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Now Trending, Sept. 12: Football is back, and Sergio Dipp is a superstar

Sep 12, 2017, 11:07 AM

(Left, center: AP photos; right: Adam Green/Arizona Sports)...

(Left, center: AP photos; right: Adam Green/Arizona Sports)

(Left, center: AP photos; right: Adam Green/Arizona Sports)

In this piece, we’ll take you through the week in sports as told by the users of Twitter and other social media platforms. From the funny to the dramatic, from the outlandish to the bizarre, this is Now Trending.

The NFL regular season is finally back, but it was big week for sports in general. College football has returned, the D-backs are red hot and former Coyotes forward Paul Bissonnette found a new job.

But let’s not bury the lede here … If you watched the slate of NFL games over the weekend, you know the big game everyone had their eyes on was the Colts and Rams. Apparently Indianapolis head coach Chuck Pagano didn’t really have his eyes on it, though, since he thought he was playing the 49ers.

You would have thought Pagano was making his NFL coaching debut or something, but no — that description fit Broncos coach Vance Joseph, and a wonderful report on Joseph was given to viewers at home by ESPN reporter Sergio Dipp.

Dipp immediately became an internet sensation.

Thursday Night Football also made its 2017 debut, but the Patriots didn’t look so hot. New England fell to the Chiefs at home, 42-27, and it’s fitting that the home team at Gillette Stadium played like it was shaving points.

Meanwhile, someone took the time to replace Tom Brady on the cover of Madden with Chiefs QB Alex Smith.

Before the game, fans in New England assembled to troll NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (who was at the game) with “Operation Clown Face:”

But let’s not forget about the Cardinals, who opened their season with a 35-23 loss to the Lions on the road. In the first half, Detroit’s special teams looked pretty shaky. There was this beauty:

And the Lions’ special teams only got even worse with this gem:

But honestly, probably the most impressive special teams performance during that game belonged this camera operator:

It’s not often the kicking unit records a sack.

Oh, and uh, some guy named Ezekiel Elliott was granted a preliminary injunction on his suspension from the NFL.

But of course, teams across baseball have been in season for some time. But don’t tell that to Keith Olbermann, who apparently just watched his first baseball game ever. The former ESPN host-turned GQ correspondent took exception to Rockies first baseman Mark Reynolds enjoying some sunflower seeds.

The Rockies responded.

As for the D-backs — well, they’ve been awesome, but their 13-game winning streak recently came to an end. But they’re in first place in the NL Wild Card standings and in second place in the NL West. That means that a young man who made a gutsy promise back in January is going to have to put his money where his mouth was:

In other news, former Coyotes forward Paul Bissonnette found a job doing radio color analysis for his old team. The only problem is, when the Coyotes announced it on Twitter, Biz Nasty seemed a bit surprised.

Hopefully he’s ready for some broadcasting by the time the season starts.

The college football season is now underway, and No. 5 Oklahoma upset No. 2 Ohio State at their place on Saturday. There was some fallout from the fact that Sooners QB and NFL prospect Baker Mayfield literally planted an Oklahoma flag in the middle of the Buckeyes’ home field.

Mayfield later apologized, which some folks didn’t think was necessary.

Finally, how cool is this story? A 7-year-old girl with a 3D-printed hand is on a mission to throw out the first pitch at all 30 MLB ballparks, and teams are welcoming her!

Many, many other teams that aren’t shown above have responded.

And that’s pretty much it for this week. If you see something you think is worthy of being in next week’s edition of Now Trending, mention me at the Twitter handle below.

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Now Trending, Sept. 12: Football is back, and Sergio Dipp is a superstar