From fat chants to fat chance to chance of a lifetime
Friday, March 30, 2007
Mark Gillispie
Plain Dealer Reporter
Patrick Cogan has discovered that fat is phat.
The 19-year-old Chagrin Falls man is headed to the men's Final Four in Atlanta on Saturday after winning Coca-Cola's Most Devoted Fan contest.
A freshman at Marquette University, "Fat Pat" has become a star in the student section at Bradley Center in Milwaukee, thanks to the inflatable fat suit, basketball mask and fright wig he wears at home games.
He and a few friends assembled a two-minute video for the contest that featured clips of him being shown on the arena Jumbotron, at the game and donning his costume.
"It was fun to put together," Cogan said. "We were just doing it for kicks. It was a pretty good prize to be going for, so why not?"
Cogan initially thought he had not won the contest, but when Coca-Cola officials notified him that he had won the grand prize, he said he "flipped out."
"At first I thought she was joking, that one of my friends was calling and playing a trick on me," he said.
He won airfare, a hotel room and game tickets for himself and his father, Tim.
Cogan brought the suit to college after Thanksgiving break. He said he paid $40 for it as a Halloween costume while in high school.
A battery pack inside the suit inflates it. The batteries also run a fan that is supposed to keep him cool, but Cogan said it still gets warm inside the suit. It's too bulky for him to sit down at the games.
Cogan chose Marquette for its business school but had no trouble attaching his loyalty to its storied basketball program. He was on the basketball team all four years at Chagrin High School as a reserve, a role he was more than happy to accept.
"I loved being on the team and practicing every day," Cogan said. "I'd give anything to just be out there now."
He hopes to land a job as a student manager for the basketball team, which would mean retiring the Fat Pat persona.
"I'd gladly work rather than be a fan," Cogan said. "To be a part of the team would be so much more rewarding."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
mgillispie@plaind.com, 216-999-4655
© 2007 The Plain Dealer© 2007 cleveland.com All Rights Reserved.