Shoutouts: Strong work on video, game-planning and multiple sports

We don’t highlight pro wrestling content in the Shoutouts very often, but this 2014 WWE Royal Rumble Preview by Big Nasty is worth it. Big Nasty is nice in front of the camera, comfortable and with good body language and an engaging style. The text isn’t just a blurb either. There’s some meat there.

Another video: I had to take a moment to wipe a tear from my eye after watching this heartfelt and hilarious “public service announcement” by Reese Waters aimed at LeBron James, Kevin Durant and other NBA stars. “Help save our winters with your yearly gift of just 18 minutes,” Waters pleads in a brave effort to get the stars to participate in the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest.

Going back a week, because the holiday and a sports media controversy meant we didn’t get to the Shoutouts last week: Ty Schalter went with a “Mission Impossible” theme in his NFC Championship Game preview, Colin Kaepernick Already Holds the Secret Keys to Unlocking the Seahawks Defense, and it actually worked to create a fun and informative read. Before self-destructing, Schalter told Kaep he had to be “picture-perfect.” Didn’t happen, but a good piece.

Lindsay Gibbs went outside her usual tennis beat to go Inside Lolo Jones’ Quest to Make the 2014 US Olympic Bobsled Team. That story ran before Jones was named to the team. Gibbs was back to tennis to profile Australian Open women’s winner Li Na and then chronicle the strange men’s final, in which Stanislas Wawrinka upset Rafael Nadal. That’s a lot of good stuff from Gibbs.

If you’re already missing Johnny Manziel, A.J. McCarron and Teddy Bridgewater, Tyler Donohue had some Pro-Player Comparisons for College Football’s Next Class of Star Quarterbacks.