Chapter 677: Internet Sensation
Nine passes, five hits on the bullseye.
Five consecutive passes hitting the bullseye.
These are two completely different things!
The former is a complete presentation of a technical movement, where you can clearly observe Lu Ke's process of adjustment and tightening, and then loosening. This is what triggered the technical discussion among seasoned fans.
The latter is a pure visual impact. Regardless of whether someone is interested in football or basketball, hitting a bullseye five consecutive times with an oval-shaped ball is a gimmick in itself.
To put it simply, amateurs watch for the excitement, while professionals watch for the technique.
The problem is that professionals are a minority. Not everyone understands the technique. The majority, who are amateurs, are happy to join in the fun. Even if they don't fully understand, they can at least shout along and pretend to be part of it. They can even invite their friends to join the crowd.
The NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest is like this. A video clip of a spectacular dunk has a powerful visual impact with its power, skill, airtime, rotation, flair, and explosive force. It's truly a feast for the eyes and mind, leaving people in awe. Even amateurs can join in the excitement, even if they have no idea what makes it difficult or spectacular.
The video clip edited by Ruth was the same.
Five consecutive throws, five consecutive hits, five consecutive full scores. The entire passing process was fluid, smooth, and decisive, turning the football pass into an art form. The stable and efficient rhythm of the throws was even more wonderful. It was a perfect combination of power and skill that left people in awe! The background sound of the entire stadium cheering in unison was even more exciting!
After the discussion and debate among seasoned fans, after the spread and reposting by other fans, and after a few days of brewing and building up, when Ruth's video popped up on YouTube, its spread speed reached an incredible level. In just twenty-four hours, the views exceeded one million, and the likes broke the one hundred thousand mark.
Not to mention Ruth, even the NFL was shocked.
Before this, the NFL's official account had already uploaded all the relevant videos of the skills challenge, including the full video of Lu Ke's passes. But after a week, the views were still less than sixty thousand, and the likes were less than two thousand. In the ocean of videos on YouTube, it was completely drowned out, with no trace of a ripple.
Now, in just twenty-four hours, the views of Ruth's video had exceeded fifteen times that, and the likes had reached a staggering fifty times. What... what on earth was going on?
The NFL's official YouTube account was completely shocked.
Then, a well-known music creator on YouTube stepped forward and re-edited the video that Ruth had made.
Ruth was just an amateur who edited a version out of her own hobby. It was a rough and simple version, and it was a complete accident that it caused such a sensation. This creator, on the other hand, was a professional who re-edited it with a delicate touch, making the entire video smoother. He also added an exciting drum beat as background music, which completely changed the style of the video.
It was originally just a sports video, but now it had become a viral video!
A group of creators began to show off their talents, editing the original material into different styles. Another group of creators started to create funny and ridiculous versions, either replacing the target or the football, to enrich the video's content and create different comedic effects. And another group of creators began to mash up, showing basketball and football alternately, truly demonstrating Lu Ke's "basketball skills."
When a viral video starts to spread, it's also the time for social media platforms to become completely popular.
According to incomplete statistics, in the following week, more than thirty-five hundred different versions of related videos appeared on YouTube. Through reposting, they spread throughout the entire internet, sweeping across major social media platforms, with a cumulative view count of more than one hundred million.
What was even more incredible was that the Super Bowl's strong momentum also became a "tailwind," boosting the spread rate and discussion level to a new level. The subsequent aftershocks continued endlessly, making it one of the most popular topics in the first half of the year. This completely shocked everyone.
Roger Goodell's plan had finally been realized!
One month after Ruth's video was uploaded, its views forcefully exceeded fifty million, which was the highest number for a football highlights video (not a game replay, but a related video). At the same time, there were more than nine thousand related topics on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, creating a global hot trend in the first quarter of 2012.
Not only were the avid and seasoned fans involved, but casual viewers and other people also joined in, working together to push this craze forward.
This was crucial for the football promotion plan.
This time, while viewership and ratings both reached new highs, the popularity of the Pro Bowl and the skills challenge on social media also reached an unprecedented level. People truly felt the frenzy and excitement after the NBA All-Star Weekend. An illusion was created on the internet that "everyone is talking about it."
But who would have thought that it all came from an accident? It had to do with Curry and it also had to do with Ruth.
As the person involved, Lu Ke was even more baffled.
He originally thought the skills challenge champion title was the main thing and that removing the negative effect of "Grumpy Paparazzi" was the biggest reward. Who knew there was an unexpected bonus waiting for him here? What was going on? Why were the eyes of everyone from all directions so excitedly looking at him like light bulbs?
Sitting in his economy class seat, Lu Ke felt as if he was being stared at by countless pairs of eyes. A thin layer of goosebumps appeared on his back, making him shudder. It felt like a small lamb had fallen into a pack of wolves. This feeling was terrible, and he began to regret it. He shouldn't have stayed in Hawaii to learn how to surf. He should have returned to the North American mainland with the rest of the team.
The offseason, the offseason. Although people called it that, for Lu Ke, the real offseason was only two weeks. After the Super Bowl ended, he was supposed to officially start his offseason training cycle, which would be followed by a period of intense training that would last until the start of the new season.
Considering this, after the Pro Bowl ended, all the players from every team left Honolulu, but Lu Ke chose to stay and enjoy the rare free time. However, he wasn't completely idle. He started learning how to surf to practice his balance and flexibility. In just a few days, it wasn't a vacation, but his tense nerves truly relaxed.
Lu Ke did not watch the live broadcast of this year's Super Bowl. He spent that time in the sound of the ocean waves.
From the regular season to the playoffs, the New England Patriots, who had a smooth and easy run and made it to the Super Bowl with great momentum, were the favorites to win the championship. The New York Giants, who were not favored at all and who knocked out strong opponents again and again, stumbled onto the Super Bowl stage and were considered the underdog. Their winning odds were clearly low.
But the Super Bowl showdown was full of unexpected events.
With fifty-seven seconds left in the game, Eli Manning connected with Ahmad Bradshaw for a passing touchdown, a repeat of the miracle from four years ago, killing Tom Brady's dream and bravely winning his second Super Bowl championship ring and another Super Bowl MVP title.
Four years ago, Manning broke Brady's dream of a perfect season. Four years later, the two old rivals faced off again, and Manning once again shattered Brady's dream of a championship. Was this a cycle, or was it destiny? Or was it just a coincidence?
When the playoffs officially began, nobody favored the New York Giants. But this is the NFL, full of surprises, possibilities, and miracles. Until the last moment, nobody can ever guess the ending. The charm of competitive sports was fully demonstrated.
In a flash, the Super Bowl frenzy came to an end.
Today, Lu Ke was flying back to San Francisco alone to officially begin his offseason, but now, Lu Ke regretted it.
"Sir." A voice came from the front. Following the voice, he saw a flight attendant kneeling in front of him, giving him a polite smile. "Welcome aboard. We still have empty seats in the front section of the cabin. To ensure a safe environment and a smooth flight, why don't you move to the front for this flight? What do you think?"
The front section of the cabin was the business class.
Lu Ke could vaguely feel a commotion behind him. He nodded to show his agreement. After unbuckling his seat belt, he followed the flight attendant out of economy class and walked toward business class. The noise and heat were gradually left behind until they were completely blocked.
"Excuse me, what exactly happened? Why... uh..." Lu Ke didn't know how to describe it. Saying "everyone is watching me" with his own mouth seemed a bit too narcissistic.
After a moment of hesitation, the flight attendant, who looked to be over forty, smiled cheerfully. "Why is everyone so agitated? It's because everyone watched the video on YouTube. I think nobody can resist the magic of that video. You're awesome, Bambi!"
After saying that, she winked at Lu Ke and gave him a thumbs up before turning to leave.
Lu Ke stood next to a business class chair, confused and without a clue. At this moment, a petite figure wearing sunglasses walked toward him in the aisle. Just as they were about to pass each other, the plane shook slightly. The other person stumbled and almost fell.
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