Friday’s Hot Clicks: Blind USC Football Player Max Olson Nails Viral ‘Bird Box Challenge’
This guy wins the Bird Box challenge
Netflix
The hottest thing in certain corners of social media right now is the “Bird Box Challenge,” inspired by the Netflix movie of the same name. The premise of the film is that if you see the monster you die, so Sandra Bullock takes her kids on a blindfolded mission of survival. The “challenge” features regular people blindfolding themselves and attempting to do everyday tasks without the benefit of sight—or just taking selfies in front of the house used in the filming of the movie.
USC long snapper Jake Olson, for example, was able to execute a flawless snap while wearing a blindfold over his eyes.
Olson was a cheating a little bit, though, because he’s actually blind. After being diagnosed with cancer as a kid, Olson lost one eye when he was just 10 months old and the other at age 12. During his cancer battle, he became close with the USC football team and after snapping in high school was invited to join the Trojans as a walk-on when he enrolled in 2015.
Olson first saw game action against Western Michigan in 2017, when he made a perfect snap on an extra point. He snapped against Oregon State later that season and in two games this season.
Olson has proven he can do just about anything without his sight and will graduate this spring with a degree in business administration, currently boasting a GPA over 3.0. If you ever need to escape a monster that kills you on sight, you know who to call.
The refs were also doing the Bird Box challenge
The Rockets prevailed over the Warriors on the road in an overtime thriller, and it’s a good thing they did. Can you imagine what would have happened if Houston went on to lose the game after a blown call as bad as this one?
The call came with under 30 seconds to play in overtime and allowed Stephen Curry to hit a deep two that gave Golden State the lead. Durant had both feet out of bounds but nobody in a striped shirt thought he was outside the field of play.
The refs were the only ones who thought Durant’s play was legal.
But the Rockets won it on this contested three by James Harden with just a second to play.
They really don’t like Kawhi in San Antonio
Here’s a video that got a lot of attention before last night’s Spurs-Raptors game, Kawhi Leonard’s return to San Antonio.
“Thanks for supporting me, Kawhi Leonard, the basketball player. That’s it, really. Just thanks for the support.”
People thought it was funny because it sounded like Kawhi being his usual robotic self. But after the reception he got during the game, it’s clear that he was making a distinction between fans supporting Kawhi Leonard, the basketball player, and Kawhi Leonard, the guy who plays basketball.
Once he stopped playing for their team, the fans turned on him, booing lustily and chanting “traitor.”
The best of SI
The NFL playoffs start tomorrowand the SI staff has made its picks. ... It’s never too early to look at the NCAA tournament field. ... An unheralded recruit at a mid-major school is turning into a top NBA prospect.
Around the sports world
A 49-year-old Colorado man is accused of posing as a Broncos player to scam a woman out of over $100,000. ... A stupid “epic sax gorilla” stunt earned a minor league baseball team a hefty fine from the Washington Department of Labor. ... Spanish-language hockey announcers have to get creative in translating the game for their audiences. ... A 68-year-old man was able to fend off an attempted mugging because he’s a world kickboxing champ.
Don’t boo me, Isaiah, just correct my typos
Baylor’s win over UConn was a really big deal
Jay Bilas is a proud papa
Go to the bathroom and make yourself a snack during halftime on Monday
Shoutout to this guy still getting paid all these years later
Good trade?
Not sports
YouTube jackass Jake Paul is now advertising gambling to kids. ... Cargo that fell off a ship is washing up on the shores of an island in the Netherlands and the cops are totally fine with people scavenging for flat-screen TVs. ... An Oregon man is suing Burger King because the chain canceled his free food for life deal after he went there 13 times in 15 days.
I don’t think San Antonio had enough fireworks for the new year
Security at Disney was a joke in the ’90s
A good song
It’s good to be back.
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.
