Things I learned about Edmonton Oilers' Nail Yakupov

With Twitter, you really never know what you are going to get each night.  I saw Bruce Arthur from the National Post retweeting generic answers from Nail Yakupov, the first pick in the 2012 NHL Draft.  I want to say that Nail is the greatest name for a professional athlete. Basically, Nail has to be a hard ass with that name, or else he needs to change his name to Neil immediately. 

He is only 18 years old, and the first Russian hockey player to be drafted first since Alex Ovechkin. On top of that, he is Muslim and from the Tatar region of Russia, and could be the first prominent athlete from that area. So there is a lot of pressure on him to succeed especially with the Oilers who are starving for a winner.  

Here is his Twitter account for those who would like to ask him questions. Just so we are clear here, I am not picking on an 18 year old because clearly, he doesn't know better, yet I still found this really, really funny.   

-I learned that Nail had Subway, and it was toasted. I hope he went with the Italian BMT, which in my opinion is the best Subway sub.  He also replied 'great' to a guy who told he had Subway too. Nail is working on that sponsorship.


-When asked if he is a virgin, Nail replied with a ya :(.  He's 18, and heading to Edmonton where there will be puck bunnies aplenty.  I doubt that he will join LoLo Jones and Tim Tebow as notable virgin athletes.

-When asked if he likes yoga pants, he just laughs.  If there is one thing I miss about college in this last month, it's the copious amount of yoga pants.

-Nail does not say if he compares to Greg Oden, and says it's a secret. I guess we will have to wait for the Deadspin shots.  

-Nail is a butt and breast man. I can't blame him. I always find it weird when dudes like one of the two. Aren't they both great?  

-I learned Nail feels that Russia has better women than Canada.  I could definitely see it. I mean have you seen any James Bond movie where there is evil extremely attractive Russian female spy.  


-Nail is a fan of Justin Bieber. Wise decision even if he isn't since the Biebs is already a Canadian legend.  

-Nail does not drink alcohol.  Now, there is a stereotypical joke I could make about Russians, and their booze, but I am not going to go for the cheap joke.  The Edmonton Oilers' media relations staff breathes a sigh of relief with this answer.  


-He likes cheese. I would assume he put cheese on his Subway sub, hopefully pepper jack, the best Subway cheese. 

-Nail agreed to marry a lot of girls last night. It's going to be great when a stalker comes to an Edmonton game in the near future with a sign YOU SAID YOU WOULD MARRY ME?!?! 

-Nail is cheering for Spain in the Euro Cup. Not the choice I would go with, but whatevs. Stay front runnin' Nail.  

-Nail enjoys country music.  I doubt tthere are any Russian country stars, but then again, there are alcoholic bears in Ukraine so you never know.  


Charlie.