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SALT LAKE CITY — Three more stories from the world of sports in this week’s From Left Field.
1. Study shows Salt Lake City is among the top hoops and soccer towns in America
A new study shows Salt Lake City is the place for basketball and soccer fans.
WalletHub, a credit score and market analytic company, released rankings for the best sports towns in America Thursday, mashing in numbers from “50 key metrics related to the five largest sports in the U.S.,” according to its website.
It went on to say it calculated things such as success of the teams, average ticket prices and sports bars.
The results showed hoops and soccer fans fare well in Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City placed fourth among basketball towns and 10th in soccer, though 59th overall in the country and 10th among mid-sized cities.
Here’s where other cities in the state placed on the list among 423 cities analyzed throughout the country: Provo (98th), Logan (189th), Cedar City (242nd), Ogden (245th) and Orem (266th).
Provo was 60th in basketball and Orem was 97th in baseball, among other Top 100 programs.
New York was named the top city, followed by Boston, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Chicago. In case you were wondering, Florence, South Carolina, finished last in the rankings.
The full report can be found here.
2. High school team pulls the ‘Mannequin Challenge’ trick play
The “Mannequin Challenge” has swept over the internet the past couple of weeks, with groups of people — sometimes even a full locker room of football players, gymnastics facilities, offices, homes, etc. — frozen in a certain pose as a camera shows each person.
Some have been lazy, others have been elaborate.
Well, apparently now the craze has landed in the playbook. In a video posted by MaxPreps, the Del Oro High School football team in California ran a unique trick play on a two-point conversion. The play began with several of the players lining up in poses mimicking that of the online trend before the ball is snapped and the team scores on the attempt.
While this online trend has lost whatever luster it had left recently, at least it worked on the field.
3. MLS player writes generic work excuse note for fans
The Seattle Sounders face Toronto FC for the MLS title on Dec. 10 in Toronto. Seattle Sounders player Brad Evans is now doing his part in helping as many Seattle fans as possible travel to Canada as the Sounds search for their first championship.
After informing fans on Twitter that he’d email their bosses in an effort to excuse them for work and to travel to Canada, Evans tweeted a generic form for fans to fill out.
It’ll be interesting to see if any employer will accept the permission slip.
