A Note from 26Shirts.com

First off, thanks to Jeff at DaBearsBlog.com for providing me with a little bandwidth to help explain what the heck that little block ad on the right-hand side of this website is all about…

Back in November 2013, I had an idea. I wanted to sell 26 t-shirts.

No, not one t-shirt to 26 individual customers. 26 unique sports designs over the course of a year. I’d sell a shirt for two weeks at a time, then once that two week period was over, the design would be retired. (That’s where the name comes from, 52 divided by 2.) This is limited edition-ness is part of the concept behind 26shirts.com.

“Ok,” you’re probably thinking, “another limited edition t-shirt website out here on the web. Big deal.”

Wait! Don’t walk (or click, or scroll) away! There’s more!

This isn’t your typical t-shirt website. What makes 26shirts.com different is that we are, as far as I’ve been able to research, the only sports merchandise company based on the “give back” model. For each shirt we sell, we donate $8 to a local family or foundation that can use the money.

We’re not a t-shirt website that helps people, we’re a website that helps people by selling t-shirts.

We currently operate in Buffalo (where we got our start), Chicago, and Pittsburgh… Selling a different city-related sports-themed shirt every two weeks, helping raise money for causes within those respective locations.

To date, we’ve managed to raise over $179,000 for worthy causes in the the three cities listed above.

If you’ve got some a few minutes, check out this interview we did on WGN’s CLTV SportsFeed back in July. It’ll bring you fully up to speed. See it HERE.

The current design we’re selling, “Beary Christmas,” benefits Chicago’s “Danny Did Foundation,” a local charity that helps in advancing awareness of epilepsy & Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). Please consider a purchase!

(The shirt is visible on the right rail.)

Not super interested in this design, but like what we’re about? Join our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/9L3TD and we’ll send you emails when new shirts are released.

Thanks for your time!

Del Reid

Founder, 26shirts.com

Around the League We Go!

No Bears on Sunday meant football overload for me. And I have a lot to say. Ten things actually.

• Can we all just agree that Matt Ryan stinks and move on? It really isn’t more complicated than that. How many crippling interceptions in big games, in big moments, does the guy have to throw?
• Something is missing with Teddy Bridgewater. And I think Norv Turner knows it. Vikings are very lucky to have one of the greatest offensive coordinators in league history calling plays. He’s draining everything  out of a limited quarterback.
• Mea culpa. I believed Rex Ryan would have learned from his Jets tenure and was walking into a perfect scenario in Buffalo. But the Bills have one major element holding them back: Rex.
• Did you see the defensive holding call at the end of Oakland/Tennessee that cost the Titans the game? Neither did anybody else.
• Mike Pereira was magnificent during Arizona/San Francisco game. He has become a voice of reason the commissioner should be listening to, pointing out each week how horrendous the officiating has been.
• I have never seen anything like Odell Beckham Jr. Ever. He’s played 22 games in the league and I’ve seen enough to call his the best hands in NFL history.
• How many people the Dolphins gonna fire in-season? Hard to watch Ryan Tannehill play quarterback yesterday and blame the guy calling plays.
• Houston has allowed exactly 6 points in three of their last four games. 6!
• My MVP voting right now, in order: Cam Newton, Tom Brady, JJ Watt, Adrian Peterson, Matt Hasselbeck. 
• If the season ended today…!

Peter King on Tracy Porter

From this week’s MMQB:

What is it about Tracy Porter and crucial moments at ends of games and Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks? Porter, an afterthought free-agent signee of the Bears last spring, had two huge plays against Aaron Rodgers on Thanksgiving night. His history of big plays in big games against big passers:

When: 2009 NFC Championship Game—Saints vs. Vikings
Situation: Fourth Quarter, :19 left
Result: Porter picked off Brett Favre’s bad cross-field pass when a field goal could have won game. Saints win, 31-28, in overtime.

When: Super Bowl XLIV—Saints vs. Colts
Situation: Fourth quarter, 3:24 left
Result: Porter cut off Reggie Wayne, taking a Peyton Manning pick 74 yards for an insurance TD. Saints win, 31-17.

When: Opening Day 2012—Broncos vs. Steelers
Situation: Fourth quarter, 2:10 left
Result: In his first game as a Bronco, Porter’s pick-six of Ben Roethlisberger ensured a 31-19 win for Denver.

When: Thanksgiving Night 2015—Bears vs. Packers
Situation: Fourth quarter, 3:23 left
Result: Porter “got a gift,” Aaron Rodgers said, beating Davante Adams for the pick. And a few minutes later…

When: Thanksgiving Night 2015—Bears vs. Packers
Situation: Fourth quarter, :36 left
Result: Porter deflected what would have been the winning TD pass to James Jones. Bears win, 17-13.

Bears Are…Favored!