Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Who needs Hancock?

This past Monday, I was having a discussion with some educational professionals about how gullible people are in believing things on the internet. Whether it's a fake news story or a great video trick, there are some hoaxes out there that get people talking.

Here's the most recent one. It features former Bowling Green State University kicker Shaun Suisham as he "kicks" a 110 yard field goal. If Shaun really could do this, don't you think the Redskins would cut their punter and send Suisham on for a field goal everytime they get to fourth down?


How could I forget the ballgirl? Look and listen for a couple of things. First, the catcher has a patch (from our perspective) on his right shoulder. At :29, a baserunner is running the wrong direction, proving that the video was was flipped. Proof that the video was flipped was the catcher's patch is now on the other shoulder. Also, the fake play-by-play doesn't help the "authenticity" of the clip. Wouldn't you think the crowd would go nuts after something like that happened?


Here's Kobe Bryant's high jumping skills. Too bad it didn't help against Boston.

3 comments:

cathouse teri said...

Not to mention this recent guy who claims to have infected hundreds of women with AIDS on purpose.

And then they show that video on the news and I've got people running up and telling me the story as if it were enirely factual!

Amazing.

Sheep to the slaughter. Sheep to the slaughter.

Cliff said...

So now we have illustrated urban legends. Very cool.

Anonymous said...

Teri...you bring up an interesting point about internet stories that aren't true. There are urban legends about stars that are shocking. And then, when a famous person addresses those rumors/legends and dismisses them, it gives them some form of power or credence because he or she talked about them.