Are you ready for some foosball?
In our silly lil game, we sometimes see things pop in that we have no clue as to their Origin. They seem familiar, but we just can’t pinpoint from where. So that is why we decided to make a fun lil reminder out of it. To let you know just Where Did THAT Come From?
In case you were wondering… I did intentionally mispell that word. I love me some American football but must admit I often say it the other way. So… right smack dab in the first act of the Around the World Event, EA decided to tie in some stuff to coincide with the 2017 Super Bowl events. I’m not surprised since FOX has the rights to the football climax which will dominate American TV this February 5th. Lack of surprise aside, what delighted me was the free character which came our way in TSTO… none other than Cleatus the FOX Sports NFL Robot. Making fans smile and/or groan since 2005 and making me wonder what a dancing robot has to do with football (other than slightly resembling the figures in previously mentioned foosball), it is now in our games. You might be wondering if Cleatus has any connection to the Best. Show. Ever.? You might also why sometimes on TV he appears to have a hangover. Well, I can’t answer all questions about this mascot but I can head to the TV show to find him.
“The Spy Who Learned Me” (S23:E20)
This episode is all about Homer shouting out commentary during a spy movie involving Stradivarius Cain much to his lovely wife’s dismay. Suffice to say, Marge is none too thrilled with her Homie. Homer ends up getting concussed at work and getting eight weeks of paid leave but decides to not tell Marge since she’s so standoffish with him. She’s just tired of date night’s being poopy and jebus knows being Mrs. Simpson can’t be easy. Long story short… Homer enjoys his paid leave by himself and starts imagining Stradivarius Cain from the movie at Moe’s. Concussion illusions aside, it’s pretty cool that he showed up to help Homer become a man his wife can’t resist. Is it just me or is awesome that Lenny also has an imaginary friend name Huffinpuffalus? Man I loved Snuffy on the Streets of Sesame. Anyhoo… Cain does his darndest to sophisticate Homer. It works too.
But you may be asking why I’m just rambling on about a James Bond knock-off voiced by Bryan Cranston helping Homer impress his beloved and not about a robotic football mascot that dances. We’re getting there. You see… part of Homer’s training to be suave was hitting on women at a fancy club. It ends up earning Homer the undue attention of a Cuban-accented gangster and Homer has to flee the same club later when he takes Marge there. Homer is on the run and needs advice from Cain but he’s not around so Homer beats his head with a rock to try and make Cain show up. Among the hallucinations said head smashing causes are E.T., Mr. Potato Head, the Windows paperclip, AND Cleatus the Football Robot.
All Cleatus does is dance and spike the football causing Homer to exclaim that no one like Cleatus hence his dejected posture above. It’s okay though since Stradivarius Cain was actually disguised as Cleatus.
The dancing robot also shows up in “How Lisa Got Her Marge Back” (S27:E18) towards the beginning of the episode. Homer is watching Thursday night football and there’s a fun send up of the NFL being in London. Among the UK clichés are Paddington Bear and Pooh as Da Bear as well as Shary Bobbins meeting Cleatus the NFL Football Robot. Poor Bert.
I think it’s funny that we now have a free robot in the game with a similar name to our very own Hillwilliam. It’s a nice little addition and connecting him to all the French stuff with a questline called The Man in the Gridiron Mask was clever. He appears to be a mish mash of the two appearances in our games. Personally, I’m pretending he’s actually Cain in disguise and wondering when we’ll get some drama between him an Hank Scorpio. What are your thoughts? Did you remember these appearances? Did you watch the Super Bowl? I’ll say it was a game for the record books even if I was rooting for the Dirty Birds to beat the team from a geographical region dating back to Colonial American history. Wookiees don’t always get what we want. Anyhoo… sound of in the comments and happy classy tapping friends.
TTFN… Wookiee out!