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T-Shirt Company Puts Smack Talk On Backs

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By TED JACKOVICS

tjackovics@tampatrib.com

Published: December 10, 2008

TAMPA - Thanks to the Tampa entrepreneur who last year sold thousands of "He15man" T-shirts labeling University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow as college football's best player, we now know that Oklahoma Sooners head football coach Bob Stoops wears T-Bow pajamas.

We also find out "he's gonna make Oklahoma eat their veggies, too."

Or at least those are the claims on Smack Apparel T-shirts that went on sale for $17.99 this week, taking a good-humored shot at the Gators' opponent in the national championship game Jan. 8 in Miami.

There's something for University of Texas fans, too. It's a burnt orange T-shirt called "The BCS Robbery." That's the Longhorns' lament that despite beating the Sooners 45-35, they later lost a game and, with it, a chance to play for the national championship, although both Texas and Oklahoma had 11-1 records.

"The shirts are funny. They offer critical commentary, and they say what fans are thinking," said Wayne Curtiss, a Florida State University graduate who has turned his Smack Apparel into a company that employs 20 and does "a couple million dollars worth of sales annually."

It markets its merchandise at getsmack.com and outlets in college towns nationwide.

His wife, Rosemary, is a Penn State graduate, and Happy Valley is among Smack Apparel's most favorable markets. The latest shirt warns the University of Southern California it is facing The Legend, aka Joe Paterno, in the Rose Bowl.

Smack Apparel's garb is not licensed by the schools, so Curtiss is careful to avoid using an athlete's name on the merchandise. He replaced the "o" in USC football coach Pete Carroll's name with an oval, tearful face.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817.

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