This is the first time we’ve done anything like this so we were excited to watch as all of you rose to the occasion and started ordering them by the dozens. If you’ve ordered from us in the past then you know our minimum for an order is 72 shirts but for this particular offer we got rid of the minimum and let our customers order as many or as little as they needed. If you wanted 1 shirt, you got it, 100 shirts, you got it!

So how much was the donation for the American Red Cross?

Well because of each of you that purchased these shirts we were able to donate $2,970! That’s just amazing! Thank you all for your help in raising this money. We knew that with all our fantastic customers we could do this!

So here’s the question, would you like to see more of these types of offers? Would you like the chance to purchase limited edition shirts with no order minimums? Please let us know and gives us your thoughts and comments below.

Thanks again for everyone’s help!

But what is the JROTC? JROTC or, Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, was designed to help developing good citizenship and patriotism, appreciation of physical fitness and increased team building skills in the Cadets that utilize these programs. Its origins date back to 1916 with the National Defense Act and further expanded under the 1964 ROTC Vitalization Act. At this time, they have a presence in all 50 states and have over 3,000 combined Units, with the majority (over half) being Army JROTC Units.

Under the instruction of active and retired military members from all four branches, Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, the students are able to participate in a myriad of activities and teams within the overall program. These teams include, but are not limited to, Orienteering, Physical Training, Color Guard, Rifle and Unarmed Drill teams. As a member of these teams, Cadets take on added responsibility and visibility not only in the Unit, but in the Community as well.

Excel Sportswear has been privileged enough to work with many of these Units, Instructors and Cadets. We have seen their numbers soar, fall and have seen Instructors go the extra mile for their Cadets and the program.

One such program we have had the pleasure of working with over the years is a Navy JROTC Program, under the instruction of a Chief who retired after 17 years of duty. This particular Unit was able to increase the number of Cadets in the program from roughly 100 in the 2010-2011 school year to around 170 in the 2011-2012 school year. That is no small feat.

When asked what the cause of the rapid increase in his numbers, they were quoted as saying, ”not sure if its anything we are actually doing or just our good fortune that we have a large 9th grade class this year.” They continued in saying that they, “Can’t pinpoint anything that we’ve done that would make the numbers jump, because for the last 10 years we have run right around 100.”

This seasoned organization is ready to hit the ground running with the new, larger, program that they are fortunate to have this year. When asked if things are going to be different or harder with such a large increase, his modest response was, “not really. It’s the same thing magnified a little bit, nothing crazy.”

As a Veteran owned company, Excel can both appreciate and understand the value of the skills, attitude and overall impact programs like the JROTC instill in the Cadets. We love that so many of the Units have turned to us to help the Cadets showcase their pride and, in turn, help increase their enrollment.

Today, Excel Sportswear would like to take a moment to salute these men and women who lead these programs. Thank you for all you do, have done and for continuing to serve your country beyond retirement.

We’ve been working diligently with New Holland to come up with designs and layouts that their customers are sure to love and seek out.

If you’d like to place an order, or would like us to contact your local dealership about stocking these beautifully designed shirts, let us know.

1-800-784-8857
sales@exceltees.com

When you ask the Pullers and fans to describe this time honored past time the comments range from, “Best 15 second ride in the world,” to, “Biggest thrill ever,” or my personal favorite, “It’s the biggest waste of money ever, waste of time…. In other words it’s AWESOME!!!!!!”

In general, Pulling is a motorsport where people modify trucks and tractors to pull a weighted sled. The goal is to pull the sled 300 feet, or have a “Full Pull”. Some of these teams have been pulling for generations and it’s really a family tradition, others grew up watching the pulls and just had to get in the game themselves as they got older.

Excel Sportswear has quickly become a known name amongst the sport to Pullers and fans alike. They appreciate that we love the sport and the raw power of the machinery. They also appreciate our detailed artwork because it helps to show off the uniqueness of each tractor and truck. It’s really a perfect fit for the sport, product and community.

One of the things that we love about this sport is the connection they have with their fans. Unlike other motorsports, the teams, drivers and equipment are highly accessible. At many events they have open pits. At these events it’s not uncommon for fans to meet the drivers, see teams working on upgrades or repairs and see the intricate paint jobs and exposed engines up close and personal. Bottom line, you can see, smell and even feel the ground rumble as they fire up in the pits. That’s something you just don’t get at other sporting events.

Like most sports, teams and fans have their favorites. Some have a favorite truck or tractor, others favorite teams (who have multiple pieces they run), but most tend to have at least a brand favorite. There are Green fans, who like John Deere, Red fans, who like International or Case IH, and there are Blue fans who like Ford and New Holland. Not to be forgotten are the Mini-Mo fans, Allis fans or any of the other numerous tractor brands out there.

And you cannot forget the truck fans. They range from Four Wheel Drive fans, Two Wheel Drive fans, Super Semi fans and have brand favorites as well that range from Ford to Chevy to Mack trucks. Some of these trucks look like something you would see on the road (just weighted in the front), others, like the T-Buckets have a unique look all their own. A good bit of them however, in many classes have smoke stacks that will blacken the sky with their power on a run…. a sight that really gets the fans geared up.

Another group of fans to remember are the modified fans. If you are not familiar with Pulling, I can guarantee you have never seen anything like these before. These are modified tractors that have exposed engines on a modified chassis. They range from Mini Mods that are 2,000lbs (one of the lightest classes) which are one of the hardest to control; to the Unlimited Mods that have been known to have 5-6 race engines, a few jet or helicopter engines or even V-12 Allison aircraft engines. It’s an insane amount of power (15,000HP) under the control of one driver, held back only by the weight of the sled. It’s definitely a unique sight.

We know that many have never heard of this sport, but let me tell you first hand – once you get a taste of this, it gets under your skin and you want to see more. The colorful paint, clever names, sheer power of the equipment and the passion that the teams have for this sport; there just isn’t anything else quite like it.

Excel is proud to be a part of this sport’s culture and to help show off these great pieces of equipment that, for some, may have otherwise never knew existed.

We hope that this write up helps to clear up some of the questions our customers may have had about pulling teams and the sport in general. We also hope that this might help get a few more fans for the sport and general interest in what pulling entails.

Let us know how we did. Give us some feedback. What else would you like to know about pulling? Any other customers that you would like to see highlighted on our website? Do you like this type of feature on our page?

To see more of the designs featuring this sport and the Pullers, please check out our Facebook page and website:

Facebook Tractor Pulling Album

Tractor Pulling Design Gallery On Our Website

To learn more about the sport in general visit:

Pulloff

Eastern Extreme Pulling

In a time when you can sit on your couch and watch the news to find out what’s going on in the war, these people are there putting their lives on the line. They’re away from their family and friends, giving up regular lives they have at home. They protect our country and eventually eliminate anyone that threatens our way of life, and our freedom.

We work with all branches of the Military from JROTC to Navy Seals. In every design we create for them, we make sure it represents the honor and character of every individual – it’s our way of conveying the pride that we have for their sacrifice.

So when you see a man or woman in uniform be sure to say “thank you” and let them know they have your support, because without them this country wouldn’t be what it is today.

Team Excel consists of 4 members.

Mark Grimm: Fire Chief at North Strabane Township Fire Department
Chris Cerci: Firefighter for Mckeesport
Christopher Chiprich: Baldwin EMS|
Nicholas Sohyda: Fire Chief for Mount Lebanon Fire Department

Since 1991 Fire Departments have been competing in the Scott Safety Firefighter Combat Challenge to raise awareness to the public of how challenging and demanding it is to be a firefighter.

The roots of this Challenge start in D.C. were teams made up of 5 different Departments competed against each other in 5 different events. Not only were these challenges tough but they went head to head in front of spectators and even television cameras!  After seeing the reaction of the public this challenge took off and has been taking place annually, adding more teams from different cities and even more events. ESPN covered the event but now you can catch it on Versus.

The festivites begin on March 24th this year so be sure to check it out and cheer your local heroes on as they compete against each other!

I think it’s safe to say that pretty much everyone in the world owns a t-shirt, right?

T-shirts are comfortable, stylish and easy to put on.

Whether a shirt has a saying or a picture on it, it really gives you an idea of what that person is about. Think of all the kids wearing their favorite rock band on a shirt, or a bunch of “gear heads” with their favorite “muscle” car on a shirt, or a someone wearing their favorite sports team on a shirt. Its all about what that person thinks is cool. It’s all about expression!

So many businesses are taking advantage of this. The advertising is great and can be long-lasting. Most people keep a shirt for a couple years- at least. So, five or more years from now people can still be promoting your business. That is crazy to think about!

Imagine if someday a shirt with a cool design, advertising your business gets donated and some dude shopping at a thrift store ends up with that shirt.  Now, there is someone else promoting your business…

People love t-shirts and they will never go away!  

My point is, if you make a t-shirt that has a great design, someone, somewhere, will always be willing to promote your business.

We deal with a lot of Fire Departments here at Excel on a daily basis. We occasionally print Brigade tee’s but most Fire Departments come to us for custom hand drawn apparel to highlight big anniversaries, wet downs, celebrations and pride in general.

While our view on the situation is that rules are rules, and you have to abide by them, we were curious if any of our Fire Fighter friends have had this experience or know of anyone who has? We would love to know if there is anything that we should be aware of or take into consideration when dealing with you guys so we don’t offend anyone or break any of your rules and regulations.

We would appreciate it if you would comment below so we can get some feedback on this topic. Thanks and please stay SAFE out there!

With the popularity of “social media” growing so fast, we are trying to take full advantage of its use. Outlets like Facebook and Twitter are great tools for customer service and give us the chance to connect instantly with the consumer.

Excel Sportswear will now begin to post pictures of jobs that are in progress on Facebook and Twitter, so our customers can see exactly how their shirts are being created.

Aren’t you curious to see how we can transfer your idea to a shirt?

Wouldn’t you like to see the care that goes into your custom apparel?

With each picture, we give you a good idea of how it’s done. So far our customer’s response has been great!

To have your design posted please click here or send us a link to your Facebook page or your Twitter handle so we know where to post your job’s photos. You can just fill out the form to the right and we will do the rest!

While every job and customer is very important to Excel Sportswear, we only have so much time and resources available for this project. We will post as many as we can according to how each job is scheduled.  We apologize if we don’t get to everyone but we’ll do our best. Thanks to everyone for your time and interest.

Or maybe some other place filled with “jerks” just like me trying to find the perfect gift at the last minute. It always ends up with me wandering from store to store, fighting for parking spaces and dealing with fools like myself getting in the way.

The best is when you ask a clerk to help you find something and they lead you on a wild goose chase around the WHOLE store looking for it, only to find it’s the totally wrong item and he didn’t know what the heck you were talking about in the first place. Yep, that’s pretty cool when that happens.

Even better, I love the excitement of picking up the store’s flyer seeing all of the sweet deals and actually thinking that they didn’t already sell out of everything.

I know what YOU’RE thinking…

“Start your shopping early”, right?

Well, I say “NO THANKS!” I actually like last minute shopping!  I think I work best under pressure!

I like the pressure of trying to decide “hmmmm, should I buy them the windshield scraper / radio or the talking wallet that humiliatingly lets you know when it is empty or how about Billy Bass, keep in mind…

I’M SHOPPING FOR MY MOM!

When there’s not much left to choose from you gotta think quick my friend.

So I look forward to seeing all my fellow “last minute” shoppers and please, be safe, be smart and most of all, STAY OUTTA MY WAY!

I only have one day until Christmas!

Happy Holidays everyone!