Syracuse Still Number 1 in College Basketball
Thundersticks
Syracuse is holding their #1 spot for the 5th week in a row with Kentucky right on their heels. But the question is, “Can they hold on to the top spot?” Well, according to their schedule they should easily be able to win their games over the next few weeks since their schedule is so weak. Kentucky, on the other hand, has a bit tougher schedule coming up, so if Kentucky wins their next few games too, will it be enough merit topping Syracuse in the polls? We shall see soon.
I’ve seen plenty of fans from the games on television banging thundersticks and waving pom poms. It reminds me of my college days when I use to attend all of the home basketball games at Mississippi State University. Fun times. There were spirit items galore, mostly being sold as fundraisers for the team.
So, if you get to attend college basketball games, count your blessing and enjoy the games. And be sure to proudly wave your spirit items and promote your favorite team. College basketball season goes by quickly.
March Madness is Just Around the Corner
The long anticipated time for College basketball fans is just a short 2 months away – March Madness. 64 total teams are chosen to participate. Will your favorite team make the cut? Which teams will get top seeds? Who will make it to the Sweet 16? Who will advance to the Final 4? Who will be the National Champions? Will Syracuse be able to keep their #1 ranking? Or will Kentucky bounce back from their one loss at Indiana? These are all the hot topic questions being asked now. Who knows how it will all turn out, but I know it’s a lot of fun following College Basketball. There are lots of surprises, upsets, and let downs.
Along with all the excitement with College Basketball, the excitement with high school basketball is also high. The high energy from basketball fans is great for the players, so it’s important to keep the fans excited and engaged. Basketball spirit items are a huge part of keeping the fans loud and rowdy. Below are two spirit items that have withstood the test of time and are more popular than ever with basketball fans.
Mini Basketballs
Mini basketballs are an excellent low cost spirit item for basketball teams, whether college, high school, or middle school. These are commonly thrown out into the crowd by the cheerleaders after big scores, lead changes, during lull moments with the crowd, during time-outs and during halftime. The idea of the fans being able to possibly catch one of the thrown mini basketballs create an excitement like you wouldn’t believe. The mini basketballs, of course, would have the team mascot and team name printed on the balls. These can also be sold in the team spirit store for those unlucky fans who don’t catch a free ball. It’s also very easy to obtain business sponsors to pay for the balls as long as their logo is printed on the opposite side of the balls.
Thundersticks
Thundersticks are another hugely popular spirit item used at basketball games. These are inflatable sticks which are about 2 feet long that you bang together. They are sold in pairs because two are needed to make the noise. When combined with hundreds or thousands of fans banging these noisemakers together, the noise level is enough to rattle any competitor. The thunder sticks have a huge imprint area to print your team mascot. Here again, you can get a business sponsor and have plenty of room to print their logo and information on the thundersticks. These are typically one of the hottest products sold by booster clubs at basketballs games.
There are many more options to choose from when talking about basketball spirit items and these options above only represent two of the hundreds of spirit items available. The important thing to remember is to make sure your team has spirit items to help keep the crowd’s energy high and help keep the players excited and playing at their peak. They are also great products to help with fundraising for your team to cover new uniforms and equipment.
Promote Your Business With Mini Basketballs
With the start of college basketball upon us, there are many questions in the air. Who are the best teams? What players will boast the best stats? Who will win what rivalries? Who will make the NCAA Tournament? Who will win the National Championship? Many of these are questions have dynamic answers which continually change throughout the season. College and high school basketball alike provide a lot of excitement; therefore, businesses should be quick to take advantage of this excitement. One way is to agree to sponsor your local high school teams, booster clubs, or cheerleading squad. Your sponsorship not only is a write for tax purposes for your business, but it tremendously helps your local community and shows that your business cares for your community. This provides immeasurable appeal to your clients and potential clients. A common form of sponsorship is to have mini basketballs printed with not only your business logo, but also with your local team mascot and team name. A great way to make your business imprint stand out is to include a coupon code on the imprint copy. This is a great call to action and it also allows you to track the results of your marketing dollars. There are many other basketball spirit items that businesses can help purchase with sponsorship other than mini basketballs. Some include foam fingers, thundersticks, and basketball schedule magnets. Whatever spirit items that your sponsorship money goes toward, you are helping your community and promoting your business at the same time. It benefits both parties.
Basketball Schedule Magnets
Mini Basketballs
Thundersticks
Week 1 of College Football 2011
Week 1 of college football proved to be an interesting one with a few upsets, as expected. #14 TCU fell to Baylor 50-48 and South Florida upset #16 Notre Dane 23-20. While I really wouldn’t call it an upset, but #4 LSU took down #3 Oregon. Those SEC teams are tough as usual and the conference is very strong this year with 6 teams still in the AP Top 25 after the first full week of football. My Mississippi State Bulldogs look promising routing Memphis 59-14 and are now ranked #16.
With Tropical Storm Lee coming through the Southeast this weekend, Saturday was a great day to kick back and watch some College football games. While watching, I saw many different spirit items including thundersticks and mini footballs.
These school spirit items are not only great for college teams, but also for high school and middle school football teams. They make great fundraisers to help raise money for new uniforms, equipment, and field maintenance.
Root-N-Toot Stadium Horns
Spirit Pom Poms
Mini Footballs
Thunder Sticks
Stadium Seat Cushions
Foam Fingers
Top 3 Stadium Noisemakers For Football Games
Everyone knows that cheering for your football team helps to motivate the team and get their adrenaline going. Teams will play better with more cheering from their fans. It’s unfortunate some some stadiums have ordinances banning stadium noisemakers, so make sure and check for any know ordinances from your school. I’ve put together a list of the most common and best noisemakers to use for your football games.
Thundersticks - These are the best selling noisemakers. These are inflatable sticks that you bang together to
Thunder Sticks
make a booming noise. The sticks are on average around 2 feet long. There are several different manufacturers, but they all have a comparable noise level. For this article, I am referring to thunder sticks printed in the U.S.A.
THUNDER STICK PROS:
- They have a huge imprint area so you can really get a lot of ad space in if you are selling sponsorship opportunities to businesses. Imprint area is 15″ W x 3 3/8″ H.
- They are reusable.
- They are inexpensive ($1.65 and under/pair)
- They are extremely loud, especially in combination with hundreds of other pairs.
- Quick 5-7 working day production with option for a 2 day rush.
- Easy to inflate and deflate with an air valve similar to a beach ball or a pool raft.
- Stores flat when deflated to keep for your next game.
- Printed in the U.S.A. by American workers.
- Limited item colors for the reusable type, 8 colors to choose from – Pink, Black, Red, White, Blue, Green, Orange, and Yellow
- That’s all I can think of.
Root-N-Toot Stadium Horns
- They don’t use compressed air, so the horn never runs out (unless you run out of breath).
- Includes a breakaway lanyard to safely store around your neck for quick access.
- Inexpensive ($2.60 and under).
- Super loud horn.
- Compact size – only 3″ H x 2 1/4″ W.
- Lightweight – only 2 ounces.
- Made of hard plastic so they are very durable.
- Quick 5-7 working day production with option for a 2 day rush.
- Printed in the U.S.A. by American workers
- Limited Colors – Red, Yellow, Orange, Green, White, and Blue.
- If there are others, I can’t think of any.
Hand Clappers
- Ready to use right out of the box.
- Loud, especially in conjunction with other clappers.
- Cheap pricing ($1.08 and under).
- Lightweight – only slightly over 1 ounce.
- Quick 5-7 working day production with option for a 1 or 3 day rush.
- Printed in the U.S.A. by American workers
- Made of plastic, so eventually it can break with repeated use or vigorous clapping.
- Limited Colors – Athletic Gold, Black, Blue, Green, Orange, Red, White, or Yellow.
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