I got an email yesterday that said OfficeMax is sponsoring what is likely to be crowned the World's Largest Rubber Band Ball by Guinness World Records.

I'm not a big follower of Rubber Band Ball Competitions. Not sure if there is a league or anything, operating in small towns across the US - And now, ladies and gentlemen, get up on your feet, and welcome yoooooooooour Altoona Elastics! - but I can see the general interest. Giant rubber band balls are impressive. Especially one that contains 175,000 bands, is over 5 1/2 feet tall and 19 feet around, and weighs about 4,000 pounds.

But here's what caught my eye when I read a little further into the email: Office Max is sponsoring the ball's creator, Steve Milton. Read that again: sponsoring the ball's creator. Sponsoring. As in paying. Steve is being paid by a major corporation to make huge balls out of rubber bands. Now THAT'S impressive. If you can talk a major corp into giving you a check to do something like that, you are a man among men.

Guinness will officially weigh the ball in downtown Chicago on November 21.