Robot Cy meets Baylor
(Story originally posted on SB Nation’s ISU site: Wide Right & Natty Lite.)
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WRNL is proud to present nine weekly articles from Kagavi leading up to the official release of The Adventures of Robot Cy, a fictional 8-bit video game trailer that never was.
In a faraway futuristic time, college football has been taken over by robot mascots. Join Robot Cy as he travels through many thrilling levels to find out who is behind this nefarious plot!
Every week during the conference season, Kagavi will preview the ISU football game using this project as inspiration by asking what power ups could Robot Cy gain by defeating the other Big 12 robot mascots?
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In a decent effort against TCU last week, the Iowa State football team looked like they were cooking up a vintage Rhoads upset, but sadly fizzled in the second half. Robot Cy had a better weekend, picking up the coveted Ice Freeze power up from Super Frog. This Saturday, the Cyclones will travel to Waco to face off against #2 Baylor and their spinning slot machine offense. Last week, Baylor beat West Virginia 62 – 38 behind another superlative effort from human glitch Corey Coleman, Baylor’s star wide receiver. The last time ISU played in Waco, the Bears eased by 71 – 7, but not before a furious ISU comeback with three minutes left eventually ran out of time. Last year, the game was closer but still another ISU loss: 49 – 28.
But what if Robot Cy was facing off against Robot Bruiser?
If Robot Bruiser used the best parts of Baylor football history to inspire a power up, what would it be? Let’s explore some Baylor history.
Robot Cy meets TCU
(Story originally posted on SB Nation’s ISU site: Wide Right & Natty Lite.)
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WRNL is proud to present nine weekly articles from Kagavi leading up to the official release of The Adventures of Robot Cy, a fictional 8-bit video game trailer that never was.
In a faraway futuristic time, college football has been taken over by robot mascots. Join Robot Cy as he travels through many thrilling levels to find out who is behind this nefarious plot!
Every week during the conference season, Kagavi will preview the ISU football game using this project as inspiration by asking what power ups could Robot Cy gain by defeating the other Big 12 robot mascots?
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This week our beloved Cyclones are headed back home to the friendly confines of Jack Trice Stadium to receive the undefeated TCU team, currently ranked #3 in the country. The Horned Frogs beat Kansas State last week in a tense game decided during the final minutes. Last Saturday, as we predicted here, the Cyclones found the Texas Tech team completely gassed. Unfortunately, this occurred after the Red Raiders had gained 776 yards in a record-setting performance as they cruised to a 66 – 31 win. (Luckily Robot Cy remains undefeated after gathering the Ghost Riders power up in Lubbock.) The Cyclones kept it pretty close in the TCU game last year, losing in a 55 – 3 squeaker. Perhaps TCU will overlook the ISU squad again this year.
But what if Robot Cy was facing off against Robot Super Frog?
If Robot Super Frog used the best parts of TCU football history to inspire a power up, what would it be? Let’s explore some TCU history.
Robot Cy meets Texas Tech
(Story originally posted on SB Nation’s ISU site: Wide Right & Natty Lite.)
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WRNL is proud to present nine weekly articles from Kagavi leading up to the official release of The Adventures of Robot Cy, a fictional 8-bit video game trailer that never was.
In a faraway futuristic time, college football has been taken over by robot mascots. Join Robot Cy as he travels through many thrilling levels to find out who is behind this nefarious plot!
Every week during the conference season, Kagavi will preview the ISU football game using this project as inspiration by asking what power ups could Robot Cy gain by defeating the other Big 12 robot mascots?
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The familiar rites of fall are always comforting: apple cider, carving pumpkins, autumn foliage, the powerful Iowa State football team in first place of the Big 12 Conference. Fresh off conquering Robot Jayhawk (and getting the Golden Horseshoes), the Cyclones are headed to Lubbock to face off against Texas Tech, which will be the “featured” game on Fox Sports Net channel again. The Cyclones almost beat them last year, but–get your fainting couches ready–a couple of missed field goals doomed ISU in the 34 – 31 loss. So far this year, the Texas Tech team has run the equivalent of nine ultra marathons simply trying to keep up with TCU and Baylor in recent games. ISU just may find the Red Raiders completely gassed, or the game could be over after the first quarter.
But what if Robot Cy was facing off against Robot Raider Red?
If Robot Raider Red used the best parts of Texas Tech football history to inspire a power up, what would it be? Let’s explore some Texas Tech history.
Robot Cy meets Kansas
(Story originally posted on SB Nation’s ISU site: Wide Right & Natty Lite.)
_____________
WRNL is proud to present nine weekly articles from Kagavi leading up to the official release of The Adventures of Robot Cy, a fictional 8-bit video game trailer that never was.
In a faraway futuristic time, college football has been taken over by robot mascots. Join Robot Cy as he travels through many thrilling levels to find out who is behind this nefarious plot!
Every week during the conference season, Kagavi will preview the ISU football game using this project as inspiration by asking what power ups could Robot Cy gain by defeating the other Big 12 robot mascots?
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As the calendar turns to October, Iowa State is struggling again to keep pace in a high-powered Big 12 Conference where every other team has all kinds of exotic weaponry on offense. With Kansas invading Jack Trice Stadium this weekend for a slap fight, ISU may have found the only other conference mate that they can feel equal to. Last year there were rumors that Kansas clobbered ISU 34 – 14, but since the game was on Fox Sports Net, we cannot verify whether this actually happened or not. The 2015 season looks to be another hotly anticipated basement title race and the Cyclones are set to test out their 1950s pop gun offense against the rebuilding Jayhawks in a thrilling nap for much of the nation.
But what if Robot Cy was facing off against Robot Jayhawk?
If Robot Jayhawk used the best parts of Kansas football history to inspire a power up, what would it be? Let’s explore some Kansas history.
Accurate Jack Trice throwbacks
I was very glad to see Iowa State University honor Jack Trice’s legacy in 2013 by having the football team wear throwback uniforms inspired by the 1923 team. However, since they were not close to what the team actually wore, I took the time to create a much more accurate modernized look. These are the uniforms that Jack Trice and his teammates wore in the Minnesota game, the day after Jack wrote his famous letter.
(Image below can be clicked to see a 1920 x 1080 size version.)
Kagavi interviews Barry Friedman again
In 2013, when I created my first Pendleton Woolen Mills stadium blanket with Iowa State University, I came across blanket savant Barry Friedman who is considered the foremost expert in American Indian trade blanket collecting circles and serves as a vintage blanket consultant for Pendleton. When I originally interviewed him about his classic 2002 book Chasing Rainbows, he was close to publishing a highly anticipated follow-up called Still Chasing Rainbows, which came out this past March.
Two Jack Trice photos from East Tech
Thought I would share a couple of neat photos of Jack Trice that are floating around in various archives. Jack was quite the star player at East Technical High School in Cleveland and was often mentioned in news accounts of the day. Years of digging through newspapers have unearthed some high school pictures and I wanted to show some off. The first one shows him in the process of pancaking another unfortunate victim during an East Tech practice.
The other one is one of my personal favorite photos of Jack, showing his beaming personality coming through.
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A brief note–the website will be “going dark” for a couple of weeks so I can spend time with loved ones. Just like with Black Friday, I am making a conscious decision to not participate in the shopping frenzy that I feel often overshadows the true meaning of the season. The last day to order from this site for Christmas shipping is Friday, December 19 by noon. Any orders placed after that time will not be shipped until January 6th. Enjoy the holidays everyone.
Inspirations behind the Iowa Pendleton blanket
I’m proud to reveal my limited edition University of Iowa stadium blanket made in collaboration with Pendleton Woolen Mills and influenced by the greatest players and teams in Hawkeye football history. Read on to learn more about the inspirations behind this project.
Rare USC football memorabilia from Howard Jones era
During my long process of comprehensively researching the Roaring Twenties period of college football for my custom Pendleton blankets, I accumulate hundreds of interesting historical images. With the USC – UCLA football game coming up this weekend, I thought it would be fun to look at some rare artifacts from USC football history, primarily from the Howard Jones era. When Jones moved to Los Angeles for the 1925 season, his reign as the Trojans coach started a Troy dynasty that has continued to this day.
Since USC is such a prominent football school, artifacts are a bit easier to find. In my previous story about the inspirations behind my USC Pendleton blanket, I discussed the two football uniforms in use at that time. The first one, which I called the vertically stacked VY design, was worn in the mid-1920s and another design, the vertical three friction stripes, was worn towards the end of the decade.
I hoped to find an existing jersey from this period and it ended up coming from the Newport Sports Museum collection, which founder John Hamilton made the difficult decision to close permanently earlier this year. In a new SCP auction starting this week, there are many incredible pieces of Troy history from the museum collection being offered for sale. Many of the items are from 1929-31 USC All-American quarterback Gus Shaver’s days with the school. Significant football jerseys from the 1920s and 1930s are pretty rare and it was a treat to see these items. (Photos below are from the SCP Auctions catalog.)
Inspirations behind the USC Pendleton blanket
I’m proud to reveal my limited edition University of Southern California stadium blanket made in collaboration with Pendleton Woolen Mills and influenced by the iconic Trojan football teams and traditions of the Roaring Twenties and beyond. Read on to learn more about the inspirations behind this project.
