Friday’s Hot Clicks: English Soccer Team Finds Unique Way to Reward Hardcore Fans

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The rewards of sticking by your team through thick and thin

📦 | Be sure to check the post today if you were at #All19 #watfordfc away games in 2017/18...👀 pic.twitter.com/1tzIPr9jxI

— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) July 20, 2018

English Premier League club Watford didn’t have a great season in 2017–18, finishing 14th in the league. Things were especially bad on the road, where 13 of the Hornets’ 19 losses came. 

But a select few of Watford’s most ardent supporters were there to see each and every one of those losses (plus four wins and two draws). The fans loyal enough to go to all of Watford’s 19 EPL away games—including all the way in Manchester on a cold, rainy night in January when their boys lost 3–1 to City—received a special surprise on Friday. 

The club decided to reveal its new away jersey for the upcoming season by mailing it to those fans. 

Best post ever. #watfordfc pic.twitter.com/PzygGBakeo

— Adam Drury (@Adam_Drury1) July 20, 2018

@watfordfc #All19 what a wonderful gesture from a wonderful club! Love WatfordFC COYHs 2018-19 bring it on! 💛🐝⚽️ @T_Deeney thank U 4my shirt pic.twitter.com/J26cHXB0ib

— Beverley Johnson (@Bivels) July 20, 2018

Inside the package was a letter from the club thanking the fans for their unwavering support. 

Lovely surprise from @WatfordFC this morning. A new away shirt and letter from Troy thanking me for going to all 19 away games last season. I feel a bit guilty about missing Chelsea at home (I know). But the train is already booked for Burnley #All19 pic.twitter.com/VOxFzMjQo5

— Frances Lynn 💙 (@franelynn) July 20, 2018

“Supporting the biggest clubs in the country is easy,” it read. “You don’t have to be their all the time—you can watch them on the telly and say you’re a fan. It’s different with us and that’s why we wanted you to know it matters.” 

Another heroic athlete

Frustration, anger, and helplessness. It’s unbelievable how so many vulnerable people are abandoned to their deaths at sea.
Deep admiration for these I call my teammates at this time @openarms_fund pic.twitter.com/TR0KnRsrTE

— Marc Gasol (@MarcGasol) July 17, 2018

Earlier this week I mentioned the story of Saints defensive lineman Mitchell Loewen rescuing a man whose car plunged off a parking garage. It turns out he’s not the only U.S. athlete to save a life this week. 

Marc Gasol has been volunteering with a Spanish NGO to aid in the rescue of asylum seekers lost in the Mediterranean Sea. When a boat traveling from Libya sunk in the middle of the sea, Gasol’s ship went looking for survivors. There was only one—a Cameroonian woman named Josefa—and Gasol dived into the water to save her.

“There were pieces of wood and clothes floating in the water,” Gasol told the Guardian. “Then there was that woman, with her elbows resting on a wooden beam. Her eyes were lost in the void. She was weak and in shock. She had been clinging to that piece of wood with her last bit of strength and had remained that way for 48 hours. I thought of this woman, of her strength. And I felt anger.”

Bits & Pieces

I found this story about a counterfeit Chinese iPhone really fascinating. ... Archeologists finally opened a recently discovered sarcophagus and found something really gross inside. ... Jaromir Jagr is 46 and planning to suit up this for the Czech team he owns. ... This 10-year-old girl is a skateboarding prodigy already winning competitions against grown men. 

Give this person a copywriting gig

[OC] Due to recent statements about Mike Trout's lack of marketability, I've written 10 commercials Mike Trout could star in to raise his star power from r/baseball

(Click to expand.)

The race for the rushing title is already heating up

Don’t you hate when your flight lands and you get stuck at customs?

Apollo 11 U.S. Customs declaration form after first moon landing by astronauts, this week 1969: pic.twitter.com/A5aj5b1ULe

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) July 19, 2018

Coming soon

Chipper Jones is working with Georgia brewery Terrapin Beer Co. on a special brew—a Kölsch called CJ10, naturally—to mark his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame at the end of the month. I’m planning to have a Q&A with Chipper in Hot Clicks some time next week. 

Doc Emrick would be a great cricket announcer

Dig out. Hoik. Flip. Smite. Tip. Tonk.
That's just part of my list of words for hitting a cricket ball. I'm annoyed I left out nurdle. pic.twitter.com/fMdHpNnvUg Any others I'm missing? See my segment on cricket for the @voxdotcom and @Netflix show Explained: https://t.co/Bnc5fKmYcu

— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) July 19, 2018

American Masters: Ted Williams

The latest installment of PBS’s documentary series is on the legendary Ted Williams. The film includes never-before-seen footage of Williams’s final game shot by a Boston art student and kept in a drawer for more than 50 years, as well as an examination of his Mexican-American heritage, which he kept secret from the Red Sox’ racist owner.

The North Pole is no joke

They should have gone yesterday, when temperatures above the arctic circle exceeded 90 degrees.

When you know you got away with one

The ocean is insane

A good song

Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or ping me on Twitter. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.