Just stop now and throw in the towel. This thing is the Holy Grail of football food setups. Of course it won’t last more than a few minutes if you have your football buddies over. Still, it’s a work of unhealthy artery clogging art and I wish I could dig into it right now.

Amazingly, this isn’t the only one. See images of five other meat stadiums here. I’m not really into Football, but seeing this is starting to change my mind. I gotta see what my friends are serving up this year.

[via Neatorama]

The club is undergoing the unusual head-shaving to promote UK online betting site Betfair. The team is an underdog in their upcoming match, so every little bit of attention helps, I suppose.

I’m a bit at a loss how people will be able to scan these photos though, unless they have telephoto lenses on their smartphones. No matter what the original purpose was, it’s certainly an unusual place to find QR codes. At least these ones are temporary, unlike those QR code tattoos.

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[Dailymail via Ubergizmo]

This 65-foot sculpture was on display in a shopping mall in Johannesburg, South Africa and was made by Ratcliffe Fowler Design for Nike. They modeled it after Carlos Tevez from Argentina (can’t you see the resemblance?). The sculpture is made out of 5,500 so-called pixels, which are actual soccer balls that were donated to football programs around South Africa after the display was taken down.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The time-lapse video of how they put it together is pretty awesome. That sure is a whole lot of balls!

[via Make:]

I laughed out loud when I saw what Darth Vader does with his penalty kick in this video. I guess you don’t need a lucky bounce off the goal post, when you can just flick the ball around using the Force.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

And naturally, when you’re the Dark Lord of the Sith, you can easily deal with the opposing team when they start having hissy fits with a simple telekinetic kill. Works wonders on referees as well.

[via Leetlady]

This amazing automated LEGO foosball table was created by Sariel using the LEGO WeDo kit. The score keeping, as well as the return of the balls is completely automated. The actual playing of the game is still done by us mere humans. No robots allowed, at least for now.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Each time a goal is scored, the table will show it on the top of the goal and play a sound. It’s kind of neat to see the ball slowly rolling down the paths to the plastic bin at the bottom. The only problem that I can think off is that most foosball players are rough with foosball tables. In all honesty, a foosball table like this wouldn’t last 5 minutes, with drunken players pushing and hitting it all of the time.

[via HobbyMedia via Make:]

Like its console counterparts, there are Champions League and Europa League modes. I think the national teams that are licensed in the console versions are here as well, like Spain, Argentina, Japan and Italy. Here’s Konami’s trailer for the game:

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I looked at a couple other gameplay videos and I saw that the game’s graphics are decent, and the gameplay is smooth. However, people who bought the game have some complaints. The most important warning I read about is that the game is incredibly sluggish on a iPhone 3G (but should be fine on newer models). Others say that the game’s AI is dumb, and the lack of versatility in terms of types of shots and passes that you can pull off is disappointing. I’m a die-hard PES fan though, so if I had an iOS device I’d still buy this and see for myself. You can buy Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 at the App Store (link opens iTunes) for $7 (USD).

[via Akihabara News]

I don’t know what’s more amazing, this little stop-motion reenactment or the fact that the USA is actually doing pretty well in the World Cup this year. If you don’t know it by now, the USA actually tied England in this match. And I guess that tying in soccer is impressive. I guess it’s better than losing.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The only thing missing from the clip is a bunch of tiny LEGO vuvuzelas. Somebody better get on that.

[via Presurfer]

I even beat a certain Stephen Totilo.  Then again he may not care – for all I know he just wanted to check the game out. Unfortunately for him, his team came across my Inter Milan, and despite being just at Level 1 we beat his Level 2 Guessers 2 to 1.

I just started playing today – hence the level – so I won’t be able to show you all of the game’s features. I started off with a bunch of players, which of course are relatively weak. Then I played training matches, after which I earned experience and a bit of gold coins. As in Football Manager, the game itself plays out behind the scenes, meaning you don’t control your players – it’s their stats vs. the opposing players’ stats. When you enter a match, there’s a bit of commentary and maybe 4 or 5 animations, but that’s it. You’d best skip to the end and see what the outcome is to save time.

There are three kinds of currencies in the game – match credits, which you need to play games,  gold coins, which you need to buy players and better facilities for your stadium and training ground, and of course Playfish coins, which is exactly like gold coins except you buy Playfish coins with real money. You get gold coins (and XP) whenever you play a match, whether you win, draw or lose. Match credits – the number next to the football icon in the picture below – are replenished after a set number of hours. You can also buy more match credits with real money.

The game is a bit like web MMORPG Skyrates, in that the training actions take a substantial amount of real time, allowing – forcing – you to . Unlike Skyrates however, the game warned me that if I let my players be Idle – meaning if I don’t issue another training routine after they finish what they’re doing – their ‘Training’ stat will decrease, which I guess is realistic. What’s not realistic is that even while your team is training, they can still play matches.

You move to higher leagues after beating a set amount of opponents. You can also give mystery gifts to your Facebook friends who have signed up for the game. And when you win against your friend, you can brag about it on his Wall. Which I just did. It felt awesome. So that’s about all I have for now. So far I’m actually having fun with EA Sports Superstars. I hope they don’t give players who spend real money too much of an advantage.

VIP Kicker’s Premium Edition foosball table is handcrafted, adorned with over 18,000 Swarovski crystals. The foosmen, playing field surface and table surface can also be customized, i.e. to further emphasize how rich its owner is.

The last picture in the gallery is VIP Kicker’s Crystal Edition. It has over 140,000 Swarovski crystals on its surface, which will instantly blind anyone whose eyes are not used to such wastes of money displays of uniqueness and individuality. Check out VIP Kicker’s website for more info if you think your master will like their product. You can also visit Harvey Nichols in the UAE & England and Harrods in London to purchase the table.

[via Bornrich]

These pictures are from that patent application, and while I don’t know whether or not they actually have much to do with this rumor – or if this rumor will come to fruition at all – it seems to be a safe bet here, adding one and one to come up with a fitness game. One that features you, in a jersey (optional), running around your living room, throwing a controller. Wait, wasn’t throwing the Wii controller bad? Didn’t people break their televisions and sometimes their faces?

Oh well. If EA can figure that one out, there just may be a more active companion to the Madden franchise next year.

[via Joystiq]

The miSoccer ($119 USD) works just like any other iPod speaker dock, except it looks like a soccer ball (or for the majority of the globe – a football). The miSoccer dock is a self-contained 2.1 sound system, and has two full-range drivers for stereo sound, plus a 15-watt subwoofer inside the soccer ball. It plays and charges all iPod models with the dock connector. It doesn’t say that it’s compatible iPhones though, so I’m betting you’ll get that annoying GSM interference if you try one that’s not in airplane mode.

If you’re a big fan of the game, you can pre-order over at Speakal. While you’re over there, pick up an iPig or an iPanda too. I assume Speakal got a really good deal on that orb-shaped speaker mold.

Just don’t try kicking a goal with one.

[via Coolest Gadgets]

If you can take that cartoon television seriously, you’re a better person than I.

The football controller is designed to assist in a real-world football experience. This means throwing (except not really, because we know what happens when you throw your Wii remote around a television) and running (except not really, because there’s no room in your house with all the Wii accessories), and your motion is picked up by the controller, which is tucked safely inside the squishy football accessory.

it could be fun. Rock Band sounded a little silly at first, too (to me, anyway). But how many controller add-ons do we really need?

[via Siliconera]

Someone really likes shiny things.

The casemod was designed with the Steelers’ helmets in mind, with the graphical logo on one side. The guts of the machine and the keyboard are both done in yellow.

And as for the keyboard… you’ve got to be a really good typist, a huge Steelers fan, or both to use this one, so if you want to dedicate your machine to your favorite team, better start learning to touchtype.

[via The Best Case Scenario]

Researchers tested Madden players and regular football fans with a series of questions about the sport, and Madden players consistently put up a higher rate of correct answers. The more you play, too, the more you know; a direct correlation was discovered between the amount of time you play Madden and the amount you know about the game of football.

When you think about it, it makes sense. Most Madden players aren’t just sitting on the sofa, watching and yelling about bad calls and following trades between teams. They’ve got to know the ins and outs of strategy and performance if they want to play to win. But it’s nice to know we can brush up on sports trivia without resorting to sitting around with a book on the subject.

[via Team Xbox]

The set comes with a pair of mini infrared remote-controlled robots which can shuffle the ball along the ground and push it into the goal. A press of the “sprint” button gives your robot a momentary boost of extra energy to power through.

The set includes both ‘bots and remotes, a pair of goals and balls and some green “turf” to play your game on. You can grab the complete set over on UK gadget shop I Want One of Those for just £19.95 (about $38 USD).

The RFL (Robotic Football League) Robot was created for playing football in tournaments with other robot enhusiasts. These robots feature a set of four independent high-torque motors which let them really play aggressively, and include special gripping arms which are designed to throw the ball with plenty of momentum.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

They can block, tackle, throw and receive a little Velcro football, and even can talk trash to each other when they detect a nearby aggressor. Each one runs on an included wireless RF controller, and sports a powerful 9.6V rechargeable battery pack.

The RFL Robot is available now from Spark Fun Electronics for $139.95.

Greg from 4 color rebellion was poking around his friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart store and came across this gem of a product. From what I can tell, it’s a cheezy electronic football game that just happens to look a whole heck of a lot like a Wii controller. I’m sure no parents will accidentally pick up one these for their kids, right?

For some reason, I’m betting this game doesn’t feature any of the advanced motion-sensing abilities of the controller that inspired it. Regardless of its functionality, I’m sure the intellectual property attorneys over at the Big N will have a few things to say about the design.

[via GoNintendo]

The artisans over at Britain’s Trifle Design have the answer with this contemporary Offside Foosball Coffee Table. Each table is handmade from high quality materials including solid oak, stainless steel and a glass top where you can put your drinks.

I especially dig the mirrored finish and sandblasted yardage lines on the playing field. I’d love one of these, but the price is a bit of an obstacle at £2999 (about $6062 USD), putting it out of reach of all but those of you with really deep pockets and money to burn.

For the rest of us, I guess we’re left to some divey sports bar or 1970′s rec room to play it ‘old school.’

[via NOTCOT]

Sure, the Shiro won’t win any prizes for storage capacity, maxing out at 1GB of memory, but it certainly gets my endorsement for its cool design. The player measures in at just under 2-inches in diameter and a slick OLED display. It supports WMA, WAV, MP3 formats and also has an FM tuner and voice recorder built in.

[via Thoughts from the Sidelines]

A built-in LCD readout shows the distance you last threw the football. Keep in mind that the ball isn’t a true “pigskin,” and is made from foam, like a NERF ball. If you or your kids are into football, this seems like it would be a fun way to improve your throwing distance and control. The Virtual Distance Football is available from the Discovery Channel Store for $19.95.

[via Coolest Gadgets]