Friday Five: Signing in the Sports World
Friday, February 3, 2012 –
It’s a big week in sports, especially football. So in honor of the greatest spectacle of Sport and Americana, the Super Bowl, we decided to take a break from safety signs and focus on another Signing Industry. After the jump, we present the top 5 sign-related sports stories of the week, as determined randomly by our staff.
National Signing Day Storylines: As usual, the SEC won big on February 1st, College Football’s National “Signing Day.” Nick Saban, lauded by many college football pundits as the best recruiter in the nation, locked up a typically stellar class of high schoolers. Florida State locked up a boatload of blue chip prospects, continuing its recent signing day renaissance, and a few Big 10 powerhouses the Midwest, Michigan and Ohio State also had strong recruiting classes.
Mets to hold Banner Day on May 27: In celebration of the team’s 50th anniversary, the NY Mets will revive Banner day before their May 27th game against the Padres at Citi Field. Each year, fans used to create homemade banners out of bed sheets and parade with them around the field between games of doubleheaders until 1996.
With Ravens’ focus elsewhere, Grubbs appears unlikely to re-sign: As the Ravens look to re-sign Joe Flacco and Ray Rice for the long-term, Offensive Guard Ben Grubbs be shown the door by the Ravens’ Front Office. According to general manager Ozzie Newsome, keeping Grubbs requires considering other (read: financial) factors beyond his immediate value as a player. Wait a second, who is Ben Grubbs again?
Super Bowl Giveaway: Win a Free NFL Mat at XpressMats.com: Like that Ravens’ mat pictured above? Well then you’ll love this: with the Super Bowl approaching, our affiliates at XpressMats.com are looking to give away free NFL Team mats to 3 lucky winners. Just follow the link, pick which team you think will win the Super Bowl—Giants or Patriots—and you’ll be automatically entered to win free NFL merchandise.
Super Bowl Parking Changes in Indy: In preparation for the Super Bowl, Indianapolis is making some strategic changes to their traffic and parking facilities. Over 2,058 spaces will be unavailable in downtown Indianapolis during Super Bowl weekend, but on the bright side, IndyGo buses will be free all weekend! This may just be the best thing to happen to the Indianapolis economy…ever.
– A. Li and Z. Miller