University of Massachusets Athletics
Sam The Minuteman's Wet ESPN Adventure
December 01, 2009 | General
Dec. 1, 2009
Sam the Minuteman filmed his third ESPN commercial on Tuesday with two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants. Check out Sam's personal story of his trip to Bristol where he got soaked in the dunk tank.
The call came in last Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, ESPN wanted me back at their campus to film another commercial. After the huge success of my spot about Brett Favre's unretirement in August, they were excited to feature me in another ad.
Once I said OK to doing my third ESPN commercial, they followed with a quick question: Are you OK to get wet from head to toe? Hmmmmm. I guess so. As long as I get to be in the commercial, right? So yes, I was in and ready to get wet.
The premise for this commercial was that two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants was going to be firing fastballs trying to dunk me into a tank. Sounds like fun... right? I was pumped to get to meet the man with the 100-mile per hour fastball. Tuesday couldn't get here soon enough
The Worldwide Leader in Sports sent a car service to pick me up around 11 a.m. for the quick one-hour drive down to Bristol. When I arrived with my UMass entourage around Noon, the first person we saw on campus was former NFL quarterback and current analyst Trent Dilfer. That was cool!
The production staff gave me a rundown of my role in the commercial. Then it was time for some lunch in ESPN's amazing café. While I was chowing down on some ribs to help keep my strength up, I saw the likes of Erik Kuselias from ESPN Radio and Jon Ritchie from First Take, who has also broadcast some UMass football games. The lunch area was packed unlike last time in August, when it was just me and Brian Kenny and Scott Van Pelt all alone.
After the delicious meal, who did we spot? Well, Scott Van Pelt again. He gave me a hard time about not speaking, but said he was aware of the "mascot code" of not talking and gave me a high five.
After seeing Scott, we headed out to the ESPN basketball court where the dunk tank was set up. There were about 50 production and staff members helping out. As I walked out, there was Tim Lincecum. Wow, he was very nice and friendly but really small! It's amazing to think that fireballs come from the frame that he has. It was a great honor to get some pictures with him and Scott.
As I was prepping to get up into the dunk tank, Tim was firing balls to get a gauge for hitting the plunger. Wow, the balls were flaming fast!
I took my spot on the tank and prepared to get soaked. The water seemed warm and boy was it cold outside, maybe 35 degrees. The ESPN people said the water was around 80 degrees so I wouldn't freeze.
The first ball he threw with me on the seat was nerve-racking. I nearly fell in from the vibration of the pitch as I watched it hit the screen. I decided not to watch and just look straight ahead as only my eyes would let me.
Pitch after pitch after pitch and nothing.
I heard the balls hitting the plunger but I wasn't getting dunked. What was going on? Was it some kind of hoax? Surely Tim threw the ball hard enough. I could hear the seams of the balls buzzing each time. They had to be going about 80 to 90 miles per hour. But still no water.
After about 15 pitches, Tim moved about 10 feet closer, thinking that would make the plunger push in and submerge me. But nope that didn't work either. The right-hander was getting a little frustrated, he even threw a ball or two left-handed. I was worried one might hit me, but it didn't.
Finally after about 30 pitches Tim had had it. I saw him moving closer and closer to me. What was he going to do?
He walked right up to the tank and pushed in the plunger and kaboom! I fell into the water. The water was warm, even a little hot. But that wasn't the issue. It was the weight!
The people from ESPN were happy with the shoot as I made the moves and faces they liked.
I felt like I weighed a thousand pounds and couldn't move as the water creeped up my head. It was time to get out, but I couldn't. They had to help me out, as the water just saturated my suit. I was also worried I might fall back into the tank since I was so overweight.
They put a ton of towels around me, worried I was cold, but for me, I wanted to dry out.
Luckily I brought an extra suit with me. We headed back inside Building 2 and I hit the bathroom for a quick change. Tim also changed, once we both emerged Tim thanked me and signed some autographs. What a down-to-earth guy for such a superstar!
Tim was on his way back to San Francisco and I was ready to head back to Amherst. As the driver pulled around to take me back, we had one final sighting: Digger Phelps!
It was great to go back to ESPN and I hope they call again. I just hope the next time it's a commercial on a warm sunny beach with swimsuit models.