sports
Were you floored by the fireworks display at the Beijing Olympics? Turns out an almost 1-minute sequence of the display was digitally faked.
The opening to the Bejing Olympics featured a staggering fireworks display, but those watching at home were tricked into thinking what they saw was real. Some of it was actually CGI.
The fakery was unearthed by a local Chinese newspaper, The Beijing Times, which revealed that a 55-second sequence was created by a visual effects team, which included a series of giant footsteps made by fireworks.
Confusingly, this actually took place in the real ceremony, but the organisers felt that the sequence of 28 footprints would not be accurately captured live, so they faked it.
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 John McElwain is a special education student with autism. He is his high school's basketball manager and definitely shows a love for the game and for his team.
For the last game of the season, coach Johnson let John suit up for the game, not necessarily to play, but to give him the feeling of what it feels like to wear a jersey. At four minutes left in the game coach Johnson put John in the game. John's first two shot attempts were airballs, but his next 7 consecutive shots are legendary. John made six three-pointers and one two-point shot. Incredible.
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I'm sure this kid is skipping college and going straight to the NBA.
He doesn't even need to jump to dunk the basketball. I wonder what the kid who has to guard him is thinking. Link to video.
'Father of the Year' and '#1 Packer Fan' should be awarded to this fine dad who restrained his 7-year-old son with tape for an hour for refusing to put on a Green Bay Packers jersey and then taping the jersey to his son.
Mathew Kowald was cited for disorderly conduct, held in jail for three days and was released after paying a fine of $186.
Kowald, contacted later Wednesday by the Portage Daily Register, said the incident started as a joke. His son challenged him by saying he wouldn’t root for the Packers. When he tied the boy up, the youngster was laughing while his wife took pictures, he said.
“Then he couldn’t get out and he got upset and that’s it. It lasted a minute,” he said. “I didn’t mean no harm, and he knows that, but I haven’t been able to tell him that.”
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 I've always been impressed with the skills of highdivers -- managing to jump off a diving board and flipping around in an organized fashion. (The best dive I can do is a belly-flop and I'm pretty sure it's not considered a real dive.)
Here is a gallery of still shots of highdivers in mid-dive. After seeing these photos I don't know if I'll be able to take this sport seriously anymore.
[via The Presurfer]
 Illinois native Scott Wiese is a devout Chicago Bears fan and pledged to legally change his name to 'Peyton Manning', quarterback to the Indiana Colts, if the Bears lost at Super Bowl XLI.
Well, the Bears lost to the Colts, 29 - 17, and Wiese is going through with the name change.
"I think I kind of represent all Bears fans," he said. "Not that I'm saying they're all idiots like me, but I represent their passion because I really care about my team, you know?"
While he pledged to take on the new identity, Wiese didn't make any promises about how long he would keep it.
Previously: Chicago Bears, The Super Bowl Shuffle, Super Bowl XLI Commercials, all the ads in one spot
 Even though the Bears didn't win Super Bowl XLI I still have to post this little piece of Chicago Bears history -- The Super Bowl Shuffle [wiki].
Riding the wave of football mania that gripped Chicago in 1985, the "Super Bowl Shuffle" reached #41 on the Billboard charts, #75 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, and earned a Grammy nomination for best Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance—Duo or Group, the first (and undoubtedly only ever) nomination for a sports team. (They lost to Prince and the Revolution's "Kiss".) Although some found the lyrics boastful, profits from the song and its accompanying video were given to charity, backing Payton's claim that the they "are not doing it because [they're] greedy, the Bears are doing it to feed the needy."
Check out the music video here. We won't be hearing a sequel to The Super Bowl Shuffle this year. (It wouldn't be the same without "The Fridge" anyway.) Football extra: "Wildcats" rap
Colleen Pavelka induced her labor two days early so her die-hard Bears fan husband could attend last Sunday's NFC Championship game, Bears versus the New Orleans Saints.
As husband Mark attended the game, Colleen stayed in the hospital with her newborn son wrapped in a Chicago Bears blanket.
[via CNN]
For any of you who follow sports, more precisely football, distinctly MN Vikings, it's been a rough season but there may finally be some hope... for next season. Brad Johnson has been the QB this season and while he is a veteran and well-experienced, his time may be over. At the game this past weekend, he was booed off the field for not performing up to the fans expectations. His replacement, the rookie Tarvaris Jackson, received a standing ovation when he took the field late in the 3rd quarter. While I felt bad for Brad as he was being booed off, I did join in the excitement as Jackson took the field.
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