Tag: Blogs

Real Madrid beats rivals Atletico Madrid thanks to an evil (and brilliant) red-card challenge

Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana final thanks to a smart and totally cynical red-card challenge from Valverde.

Real Madrid took on cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid in the Supercopa de España final on Sunday. The game went 90 minutes without a goal, and then in the waning minutes of extra time, the score was still notched 0-0.

Then, all hell broke loose.

Real Madrid had a chance to break the deadlock in the 115th minute, and pushed plenty of players forward to try and get a goal before the match went to penalty kicks. The risk didn’t pay off — Atletico cleared the ball successfully, then thanks to a lucky bounce, they were able to play in striker Alvaro Morata in alone on goal.

Morata had a clear breakaway, and a chance to win the game … until Real Madrid’s 21-year-old midfielder Federico Valverde brought him down with a vicious and cynical foul outside the penalty box.

It was a straight red card, one of the most obvious reds you’ll ever see in soccer outside of a punch being thrown. It was evil, cynical, and gross, and it was also completely brilliant.

After the foul, Atletico players were irate, and a massive shoving match ensued while the referee doled out yellow cards and tried to restore order.

You can see why they were so mad — Valverde exploited a loophole in soccer’s rules with the tackle.

By fouling him outside the box, it didn’t matter that it was a horrible tackle and denied an obvious and clear goalscoring opportunity — Atletico don’t get a penalty kick. A few yards farther down the field, and Morata would have earned a PK, one that Atletico most likely would have finished.

But it was outside the box. So Atletico was forced to take a direct free kick with Real Madrid getting to set up a wall. They didn’t convert. Valverde was ejected, but for Real Madrid, they didn’t care much. There were only five minutes remaining in the match.

They held off Atletico with 10 ment, then Real Madrid won the game in a penalty shootout, 4-1.

After the game, Valverde apologized to Morata.

Via the BBC: “I know it’s not good what I did, but I didn’t have any other option.”

What say you about the play?

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LSU releases ANOTHER jaw-dropping hype video, this time featuring The Rock

LSU has released yet another hype video ahead of the CFP national championship game against Clemson, this time featuring Dwayne Johnson.

It seems like a ridiculous thing to say, but over the last few weeks I can earnestly claim that my favorite filmmaker working right now is the LSU Football social media team.

Sure, Martin Scorcese has an arsenal of filmmaking techniques, Bong Joon-ho has an unparalleled vision, whatever. None of them have slow-mo videos of Joe Burrow walking into a packed stadium while The Rock narrates some badass nonsense that makes me want to run through a wall.

Every hype video is better than the last one, and the morning of the national championship game, they’ve gone and outdone themselves, with a new video called “I Remember Rock Bottom.”

Watch it, then dive through a plate glass window.

My understanding of these two teams, LSU and Clemson, says this game will be closer than people think. But after watching this video, forget it: LSU by a million.

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The Bachelor: Predicting Peter’s winner and who will be the next Bachelorette

Our predictions for this season of The Bachelor after one episode.

Peter Weber met the 30 women vying for his heart in Week 1 of The Bachelor last Monday, and he sent eight women home in the first Rose Ceremony. Former Bachelorette Hannah Brown stunned the other contestants by making a surprise return, and Peter offered Hannah a place on his cast if she’s willing to join. Which contestant is poised to go all the way, and who is the perfect pick to become the next Bachelorette? FTW’s Bachelor experts Nick Schwartz and Marissa Kasner made their picks after one episode:

Who will win Peter’s heart?

Marissa: Peter won’t be able to top his connection with Hannah B.

Peter told us before the season even started that “there’s a reason no one is going to find out the ending,” which is leaving many to speculate he’s yet to make a selection and it could be Hannah B. (Ashley I has a pretty plausible theory.)  I’m drinking this kool-aid.  As soon as I heard him claim no one will know the ending I suspected he hadn’t made a choice.

But after rekindling that chemistry week one, even though she definitely doesn’t move back into the mansion, I suspect Peter gets to the end, searches his soul and find his heart is still with 4-time windmill Hannah.  What else could possibly make him say “that last week was the hardest week of my entire life” and his mom say “go get our girl.”

Although I am on record saying I want the traditional happily ever after, I’m now here for Hannah B & Peter sitting in a tree.

Nick: Victoria P. is going to dominate this season

Disclaimer: If Peter makes the wrong choice and doesn’t offer Victoria P. his Final Rose, she’s a slam-dunk pick to be the next Bachelorette. She’s got an incredibly compelling backstory, and she just exudes the TV it-factor that ABC could bank on.

That being said, from the moment Peter excused himself from a conversation with Victoria to pick her flowers from outside the hotel, she became the leader in the clubhouse. His infatuation with Kelley will fade, Hannah Ann and Madison could make runs into the Final Four, but I’m betting this season ends with Peter popping the question to Vicky P.

Who will be the next Bachelorette (and who should be the next Bachelorette)

Marissa: We’re getting back-to-back Alabama Bachelorettes

Who I WANT to be the next Bachelorette (based on what we’ve seen) and who likely will be feel so very far apart.  It likely will be Madison.  Her heart will be broken after going all the way to the final two, she’ll have won over America, she’ll be the Bachelorette.

Conversely, I adore Victoria P., Alexa seems super interesting, and playing-by-the-rules Tammy could really use the lead role as a further try-out for her very own HGTV show.

Nick: It’s time to make Bachelorette history and bring back a repeat Bachelorette

Look, I know this probably isn’t going to happen, but it absolutely should. I suspect Hannah B. will decline Peter’s invitation to join the show (which probably would have been impossible given her Dancing With The Stars obligations at the time of filming), Peter will fall in love again, and Hannah B. may show up in Paradise. That’s not good enough.

Hannah Brown needs to be the next Bachelorette. She was robbed of a happy ending by the overwhelming destructive force that was Luke P., who poisoned the show and derailed Hannah’s relationships with other guys.

Why not give Hannah B. a second third fourth chance at love? She’s a beloved member of the Bachelor universe, and her success on DWTS means she has even more crossover appeal to potential viewers. Get a few of the sane guys from her season (let’s say Peter, Tyler C., and Garrett) to screen the cast members to eliminate and Luke P.-esque crazies and hopefully guarantee a happy ending. Who says no?!

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Jimmy Johnson finds out he is a Hall of Famer with a great, live-on-TV surprise

Just awesome.

On Saturday, former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher learned that he was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame with a live surprise during the CBS pregame show for Titans-Ravens.

A day later, it was Jimmy Johnson’s turn.

During the halftime show for Sunday’s NFC Divisional matchup of Seahawks-Packers, the president of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, David Baker, dropped by the Fox set and had some exciting news for Johnson.

Having seen what unfolded with Cowher on Saturday, Johnson — a two-time Super Bowl champion coach — immediately knew why Baker was visiting the set and grew overwhelmed with emotion. It was another fantastic moment and an even better surprise.

As the humbled Johnson was reacting to the news, the Fox broadcast showed a shot of a visibly tearful Troy Aikman at Lambeau Field.

Everything about the moment was executed wonderfully. Congratulations to Johnson.

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The Chiefs scored so many touchdowns that the stadium ran out of fireworks

It was that kind of game.

The Kansas City Chiefs have an offense that’s capable of scoring 50-plus points, but even Arrowhead Stadium wasn’t quite prepared for the scoring onslaught that unfolded during Sunday’s AFC Divisional round game against the Texans.

After initially trailing Houston 24-0, the Chiefs came alive to close the game out on a 51-7 run (and a 51-31 win). At one point, the Chiefs had a streak of seven straight possessions with a touchdown. That all took a significant toll on Arrowhead Stadium’s firework inventory.

Towards the end of the fourth quarter, the Arrowhead videoboards displayed a message that the Chiefs’ performance resulted in the stadium running out of fireworks.

I don’t think anyone would have seen that coming after the first quarter, but it doesn’t take much to get the Chiefs offense going.

We can probably expect Arrowhead Stadium to load up on fireworks for Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against the Texans.

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Chiefs lineman Eric Fisher celebrated a TD by smashing two beers over his head

Stone Cold Eric Fisher.

Stone Cold Steve Austin, meet Stone Cold Eric Fisher.

The Kansas City Chiefs completely flipped the script on the Texans in Sunday’s AFC Divisional Game, scoring 28 unanswered points in the first half after trailing 24-0 to start the game. That utter dominance from Kansas City continued into the second half with the Chiefs running away with the game.

And, well, Fisher was pumped.

After Blake Bell caught an eight-yard touchdown pass to put the Chiefs up, 48-31, in the fourth quarter, a wild celebration broke out near the seats behind the end zone. We could see as Fisher grabbed two beers from a fan and smashed the beers over his head.

He went all in on the Steve Austin impersonation.

While the NFL may not appreciate the celebration (he wasn’t penalized, thankfully), I say you have to take the situation into account. The Chiefs just pulled off a historic comeback and were riding high on a dominant second half. That kind of effort deserves a beer or two.

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Chiefs fan says he left game in the first quarter to fuel comeback: ‘It’s the only hope’

Hey, it worked!

Some fans are just bad luck … or at least they’re convinced that they’re bad luck.

But you rarely see a fan actually put that theory to the test.

With the Chiefs trailing the Texans by 21 points in the first quarter (and eventually 24 points) of Sunday’s AFC Divisional matchup, one fan felt the need to do his part to make a difference.

A Twitter video from @cpenn4thewin showed the Chiefs fan walking through the concourse at Arrowhead Stadium as he claimed he was headed for the exits. The Chiefs were losing badly, and @cpenn4thewin was certain that his mere presence was dooming Kansas City in the playoffs. So, he took one for the team and left.

He said:

“All right, I’m outta here. I’m out of here so we can get this second-half comeback going, hopefully. Can’t do it. Gotta leave, man. It’s the only hope.”

Well, Chiefs fans out there will certainly appreciate @cpenn4thewin’s service because those tickets weren’t cheap. Plus, we all saw what happened next. Kansas City scored 28 unanswered points in the second quarter and went into halftime with the lead. They added 13 more points to start the second half.

He left so the Chiefs could live. That’s Hall of Fame-caliber fandom.

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The Chiefs made NFL history with their wild first-half comeback against the Texans

Wow.

So, that first half was nuts.

The Houston Texans went into Arrowhead Stadium and stunned the packed crowd by jumping to a 24-0 lead in the second quarter of Sunday’s AFC Divisional game. That dominant Houston performance lasted for, oh, all of 20 minutes.

Once the Chiefs found the end zone, the momentum took such a swift turn — some awful decisions from Bill O’Brien are to thank — that it didn’t even seem like the same game.

When the second quarter came to an end, Houston’s 24-point lead had turned into a four-point deficit. And in erasing that 24-point deficit, the Chiefs made NFL history — for both playoffs and regular season.

No team had trailed an opponent by 24-plus points and then gone into halftime with the lead — like, ever. The Chiefs are the first team to do that.

The Chiefs are always capable of erasing leads with their high-powered offense, but I don’t think any NFL fan saw that effort coming.

After all, it had never been done before.

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The Chiefs mascot had the most depressing reaction to the team’s awful start

Someone check on K.C. Wolf.

The Kansas City Chiefs opened their AFC Divisional round matchup against the Houston Texans with easily the worst quarter of football they played all season.

And all that disappointment was too much to handle for Chiefs mascot K.C. Wolf.

After a seemingly non-stop series of miscues — defensive lapses, dropped passes and poor special teams play — had the Chiefs trailing Houston by 24 points, the CBS broadcast panned to a tunnel camera that showed a depressed K.C. Wolf in absolute disbelief.

The mascot was caught on camera just slamming his head against the wall. If there was a video to sum up what Chiefs fans were feeling at that point, this was it.

Chiefs fans can relate, K.C. Wolf. They really can.

The best part of the video was that the mascot wasn’t even out around the sidelines. This was the mascot showing genuine disappointment in a tunnel — mostly out of view.

On the bright side, the Chiefs’ 21 straight points in the second quarter likely cheered ole’ K.C. up.

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Michael Thomas threatens to ‘pop’ reporter in the mouth during Twitter exchange

Yikes.

The New Orleans Saints’ season ended in the NFC Wild Card with a home overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings, but that didn’t stop Saints receiver Michael Thomas from remaining engaged in the playoffs … from his couch.

The Saints star spent much of his Saturday trolling Vikings fans as the 49ers easily handled Minnesota in the Divisional round. It didn’t matter that the Vikings were the team that ended the Saints’ season — Thomas took open joy in watching them lose. But Thomas’ Twitter experience turned especially hostile when New Orleans WWLTV sports reporter Andrew Doak subtweeted about Thomas’ antics on Twitter.

Doak first tweeted — without mentioning Thomas by name or handle — that it wasn’t a great look as a player to smack talk the team that eliminated you. To that, Thomas jumped in his mentions and called Doak “goofy.”

Doak seemed to try to avoid a back and forth, asking that Thomas be a better sport and deal with the loss in a better way. Thomas responded by saying that Twitter was his platform and that Doak wasn’t in a position to talk because he never played the game — an obviously flawed narrative.

When Doak tried to end the exchange and add that he was willing to discuss in person, Thomas threatened to “pop” Doak in the mouth.

Yikes.

While Saints fans will argue that Doak could have handled the situation better by not subtweeting a (very much online) player he covers, there’s never an excuse for Thomas to threaten violence against a reporter. It’s something that the Saints need to address.

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