- No amount of letters from local kindergarteners are going
to save Blair Walsh this time. The Minnesota Vikings kicker famously missed
27-yard field goal in the Vikings' NFC wild card loss to the Seattle Seahawks
last season, after which students at a local elementary school penned poorly
spelled, grammatically stunted letters of support to encourage him amidst all
the hate coming his way from fans and pundits. Unfortunately for Walsh, those
letters and an entire offseason to improve his game weren’t enough to fix what
ails him and after his two misses helped cost the Vikings a game on Sunday, the
team is firing up the tryout process to audition new kickers. Coach Mike Zimmer
said the team plans to work out several kickers after Walsh's extra point hit
the upright in the third quarter and his 46-yard field goal was blocked in the
fourth quarter of the Vikings' 22-16 overtime loss to the Detroit Lions. The
block was less his fault than the extra point, but the Vikings are on a
three-game losing skid and at this point, firing the kicker is the easiest
option. Sure, his extra point with 23 seconds left helped the Vikings take a
16-13 lead, but his misses were cast in an even uglier light when the Lions
drove to set up Matt Prater's game-tying 58-yard field goal at the end of
regulation. Ironically, Walsh hadn't missed a kick in three consecutive games
before Sunday, but he leads the league with three missed extra points and his
75 percent field goal rate ties him for 26th in the league. "We've missed
three extra points this year. We've missed several field goals. The way our
games are being played, they probably come down to a lot of close game,” Zimmer
said. “We have to look at all avenues as far as what gives us the best
opportunity to win football games." In other words, book your tickets to
Minneapolis now, free-agent kickers of America……..
- So this probably isn't a good sign for the home of the
2016 Summer Olympics. When your federal government is freezing the accounts of
one of its states because said state isn’t paying its bills and has racked up
an eight-figure debt, there could be a few issues. Such is life in Brazil,
where the federal government has frozen the accounts of the state of Rio de
Janeiro because of a large outstanding debt. This is merely the latest step in
a long-standing financial crisis, including the state declaring a state of
financial emergency ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games, hosted by Brazil's most
famous city in August. Yes, spending tens of millions of dollars to host a
major international sporting event that will never come close to recouping even
half of the money that is spent to build and host it is apparently not a wise
strategy for trying to get your financially struggling state out of its
struggling financial state. Sure, that decision allowed the state to shift
funds, but the truth remains that many public workers haven't been paid in
months. In a statement, the country’s finance secretary says the state owes the
federal government 170 million reals ($53 million) and threw down the gauntlet
by declaring that the accounts will remain frozen until that debt is collected.
Having the accounts frozen appears to have spurred state officials to action,
as Gov. Luiz Fernando Pezao hurriedly declared that he would travel to the
capital of Brasilia to negotiate with the federal government……..
- This is what the world gets when one of the biggest
Britpop bands ever reunites after years apart? Blur got back together last year
with a new album, “The Magic Whip,” and reissued their debut album “Leisure”
for its 25th anniversary earlier this year. Having a great band back together
is awesome and if that band actually puts out new music rather than lazily cycling
through the old tracks and expecting people to pay for performances they’ve
already seen dozens of times over the years, then so much the better. Having a
great band get back together and its bassist reveal some of the worst personal
hygiene habits in the music isn't really that much of a benefit for anyone
involved. Enter Blur bassist Alex James, who revealed that he only recently
bothered to wash his hair for the first time in a decade - and even then, only
because of a development totally unrelated to actually giving a damn about how
utterly filthy his mane was. “My hair isn’t really something I’ve ever
particularly thought about or fussed over,” James said. “Other than this week when
both my daughters were keen to give me a Halloween makeover and emptied a whole
can of grey-colored hairspray into it and it set solid, I haven’t washed it for
10 years.” Bro, rock stars aren't renowned for having the best hygiene, but
there’s a huge difference between not fussing over your hair and not bothering
to wash it every other month or so. Here’s hoping that this revelation of
shampoo plus water plus hair equaling a head that isn't utterly unsanitary and
disgusting will change James’ entire outlook on life……..
- A bunch of IQ-deprived fools, an air cannon and projectile
pumpkins? What could possibly go wrong? How about what happened in Bridgeville,
Delaware, where Delaware State Police are investigating after two people were
injured when an air cannon exploded at a Punkin Chunkin pumpkin launch event. A
woman was critically injured and a man sustained non-life-threatening injuries
and according to law enforcement officials, the trap door of the “Pumpkin
Reaper” cannon separated during the launch of a pumpkin. They’re not sure why,
which is fitting because there is really no good reason why something called
the Pumpkin Reaper cannon exists at all, so maybe there should be no good
explanation for what happened here. What we do know is that the door and other
parts were blown away from the cannon and into the air before striking a woman
in the head and face. She was treated immediately on the scene by Sussex County
Paramedics and transported to Nanticoke Memorial Hospital, while a man was also
injured and transported to the same hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
An unbiased observer could argue that by being dumb enough to place themselves
in the immediate vicinity of the Pumpkin Cannon and stooges dumb enough to
think they could operate it without incident, these two victims aren’t really
victims at all and may have actually gotten off easier than they deserved…….
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