Children give kicker a lift, can’t save job
The sports world always has its fair share of quirky stories, and 2016 was no exception, according to the Associated Press.
One of those stories arose in the aftermath of Blair Walsh’s miss of a short field-goal attempt in the NFL playoffs a year ago.
Walsh, who missed a 27-yard attempt with 22 seconds left that would have sent the Minnesota Vikings to a playoff victory over the Seattle Seahawks last season, needed some love after hearing Vikings fans groan, curse and even issue death threats to him.
He found it in the oddest of places — the first-grade class of Northpoint Elementary in Blaine, a Minneapolis suburb.
Previously, Walsh, even if half asleep, could make such a kick. But he didn’t. Yes, it was agonizingly cold and the cement-hard ball was not properly placed. Still, he blew it, and the cries for his head echoed far and wide (like the kick).
Enter Judie Offerdahl , a teacher impressed by Walsh’s decency in accepting responsibility. She asked her first-graders to write him:
“I’m sorry they cursed you,” a boy said.
Another note read: “Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. One time I made a mistake when I was doing a cartwheel. I felt embarrassed.”
Days later, Walsh visited the school, signing autographs and talking about his pets when growing up. The class was wowed by its visitor, but maybe not as much as Walsh.
“They just know that I’m a Vikings player,” he said. “So for them to show that kindness and to show that empathy toward me, it’s just remarkable.”
It would be nice to say that this big pat on the back carried Walsh to great things. Walsh made 133 of 158 field goal attempts for the Vikings, including one from 56 yards, but four missed extra points this season and four missed field goals were apparently too much. The Viking cut him in November.
Walsh wasn’t the only athlete to inexplicably miss. Golfer Ernie Els had trouble on the first hole on the first day at the Masters in April. Els, a four-time major champion, was a mere 2 feet from the cup but needed six putts, leaving him with a jaw-dropping 9.
“I can’t explain it,” he said.
Say what?
In other oddball news from 2016, according to the Associated Press:
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz got trapped in the bathroom of a New Jersey gas station.
Serena Williams deliberately ate gourmet dog food from hotel room service in Rome and, to no great surprise, got sick.
Bones of Ice Age mammoths were uncovered at the Oregon State football field.
Kazakhstan decided to choose its national soccer coach in an online vote.
An English group started lobbying to add jousting — that’s right, armored horsemen with lances — to the Olympics.
Presidential privilege
Being a country’s president comes with a lot responsibility. It also comes with some perks.
In Russia, Vladimir Putin, an amateur judoka, grappled on the mat with his country’s Italian judo coach, liked what he saw and granted Enzio Gamba Russian citizenship.
In Turkmenistan, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, who already has ordered ice arenas for this desert nation where temperatures can top 120 degrees, now wants to build the country’s first golf course.
Right here at home, being a president also comes with a few perks. Barack Obama, whose second term ends on Jan. 20, received a farewell gift from the Chicago Blackhawks: an arena parking pass.
They said it …
Baylor’s Taurean Prince , when asked after his team’s startling loss in the NCAA Tournament how his team had been outrebounded by Yale: “Um, you go up and grab the ball when it comes off, and then you grab it with two hands, and you come down with it, and that’s considered a rebound. So they got more of those than we did.”
Olympic spokesman Mario Andrada , on the attempt to clear up the Rio pool after the water had turned a sickly green: “Chemistry is not an exact science.”
Quote of the day
“You don’t come out and lose and like that. That right there was just disgusting, it was despicable. … That right there, it’s not football.”
Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman
on the Redskins’ 19-10 loss to the New York Giants which cost the Redskins a playoff spot