If you happen to be reading this from London, hey there! Put another shrimp on the barbie! Konichiwa! Bellisimo! No me importa un pimiento! Elcome-way oo-tay ee-thay ational-Nay ootball-Fay eague-Lay!
The formidable animatronic, the biggest animated human figure ever built at 26ft, is a ‘world first’ and has been specially created by an award winning team at London-based SFX Company Artem Ltd, as part of an experiential marketing campaign undertaken on behalf of the NFL by Not Actual Size.
Remarkably, this feat of engineering has taken just under 10 weeks to construct, with a team of more than 40 people working round the clock to build the superstructure in time for its official unveiling in Trafalgar Square on Monday 22nd October.
A specially adapted camera is fitted to the helmet of Big JT and is programmed to transmit images of what Jason ’sees’ onto a 40ft LED screen which travels behind him. Big JT also reacts to footage of himself and team mates played on the screen - cheering touchdowns and tough tackles.
We’re sorry: This is absolutely fucking terrifying. A 23-foot tall robotic Jason Taylor that “reacts to footage of himself and team mates played on the screen?” Sweet God: It’s like Godzilla, only with smoother skin!
Stop Shuler, the site that unsuccessfully attempted to keep now-Congressman Heath Shuler from returning to Washington, D.C., would probably have a field day with this: Shuler was the quarterback for the Congressional team in a game against the Capitol Police … and he got shut out.
Rep. Heath Shuler, a former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist, had two of his passes intercepted. But the North Carolina Democrat, who coached the Members team and played QB all four quarters, was in good spirits after the game, smiling and laughing with officers.
“They’re a very fast, very young team,” Shuler said of the police. “You could tell they all had played [before]. But they were just having fun, just like us.”
Seriously: The guy was playing a Capitol Police team and was shut out! He’s a former NFL quarterback! Well, kind of.
We’re going to Oakland to visit our sister for Thanksgiving this year, and we had no intention of walking around in Raiders garb. Now we’re really not gonna do it.
Four football fans tailgating Saturday night outside an Oakland Coliseum parking
lot in preparation for Sunday’s sold-out Raiders game were shot by suspected
gang members who mistook them for rivals, police said. None were killed.
We don’t personally know any gang members, but man, if you’re going after guys like the ones in this picture, you have to be tough. That’s the meanest initiation we can imagine.
If anyone out there is being affected by the fires in Southern California — we’re sure we have tons of Malibu readers, of course — we hope you’re finding, you know, some cool land. And we hope you’re better off than the Chargers, who might have to play this Sunday’s game in the Buzzsaw’s reject stadium.
If the Chargers can’t get back home by this weekend, they’ll be playing in Sun Devil Stadium on Sunday; they did the same thing during the wildfires of 2003. (Seen above.) They can’t play at the Pink Taco because … there’s an RV show there on Sunday. Of course there is.
It looks like it’s gonna be a brutal year for the Indiana Pacers, so they’re gonna need every tactic they can to try to sell tickets. We’re not sure this online “ad” is gonna be much help.
The site they’re trying to promote, WorldUnexplained.com … is just a link to the Pacers’ homepage, which seems kind of lazy, actually. Plus … how did the Pacers get that URL?
As some had predicted, the Rockies had all kinds of issues selling their World Series tickets online yesterday. That’s a problem, because, you know, they have a game at Coors on Saturday.
A “malicious, external attack” on the ticket sales system forced the suspension of Monday’s sale with only 500 tickets of the nearly 60,000 available sold, Rockies spokesman Jay Alves said late Monday.
Despite Monday’s troubles, Major League Baseball officials handling the ticket sales are confident that today’s sale will run “smoothly,” Alves said.
But the story merely says that “the website took 8.5 million hits in a 90-minute period that began at 10 a.m. Monday and proved too much for the system to handle.” That doesn’t sound malicious to us.
For years — OK, a couple of days — Slate writer Robert Weintraub has been tinkering with a concept called The SSW, short for “The Sean Salisbury Wisdom,” which tracks the consensus of the football punditocracy to ensure those triumphant declarations from Friday aren’t flushed down the memory hole on Monday. Here’s this week’s SSW.
PREVIOUS SSW
Bears reduced to hoping opposition foolish enough to kick to Hester; can’t win otherwise.
NEW SSW
Rex Grossman’s last-gasp ploy, dumping Gatorade on Griese’s helmet receiver, backfires.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S LESS
Proof Papa Bear’s ghost prefers Griese–fourth quarter bad snap goes through Griese’s legs. Had it hit his leg, or had Griese been in the shotgun, it would have been a fumble, and Eagles set up to deliver the bullet to the back of the head. But as it didn’t touch Griese, and went beyond the QB, it was only a 5-yard penalty, allowing Bears to kick a key figgie.
PREVIOUS SSW
Giants at their worst when prospering, as they have a tendency to believe they crap gold nuggets.
NEW SSW
Nothing like the Falcons and Niners back-to-back to make playing for Tom Coughlin a delight. At current exchange rate, beating Dolphins in Blighty will be worth only half a W.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S LESS
Trent Dilfer a corrective to old, washed-up QB craze sweeping the league, as his two self-inflicted turnovers on consecutive plays eliminate any hope for SF.
PREVIOUS SSW
Fish D always gives Tom Brady fits, and Jason Taylor good for at least one killshot per game.
NEW SSW
Time for someone to step up and Save Our Sundays by taking a cheap shot at Brady and/or Moss.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S LESS
Hey, a Matt Cassell sighting! The dude who got Palmer and Leinart’s leftovers at SC (but no playing time) has always been whispered about in New England as Brady-esque. Maybe he knocked up his ex, but otherwise any similarities are off-base. Still — putting Brady back into a 42-21 game?
PREVIOUS SSW
Big Ben has eliminated the SteveO from his game, leaving only a smart, decisive player. Cutler is still running the streets with Trishelle.
NEW SSW
Endless break between NLCS and World Series allows Broncs to slurp from Rockies feel-good well to every reporter in country.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S LESS
Not having Champ Bailey a blessing in disguise as D-line suddenly feels some urgency to get to the quarterback. Does having a shutdown corner lull D-coordinators into complacent pass rush schemes?
PREVIOUS SSW
Rumors abound Bengals ready to trade Ocho Cinco for the dude in those “NFL Latino” ads.
NEW SSW
Best way to get mouthy receiver to shut hole is by winning with a punishing ground game.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S LESS
Pigskin egghead Bill Walsh once identified 4th quarter pass rush
as the most important element to winning games. Two late-game
sacks from the Bengals, and numerous hurries, means team could
overindulge on victory brews afterward.
PREVIOUS SSW
Kerry vs. Sage a late-night pillowfight at Southern Mississippi sorority house, not NFL QB matchup.
NEW SSW
Commit five turnovers vs. Falcons and win, give up 29 4th quarter points and win–next week, Titans to attempt to beat Raiders with only nine men on the field.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S LESS
Don’t forget–Craig Hentrich set new NFL record with 8 holds of field goals in a single game. An unappreciated field of endeavor–just ask Tony Romo.
PREVIOUS SSW
Rare sellout crowd, rediscovered running game, Russell Crowe in the house–Jags poised to make a run at the Colts in tough division.
NEW SSW
Bad loss, tough sked, QB depth chart selected by Al Sharpton–Jags in a tough position in a tough division.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S LESS
Hunter Smith had punted less than anyone else entering game, but clearly kept his leg loose–kick killed inside Jags 5 set up safety that snuffed out J-ville’s hopes.
No matter what anyone says, it’s still hard to adjust to the notion of Keyshawn Johnson wearing a suit and being introduced by Chris Berman. It’s like the spectacle of Sitting Bull as part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Keyshawn was not meant to be tamed.
That being said, the only way that this interview between Keyshawn Johnson and Chad Johnson could be more entertaining is if Clinton Portis suddenly appeared in giant glasses and clown shoes. I’ve never seen the interviewer get frustrated and end the interview … isn’t it usually the other way around?
If you happen to be reading this from London, hey there! Put another shrimp on the barbie! Konichiwa! Bellisimo! No me importa un pimiento! Elcome-way oo-tay ee-thay ational-Nay ootball-Fay eague-Lay!
We’re going to Oakland to visit our sister for Thanksgiving this year, and we had no intention of walking around in Raiders garb. Now we’re really not gonna do it.
If anyone out there is being affected by the fires in Southern California — we’re sure we have tons of Malibu readers, of course — we hope you’re finding, you know, some cool land. And we hope you’re better off than the Chargers, who might have to play this Sunday’s game in 
As 
For years — OK, a couple of days — 
