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SALT LAKE CITY — President Obama mocks Peyton Manning, a coin lands on its edge at Copa América, Luis Suarez doesn't know how to wave, and Roger Goodell is alive and joking. More fun stories from the world of sports in today's From Left Field!
1. President Obama pokes fun of Peyton Manning’s many, many endorsements
On Monday, the Denver Broncos visited The White House to honor the Super Bowl 50 champions.
As tradition, President Obama made a few jokes about the team. While many of the jokes (mostly written by presidential staff) were cheesy, as usual, Obama’s jokes at the recently retired Peyton Manning on the quarterback's many, many endorsements were spot-on.
The “You basically can stock your household with stuff this guy is selling” joke was great.
After the joke, Obama kindly praised Manning for all of the accomplishments Peyton achieved in the NFL.
The Broncos are the last NFL team President Obama will welcome to The White House in his presidency. Not bad to have one of the greatest quarterbacks and greatest defenses of all time as your final NFL invitees.
2. Coin toss fail: coin lands on its edge
Before Tuesday’s Copa América Centenario match between Colombia and Paraguay, one of the rare feats in coin tossing/flipping occurred: a coin landed on its edge.
That Rose Bowl grass must be pretty thick.
This is the second time this year a coin toss has been humorous. In January’s NFC Wild Card match between the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers, the referee’s coin flip didn’t flip.
Maybe it’s time to get rid of coin flips. How about rock-paper-scissors instead?
3. Luis Suarez waves like a 2-year-old
FC Barcelona and Uruguay forward Luis Suarez is the best striker in the world. The man racked up 40 goals and 16 assists for Barça last season.
Suarez knows soccer, but he doesn’t know how to wave.
LOOOOOOL SUAREZ CAN'T WAVE 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/xABMKAaMAU — Mike Sanz (@mikesanz19) June 6, 2016
Sorry, Luis, but you wave like a toddler — all due respect to toddlers. Maybe you should quit waving and go with a “What’s up?” head nod instead.
4. Roger Goodell: alive and joking
There may not be a greater villain in American sports than Roger Goodell. Loved by few, despised by many, Goodell is a polarizing figure who’s been in the middle of the league’s controversies — from concussions to discipline on player domestic violence cases to Deflategate.
On Tuesday, the NFL Twitter account was hacked. The hacker tweeted out that Goodell had died.
Not funny at all, regardless of how you feel about Goodell.
The tweets were deleted and the NFL regained control of their account. Despite all of this madness, Goodell showed he has a sense of humor about the hacking and tweeted out this post:
Man, you leave the office for 1 day of golf w/ @JimKelly1212 & your own network kills you off. #harshpic.twitter.com/BvtBVzdYTc — Roger Goodell (@nflcommish) June 7, 2016
Goodell may be seen as a villain, but he’s not as uptight and cold as some people think. Good for Roger to poke fun at the hacking and show fans a side of himself usually not seen.
5. Copa América messes up a national anthem…again
Last Sunday, there was an embarrassing moment at the Copa América group stage match between Uruguay and Mexico. The public announcing system played the Chilean national anthem instead of the Uruguayan anthem, leaving all in the stadium confused and Uruguayans very angry.
You’d think everyone involved with the Copa would’ve learned their lesson to be respectful about the anthems.
Unfortunately, another anthem incident occurred.
Just before Monday night’s match between Argentina and Chile, the right anthems were played. However, just as Chile’s anthem had ended, the Chilean players and fans continued to sing the full anthem, as is the tradition.
Instead of not playing any music till the singing ended, the Levi’s Stadium PA system began to play a Pitbull song (at 1:18).
This upset some fans and led to many questioning how this kind of thing happened again.
Copa officials later stated that Chilean officials approved of the length of the anthem, and that the Pitbull song was the next track on the stadium music list.
Still, you’re tell us someone can’t hear the anthem still being sung and perhaps think to not automatically click on a Pitbull song?
Copa América: where correctly and respectfully playing national anthems at stadiums is a bit of a struggle.
