UPDATE: Video’s back.
So loyal reader Upstate Underdog sends in a link to this clip with an email that reads, “Not really sports related, but watching a chubby shirtless guy getting [knocked out] is always fun to watch.” Yes, Mr. Underdog. Yes it is. And if anyone out there can explain the belt snapping and the maniac counting to ten, I’d sure appreciate it. I think this is how they used to play hide and seek in the Soviet Union. You can do that sort of thing with universal health care.
From yesterday’s Rams-Lions game, which included a bizarre safety and relatively unimpressive offensive play–it’s Lions designated asskicker Zach Follet finding Rams return specialist Danny Amendola and stabbing him to death with his own car keys, in a manner of speaking. Amendola did not return to the game. Also not returning to this game: everyone that watched it, because it was pretty lame. The Rams won, which is like winning the Special Olympics in swimming. Sure, you’re not quite the best of the worst, but at least you didn’t drown in the pool. –Second-String Fullback.
This clip is one of those gems that really sets up itself. Two guys get smashed and then decide to put on boxing gloves, and it couldn’t be any more magical even if Tinkerbell was the guest referee. Sometimes it’s great to get videos like this and reminisce about the time you knocked Brad unconscious while his parents were away at Sturgis. And by the way, that wood paneling looks terrific. via.
Steelers safety Tyrone Carter has had the dubious assignment of filling in for Troy Polamalu, who partially tore his MCL in Week One. On Sunday against the Bears, Carter showed that he was capable of doing so when he absolutely leveled Bears tight end Greg Olsen on the sideline. His reward for stepping up and making a big play? A $5,000 fine from the NFL.
Carter leveled Olsen following a catch along the sidelines and jarred the ball loose. He did not get penalized on the play that left Carter with a thigh contusion but the NFL fined him for a hit to the head.
“Unreal,” said Carter, who plans to appeal the fine. “I watched the play over and over and I hit him in the shoulder. The NFL sees something different.” via, via.
The hit was awesome. And, as best as I can assertain, completely legal. It won’t be long before the NFL resorts to two-hand touch and slapfights in the trenches. Damn, that’s a great hit. I think he made Olsen bark like a dog there. Listen closely and you can hear him. “Arf, arf!”
Preseason in the NHL seems like a dangerous place to be; you’ve got guys that are willing to do whatever it takes to get on the roster for the big club. Take Tommy Sestito, a 21-year-old career minor league guy who decides to go right after the big dog, taking on noted Inuit/badass Jordin Tootoo in the first period of a preseason game on Saturday. And as you can see from the video, Tootoo gives Sestito a little bullrush there at the end and the New Yorker cracks his head on the ice. Tootoo has come under fire for his role in the fight.
“It’s not a good sight to see. Something like that is pretty dangerous,” Tootoo said. “Obviously my intention wasn’t to bang his head off the ice. Fortunately, I got a hold of him after the game to see how he was doing and it sounds like he’s on the road to recovery…I just apologized for what happened and told him my intentions weren’t to do what happened there and that was it.” via.
Results for Sestito’s CT scan haven’t been found in the press, but one SI columnist has already cited in the incident for the latest “Fighting Is Bad” column. And I’m not saying it is or it isn’t, but I’d like to see the NHL decide whether they’re going to handle disciplining dangerous play or let the players do it themselves. Fighting does have a place in pro hockey, a function, but it’s a function on which the league needs to stop meandering. Either let the players police their own or do it for them. Only time will tell from which hand Jordin Tootoo will find retribution served. If any.
Seriously, I love British people. But this Craig Bellamy from Manchester City is just a little bit testy. Watch him unload on this Manchester United fan, and everyone’s afraid it was going to overshadow a great game between Man U and whatever that other team was.
Man United players immediately came up to Bellamy and expressed their disdain at the Welshman’s actions.
The video also shows Javier Garrido being struck by a coin thrown by a Manchester United supporter at half-time. via.
It doesn’t really look like a punch until you see a still of the whole thing, and then it’s pretty obvious that, yeah, he pretty much decked the guy. Dude’s no LeGarrette Blount, but that’s not bad for a wimpy little Briton. But at that point, the security people have to cut that fan loose and let him go after Bellamy. Anyone can be a hero when the other guy has his arms tied up.
