2017 is definitely going to gift us a Donald Trump-LaVar Ball feud before it's over, right?
DONALD TRUMP-LAVAR BALL FEUD COMING SOON?
That feels pretty well guaranteed after the President made a point on Twitter of asking LaVar's son LiAngelo—who's been caught stealing once in China; it's just a simple fact—and his fellow felonious UCLA teammates to thank him for intervening with China's president to make sure they weren't locked up for a long time ("10 years in jail!" as Trump tweeted). Not a very Big Baller thing to do, thanking the Man, but for now, the Ball family is playing along.
LiAngelo Ball thanks President Trump for his help with the situation in China. pic.twitter.com/qJuQkfQSN1
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) November 15, 2017
Maybe LaVar will send Trump some autographed ZO2s as a personal thank you? Honestly, a war of words would be way more fun—and by fun, I mean this year has been a hellish pit of stupid nonsense.
WORLD CUP FIELD IS SET
Thursday saw the last two nations officially qualify for 2018's tournament, with Australia and Peru clinching their spots in Russia via playoff wins over Honduras and New Zealand, respectively. For Australia, this is old hat; for Peru, though, this is the country's first trip to El Mundial since 1982. And as you can imagine, Peruvians world wide were pretty pleased about this turn of events.
Peru win the soccer game with New Zealand! Awesome 1st goal! Celebrations in the streets of Miraflores! #soccer #Peru #WorldCup https://t.co/jcPK7K0Sef pic.twitter.com/2JGD0R36zs
— Travel South America (@SthAmerica) November 16, 2017
The FT whistle at a bar full of Peru fans all the way in Australia 👏👏
— COPA90 US (@COPA90US) November 16, 2017
📹: @javierasilva95 pic.twitter.com/HF2lRo6l5d
.@SeleccionPeru fans in tears after their team qualified for the @FIFAWorldCup for the first time since 1982. Congratulations Peru! #PERvNZL pic.twitter.com/PiycGSB5ft
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_AUS) November 16, 2017
Congrats, Peru!
LOVELY LADY OF THE DAY
Julia Evans is a native of Grenada who was part of SI Swim's international casting call. Check out her full gallery here, and get to know her a little better here.
EZEKIEL ELLIOT SAGA IS FINALLY OVER
The Cowboys' star running back dropped his appeal of his six-game suspension, bringing an end to a torturous legal battle that has played a big part in the open animosity between Dallas owner Jerry Jones and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Bet both parties wish they could have all those months of arguing back. Oh, and in case you were curious: Elliott was suspended and subsequently un-suspended three times before this came to a close.
YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED BEN SIMMONS HIGHLIGHT
Ben Simmons continues where he left off with a slam!@Sixers are off to a fast start on ESPN. pic.twitter.com/QnI8xeDnlf
— NBA (@NBA) November 16, 2017
Not a great week for the Ball family, huh?
AMAZON'S BLACK FRIDAY DEALS
Amazon has released a sneak-peek of their Black Friday deals, and you can get everything from 4K TVs to Tom Brady’s Under Armour athlete recovery pajamas to New Balance sneakers and electronics, all at a discount price. We rounded up every deal Amazon is offering on Black Friday here.
ODDS AND ENDS
Here's a story about a nine-year-old kid who's hiked 8,000 miles, including all three major U.S. trails ... Karl-Anthony Towns thinks the NBA should allow the use of medical marijuana. Somewhere, Damon Stoudamire is smiling—or coughing really hard ... Don't mess with Prince Fielder's parking spot, or you'll get a very angry note in return ... Yu Darvish opened up to SI on his career, free agency, and his dreadful World Series ... We have a real-life Scott's Tots situation involving a Canadian lottery winner and a junior hockey team promised $7.5 million ... Chris Russo, aka The Mad Dog, is none too pleased with the choice of Bart Scott as part of the group set to replace his old partner Mike Francesa on WFAN. But don't you dare come at Maggie Gray, Chris ... Drake told off a fan at one of his concerts for trying to grope a woman.
JUST A BIG OL' HOCKEY BRAWL
Brawl between Flames and Red Wings pic.twitter.com/pdtoCuXRYa
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) November 16, 2017
Everybody got caught up in this brouhaha.
SCOTT BORAS'S METAPHORS NEED A LITTLE WORK
Scott Boras just said “Jake Arrieta is a big squirrel with a lot of nuts in his tree.” So here we are.
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) November 15, 2017
Eric Hosmer is Federal Express for Playoffville, Scott Boras said. He’ll help get you there.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) November 15, 2017
Scott Boras: “This isn’t the Windy City. This is the economic hurricane in Chicago of what the Cubs have done."
— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) November 15, 2017
JOEL EMBIID NEARLY GOT PUT ON A POSTER
Another angle of Kuzma trying to put Embiid on a poster, Embiid laughs pic.twitter.com/xJ8Hck4DXe
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) November 16, 2017
Kyle Kuzma out here trying to have it all.
I RECOGNIZE ONLY ONE MAN AS THE SEXIEST ALIVE
THIS IS PURE GOLD 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/6tlhacVlry
— Baseball King™ (@BasebaIlKing) November 15, 2017
RATS IN NEW YORK ARE GOING HEALTHY
'Avocado rat' spotted on Brooklyn train tracks https://t.co/0BQtRn3l68
— News12LI (@News12LI) November 16, 2017
SAY GOODNIGHT, LEBRON
Game 👑 pic.twitter.com/JDbMrCvkwa
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 16, 2017
IT'S THURSDAY, Y'ALL
Go have fun with it.
Email Jon (jon.tayler@simail.com) with any feedback or ping him on Twitter. Click here for previous editions of Hot Clicks. Visit our Extra Mustard Page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories. Also check out the SwimDaily Page for the latest updates and Instagram pictures of models who have appeared in our issues.
