Zach Ertz appears in World Cup artwork so bizarre, Bleacher Report deleted it from Twitter
Why are the casts of “Modern Family,” “Friends,” and “Stranger Things” in the image while U.S. women’s soccer coach Jill Ellis didn’t make the cut?
After the U.S. women’s team defeated the Netherlands, 2-0, to earn their fourth World Cup title, Bleacher Report tweeted out an illustration along with the hashtag #OneNationOneTeam, meant to celebrate Team USA’s accomplishment.
Instead, the image was greeted with universal mockery so severe that Bleacher Report deleted the tweet within an hour. Fortunately, many Twitter users saved and re-shared the image, so we can take a look at it in its entirety:
The name of the artist who produced the graphic is still unclear, and Bleacher Report did not respond to a request for comment. But the first thing that jumps out is that seven of the team’s 23 players are completely missing from the graphic, as well as head coach Jill Ellis.
Despite that, Eagles tight end Zach Ertz made the cut. Ertz, who has been in France cheering on his wife, midfielder Julie Ertz, is sandwiched between tennis legend Billie Jean King and actress Angelina Jolie, who is positioned just above Carrie Underwood.
Things get more bizarre from there. The graphic includes the casts of Friends, Modern Family, and Stranger Things, Iron Man and Captain Marvel (but no Captain America?), Tom Cruise from his Top Gun days, and Will Smith. Brad Pitt also made the graphic, next to Kobe Bryant and Oprah Winfrey.
We’re still looking for answers. If we find any, we’ll be sure to update this post. In the meantime, if you’re looking for good World Cup art, head over to Love City Brewing Co., where a new mural featuring Julie Ertz was painted on Sunday.
Jimmy Rollins impressive on TBS
Jimmy Rollins was back in the booth this weekend, only this time he was calling Sunday’s Yankees-Rays game on TBS.
Rollins, who has called several Phillies games this season for NBC Sports Philadelphia, once again brought enthusiasm to the booth. But the former All-Star and National League MVP really excelled during an in-game interview with Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, who revealed that he cried after the Milwaukee Brewers lost to the Phillies in the 2008 National League Divisional Series because he thought that would be his last chance to pitch during the playoffs.
Former Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez called the game alongside Rollins, and made an insightful observation about how changes in MLB’s game ball have led to a record number of home runs.
Beginning with the Yankees-Rays match-up, TBS will air one game nationally every Sunday through the end of the season. Next Sunday, they have Phillies-Nationals at 1 p.m., but it will be blacked-out in the Philadelphia market (NBC Sports Philadelphia will broadcast). But if you live outside of Philadelphia, Don Orsillo will be handling play-by-play with Martinez offering analysis.
Quick hits
• Speaking of deleted Tweets, the Sixers had to pull down a thank you message to Jimmy Butler on Saturday after spelling the new Miami Heat star’s name wrong. The team corrected the graphic and shared it on social media, but many Philly sports fans saved the original for posterity’s sake.
• It’s hard to keep up with Philly sports talker Eytan Shander, who hosts shows on 97.3 ESPN and SB Nation Radio, has a podcast with former Eagles running back Brian Westbrook, and regularly appears on Fox 29. But now you can add Yelp reviewer to Shander’s resume after the former 97.5 The Fanatic host ripped his current apartment complex in Conshohocken, which clocks in with just one star:
If anyone has any apartment suggestions for Shander, you can call in to his 97.3 ESPN show Monday, which he hosts alongside former 97.5 host Harry Mayes from noon to 2 p.m.