1980 Dawgs -Revisited
From the website for 1980 Dawgs – The Inside Story of The National Championship Season™: A new documentary film produced in a 2 DVD, Collector’s Edition set. Contains over 3 1/2 hours of behind the scenes stories, including some never heard before and exciting game footage that fans will treasure. Over 25 Players and coaches relive the season with emotions that bring that special season back to life. more…
Really Maryland?
Just when we thought it could not get worse, it did. Last night Maryland pulled the ole switcheroo after pregame and came out in what can only be described as half medieval knight, half crash test dummy… uniforms and helmets. Pulled straight from some NFL Europe dung heap of polyester and plastic, and resurrected as straight fugly.
Get After Them Aggressively?
I’m not sure if all Georgia Bulldog fans have seen the NIKE PRO COMBAT UNIFORMS promo, but it is very well done. No matter what you think about the unis themselves, the video link below gets me fired up for the game! One reason is their attempt to include the famous battle cry of GATA.
The fact that they say “Get After Them Aggressively” is understandable.
I think our guys know the deal. GATA!
They ARE Trying To Kill Us
You may remember my post about Hardee’s a couple of years back. Hardees has come up with some great foods that are sure to kill. Now, I get a flyer filled with coupons in the mail today from our friends at Burger King. It was chock full of great savings on many of their best menu items. The front however was reserved for a new offering, the California Whopper. It has a 1/4 lb. burger, swiss cheese, bacon and GUACAMOLE!
Check out these reviews if you give a rip(here). AND here.
This bad boy has 820 calories, 56 grams of fat & 1400mg of sodium. There is nothing healthy about that.
National Camp Series Event
I have been asked to run another camp for Michael Husted of National Camp Series. The event will be held at Roswell High School on December 4th, 2010.
We will test participants in field goals, kick-offs, punting and also long snapping. Grades 9-12 are welcome.
The Needs Are Great
I’m playing today for the second year in the Leeman Bennett Charity Golf Tournament in Forsyth County…or is it Fore-syth today? This tournament benefits the cancer programs at Northside and Georgia Baptist Hospitals and the Eagle Ranch for Boys and Girls.
Jan Ros, Frank’s wife, works for Eagle Ranch and got me involved last year. Please support these worthy causes when you can. All of these organizations work where the needs are greatest.
Have great week Dawgs!
Bulldog Clubs and Down 25
The next couple of weeks should be a lot of fun. I just participated in my first FBU Camp and worked with some great young kickers and punters. I will do a separate blog post to discuss these young men. For now, I wanted to mention some upcoming events where I would love to see you.
This Thursday, May 6th, I will be visiting the Rockdale County Bulldog Club to discuss the 1980 National Championship among other things. Try and come by. On May 17th, I will be down in Jacksonville to play in the 18th Annual Vince Dooley Scholarship Golf Tournament sponsored by the Jacksonville Bulldog Club(click here). I can’t wait!
Chris Troxel of RACC and I will be there to show off his great new product(click here).
For those that care not named Tarpley, I have now lost 25 lbs. since March 22nd. That’s a little over 4 lbs. a week for six weeks.
I feel good…but then….I knew that I would.
Something You May Have Missed at G-Day
The RACC. Below you will see the coolest thing since the Ice Age. The RACC folks were set up in the Tate Center Parking lot so you may have missed them. If you have ever wrestled with your standard tent canopy to tailgate, you’ll understand the genesis of the idea. Chris Troxel said, “there has to be a better way” and now there is. Partner Paul Jankowski has designed a better mousetrap and you can be the benefactor. Go to www.raccstore.com. This week they will be at Auburn’s spring game, then The Steeplechase on the 24th and The Taste of Marietta with me on the 25th. Come see us!
One Tough Year
Today marks the one year anniversary of Total Team Sports being open for business. It has been a tough year, but we have survived and as of this date, I am as busy as I’ve been in years. That does not mean I don’t need your business. I most certainly do. Check out the apparel links to the left.
I wanted to thank the people who first gave me an opportunity to serve them this past year.
In alphabetical order:
Advanced Electrical Contractors, Inc.
Ansbach High School(Germany)
Campbell HS Soccer
Chattahoochee HS Football
Chattahoochee Jr. Cougars Football
Department of Forensic Cleaning, LLC
Etowah Baseball Boosters
Georgia Mustangs, Inc.
Haralson County Football
Hillgrove Gridiron Club
Hillgrove High School
Kennesaw Mountain Football
Lassiter HS Football
Marietta Fast Pitch
Marietta Heat(AAU)
Marietta HS Football
Phil Gingrey
Pope HS
R and D Automotive
Shorter College Football
South Cobb HS Track Boosters
Trinity Chapel Academy Soccer
Tucker HS Football
Union Grove HS Football Boosters
Walton HS Dugout Club
Woodland Football Boosters
Woodland HS Track Boosters and many, many individuals that I can’t really name here. Thanks to all of you.
It’s a great start, but we have a long way to go. I am actually considering taking on some sales people, so if you know someone who is looking for work and is well connected in athletic circles have them email me at rexrobinson5@gmail.com.
Gem City to Classic City and Back
The next few days in the Dawg Nation will be ones to remember. I can’t remember a stretch over a weekend with such promise. The Rotary Club of Marietta Park to Park Fun Run is the first of what I hope will be many race tee shirts for me. The starting line is at the First United Methodist Church in Marietta and begins at 8:00 AM.
After that, we’ll head to Athens to meet Chris Troxel of the Retractable Awning Canopy Company to see a great product that I hope to at least promote if not sell through Total Team Sports. Chris will be at the Tate Center Parking lot before the game and East Campus after.
Look for him!
We may have to stop by Glory Glory in Lawrenceville on the way to see the Lewis’. I can never drive that close to such a great selection of Dawg Stuff and not stop in. We may try and run by The Blind Pig Tavern to see the DawgVent folk. They kinda scare me so that is subject to change.
Oh yeah, then the G-Day Game!
After the game, I need to run by and see some old team mates at the Lettermen’s Bar-B-Que, but I want to go see the baseball game. Tomorrow, Chance Veazey is throwing out the first pitch. You should all come support the Diamond Dawgs and Chance. I know a lot of you are planning to anyway.
As Ole Lady Luck would have it, both of my sons will be in Athens tomorrow. Ryan lives in Athens and works for UGA, Sean will be coming up from Milledgeville(Georgia College and State University). I may get the see them as well.
How’s that for a Saturday.
Sunday, I will be out with some kickers in the afternoon. I start with a new kid from Wheeler HS. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do.
Monday, I will be playing in The Boy’s and Girl’s Club Golf Tournament at The Marietta Country Club. You may want to avoid the vicinity. My old room/team mate, Frank Ros is playing this year.
Have a great weekend Dawgs! As the kids say, it could be epic!
Down 10….No, 12!
I am so busy I can’t even blog when I need to right now. I missed my Monday update on my journey to Sveltavia. After a weekend that included a Saturday and Sunday night of inadvertent splurging, I did rebound with some good workouts. Based on that fact, my Monday weigh-in was a 10 lb loss after two weeks and today I actually showed 12 down. I burned some good calories last night just prior and during the basketball final.
Pretty soon I will have a whole new wardrobe, wearing things I haven’t worn in years. Heck, I’m already wearing a smaller belt I bought in the last millenium!
I know all of you are starving for some Roughing the Kicker posts. Yeah right. I am as busy as I’ve been in a long time. Total Team Sports is growing like crazy. I have two new football customers and one corporate, plus I am doing my first race tee shirt for this weekend’s Rotary Park to Park Fun Run and Cookout in Marietta. Come out if you can!
A Miss Georgia You Never Heard Of
For the sake of doing something different and positive for Georgia Bulldog fans, here is Miss Georgia 2004, Salome Chikviladze. We’ll call her Sally.
The fact that this is the country of Georgia matters not to me. See her profile here and by all means see her swimsuit pic below. I swear I’m not going to do a “Babe of the week” like my son does on his blog.
I just ran across this profile while doing a very innocent search for a University of Georgia background on Google. I love me some Google, don’t you?
Go Dawgs!
Let’s Play Some Golf!
If you are a Georgia Bulldog fan that plays a lot of golf, check out my latest advertiser, Golf Card International. No matter where you are there is a chance you can benefit from this program. I don’t play as often as I would like, and played so poorly in 2009, I swear I quit 5 times.
I actually need some instruction and to get fitted for my clubs…
I usually only get to play in charity events and fundraisers for customers. The Golf Card provides opportunities for discounted greens fees at hundreds of courses all over North America, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica. If you get a card, let me know and give me some feedback on this service. It almost sounds too good to be true!
While we’re talking golf, if you need any golf balls with your company or high school logo on them let me know. I now do all kinds of promotional items for businesses and booster clubs.
Roughing The Kicker – Bye Week
Since the Dawgs are laying low, so am I. Heck, I need to make some money. It’s letter jacket time and basketball and wrestling seasons are right around the corner. I gotta get busy.
Come back soon.
The Pig Hits The Road!
I told you all a couple of weeks ago about THE NAKED PIG, a new BBQ, catering and event planning venture started by some old friends. Things have taken off for these guys and they are hitting the road this weekend. They will be in Athens for the LSU Game and they will be bringing the heat, the smoke and the taste that they made famous before they were famous.
Call 678-740-7447 or 678-439-3499 to place your order.
Then pick up your order at:
Meats and More
1580 Lexington Road, Athens, Ga. 30605
Georgia High School Football
Most folks I know are bu…uh…woofing in anticipation of College Football. I am the same way, because I believe the Georgia Bulldogs will be a different team with a whole new outlook from a year ago. But more on that in another blog. Only slightly behind college football is my love for high school football. The State of Georgia has as strong a tradition as any other state and with the growth our state experiences, there are always new schools looking to make their mark.
I just received my copies of Georgia High School Football Magazine. It’s a great resource for coaches and fans alike. I have known the publisher, David Patterson for several years. I could never get my old employer to support David, but when I started Total Team Sports, I jumped on board. My ad is on page 86 with the AAAAA Pre-season All-State Team. Get your copy at www.highschoolfootballmagazine.com .
Total Team Sports, From Georgia to Germany
I don’t want to annoy readers with posts about my businesses. But if I don’t sometimes, I will not be able to afford to keep them going or keep this blogging experiment alive. For those of you that don’t know, I sell sporting goods, uniforms and other athletic apparel. Congressman Phil Gingrey is seen wearing a baseball uniform I provided for him recently. I started Total Team Sports to try and provide an alternative to traditional dealers and the same old products they provide. I have posted a link for the first time to my online catalog for corporate apparel. My primary customers have always been schools and youth organizations, but when I started Total Team Sports in January I wanted to do more with small businesses. I can do all types of screen-printing and custom embroidery. I have a couple of great companies that I contract with to do these services for me. Both have top-notch artists and production people. Traditional sporting goods dealers are usually very limited in their screen-printing capabilities and with their artwork.
I have virtually no limitations on artwork…try me!
Many smaller screen-printers may only provide up to four to six colors in their printing options, if that. How many do you need? 10…12…14? Okay, I can do that with no problem. No matter where you are located, I am as close as the computer. Emailing of orders is common place. From Georgia to Germany, I can help. That’s right I have customers at the American schools in Germany. A few years ago I had the opportunity to coach at a football camp in Wurzburg, Germany. The camp was for the Department of Defense schools in Europe. There were over 400 campers and I worked with 25-30 kickers, including Lones Seiber, who now is the the kicker for the University of Kentucky. Now several of those “DoDDS” teams are customers.
I sell a lot of hats, including custom hats. A few months ago I established a new relationship with a hat manufacturer that allows me to obtain custom hats at a ridiculous price. How about $5.99 for a custom hat. Not just some generic hat with your logo slapped on, but truly custom. The price can go even lower for larger purchases. It’s almost factory direct from China, where most of the world’s quality hats are made. This supplier is great option for booster club purchases and corporate applications where you need greater quantities. Custom hats made by The Game will always be my mainstay. You just cannot beat the quality and the minimum is just eighteen hats.
Lastly the newest addition to my product mix is a new type of lettermen’s jacket. Although these are not shown in the catalog, they warrant a mention. They soon will be a major part of what I do. From traditional looks to an awesome hooded version, these are some great award jackets, something your school or team or even company will be proud of. I have already gotten commitments from two new schools for these great jackets and one local company in Roswell will buy them as Christmas gifts for employees. Great idea!
Kicking Camps vs. Private Instruction
One of the nations cottage industries is kicking camps. If you do a google search you will find more choices than Carter’s has pills to use an old cliche. In Atlanta alone their will be a half dozen camps/clinics and the like. Some with names you know, some I never even heard of, but still they come. Many parents send their kids to these camps, holding out hope that the promise of a college scholarship might come their way.
The promise is implied usually, because they have a list of college coaches that “listen to them”. So if you come to camp and “do well”, they will put you on the list of kicking prospects. Most major universities hold kicking camps. There are too many of these that are nothing more than glorified tryouts for the cream of the crop and the rest of the kickers are left to learn from a college “counselor”. This “counselor” may be a very good college kicker but that does not mean he can coach.
In 1996, I moved back to my home town of Marietta Georgia. It was not long before I met few of the guys who were kicking for the Blue Devils. They expressed mixed feelings about their “camping” experiences and felt that the big camps were just that, too big. I decided I would try and help a few guys on a small group basis and after 13 years I have coached literally hundreds of kids from 10-25. But never more than 5-6 at a time and these days more often than not, one on one.
This summer I will have kickers I have worked with, either kicking or competing for jobs at Kentucky, Florida, Georgia Tech, Miami of Ohio, Wofford, Air Force Academy, The Naval Academy, and Tennessee Tech. Click here to learn more. I have resisted going the way of the big camp, which is the only way to really make any money. I want to maintain my level of involvement with each guy, and not rely on a kid to do my job. If you know a young kicker or their parent, I can help them improve. That’s all I guarantee, a better kicker.
The Lettermen’s Jacket…More Than a Symbol
There is little that signifies the pride of accomplishment for an athlete more than THE LETTERMEN”S JACKET. As far back as the 1950′s I guess, these jackets were a symbol of being a part of an exclusive club. A well deserved award for the sacrifice and dedication inherent in not only making the TEAM, but making a contribution to the success of the TEAM.
I am very excited to be able to provide Custom Lettermen’s Jackets for guys and girls at very, very competitive prices. Remember I said “CUSTOM”. Lots of people can sell stock lettermen’s jackets, and I do as well. But there is nothing like a one of a kind jacket for your school or even as a gift for your customers or employees.
The other thing I’m extremely excited about is a new style of letter jacket. I now have access to a true “hooded” jacket that is really in tune with todays styles that kids love. They are really cool jackets.
Call me today at 404.455.0393 for a great alternative for this year’s team.
Is there a Scholarship Scam?
One of the great achievements for any young athlete is being awarded a scholarship. Whether it’s academic or athletic, it shows a certain level of accomplishment that is recognized by others. That’s a great feeling. I was fortunate enough to be offered a scholarship from several schools as a senior at Marietta High School. Because of rule changes, many kickers have to walk-on first to prove their worth before any scholarship money is provided. But somewhere along the way, what was once a dream come true, has become an entitlement in many people’s minds.
There are many, many more athletes in the world than scholarships to go around. Moms and Dads who have seen their kids excel in youth sports programs, have delusions of granduer concerning their kids. Many lose perspective, and assume the future is set. The fact is many kids peak early, and the other kids catch up as they reach high school. Those kids who specialize in one sport too early can burn out and lose their desire to play at all.
Even so, things like AAU basketball, club soccer and volleyball, and travel baseball have created the environment where dreams are born, no matter how far fetched. High school sports have largely been relegated to something you do to stay in shape until your AAU or Club season starts. These “coaches” many times entice with promises of “playing on the next level”, when their true motivations are more self serving.
These conditions along with true financial need on the part of some parents, have created a large group of companies in the “scholarship business”. Hundreds of companies all over the country all making the same claims. Pay us money and we will get little Johnny or Jenny a scholarship. Most have a menu of services, from a free profile on a website, to email updates to their database of coaches around the country. Do you really think all these services have contacts with this static pool of college coaches? There is no way. A college coach can’t sit at the computer and take emails from dozens of services about thousands of athletes. It just does not add up to me. I am sure some of these recruiting services are totally legitimate, but not all of them can be. On top of that add another burgeoning industry, the phenomenon called the “combine” for high schooler and sometimes middle schoolers and it adds to the frenzy for scholarship money. 
My reason for writing this blog is two-fold. First, be realistic about your sons and daughters abilities and try not to live vicariously through them. Please let kids be kids. Second, be careful when approached by recruiting services, and don’t sign on if the sales pitch feels more like a used car saleman or time share presentation than anything else. Take your time. You should be pro-active about the marketing of your young athlete, if they truly are that gifted. It’s a trade-off. Some people are do-it-yourselfers, others would rather pay some one else to do the work. Just make sure they can follow through on the promises.
The Crons Brand…a story worth telling.
The Crons Brand™ creator, Pat Cavanaugh, grew up hearing all the garbage…”Too small.” “Too slow”. “Can’t compete.” ”You want to play in the NBA?” ”You’re crazy!” “Forget about it.” “It’ll never happen.”
He heard all the noise…and used it to motivate him.
When other kids were playing video games, he was shoveling snow from the courts to shoot baskets with his gloves. He cut the finger tips off so his hands wouldn’t freeze.
He outworked the competition growing up and walked-on to the University of Pittsburgh basketball team despite scholarship offers from other Division 1-AA schools, because his goal was to play Division 1. Pat earned a scholarship and led Pitt to its first Big East win at Madison Square Garden as a freshman, prompting one courtside observer (the legendary Red Auerbach) to observe, “Who was that skinny white kid!” Pat went on to become the first walk-on to be named team captain not one but two years in a row for Top 10-ranked Panther teams.
After graduation he heard it again.
“You still won’t play in the NBA, give it up.”
He refused and worked even harder.
He worked himself into an invitation by the Philadelphia 76ers to play on their summer league team. The Orlando Magic invited him to tryout and play with their starters the following summer.
Where one road ends, another begins. Although Pat’s playing days came to an end, his competitive fire continued to burn brightly. He approached the business world with the same passion and drive that led him to succeed in athletics.
Pat went on to found his own company The Cavanaugh Marketing Network and guided it through a period of 8,000% growth on its way to being named an Inc. 500 company. It is currently ranked in the Top 1% of firms in its industry. Pat has been featured in numerous national business publications like Inc. Magazine and has been inducted into the Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.
Pat Cavanaugh’s life experience in setting and achieving his athletic and non-athletic goals provided the backdrop for his founding of The Crons Brand™.
This bio is from www.crons.com. Total Team Sports, LLC is proud to represent The Crons Brand in Georgia. Come Ready or Never Start!
Tell me what you really think!