Tuesday’s Hot Clicks: Pittsburgh TV Station Runs Graphic Labeling Tom Brady as ‘Known Cheater’

Taking a shot at the GOAT.

Taking a shot at the GOAT

Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Not everyone is pleased to see Tom Brady in yet another Super Bowl. Like in Pittsburgh, for instance, where the Patriots-Steelers rivalry lives on even though the Steelers missed the playoffs this year. During yesterday’s late afternoon news on KDKA, the Pittsburgh CBS affiliate, the station ran a chyron identifying Brady not as “Patriots quarterback” but as “known cheater.”

Hey, that’s totally fair. Remember the 10-year-old kid in Kentucky who won his science fair by proving Brady was a cheater? That should be enough proof right there. It’s not just Deflategate, either. How about how Brady benefited from Bill Belichick taping other teams’ practices during the Spygate scandal? And maybe there are other ways Brady is cheating that we just don’t know about yet. Rather than risk libeling Brady, I’m just going to link to two news stories here. 

The main problem I have with this isn’t calling Brady a cheater. It’s that Boston fans feed off this sort of hate more than any other fan base. We don’t need to give them any more reasons to feel aggrieved. If the Patriots end up winning on Sunday, there will be a non-zero number of fans at the championship parade wearing anti-KDKA T-shirts. 

I’ve reached out to KDKA to ask whether multiple people signed off on the “cheater” chyron or if it was a rogue editor’s joke and whether they’ll be reprimanded. I’ll update this post if I hear back. 

The Grizzlies blew an epic lead

A 25-point third-quarter lead should be insurmountable, right? Or at least a 19-point advantage in the fourth quarter should be. But the Grizzlies found a way to let the Nuggets come all the way back by getting outscored by 20 points in the fourth. 

Mark Sanchez is a good sport

This reeks of a Super Bowl ad but I can’t for the life of me figure out what they’re trying to sell me. I think maybe they’re just trying to sell Mark Sanchez as a comedic actor? If that’s it, it’s working. We already knew Sanchez could have fun at his own expense, now it looks like he can do it on script. 

The best of SI

This is how Tony Romo got his job at CBS. ... Anthony Davis wants out of New Orleans. Here are the five best landing spots. ... Who better to give insight on Tom Brady playing at an advanced age than his oldest former teammates?

Who wants free stuff?

With snacking on the mind before the Super Bowl, we’re giving away three prize packs from Kettle Brand potato chips. (The prizes won’t arrive until after the game, but still.) Each winner will get a case full of Kettle’s Buffalo bleu, salt and ground pepper, dill pickle and brand new wasabi ranch flavors. 

Here’s what you need to do. Follow these instructions carefully or you won’t be entered. Send me an email (dan.gartland@simail.com) with the subject line “I want chips” and tell me which former Yankees pitcher new Yankees pitcher Adam Ottavino got his picture taken with when he was a kid. The answer is in yesterday’s Hot Clicks. The 15th, 30th and 45th person to email me with the right answer (and the right subject line) will win.

Update: All prizes have been claimed—way faster than I expected!

Around the sports world

Wade Phillips confirmed that he was wearing his dad’s jacket on the plane to Atlanta to “recognize” Bum. ... ESPN isn’t restoring Baseball Tonight to daily programming.

Wade Phillips knows Tony Romo knows what’s coming

I asked Wade Phillips about planning for Tom Brady in the postseason and what’s the plan this time around. He told me his plan is to get an earpiece with Tony Romo in it to tell him what’s going to happen before each play.

— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) January 29, 2019

The Super Bowl is going to look great in this stadium

Wow. 😍 #SBLIII pic.twitter.com/6jTEZO1DdU

— NFL (@NFL) January 28, 2019

The Raiders are a total mess right now

The Raiders have begun calling season ticket holders telling them that they don't know where they are going to play next season, but ticket reps will stay in touch.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 28, 2019

You have no chance stopping this

Это нужно смотреть здесь и сейчас! Гол недели от Микса Индрашиса в ворота бывшей команды!#МыДинамо pic.twitter.com/SqQ1NwfVSf

— HC Dynamo Moscow (@dynamo_ru) January 28, 2019

Not sports

The actor who plays El Chapo on the Netflix series Narcosshowed up at the real Chapo’s trial in New York. ... A scary iPhone bug grants users access to other people’s microphones without their permission.

An unfinished city of Disney castles

This was supposed to be a $200 million development of French-style miniature castles in Turkey before the builder ran out of money.

I don’t think you can call that a ferry anymore

Is there a ferry to Japan pic.twitter.com/MvQyT4TEay

— John Cullen (@cullenthecomic) January 28, 2019

The best Twitter thread I’ve seen in a long time

I had my carpenter build a $9,000 finished wood riser for my Peloton bike in my glass-enclosed zen garden/home gym pic.twitter.com/VJSOjctYtO

— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) January 28, 2019

(Click here to read the whole thread.)

That return of “The Dude” that Jeff Bridges teased is just an ad for skunk beer

People forget how spectacularly trashy England can be

No need for an alarm clock at my Nanna’s house this morning when you have plank wars going off at 8am pic.twitter.com/rJH37JiKox

— taran stokoe (@StokoeTaran) January 26, 2019

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.