The Davidson Wildcats mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #93 of 352. The 2008 Davidson Wildcats men’s basketball team, starring Stephen Curry, is one of the greatest Cinderella stories in NCAA history. (View reference images.)
George Mason Patriot – No. 727
The George Mason Patriots mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #92 of 352. The 2006 George Mason Patriots men’s basketball team is one of the greatest Cinderella stories in NCAA history. (View reference images.)
Loyola Marymount Lion – No. 726
The Loyola Marymount Lions mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #91 of 352. The 1990 Loyola Marymount Lions men’s basketball team is one of the greatest Cinderella stories in NCAA history, and they had the whole nation rooting for them after the tragic death of superstar Hank Gathers. (View reference images.)
Villanova Wildcat – No. 725
The Villanova Wildcats mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #90 of 352. The 1985 Villanova Wildcats men’s basketball team is the greatest of all Cinderella stories, becoming the lowest-seeded national champion in NCAA history. (View reference images.)
Stephen Curry – No. 724
Stephen Curry is an American professional basketball point guard for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. Curry, who is known for his exceptional shooting skills, played college basketball for the Davidson Wildcats. As a junior in 2008-09, he was the NCAA scoring leader with 28.6 points per game and was a consensus first-team All-American. Curry led Davidson to two consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, including a trip to the Elite Eight in 2008 (in which eventual national champion Kansas snapped Davidson’s 25-game winning streak). He was selected seventh overall in the 2009 NBA Draft. In the 2012-13 NBA regular season, Curry set the record for three-pointers made with 272. In 2014, he was named to his first NBA All-Star team. Curry, the son of former NBA player Dell Curry, was born on this day in 1988.
Dock Ellis – No. 723
Dock Ellis was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. He played most of his 12-year career for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1968-1975, 1979). Ellis threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres on June 12, 1970. He later stated that he accomplished the feat under the influence of LSD. In 1971, Ellis was a starting pitcher in the All-Star Game and his Pirates won the 1971 World Series. Five years later, he helped lead the Yankees to the 1976 World Series and was named the American League Comeback Player of the Year in the process. Ellis was an outspoken individual who advocated for the rights of players and African Americans. He also had a substance abuse problem, and he acknowledged after his retirement that he never pitched without the use of drugs. Ellis was born on this day in 1945 and died in 2008 at the age of 63.
Note: Watch the charming animated short by No Mas and artist James Blagden about Dock Ellis’ legendary LSD no-hitter. It’s worth four minutes of your time.
Zach Weinersmith – No. 722
Zach Weinersmith (born Zach Weiner) is the author and illustrator of the webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (SMBC). He is the writer of two other webcomics, the completed Captain Stupendous with artist Chris Jones, and Snowflakes, co-written by James Ashby and also illustrated by Jones. He also founded the sketch comedy group SMBC Theater with James Ashby and Marty Weiner. Weinersmith’s SMBC webcomic was recognized in 2006 and 2007 with the Web Cartoonists’ Choice Award for Outstanding Single Panel Comic. He has published three SMBC collections and a Choose Your Own Adventure-style gamebook, and he put on the hilarious BAHFest in 2013. Most recently, he published Polystate: A Thought Experiment in Distributed Government and the children’s book Twins in Time. Weinersmith is married to Kelly Weinersmith, a parasitologist. He was born on this day in 1982.
No comic artist is funnier and more thoughtful on a daily basis than Zach Weinersmith with SMBC, which is why I have supported his Kickstarter projects (like Trial of the Clone: A Choosable Path Gamebook and SCIENCE: Ruining Everything Since 1543) and sponsor him on Patreon. This is also why Zach is now an 8-bit character in my retro artillery game. If you squint, you’ll notice that Zach is wearing a Breadpig shirt. And he throws light bulbs.
Lou Reed – No. 721
Lou Reed was an American musician, singer and songwriter. After serving as guitarist, vocalist and principal songwriter of the Velvet Underground, his solo career spanned several decades. The Velvet Underground was a commercial failure in the late 1960s, but the group gained a considerable cult following and has become one of the most widely cited and influential bands of the era. After his departure from the group, Reed began a solo career in 1972. He had a hit the following year with “Walk on the Wild Side,” a song describing fixtures at The Factory, the New York studio of Andy Warhol, in the 1960s. Reed was known for his distinctive deadpan voice, poetic lyrics and for pioneering ostrich guitar tuning. He was born on this day in 1942 and died on October 27, 2013.
Since I wasn’t able to create pixel art of Lou Reed in a timely fashion after his death last year, I figured I’d wait until his birthday. He would have turned 72 years old today. I am currently staying at the Georgetown Inn in Seattle, my favorite city, with my wife and almost-seven-month-old daughter. We have been visiting friends. Tomorrow is my 35th birthday. It seems like only yesterday that I created myself and my wife as pixel art characters.
Jason Lytle – No. 728
Jason Lytle is an American musician best known for his work in the indie rock group Grandaddy between 1992 and 2005. Since the group split, he has continued to release music as a solo artist and in collaboration with other musicians. Grandaddy reformed in 2012 for a series of live shows. In 2013 Lytle moved from Montana to Portland, Oregon. He was born on this day in 1969.
One of my very favorite albums is Grandaddy’s The Sophtware Slump (2000). It was an especially important album to me during my post-college cross-country road trip in the summer of 2001. I last saw Jason Lytle perform at a show at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Oregon on June 6, 2009. (Video of that entire show is available on YouTube, by the way.) I’m past due to see him/Grandaddy again.