October 23rd: On this date...

... in 1998, a 54-year old Englishman, Ian Ward, came up with possibly the greatest idea of my generation........the image you see above. Ward was the general manager of the Kentucky CoolCats, the University’s barely funded hockey team, came up with a spicy idea to promote the team. Having seen Judd on TV during the basketball season, the idea popped into his head to contact the UK alum in a last ditch effort to gain some excitement. Judd was contacted by her cousin and finally agreed to do the shoot. The poster was a hit, a pop culture phenomenon. Outlets such as USA Today and Washington quickly picked the story up causing a stir among professional hockey players. Everyone had to have the poster. Brett Favre’s agent requested a dozen or so copies. What started as a favor, ended up being quite possibly the greatest publicity stunt in Hollywood history. After Judd’s appearance, every actress from the state knew that if she was going to make it, she needed her own hockey poster moment. Rebecca Gayheart, Leah Lail, the Costello twins (Julie and Shawnie), model Kylie Bax, and Miss USA Tara Conner all owe a bit of their popularity to Mr. Ward.

Big Blue Booyah on Tom Leach