Friday’s Hot Clicks: Red Sox Fan Wins Lottery Jackpot by Picking Players’ Jersey Numbers
Another win for Boston
Massachusetts State Lottery
An 84-year-old Massachusetts man used his Red Sox fandom to get rich quick.
Jim Aylward Jr., of Templeton, Mass., won the $100,000 jackpot in the Massachusetts State Lottery’s “Mass Cash” game by playing the numbers of five Red Sox players.
The game requires players to pick five numbers between 1 and 35, and Aylward went with 11-16-19-22-25. Those numbers correspond to Rafael Devers, Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr., Rick Porcello and Steve Pearce.
If I was a Red Sox fan playing players’ jersey numbers for good luck, I definitely would have gone with 24 (David Price) and 28 (J.D. Martinez). But that wouldn’t have won the drawing, so it goes to show what I know.
Sometimes the rules can be tough to understand
The Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders played an absolutely outrageous match in the MLS playoffs Thursday night—so outrageous, in fact, that the players didn’t know what was happening.
If you don’t know, many soccer competitions employ the “away goals” rule in elimination games. It’s pretty simple, really. In a two-game series, if the teams score the same number of goals, the team who scored more goals on the road is the winner. MLS uses this rule, but it does not apply to goals scored in extra time (or overtime for you non-soccer fans).
Portland’s players thought their extra-time goal in Seattle last night had won them the match. Incorrect. The match had to be decided by penalty kicks, which Portland won.
Bill Belichick continues to be an evil genius
How do you get your players to stop stealing their gear? Make it as ugly as possible.
Just how ugly could they be?
Oh god.
The best of SI
Alex Prewitt caught up with Willie O’Ree, the NHL’s first black player, who is finally being inducted into the Hall of Fame. ... Andrew Sharp and Ben Golliver debate who Zion Williamson’s best NBA comparison is. ... Andy Benoit breaks down the key factors in each NFL game this weekend.
Around the sports world
Thanks to Deadspin’s Dom Cosentino for making me aware of this 1989 rant by Vikings coach Jerry Burns. ... You need to put on your 3D glasses to look at these hockey jerseys. ... Cam Newton wore cleats honoring the victims of the mass shooting at the Pittsburgh synagogue. ... The Kings and Wild made a strong statement about gun violence after the mass shooting in Southern California.
Give this photographer a Pulitzer Prize
J. Pat Carter/Getty Images
The Chiefs have even found a way to beat math
Now this is some stellar parenting
Japan’s beer-dispensing technology remains unrivaled
Congrats to D-Wade and Gabrielle Union
This is certainly an interesting storytelling device
A new documentary about Alex Rodriguez and Biogenesis features child actors lip-syncing quotes from the subjects involved.
Not sports
A town in Oregon elected an 18-year-old as mayor. ... Prince Charles’s Aston Martin runs entirely on surplus white wine. ... Now we know when the revival of Brooklyn Nine-Nine will premiere.
WHY ARE YOU STANDING SO CLOSE?
This enormous wolf from r/gifs
Don’t do this
This guy would be a megastar if he was on American TV
A good song
Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.
