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Nigel Eccles, Co-Founder, FanDuel
Hi Folks,
We do a lot of really insightful, thoughtful and serious features here at Footballguys with some very smart people thinking deeply for you. This is not one of those features.
This is Random Shots and it's a few pages of me downloading my goofy and dysfunctional mental hard drive that gets stuffed with way too many random items from too many hours watching, reading about and listening to football every weekend and throughout the week. It's the only way I keep relatively sane. Here's hoping it has some value for you.
We'll see. Now let's get to it.
J
Leading off this week with a Soccer Note. It's that good.
Sports Illustrated reports the tiny microstate of San Marino faced the powerhouse team from Germany in a World Cup qualifying event Friday. To say the San Marino team is not good would be an understatement. Their record is one win in 139 games.
Germany crushed San Marino at home 8-0 in front of 3,851 fans. Which is 10% of the country's population.
Even so, the German team seemed to think the game was a joke and beneath them.
"I do not understand the meaning of games such as these, more so with such a busy schedule," star forward Thomas Muller said.
"San Marino has got nothing to do with professional football," retired player Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.
Naturally, San Marino responded to the criticism. They published a ten point rebuttal on Facebook including this classic:
"It's served to make me realize that even if you wear the most beautiful Adidas kits, underneath you're always the ones that put white socks under their sandals."
They went there. Salty. I like it.
The score may have shown 8-0 in favor or Germany but I'm giving the big picture win to San Marino. When we do Futbolguys.com, they're the home team.
And I should probably stop right now as it'll be downhill from here.
As unpredictable as this season has been, it makes perfect sense for the Jets to own one of the prettiest pass plays of the year...
Kirk Cousins won the hearts of America last year with his lovably awkward "You Like That!".
He's back with even more awkwardness with the "Oooooh-Weeee".
Sometimes this thing just writes itself...
Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis was asked why he isn't playing at the Revis Island level?
Revis gave an honest answer: "I'm old".
According to the Daily News, "He said it quietly and matter-of-factly and with a little laugh in front of his locker."
"You have bumps in the road," he said. "Are you going to see a one catch for one yard game? Probably not. I was 23, 24 years old then," he said, referring to holding Reggie Wayne of the Colts to one catch for one yard in the Jets 2010 wild-card victory. "That's just not where it's at. Can I execute better and do things better? That's going to come. That's definitely going to come down the road."
It's reality. And just one more example that nobody cheats the calendar. Especially players like Revis where world class physicality is a huge part of their game.
Hopefully, this isn't a revelation to the Jets. If it is, I'm not sure what to tell them. For Revis, I love his honesty.
I know we have lots of readers who are Steelers Fans. I'm guessing some are Law and Order fans too. For you guys, you're welcome...
Music Note Of The Week. Dorothy is a fun band. They're bare bones and distortion heavy with enough of a bluesy vibe to keep you interested. And she can sing. Check out Bang Bang Bang here.
Thanks to Footballguy Rick Himes for that one.
ESPN's College Game Day's become it's own event. This week they were in Washington which meant throwing fish. Lee Corso and the Crew showed Randy Moss has nothing on them...
Lee Corso shows why he's still the King.
The Browns may not be too good at Football this year. But Cleveland players Joe Haden and Tyrell Pryor showed class before kickoff here.
Kansas with the Camoufage In The Endzone Kick Return Play Saturday.
Never gets old.
My new team name for next season. I thought "He Don't Make The Law, He Justin Forsett" would be hard to beat but we may have a contender with the "Need For Snead"...
The Dak Prescott Story has been fun this year. Unless you're Tony Romo. Prescott's receiving plenty of well deserved praise. But I've been impressed by Tony Romo. You know it can't be easy seeing a young guy take your job but Romo's been a complete pro.
A couple of weeks ago, the camera caught him on the sideline looking like a coach counting down the play clock.
Then Sunday, you can see what looks like him saying "It's his time" after Prescott's touchdown throw.
Tuesday, Romo showed leadership and class putting the QB Controversy to rest with a press conference.
The bottom line is he said it's all about the team. And clearly, Prescott is the right answer for the team here. Everyone talks about team first but Romo is actually living this out. Well done.
Sometimes the most impressive things we see in the game don't happen on the field.
On a lighter Cowboys note...
Although to be fair, it's been awhile...
Julio Jones rocking some sweet Camo cleats for Salute To Service Month.
And you knew Antonio Brown would be right there with him...
The Titans need to set this guy up with Front Row seats or something.
ESPN's Matt Hasselbeck said he could fix most of what's wrong with Sam Bradford by finding him a jersey that fit. I think he's right.
From a few weeks ago.
Carlos Hyde rocking the Training Mask in Pre Game Warmups.
Made me think of Marshawn Lynch.
I know these look cool. And I can see they'd be beneficial in training. But I'm with my Buddy Clayton Gray in that it seems like an odd way to warm up. But that's just us...
More Bucket Challenge Fun from the Cardinals. Carson Palmer lost this week and was forced to wear the USA Morph Suit.
Even better, he had to wear a Justin Beiber hat.
And the Safe For Work version of the original pic that caused a stir with some folks.
You know. Because I'm considerate like that...
Here's what it's been like to be a Panthers fan this season.
Carolina ended a 20 play drive with a punt.
NBA Note - Cavs with the Half Time Award this week with a real life game of Hungry Hungry Hippos.
Here's a pretty good video of the Denver return of the blocked PAT.
Can you make a clear call based on the video?
Denver backup QB Austin Davis seemed to think he was out of bounds telling Justin Simmons who blocked the kick, "That was a terrible call".
If nothing else, it's one more reason to wear white cleats...
Hang in there Saints Fans.
Maybe there's still hope...
Combining a Hockey Note AND a "Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover" story.
Former NHL player Peter Bronda's been touring the United Arab Emirates.
Note to Jaguars Ownership: This is why you can't have nice things.
You'd think it goes without saying, but you can never ever promote another team's gear in your stadium. Never Ever.
Can you imagine this happening in Oakland or Philadelphia or Chicago or Green Bay? Or pretty much any stadium except for San Diego or San Francisco. Ridiculous.
Is Doug Baldwin unbenchable? Seems that way.
It's a cruel game sometimes...
TV Note. Joe Knows Things.
Why tackling by the facemask is illegal...
Yikes.
Tom Brady says he's done talking about politics.
This guy is having none of that though...
The line between "imaginative" and "gimmicky" can be blurry sometimes. Cincinnati pushed it with this formation but it worked. And that's what counts.
On the other side of the ball, New York and Eli Manning seemed intent on not winning.
But the Giants did win. And that's what counts the most.
I told you last month about FOX Sports photoshopping a picture to make it look like Sam Bradford was in a Vikings uniform. It was embarrassing for FOX and kind of weird but I wrote it off to Bradford being new with the team and them not having a lot of pictures of him wearing a Vikings uniform. I figured the intern who did it would get fired or talked to and it was done.
Not so fast as we had this gem last week.
The Vikings don't know what to say.
This couldn't be more meaningless, but this has to be the goofiest thing I've seen this year. How hard is it to get a picture? How can FOX continue to allow this? Why spend time photoshopping a bad picture when the Vikings are offering real pictures? So many question
I say we put Commissioner Goodell on this and get some answers.
In case you missed it, DeMarco Murray is pretty good at football.
There's fun pre game smack talk.
And then there's this from the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons mascot watches the famous clip of Rocky I and then smashes the TV with a sledgehammer. Click here to see the video.
I'd love to know the thought process behind this one.
"Guys, you know what would be awesome? Let's take one of America's favorite movies with one of America's most beloved characters and let's have our mascot guy smash it to pieces!"
I imagine this was followed by many high fives followed by espresso drinks with lots of whipped cream on top.
Of course the Eagles were ready with a post game reply.
You know what they say about paybacks.
Philip Rivers experienced this first hand Sunday.
Rivers seemed to delight in Kiko Alonso's holding call and made sure Alonso knew about it. Did Rivers somehow think Alonso wouldn't hear about it from the officials?
You can guess where this is going.
With 1:13 left in the game and San Diego driving down field for a game winning score, Alonso intercepted Rivers for a pick six to win the game.
The lesson here is maybe it's not the best idea to rub the other guys face in it...
I'm not sure what I like more. These celebrations from the Chinese Arena Football League. Or that they call their championship game the China Bowl.
I think it's a tie.
Finally, some honest headlines from SportsPickle...
Wrapping with this one from Antonio Brown. If you're as worn out with the election and post election stuff as I am, this may be for you.
Ryan is a 15 year old Steelers fan dealing with bone cancer. His wish was to visit the team and you can see his interaction with Brown here. He asks Brown how business is. And Brown replied of course with "Boomin'". Love it.
It's like I've said before. You and I don't likely have the influence to easily make someone's day like Brown does here. Nobody is lined up for the chance to meet most of us. But there are absolutely people in your life that you can positively influence. Look around. Look for a need. And do something about it. It doesn't need to be giant production. It likely isn't any more than writing a note or saying something nice. But you have the power.
Off the soapbox.
Thanks to Footballguys Keith Overton, Clayton Gray, David Dodds, and Rick Himes for the help on this one. If you've got a Random Shot of your own, shoot me an e-mail at bryant@footballguys.com.
Thanks for playing along. I hope you make the most of whatever you're doing in your life. Love your neighbor and stick together.
Peace and Grace to you.
J