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Traina Thoughts: Most Absurd Sports Stories, Burning Hot Takes, Memorable Social Media Moments of 2018

J.R. Smith throws soup, Hard Knocks, Bill Belichick fashion highlight the best and worst of 2018.

Jimmy Traina

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Before we close shop for 2018 (Traina Thoughts will be here the rest of the week, but dark all of next week), we wanted to take a trip down memory lane and remember some of our favorite stories and moments from 2018. And by "favorite," we mean memorable, absurd and offbeat.

We've already covered the Year in Review in Sports Media on last week's SI Media Podcast, so check that out for more on 2018.

What we have below are our favorite web moments with links to each item where you can check out more coverage.

ABSURD

• J.R. Smith gets suspended for one game after throwing a bowl of soup at an assistant coach. It was later revealed that the soup Smith hurled at Damon Jones was chicken tortilla.

• Kevin Durant is one of the best athletes on earth, makes millions and millions of dollars, yet he wasted time this year arguing with a high school kid on Instagram.

• A fake, made-up story by Chrissy Teigen about LeBron James signing with the Lakers actually got picked up by several media outlets.

• Actor Josh Duhamel called Draymond Green a "prick" for laughing at this ex-wife Fergie's awful rendition of the national anthem at the NBA All-Star Game and blamed Green for all the blowback the singer received.

• This one is still fresh, but it definitely qualifies as a top 2018 moment. ESPN's Stephen A. Smith tried to break down the Week 15 Chargers-Chiefs game, but it ended up being a complete and total trainwreck.

HOT TAKES

• After Phil Mickelson hit his own moving ball out of frustration during the U.S Open, golf purists lost their minds and made Phil public enemy No. 1.

• Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo went out with an adult film star and some people thought this somehow had an impact on his on-field performance.

• The Philadelphia Inquirerthought being a member of the Patriots somehow tied in with Aaron Hernandez being a murderer.

• In one of their vintage reunions, Mike and the Mad Dog trashed Angels rookie Shohei Ohtani BEFORE THE SEASON EVER STARTED, which made Ohtani a lock to win the Rookie of the Year Award.

• Not a sports take, but the worst one I saw in 2018. But I did get a good podcast out of it.

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Bill Belichick is not known for his fashion sense, but a sweatshirt that looked like a dish rag was all Twitter needed to have fun at the coach's expense.

• Actor Rainn Wilson was not a fan of the World Cup, which led to the man who played Dwight Schrute getting bombarded with memes from The Office.

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• People on Twitter struggle with reading comprehension, so when it was announced that Jemele Hill was joining The Atlantic after leaving ESPN, many people thought she had joined The Athletic.

• J.R. Smith's shockingly boneheaded play at the end of Game 1 caused Twitter to go absolutely haywire.

• When Stormy Daniels released a sketch of the man who allegedly threatened her after she allegedly had sex with Melania Trump's husband, many people thought the man in question looked like a certain Patriots quarterback.

GOOD STUFF

• Hard Knocks gave us a great season thank to the Browns. From Carl Nassib's lust for Taylor Swift to Nassib's outstanding financial advice to Jarvis Landry's speech, the HBO show had a resurgence in 2018. And then, of course, there is Bob Wylie.

• Legalized sports betting got off to a rocky start when Fan Duel said it wouldn't pay a guy who took advantage of a wrong line and bet $110 to win $82,610 during an in-game wager on a Week 2 game between the Raiders and Broncos. The company later changed its mind and coughed up the cash after getting heat from the public.

• It's not hard to point out the hypocrisy of any Fox News host, but Eagles defensive end Chris Long did a masterful job of exposing Laura Ingraham's usual nonsense after her "shut up and dribble" advice to LeBron James.

• During a Week 2 Monday Night Football game between the Steelers and Bucs, Pittsburgh tight end Vance McDonald unleashed one of the most vicious stiff arms you'll ever see, which sent the Internet into a frenzy.

• This worked then and works even more now because he's living up to the hype. After getting drafted No. 1 overall by the Browns, Baker Mayfield recreated Brett Favre's famous draft day photo from 1991.

• The best rant of the year came from SiriusXM's Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, who went nuts for 20 straight minutes without taking a breath after the Serena Williams U.S. Open controversy.

What a year it was! I'd like to thank all of the people mentioned in this piece for the content.

Traina Thoughts is the best of the Internet, plus musings by SI.com writer, Jimmy Traina. Get the link to a new Traina's Thoughts each day by following on Twitter and liking on Facebook. Catch up on previous editions of Traina Thoughts right here.And make sure to listen to and subscribe to the SI Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina.

IN CLOSING: I'd just like to repeat something: J.R. SMITH THREW CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP AT A COACH!

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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