Amar'e Stoudemire, himself synonymous with scratched retinas, torn-up knees and uninsurable contracts, was emotionally blackmailed this week by a pushy contractor working for the University of Louisville's marketing department, and subsequently donated $2,500 to that department so it could invest in 1,000 "big heads" of Kevin Ware's face. The placards will be distributed among fans at the Final Four tonight and waved at the players, a taunting reminder that even the most innocuous slip-up could result in an injury so gruesome that it sparks debate over the ethics of amateur athletics and media voyeurism. The back of the sign will read #WinForWare and sport a Louisville logo.
Darren Rovell unironically hails the development:
After Ware fractured his leg in Sunday night's game against Duke, and the team started rallying around him, the Louisville marketing team contacted Build-A-Head, the first company to capitalize off the trend of oversized pictures of heads in the stands at sporting events.
When the $2,500 price for 1,000 heads appeared to be a bit steep, the company's founder, Bryan Price, got to work. He looked on Twitter at the professional athletes sending messages to Ware and saw a note from New York Knicks forward Amar'e Stoudemire. Price had previously worked with Stoudemire's foundation. A phone call later, Stoudemire's foundation was on board to donate the heads. Price said on the back of the heads will be the hashtag #winforware and a logo for Stoudemire's foundation, which aims to makes lives better for at-risk youth.
As you can see above, the Kevin Ware big head, produced by "the first company to capitalize off the trend of oversized pictures of heads in the stands at sporting events," shows Ware looking mature beyond his years, distantly happy, perhaps thinking of a time when he had never seen his tibia poking through his leg—a sight that instantly made his teammates double over and cry during their previous game, only six days ago. Go Cards.
[ESPN]