Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2012 June 5

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June 5[edit]

KFC/KGC[edit]

Resolved

In Young Adults (minute 56), Charlize Theron is working on her computer and in a fast food joint. From one side, her 20 oz. soda reads 'KFC' but from another angle, it reads KGC. Was the intention at first to not feature the brand name and then they changed their mind and forgot to rebrand the other side of the cup or what? DRosenbach (Talk | Contribs) 03:56, 5 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Around the time that film came out, Kentucky Fried Chicken started selling, and heavily marketing, a product called "Kentucky Grilled Chicken". The still sell it today, and use the "KGC" logo to brand their grilled product. See [1] for an example of the KGC logo. --Jayron32 04:39, 5 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Ha! Thanx! DRosenbach (Talk | Contribs) 04:00, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
My friends got into the habit of calling it Kentucky F Chicken, where the F stood for..., well, whatever you like. HiLo48 (talk) 04:52, 5 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hey, don't tell me, I eat at Bojangles. --Jayron32 05:06, 5 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
That's Bo "F" Jangles. --jpgordon::==( o ) 21:17, 9 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
BTW, I tried their "grilled" chicken once, and it was horrible. It didn't actually seem to be grilled, but was more like it had been boiled and then branded to create the grill marks. They also didn't put any BBQ sauce on it, which, of course, makes all the diff. It was so bad, it made me wonder if they wanted to be able to claim they made healthy food, but didn't want anyone to actually buy it (much like GM and their first electric car). Have they improved it since ? StuRat (talk) 21:30, 9 June 2012 (UTC) [reply]
No, it tastes like they wrapped a dead fish inside a rubber glove, salted it heavily, and put it in the microwave. Hence, Bojangles. --Jayron32 00:00, 10 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I think I will post a follow-up Q on this... StuRat (talk) 00:33, 10 June 2012 (UTC) [reply]

Why is KFC grilled chicken so bad ?[edit]

Has anybody worked there who might know what exactly they do to those poor chickens to make them taste so bad ? StuRat (talk) 00:32, 10 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Have you never had fast food before? I would say it is par for the course for these restaurants. --Jayron32 01:49, 10 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Not really. While fast food is frequently unhealthy, it's usually good tasting, like KFC fried chicken. If it was all as bad tasting as KGC, they'd go out of business. StuRat (talk) 02:01, 10 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

American Football stars and teams in Canada and Mexico[edit]

Since American football is quite popular in the US (but not much elsewhere), I was wondering if there were at least some American football players who are reasonably well-known in Canada and/or Mexico. Are players like Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Tim Tebow or Junior Seau well-known in Canada or Mexico? Also, are there any NFL teams that have a relatively large following in Canada or Mexico? Are teams like the Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers or Dallas Cowboys even famous there? In a related question, are any NFL teams or players well-known or have a large following in the UK? Narutolovehinata5 tccsdnew 11:14, 5 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Speaking from a UK point of view, the NFL does have a niche following here, as demonstrated by the capacity crowds at the Wembley games and the viewing figures for the Superbowl. Outside of the fanbase, the general public's awareness of NFL teams and players would probably depend on pop culture references. Hence the Dolphins are perhaps the best known team (thanks to the Ace Ventura movie), and Family Guy fans would know the Pats. I guess Dan Marino, John Madden and Joe Montana would be the most recognisable player names. AJCham 12:45, 5 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Lots of Canadians follow the NFL and are as well versed in its players and history as Americans. I'd even venture to say that it's more popular than the Canadian Football League in many quarters. There are Super Bowl parties, etc. Matt Deres (talk) 12:57, 5 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
In my experience, though I'm not a fan myself, the NFL does seem to be a fair bit more popular than the CFL up here. At the very least it get's more publicity. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.139.119.4 (talk) 13:04, 5 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I recall that the Cowboys are very popular in Mexico, and that the largest crowd for an NFL game was at Azteca Stadium.--Wehwalt (talk) 14:13, 5 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The John Madden video games have been popular in the UK since the 1990s, and still make the video games charts[2]. --Colapeninsula (talk) 14:46, 5 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Not exactly a reliable resource, but the numbers are pretty much as I heard them before: this guy compares NFL vs. CFL ratings in Canada. Remember that Canada's pop. is ~35 million, so NFL is very well-known here, pretty much to the same proportion as the US. And the NFL does play regular games in Canada. Mingmingla (talk) 16:43, 5 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I would have thought that OJ Simpson was the most notable outside the USA...having heard people in Singapore recognise him even without having lived in the usa (visited maybe). The Cowboys' Tony Romo is half-Mexican from his fathers side, coupled with him being in Texas that should garner somethingLihaas (talk) 20:12, 5 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
He's hardly the first (or even most notable) American football player of Mexican descent. See Jim Plunkett, Tom Flores, Anthony Muñoz, Jeff Garcia, etc. Mexico has one of the more robust American Football leagues of its own, the ONEFA, and there are some Mexican high school teams that play an occasional cross-border game against teams in places like Texas and Arizona and the like. As noted, the Dallas Cowboys have rather strong following in Mexico. It's not the most popular sport in Mexico, but it isn't a fringe sport either. --Jayron32 22:17, 5 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I can confirm that the NFL is very popular in Canada - among people my age, for example, it is almost certainly more popular than the CFL. Off the top of my head I can name all the CFL teams (there are only eight), but I can only think of two active players (Anthony Calvillo, just because he has been around forever, and Andy Fantuz, only because he was the star player at my university). NFL players are a lot more famous. I don't know if I could name all the teams, but the players you mentioned are all well known. I would add Tom Brady, whom everyone certainly knows. Also, Toronto is sort of the Buffalo Bills' second home. They play some games there...I don't remember if they are exhibition games or regular season games, but the attendance at Rogers Centre for those games is always far higher than the attendance for CFL or baseball games. (On a related note, I was watching the Super Bowl in France this year, which was quite bizarre - the commentators noted that Brady is the "David Beckham of American football", haha.) Adam Bishop (talk) 09:50, 6 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Funny. I wonder who the "David Beckham of American soccer" is. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:18, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
ESPN has an article on the history of American football in Mexico: [3]. Rmhermen (talk) 12:51, 6 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I'm surprised that neither Plaxico Burress or Mike Ditka have been mentioned as notable outside the US. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 12:48, 6 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Are they, in fact, notable outside the US? I've never heard of them (me, the World's Greatest Walking Encyclopedia of Sport - not). But I have heard of Jim Brown, who paved the way for OJ in Hollywood. -- ♬ Jack of Oz[your turn] 00:22, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The OP was asking about players being known in Canada/Mexico rather than Australia. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 12:57, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Not heard of Ditka! But it looks like Saturday Night Live doesn't get run in Austr. See Bill Swerski's Superfans. Rmhermen (talk) 04:27, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Correct. SNL is something most of us have heard of because it's referred to everywhere you turn, but it's not shown here. One reason is that it would be shown on Sunday afternoon here if it were truly live, and that wouldn't make much sense. Nor would it make any sense to show a pre-recorded version, as that would put the lie to "live". -- ♬ Jack of Oz[your turn] 07:35, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
it's not even live in California, let alone Australia, so I don't thinknthat's a big issue. Mingmingla (talk) 07:30, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Well, that raises a good point and presents an opportunity: Can you name some American athletes that you've heard of and that you think Aussies in general would recognize? For example, people around the world who know little or nothing about baseball may well have heard the name "Babe Ruth" somewhere along the way, and possibly also the names of some modern stars. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 01:27, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I'm a sports nut who lives in one of the most sports nut ridden cities in the world. I played baseball myself, so unlike most Australians have some detailed knowledge of the game. Yes, heard of Babe Ruth. He got mentioned in lots of TV shows and movies in my youth. Would struggle to name offhand any more recent ones. Some basketballers are more well known, but I'm not a fan, so don't ask me. Those we would be more likely to know are those from sports Australians also play at a high level, and from the Olympics - tennis players, swimmers, some track and field athletes, cyclists (well, one cyclist). HiLo48 (talk) 01:40, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Olympians would be expected to get broader exposure. That's the one chance, every four years, for everyone to witness every other country's finest. At one time, guys like Muhammed Ali and Michael Jordan were very widely known around the world, and I suspect they both still are. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 01:49, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Oh certainly. And Liston and Frazier and Foreman and Marciano and DiMaggio and Rockne and Jackie Robinson and many others. But I can honestly say I'd never heard of Jake LaMotta until Raging Bull came out, or Shoeless Joe Jackson till Field of Dreams came out. -- ♬ Jack of Oz[your turn] 02:21, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I didn't know much about LaMotta either, before the movie. He was kind of a second-tier fighter. Shoeless Joe was a terrific player in his day, although his lifetime average is artificially high because his career was truncated before his skills declined much. Prior to that movie, were you aware that the 1919 White Sox had thrown the World Series? (And by the way, I loved that movie, but I don't buy the idea that Jackson was innocent.) ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 02:48, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
As a fan of snow sports, but not normally ice skating (not much of that in Oz, despite Steven Bardbury's brilliantly tactical winning of a gold medal ahead of an American, and others), I'd heard of and became more aware of Tonya Harding, probably for not the most positive reasons. HiLo48 (talk) 04:36, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Oddly enough I, a Brit with zero interest in "Base-ball" (as Jane Austin called it) had heard of Shoeless Joe Jackson and the White Sox Scandal, through a reference in a Comic scripted by Harlan Ellison. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 84.21.143.150 (talk) 12:14, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I'd be interested to know in what year Jane referred to "base-ball". Obviously, well before the alleged "invention" of baseball in the 1830s-1840s. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 07:07, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
First of a host of references found by googling "Jane Austin Baseball" here. This is well known in the UK, where various versions of games involving hitting balls or other objects with bats or similar objects were extant in the 18th century and before. A few versions survive as relict regional games like Stoolball and Knurr and Spell, others evolved into Cricket, Rounders (still widespread in the UK as a school sport), Baseball and the latter's development Softball. Claimed "inventions" of games often denote the adoption of a particular set of rules as "official" rather than their true origin. For others' benefit (as I'm certain Bugs already knows most of this), Origins of baseball is informative. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230,195} 84.21.143.150 (talk) 12:09, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

But Baseball Bugs question applies to almost any country. There are a limited number of athletes from countries other than your own that you can name. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 12:57, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Certainly. I don't follow soccer at all, but names like Pelé and Maradona are familiar; and also Beckham, but maybe only because he came to the US with a good deal of hoopla. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 07:04, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]