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Teams can't resist attempting to engage fans by getting them to vote for stuff online. But Internet denizens live to trivialize, demean and otherwise troll anything that's not password protected. The latest example is the NHL All-Star Game. See the chart for details and further examples.
[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]
WHO | YEAR | OBJECTIVE | OUTCOME |
Mets | 2008 | Pick an eighth-inning song | Fans picked Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up," but the song lost a subsequent team-led runoff. |
NBA | 2011 | All-Star team | Yao Ming, who'd played only five games while battling a left ankle injury, was voted a starter. |
ESPN | 2015 | Heisman favorites | Although the network dropped Navy QB Keenan Reynolds from the ballot for a day, fans voted him No. 1. |
NHL | 2016 | All-Star team | John Scott, a forward who was waived three times by the Coyotes this year, was elected one of four captains. |
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PETER STILL/REDFERNS/GETTY IMAGES (ASTLEY)
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JOHN W. MCDONOUGH FOR SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (MING)
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ELSA/GETTY IMAGES (REYNOLDS)
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MATT KARTOZIAN/USA TODAY SPORTS (SCOTT)