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Video: Wayne Rooney is pretty accurate

Remember that Nike commercial wherein Wayne Rooney draws a target on a camera lens, walks 20-30 yards away, juggles a ball for a couple seconds, then drills the camera? If you don’t, here it is:

A lot of people thought the video was altered and I suppose that’s understandable. Advertisers have used camera and computer-generated trickery to show athletes doing the impossible.

In fact, Powerade ran commercials with the tagline “Impossible Is Nothing.” One commercial showed LeBron James knocking down full-court shots with ease and another showed Michael Vick killing dogs throwing the pigskin out of a stadium.

In order to dispel any rumors that Rooney’s shot was similarly rigged, I invite you to view the making of the commercial, below:

8 comments

1 Gabe { 09.26.07 at 8:43 am }

I still find it curious that we get a nice frame of the ball (With gloriously centered Nike Swoosh) in perfect focus right before the ball hits the camera.

That’s lucky.

2 Josh { 09.26.07 at 8:53 am }

Gabe:

I know; I’m still skeptical of the last few rotations of the ball. I have no doubt that Rooney hit the camera but it seems dodgy that the logo placement is so perfect.

3 Soccer Dad { 09.26.07 at 9:17 am }

Yeah I was going to say the same thing - the ball is definitely CGI towards the end because the blue bars aren’t moving in a smooth rotation and the swoosh right at the end is too perfect. But hey - it’s still impressive that he threads the needle twice off the ground then nails the camera from a juggle. Even if it was take 33 and not 3. Damn!

4 Soccer Dad { 09.26.07 at 9:17 am }

Yay! Soccer Dad has escaped from Akismet hell and can post comments again!

5 Josh { 09.26.07 at 9:25 am }

Congrats, you filthy spammer.

;-)

6 Nate { 09.26.07 at 11:44 am }

What are the odds that he knocks two shots clean through the ladder without knocking it over? Pretty sweet all in all. Trying to figure out how I can replicate it at home. Might need more than three takes…

Reminds me of the Tiger Woods commercial where he breaks the camera lens after challenged by the director. Not a great video, but all I could find - I’m guessing Nike has commandeered the rest.

7 Josh { 09.26.07 at 1:15 pm }

Nate:

Funny you should mention that. This is obviously staged but nonetheless:

8 How U.S. Soccer can use the blogosphere to increase brand awareness (Part I: Sharing Video) — ThroughBall.com { 11.09.07 at 7:46 am }

[...] as a means of spreading a message. How many times have you seen the Eric Cantona World Cup spots or Wayne Rooney commercials on the blogs you [...]

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