my guess is maybe 10% or 15% of you. I was lucky enough to go to a couple, most notably the “Bush Push” game where USC beat Notre Dame after Matt Leinart got shoved into the endzone by Reggie. Anyways, the atmosphere is amazing, and as cool as it looks on TV, it is even better in person.
I’m starting something new this week that I hope catches on, and that I think can have the potential to be something pretty big. Now, I can’t promise you this new addition to That Fan will help you get a sense of the fun atmosphere of being at a Gameday, but I can give you the excitement of getting your sign broadcasted to fans across the country.
Starting this week, I’d like to start a contest for all you fans who want to make a College Gameday sign but can’t make it to a broadcast to get your sign shown. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the “That Fan Fantasy Gameday” contest. This may last one week, it may last for decades, that all depends on you. I’m giving you a template for a blank sign below, photoshop/edit it however you please, and make the sign you would make if Gameday was at your school this week!
I haven’t worked out all the details on how this is going to work yet, but I thought the idea was too good to delay. This is what I’m thinking…I will personally view each and every sign created and pick the best ones to be voted on each week in a poll by the readers. The winners will get some sort of prize and be entered into the year-end vote for the best sign of the year. As for prizes, I’m not sure yet, but I’ll think of something soon and get back to you.
How can you enter your sign? Two ways: 1) email it to info@thatfan.com. 2) Upload it to Twitter and let me know via @ThatFan. This is my preferred method because even if I don’t pick your sign to post to the site, other people can still see them by doing a search on Twitter. Maybe we start a trending topic like #ThatFan (if you aren’t on Twitter or don’t know what a trending topic is, let me know and I’ll give you the scoop). Yes, you can submit multiple entries and I actually encourage it. For this week’s contest, please submit all signs by Sunday at 11:59PM.
Again, this contest could fizz out after this week, and I don’t expect a ton of entries this week, but I think it has the potential to grow to be a huge and fun thing for fans to look forward to every week. Post a comment with your thoughts!
Posted by thatfan 
