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B1G Media Days: Mascots, Fans, and Coach Riley Committing to the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy

LPW had fun at B1G Media Days as a fan

Every summer the Big Ten invites the media and fans to the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago for two days of interviews and fan interaction: the Big Ten Media Days and Kickoff Luncheon. This year I took off a day for work and purchased a ticket to the Kickoff Luncheon and was able to have fun as a fan.

McCormick Place is I think the biggest Convention Center in the world. The BTN had a nice presence there today, and Dave Revsine served as the master of ceremonies during lunch, which I'll talk about later

I got to McCormick place bright and early to wander around and take pictures. The very first mascot I see is Goldy the Gopher, and decided I'd be taking iPhone selfies all day with mascots.

LPW & Goldy

Next up I saw the Scarlet Knight, and had someone take a picture of the two of us.

LPW & The Scarlet Knight

To be honest, I kind of wanted to see the Mounted Knight, but I dont think the McCormick Place cleaning crew would've cared to cleanup messes left by the horse.

Next up Brutus made an appearance

LPW & Brutus

Then I ran into Bucky

LPW & Bucky

And Sparty mugged for the camera

LPW & Sparty

The Nittany Lion mugged for the Camera

LPW & Nittany Lion

Testudo has an absurdly large beak, and the Nittany Lion tried butting in or maybe trying to bite me in the neck.

LPW & Testudo

Herky has that weird forced smile (and from this angle looks depressed) that all Iowans do when asked about Kirk Ferentz (more on him and his colleagues soon)

LPW & Herky

Purdue Pete still looks creepy

LPW & Purdue Pete

Herbie's here! (and luckily Lil' Red was NOWHERE to be found)

LPW & Herbie

And finally, so is my favorite mascot, Willie the Wildcat!

LPW & Willie

So a kids group was invited to something that resembled football 101 with the mascots and helpers leading them in exercises and also dancing.

Purdue Pete can take off his helmet. I never knew that. He didnt bring the Hammer as far as I can tell.

Pete dancing

The current state of Indiana football

Current state of Indiana football

The ballroom we were in was quite cavernous, and they hadn't yet set up everything yet.

Empty Room

I wandered over to the Northwestern and Nebraska tables to check out some sweet helmets.

Northwestern Helmets

Nebraska Helmets

Nebraska Helmets

Lastly, I purchased a football that I wanted all the coaches to sign.

Empty football

Now, here comes the fun part: the Coaches signing them!

First up, Jerry Kill.

Jerry Kill signed football

Coach Fitzgerald!

Coach Fitzgerald signing a football

I asked Coach Wilson if he would let Zander Diamont light up another victory cigar, and he sternly told me that absolutely will not happen. #FUNHATER

Coach Wilson signing a football

I got Coach Edsall to laugh when I joked about Maryland being in a *fun* division

Coach Edsall signing a football

I regret not asking Coach Hazell about growing a mustache. Hopefully I can do that next year if he doesn't get fired.

Darrell Hazell signing a football

I told Coach Beckman not to let the haters get him down, and he appreciated that. He might've heard me say I don't expect to see him back next year as I walked away. I hope he did. Heh Heh.

Coach Beckman signs a football

Coach Chryst is happy to be back home in Madison

Coach Chryst signing a football

James Franklin was in good spirits.

James Franklin signing a football

I asked Mike Riley about the Chair...

I don't know if he knew the backstory behind the Internet's favorite trophy. I bet he does now.

Looking back, I should said this (and asked Goldy the Gopher to stand next to me or Coach when filming this):

Coach Riley, last year Goldy the Gopher and a parody twitter account of your ... volatile... predecessor wagered on last year's Nebraska - Minnesota game, and a Trophy was born. If you beat the Gophers, will you take home the $5 Bits of Broken Chair trophy?

If he hesitated, maybe Goldy would've gotten on his knees or something? I'm not sure.

Luckily for us, Riley said yes.

Also, next year I'm going to take videos horizontally instead of vertically.

Here's Riley after answering that question. I bet he's thinking "What the heck did I agree to?"

Mike Riley signs a football

Coach Flood is enjoying his time in the Big Ten so far.

Coach Flood and the football

I asked Urban Meyer if he picked a quarterback yet. Here's his response:


Coach Ferentz has a good sense of humor. I told him good luck this season, waited a few seconds, then added "except when you play Northwestern". I bet he was thinking "hustle off, wiseass" as he heartily laughed.
Coach Ferentz football

Goldy did not do a good job spinning his head.. :(


Coach Dantonio was friendly

Coach Dantonio Football

So get this: the line to get a football signed by Jim Harbaugh was 7 times bigger than the one for Urban Meyer. I made the decision to try to get Harbaugh last. It didn't work :(  Harbaugh had to get on stage for a group coaches picture, and I was almost knocked over by Fox Sports commenter Dave Wannstedt as I tried to get the football signed. Damn you Wanny!

Coach Harbaugh

Then it was time for a tasty lunch.

Kickoff Lunch

There were highlight videos, interviews, and other stuff. I was sitting with a bunch of random fans, and had an absolute blast.

Next year, all of you should take a day off and come to the Kickoff Luncheon. You won't regret it.