Social Media Saturday: Man of Steel and A Superhero Football Team

Warner Bros. long-awaited Superman reboot Man of Steel hit theaters last week, and set a June record for opening weekend box office gross. This blogger was among those who contributed to the $125.1 million, and will gladly do so again (if you’re curious what my thoughts of the film were, you can read my Tumblr account).

A Twitter question posed from @saturdayblitz — if you aren’t following, do so immediately — spawned discussion. I asked tweeps for their top fictional movie football recruits. There are some interesting possibilities: Johnny Walker, the quarterback and titular character of Johnny Be Good; Lance Harbor of Varsity Blues; Charles Jefferson, who was so good in Fast Times at Ridgemont, boosters were buying him cars and local kids thought he only flew in for games.

But @OneLifeOneMic provided a response too good not to delve into further with the suggestion of Superman. Now, I cannot compile a complete team, because he already did so via Facebook rather brilliantly. You can check out his team here.

The original Superman film franchise specifically said Clark Kent did not play football in high school. But that was a focal point of Superman III, and everyone knows that Superman III is awful. I prefer the interpretation via Smallville:

Michael Castillo from Reign of Troy suggested via Facebook that the Man of Steel play middle linebacker. I’m inclined to agree. There’s no doubt if Superman sported the cardinal-and-gold of USC, he would be granted the hallowed No. 55.

Kal-El could play sideline-to-sideline and tackle anyone — including an Alabama running back. Of recent college players, Boston College Eagles stud Luke Kuechly might be the closest thing to a Kryptonian middle linebacker we’ve seen. Notre Dame Fighting Irish Heisman finalists Manti Te’o made some particularly super plays throughout his career. His interception in the Irish’s defeat of Oklahoma could easily be edited to add in slo-mo and a fluttering, red cape.

Or, maybe the Man of Steel was Kansas State Wildcats star Arthur Brown? After all, Clark Kent grew up in Kansas. Kal-El could have been a KSU fan, as Jug of Snyder suggests in this must-read breakdown.

Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West, Bart Allen…De’Anthony Thomas? It seems only fitting that the running back/wide receiver/returner role that the Oregon Ducks star Thomas has manned the last two seasons is perfectly suited to the Flash as friend of the blog and Athlon Sports college football maven Steven Lassan points out.

Thomas might be a perfect comparison to Flash, but he has not donned the lightning bolt like former Michigan State Spartans running back Edwin Baker did in this 2008 Detroit Free Press pictorial.

There are fewer options for a superhero coaching parallel. Something about the rogue’s galleries in the comic book world lend themselves more to coaching comparisons. Here on SaturdayBlitz.com, I have drawn the comparison of Alabama’s Nick Saban to Emperor Palpatine of Star Wars fame, though I could see Saban in a similar capacity as General Zod. Both are methodical and singular in their missions: for Zod, it’s preservation of Kryptonian bloodlines. For Saban, it’s the BCS championship.

Les Miles makes for a suitable Lex Luthor — not because there’s anything particularly supervillain seeming about Miles, but rather I can see him ripping off his hat during a CBS post-game interview in a manner similar to Gene Hackman, as Luthor, removing his toupee at the end of Superman: The Movie.

Steve Addazio wants Eagles to “Be A Dude”

The new Boston College head coach sounds very much like Gene Hackman — the Norman Dale version, not the Lex Luthor version — in this Instagram video. Steve Addazio implores BC fans, players and recruits to “make it happen.”

Defensive coordinator Don Brown caps the video with a decidedly different tone, exclaiming, “be a dude!”

No, BC football is not taking cues from The Big Lebowski — though that would be awesome. Addazio declaring to the rest of the ACC, “this aggression will not stand, man!” would make my college football season. But alas, #BeADude is the social media pitch Boston College has chosen to brand itself.

Addazio explained to ESPN Boston what it means to “be a dude.”