Sports Rubbish

Canadians refused to board Air Canada flight during Olympic gold medal game

Jonathan Sacks — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:29:56 +0000

We’ve all been there. You’re traveling somewhere & end up watching a game in an airport bar, only to find that it’s time to board and the game isn’t over yet.

Some Canadian travelers on an Air Canada flight from Vancouver unwisely booked their flights for during the gold medal match with the United States. I guess they didn’t think Canada would make it to the final.

As airline staff tried to get them on the plane, the fans refused to budge, staying to watch the game on TV instead.

“We incurred a flight delay for a reason Air Canada had not yet encountered in over 72 years of existence,” said chief executive Calin Rovinescu.

The airline indeed delayed the flight until Canada had won. This never would have happened in the United States, since the flight never would have been on time in the first place.

Air Canada learns that hockey trumps flying [Reuters]

Other Articles You Might Enjoy:

SNL ESPN Classic Women’s Curling – Sponsored by Gyne-Lotrimin (video)

Jonathan Sacks — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:28:25 +0000

Last night, Saturday Night Live showed their love (?) of curling, which really was just an excuse to make bad Gyne-Lotrimin jokes while showing an ESPN Classic curling match from 1987.

While the “classic” match featured Finland and Paraguay, the only part of the SNL skit that was at all entertaining was Will Forte’s portrayal of Greg Stink, while Jason Sudeikis played the slightly-less dim Pete Twinkle. The constant Gyne-Lotrimin jokes definitely got old, especially since they weren’t funny in the first place.

Other Articles You Might Enjoy:

Oprah thinks Drew Brees’ birthmark is lipstick, tries to rub it off (video)

Jonathan Sacks — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:28:13 +0000

Drew Brees! You’ve just won the Super Bowl! Where are you going to go?

I’m going to go on the Oprah Winfrey show and have her awkwardly rub at my face!

Drew Brees’ birthmark on his face is widely known in the sports world. By this point, most bloggers have moved on from remarking on it. But not Oprah.

When Brees appeared on her show, the esteemed host thought his birthmark was lipstick and tried to rub it off. She quickly moved on once she realized that no amount of rubbing was going to remove it from his face.

Great job, Oprah. Perhaps a little bit more guest prep might be in order next time? Or you know, you could always not touch their faces. That works too.

Video: Oprah Tries To Clean Birthmark Off Drew Brees [Fanhouse]

Other Articles You Might Enjoy:

Rudy Gay’s non-buzzer beater (video)

Jonathan Sacks — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:54:09 +0000

At the end of the first quarter of tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Rudy Gay of the Memphis Grizzlies launched a shot from past half court in an attempt to beat the buzzer.

Gay successfully got the shot off in time. So much time that there was still a full seven seconds left on the clock.

After the shot bricked off the backboard, the Lakers took the ball to the other end of the court, where Kobe Bryant naturally drained a 3 pointer at the buzzer.

Now we’ve all hit the wrong button in a basketball video game at some point. I myself am the king of launching full-court shots by accident in NBA Jam. But firing off a wild half-court shot with that much time left on the clock in real life? That takes some serious skill. The Grizzlies won though, so maybe it’s somehow the secret to winning.

Video: Rudy Gay’s internal clock malfunction [Ball Don't Lie]

Other Articles You Might Enjoy:

San Francisco Chronicle NFC Championship Headline Fail

Jonathan Sacks — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:55:57 +0000

This is what happens when you lay people off and replace them with a team of monkeys with typewriters.

The day after the New Orleans Saints beat the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship, this was the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle’s sports section.

Saints 31, Packers 28.

That’s quite the impressive scoring line from a team that was ice fishing or hanging out in hot tubs or whatever one does during the off-season in Green Bay.

Memo to the Chronicle: Brett Favre no longer plays for the Packers. He also does not play for the Colts, the Jets, the Saints, the Bengals, the Roughriders, or any other football team you might try to place him with besides the Vikings. At least until he retires during the off-season and signs somewhere else.

HT: [Stephen Andrew Lynch/Flickr, SFist]

Other Articles You Might Enjoy:

Jose Offerman punches umpire (video)

Jonathan Sacks — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 16:44:27 +0000

Attack someone on the baseball field once and people might be able to pass it off as a fluke. Do it again, and everyone will peg you as a crazy bastard that should never be allowed near baseball (or other human beings) again.

Jose Offerman, who once charged the mound with a bat after getting hit by a pitch, showed some stellar anger management over the weekend when he calmly escalated a routine argument by attempting to punch the umpire.

Offerman is currently managing the Licey Tigers of the Dominican Republic’s Itchy Mascot League.

Video of Jose Offerman punching the umpire below:

The punch barely connected, but the ump still got knocked to the ground. To be fair though, that umpire’s uniform does make him look very punchable.

Jose Offerman Lives The Dream, Punches Ump [Deadspin]
Former all-star Jose Offerman detained after punching umpire in Dominican [AP]

Other Articles You Might Enjoy:

Mozambique Goalkeeper Faceplant Fail – Africa Cup of Nations 2010 (video)

Jonathan Sacks — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 06:01:29 +0000

Come for the soccer, stay for the preschool-level gymnastics!

The Africa Cup of Nations is underway, and based on this video of the Mozambique goalie flipping face first over the ball rather than securing it, it appears to be the only major soccer tournament to take place using a ball filled with lead.

Somehow the goalkeeper managed to dive back to the ball after missing it, but the teammate who met him there surely wanted to kick the guy’s face in for flailing about the place like that. There must be better ways to showboat and show your general lack of respect for gravity.

And for your enjoyment, another angle:

Soccer goalie faceplants as he picks up simple kick [Bare Knucks]
Soccer goalie flips over for no reason [With Leather]

Other Articles You Might Enjoy:

Tennessee fans riot after Lane Kiffin bolts for USC (video)

Jonathan Sacks — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 05:35:17 +0000

I’ll admit, when I first heard that Tennessee fans were rioting and causing mayhem after Lane Kiffin announced he was leaving for USC, I figured the reports of the size of the crowd were exaggerated. But unless the video above is from the 2010 Knoxville Night-time Marathon, there were a ton of people who turned out to run Kiffin out of town (or to keep him from leaving, I’m not sure which).

With Lane Kiffin’s address being posted online, and reports such as this one from Renaldo Woolridge of tear gas being used on fans, this will certainly only be the first video to come out of Tennessee. Once others are posted, they’ll be added below.

(Thanks to the always on-top-of-things Fang’s Bites for posting the video link)

Below is a video of Tennessee fans setting mattresses on fire at the Lane Kiffin riot

Below: More Tennessee fans running and shouting

Below: An angry Tennessee fan urinates on a t-shirt featuring Lane Kiffin, then sets fire to it along with some other photos (video NSFW for language and pissing). Urinating on representations of a coach: classy. Doing so right next to a little girl’s bicycle: even classier.

Below: Students chanting and breaking some piece of metal artwork

Below: The best video yet, even though it’s sideways. Fans circle around Kiffin gear and chant while attacking it. At 2:10, the crowd begins to move, passing what appears to be a burned mattress.

Below: Another angle of students attacking the sculpture. Be angry at Lane Kiffin all you want, but stop destroying your campus, no matter how ugly that thing might be.

Below: Tennessee fans gather outside the stadium

Below: More fans chanting outside the stadium

Below: Fans run to Neyland Stadium. Note their proper crosswalk usage.

Below: Fans sign “Rocky Top” while starting fires (I burn myself with a rag on a stick?) – via Deadspin

Below: Fans painted The Rock on the Tennessee campus (NSFW visuals). Oh, and Orange man!

Below: Fresh-faced youngsters try to break into the stadium and get stopped by police

Below: UTK fans set a mattress on fire, one holds a “We Hate L. Kiffin” sign

Other Articles You Might Enjoy:

New York Jets pep rally features pantsless radio guy in Speedo (video)

Jonathan Sacks — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:50:28 +0000

A few weeks back, WFAN’s Craig Carton made the mistake of saying the Jets wouldn’t make the playoffs. And honestly, who wouldn’t have made that same error? Nobody expected that they would be fortunate enough to have their last two opponents go on vacation to end the regular season.

Carton’s claim wasn’t that bad, but he was so confident in his prediction that he said he would walk across the Brooklyn Bridge in a Speedo if the Jets made the playoffs. Mistake.

But followed by a band, overconfident Jets fans, and girls in bikinis, Carton made good on his promise. It looks like it was very cold in New York.

Between this and Rex Ryan telling the Jets when the Super Bowl parade is going to be, it will be all that more amusing watching the Jets get rolled by the Bengals later today.

Other Articles You Might Enjoy:

Landon Donovan Mexican lottery commercial (video)

Jonathan Sacks — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:33:26 +0000

I always thought Landon Donovan was hated with a vengeance south of the border, but apparently he is liked well enough that he was hired to appear in this Mexican lottery ad.

The commercial is for Ganagol, a game in which players pick the winners of soccer matches. Donovan, dressed up in the most stereotypical Mexican costume ever, attempts to sneak over the border to play the lottery, with less than successful results.

A translation of the video can be found below (thanks to purojogo at Big Soccer):

Crossing guard: “Stop right there!”
LD: “I am Mexican!” (pronounced erroneously)
Crossing guard: “Clearly not, you are..Landon Donovan”
LD: “Oh” (no Emmy or Oscars coming anytime soon LD )
Crossing guard: “What are you doing on this side?” (of the border)
LD: “It’s just that… winning in Mexico is easier”
Crossing guard: (angry voice) WHAT??!?
LD: No, no I am talking about Ganagol…
Crossing guard: Ganagol?
LD: Ganagol the new quiniela* where it’s easier to win because they are only twelve matches
Crossing guard : So it will be easier for ME, NOT for you, so go home, orale**, let’s go!
LD: Lero***….
Announcer: New “quiniela ganagol” from Televisa Deportes/Sports

*quiniela is like a sports lottery (choose home team to win/away team to win/or draw … as LD said in this case from 12 matches….)
** orale would be like “come on!”
*** lero : if one adds “cu” to the beginning of this word, it becomes an insult, akin to a#%hole….. heard in Mexican stadia/from Mexican fans as well if my ears do not deceive me…..so LD must be familiar with it…..

Perhaps such games will be legal in the United States someday. Until then, Pete Rose will sit by the phone hoping Mexico creates a similar lottery for baseball.

HT: @JonahKeri

Other Articles You Might Enjoy: