Totally Random
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On Sunday at Ford Field, the Detroit Lions will continue their quest for the NFL’s first 0-16 season, going up against Tampa Bay, the franchise that gave the NFL its only 0-14 season.
The Lions are 0-10 and not likely to be favored in any of their remaining games. But they have a ways to go to aesthetically match the 1976 Buccaneers, who went winless as a first-year expansion team.
These Lions have been outscored by 13½ points a game. The ’76 Buccaneers were outscored by an average of 20½ points a game.
These Lions have held a fourth-quarter lead three times so far this season. The ’76 Buccaneers had one fourth-quarter lead the entire season -- and it lasted all of 183 seconds.
John Romano of the St. Petersburg Times wrote, “If you know anything about those ’76 Bucs, you know it’s preposterous to think another team could possibly be more inept.”
Trivia time
How many times were the Buccaneers shut out in 1976?
Let it go, Shaq
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal insist they have no feud, but that didn’t stop Charles Barkley from “call(ing) out one of my favorite people, one of the five greatest players ever that I love watching, Shaquille O’Neal.”
During TNT’s telecast of Thursday’s Lakers-Suns game, Barkley advised O’Neal, “You’ve got to let this thing go, man. You have been one of the greatest players in NBA history and (one of the) greatest players ever. You are one of the nicest (guys) people are ever going to meet and you are great for charity. Hey, man, finish your career as that guy. You don’t want to be, when we all lose our talent, you don’t want to be a bitter, angry guy going out the game.
“You are too good of a person. Let this thing with Kobe go. The rap thing last summer ... Hey man, you are too good of a person to finish your career like that. Just be one of greatest players ever, one of the nicest guys ever, let all that crap with the Lakers go and let it go.”
Don’t tread on me
If a prank lies at the feet of thousands of soccer fans and no one notices it for four years, how effective a prank was it?
At Wolverhampton Wanderers’ home stadium in England, a mischievous bricklayer used dark bricks to spell out the nickname of Wolves’ archrival Birmingham City -- “Blues” -- near the turnstile.
It took a few years, but Wolves finally noticed and replaced the brickwork. One fan, Lisa Jones, 40, of Bilston told the Sun: “When you’re on the way in with so many other people you don’t really look at the floor.”
Wolves spokesman Matt Grayson added: “It won’t be a big surprise to any of our fans that we walked over the opposition at Molineux.”
Trivia answer
Five.
And finally
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo recently took a homeless man who called himself “Doc” to see the movie ‘Role Model,’ the Dallas Morning News reported. Romo’s response when Doc mentioned he hadn’t showered in days: ‘Don’t worry about that. I’m used to locker rooms.’
-- Mike Penner