fanboygeeks

Rooney Hits the target

Have you seen the Wayne Rooney advert for Nike in which in a single take he draws a target on a camera, then walks back sixty feet then kicks a ball straight at the target?  Cynical old me assumed that it was done with a CG ball.  Nope, it's totally for real.  Check out the behind the scenes video on Nike's web site and see that not only did the Roonster hit the target on the third take, his first two were even more remarkable for hitting the exact same improbable spot.  I've never been more impressed by the boy's skill.

Here's a thought.  I would have been tempted to run the behind the scenes clip too.  Show the original at the beginning of the ad break, and the behind-the-scenes ad at the end.

Oh, and hang about for the 'throw-away' kick at the end and dream about him doing the same for England.

Stu ;-)

Beating Georgia Makes Scotland World Champions

Now I know what you are thinking; Italy are the Official World Champions and you could perhaps claim some spurious right to proclaim yourselves unofficial World Champions by beating them, but simply being top of their qualifying group doesn’t cut the mustard and neither does saying ‘France beat Italy and we beat France’. Of course your right, but that isn’t the root of Scotland’s claim to the title.

No, Scotland can claim the title based on a system dating back to the very first international match played out between Scotland and England in 1872. That game ended in a draw, but at Kennington Oval in March the following year England beat Scotland 4-2 and as the only two International teams of the time, England could naturally be seen as the first Unofficial World Champions.

From that date, following a system akin to boxing, where every game the holder of the title plays is seen as a defence of the crown, the path of the unofficial championship can be charted.

At the conclusion of qualifying for Germany 2006 Uruguay were the incumbents and having failed to qualify, the unofficial title was not up for grabs
Instead, the title changed hands when Georgia beat Uruguay in a friendly in November 2006, and as a subsequent draw kept the championship in Georgian hands, Craig Beattie’s last gasp winner on Saturday gave Scotland their first claim on the throne since the Law and Baxter inspired triumph at Wembley forty years ago.

So onto tonight and a chance for Italy to unify the unofficial and official titles for the first time since France managed the feat in 1998. Of course there is the chance that Scotland will retain the crown, we certainly have the track record. The records show that although we are second in number of times we have won the crown (England are one up on that score), Scotland has defended it more successfully than any other.

More details here.

Keir

7-Eleven sponsor time itself

The US 7-Eleven convenience store chain has undertaken the most novel sponsorship deal I've ever heard of.  They are sponsoring 7.11pm.

For $500,000, all Chicago White Sox games played at US Cellular Field, will start, not at 7.05 or 7.35, but at 7.11pm.

“It’s a fun way to insert our name into fans’ hearts and minds,” said Margaret Chabris, a 7-Eleven spokeswoman. “We think it’s worth way more than $500,000.” She said that 7-Eleven is talking to other baseball teams about sponsorship deals that would include starting their games at 7:11.

Stu ;-)