popular thinking

This is Hazel Mae. Maybe you've seen her on NESN. More and more, though, you're seeing her pop up everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Not only does Ms. Mae get a puff piece from her colleagues over at the Globe (which holds ownership in the sports cable channel), but also, now, apparently, Hazel is busting out all over the place in life-sized cardboard cutouts, shilling (not Schilling) for Coors Light and dressed in a softcore softball uni with NESN tag. What's that all about? And when can you remember seeing a TV personality -- anchor, reporter, sportscaster -- hawking items in such a manner?



Do you have your own life-sized cardboard cutout of Hazel Mae yet?

This photo was snapped by the author on cameraphone, July 3-4 at the Shaw's at Copley Square, downtown Boston. Presumably, many other locations boast cardboard Hazels. Where have you seen her?

Word is, this is all part of a Coors Light promotion to "win a day with Hazel Mae," but what, PRAY TELL, does that entail? ;)

I've got my own sources on the case. Stay tuned for more info.

UPDATED: This is what my colleagues at the Inside Track wrote on July 10, running my photo alongside this prose...
Who needs the Coors Light Twins when you have NESN temptress Hazel Mae?
The Colorado brewers who brought you the dynamic duo Elaine and Diane Klimaszewski, the Worcester sisters better known as the Coors Light Twins, have signed up the SportsDesk chick for a "Win A Day With Hazel Mae" promotion. That's DAY, boys, not DATE.
"Coors Light has signed Hazel Mae as a spokesperson and has launched the promotion which will give one lucky fan a chance to spend a day with Hazel behind the scenes at NESN," said station spokesguy Gary Roy.
Well, now that both Coors twins are married and Elaine's preggers, the brewers must have needed some fresh talent!
Anyway, the promotion runs through the end of July, but for some unknown reason a cardboard replica of HM that was on display at Shaw's in the Back Bay mysteriously disappeared the other day. A store manager said he thought the Coors crew grabbed it. The Coors peeps had another theory.
"Sometimes people take them as souvenirs," said suds spokesgal Kibira Hatland. "It's not something we recommend, but from what I hear, she has quite a fan base in New England."
Oh, yes.

UPDATED (7/21): Hazel Mae told the Globe after signing her NESN contract extension that she wasn't making plans to go anywhere soon. "When you think about it, NESN, to me, might as well be as national and high profile, with satellites all over I get fan mail from California, Atlanta, and North Dakota," she said. "So yes, it's not ESPN, but it might as well be." Other Globe quotes from Mae..."I had heard that Boston could be very cliquey, but everyone has been very welcoming," she said. "Players no longer talk down to you, and they don't talk slowly because they think you don't understand. But I think that's a credit to the women who came before me."
"When I came here, I didn't know what to expect, but I knew I'd be kicking myself if I at least didn't try," she said. "So I'm just glad things worked out."

UPDATED (8/1): Well, July is over. No word yet on who won the day with Mae.

Related:
A Hazel Mae fansite. The fan has a MySpace, too, so don't be fooled into thinking you're really Hazel Mae's friend just yet.