Friday’s Hot Clicks: Giants Fans Everywhere Hated the Daniel Jones Pick
Daniel Jones?!?!?!?
While it’s a toss-up between the Giants and the Raiders for who made the most head-scratching selection of the first night of the NFL draft, there’s no doubt that Giants fans were more upset that their team took Duke quarterback Daniel Jones than Oakland fans were that they reached for Clemson pass-rusher Clelin Ferrell.
The Giants are in desperate need of a quarterback to succeed Eli Manning and were lucky to be picking sixth behind a bunch of teams that already sorted out their QB situations. They also need help on defense and held a second first-round pick at No. 17 that they could use on a passer in a deep QB draft.
So what did they do at No. 6? Did they take Kentucky pass-rusher Josh Allen, who surprisingly slipped to them after the Raiders took Ferrell? Did they take one of the quarterbacks Dwayne Haskins or Drew Lock, widely considered neck-and-neck for the second-best QB prospect in the draft? No, they took Jones, the least imaginative pick possible and a guy who probably would have been available at No. 17.
Giants fans, whether they were in their living rooms, slightly inebriated at a New York bar, at the stadium or in Nashville (or on their couch beginning to work on this column) reacted with a mix of stunned disbelief and outright anger.
Somebody even made a five-minute compilation video of Giants fans’ despair (some NSFW language here).
Could you imagine what the reaction would have been like if the draft was still being held in New York?
The best reaction, though, came from Haskins.
Same, Dwayne. Same.
Bat flips are so last year
Forget bat flips, we’re on to backflips now. SoftBank Hawks infielder Kenji Akashi did a damn back handspring after hitting a walk-off homer against the Orix Buffaloes.
The best part, though, was definitely all of Akashi’s teammates realizing at the same time that he had missed the plate. That’s a heads-up play.
I love this stupid controversy
The biggest controversy in English soccer right now is Liverpool star Mohamed Salah deciding to travel to New York to be honored at the TIME 100 Gala just days before a key game against Huddersfield. His manager doesn’t care, but some fans sure did.
The weirdest thing, though, is ESPN apparently taking issue with Salah’s pizza order.
A crappy takeout pizza will run you like $25 in Manhattan, so I’ll probably end up checking out the spot Salah went to if you can get a fancy pizza like that for under $30.
The best of SI
Kyler Murray finally ended up going first overall. Now what do the Cardinals do with Josh Rosen? ... The Spurs rode some incredibly hot shooting to force a Game 7 against the Nuggets. ... Legal expert Michael McCann examines the damning new audio of Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill.
Around the sports world
The NFL made a hotel remove a massive mural of Kentucky’s Josh Allen near the site of the draft. ... The latest crazy development out of Laker Land involves Jeanie Buss accidentally insulting Magic Johnson by not knowing how to use email. ... The Chiefs have suspended Tyreek Hill after the release of that audio tape.
R.I.P. John Havlicek
Up and over!
I hate how accurate this is
The Inside the NBA crew plays Jeopardy!
Kyler Murray said this was his favorite movie, which should be a huge red flag
The back cover of Friday’s New York Post
Cool timelapse of the NFL draft stage construction
What a country!
The NBA is a little more important than your little project
Gold medal-winning volleyball player suddenly faints during TV interview
Former Brazilian volleyball star Jacqueline Carvalho had a scary moment during a game this week, fainting while she was being interviewed live on TV. It was reportedly caused by high temperatures in the gym and she recovered quickly.
Not sports
A movie theater near a Tennessee church refused to put the name of the movie Hellboy on the marquee. ... Hulu looks like it’s about to be taken over by Disney. ... An Ohio woman with a full-face skull tattoo got another mugshot taken.
This chimp is way too comfortable using Instagram
Oh boy, check a calendar next time
I guarantee this is in Portland
... Probably driven by these guys
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.