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Wolfpack Fan Gets An Early Christmas Present – A John Deere Gator! |
Mike Bawden of Raleigh and his family check out the new John Deere Gator he won from GoPack.com. |
Mike Bawden of Raleigh was the big winner of a 2005 John Deere Gator™ TS Utility Vehicle in the “John Deere Gator Giveaway” on the official web site of Wolfpack Athletics – GoPack.com. Starting in late August, NC State fans were asked to submit their guess as to how many total rushing yards the Wolfpack would gain in the 2005 regular season. Over 3,000 entries were received on-line and in person at the John Deere Gator™ display in the Wolfpack Fan Zone prior to every home game.
On September 2nd, before the Wolfpack football team had played a single down, Bawden submitted his winning sweepstakes entry on GoPack.com with the exact number of rushing yards the ‘Pack would gain in 2005 – 1,320. Incredibly, Bawden had a very simple strategy. “I went to the Spring Game and thought this offense is good for about 120 yards per game on the ground.” Bawden then multiplied 120 by the total number of games – eleven – to get his spot-on guess of 1,320. Bawden and his family took delivery of the Gator from Revels Tractor of Fuquay-Varina, NC right before the holidays.
Bawden and his kids get ready to take the new ride out for a spin. |
If Bawden appears to be logical and well-educated, there is good reason for that. He is a 1977 graduate of NC State with a B.A. in Business Management and he now works for North Carolina Farm Bureau Insurance. Bawden played varsity soccer at NC State from 1973-75 under coach Max Rhodes. He is married to Meliene who is also a member of NC State’s 1977 graduating class with a B.S. in Education and a Master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling. They have three children Meredith, Matt and Mark and live in Raleigh.
“I’d like to thank John Deere and the Revels Tractor Company for their generous support towards Wolfpack athletics,” said Bawden. “There are a thousand uses for this type of vehicle and my family will do our best to try all thousand. We are very excited. I have been envious of my neighbor and his John Deere products for years. Now I have one!”
Bawden won this John Deere Gator for having the closest guess on the total number of rushing yards the Wolfpack football team would rack up during the 2005 regular season. |
“Revels Tractor Co. is pleased that John Deere Co. supported Wolfpack Football with this program,” said Turner Revels of Revels Tractor, a registered John Deere dealer in Fuquay-Varina. “It provided a great prize for the Bawden family and exposed Revels Tractor Co. as well as the other John Deere Dealers in North Carolina to thousands of Wolfpack fans. We had great turnouts in the Fan Zone before each home game and hundreds of young Wolfpack fans got to sit in the seat of a new John Deere Gator. We thank the Wolfpack Nation for their support.”
If you would like to win a John Deere Gator and were not as fortunate as Mr. Bawden, John Deere will again sponsor the John Deere Gator Giveaway during the 2006 football season. If you can’t wait until then to get your Gator, go to www.johndeere.com to see John Deere’s latest offerings and find a John Deere dealer near you.
Thanks to WSM’s Robert Stockhausen for this capcom story & these capcom photos.
