Thursday’s Hot Clicks: Snow Day Fun Turns Sour as Rat Comes Out of Nowhere

Sledding is supposed to be a wholesome, rodent-free activity.

A lovely day on the slopes... except for the rat

Even as someone who sees more than one rat per day (depending on which subway line I take to work), this video makes my skin crawl. Sledding is supposed to be a wholesome, rodent-free activity. Not the case in Victoria, British Columbia, it seems. 

A rare snowstorm paralyzed the city with more than a foot of snow, but residents made the most of the snow-covered streets by skiing and snowboarding out in the road. One hilly street became a popular spot for sledders—so popular, in fact, that a rat wanted to join in on the action. 

#https://www.instagram.com/p/BtzyJXCAZhy/

“At first I thought it was a piece of toboggan that broke off. But then it was in my lap,” Cole Salsman, the guy who captured the video on his GoPro, told Coast Mountain News. “It flew back onto the hill and ran around the other toboggan and back into my path. I almost hit it a second time. It was a very quick rat.”

(This is also a good place to mention one of my favorite fun facts: There are no rats in the entire Canadian province of Alberta. The provincial government enacted strict rat control procedures when the rodents were first discovered in the province in 1950. Though rats are occasionally discovered after stowing away on trucks from other places, the province has no breeding populations of rats.) 

DeAndre Jordan’s face is the best part

Knicks rookie Kevin Knox baptized Ben Simmons with a truly vicious two-handed slam, but the dunk was only as good as DeAndre Jordan’s incredulous reaction. 

Jordan has a penchant for showing his feelings on his face after a big slam, you may remember. 

That older screencap, of course, comes from this righteous dunk Jordan himself laid down on poor Brandon Knight in 2013. It’s a true classic. 

The best of SI

One of these eight teams will win the NCAA tournament. ... The Joe Flacco trade will have a domino effect across the entire NFL. ... Do you know enough about the CBA to be an NBA general manager?

Around the sports world

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam’s truck stop company canceled a sponsorship deal with ESPN because Haslam was upset about ESPN’s big Browns exposé. ... Another one of Johnny Cueto’s horses died and once again he honored it by posting a photo of the horse’s corpse on Instagram. ... Matt Kuchar keeps insisting he was right to stiff his caddie.

That’s a pretty cavalier attitude

Watching a game in your own jersey is exceptionally lame

The Knicks really know how to spot talent

He wanted to show Steph how easy this is

Yes, they really do call him “Poop”

His real name is Cory, but his teammates at Kentucky started calling him “Poop.”

Jeremy Lin got a standing ovation in his Toronto debut

Two of the greats

I want this so badly

Found this in a coworkers office, told me he stole it right out of an unlocked poster case in the subway from r/baseball

Good luck picking up the ball if you’re a hitter

(That’s new Mariners pitcher Yusei Kikuchi, the top player to come over from Japan this year.)

I had to read this two or three times to get what was happening

Rick Pitino is coaching Greek power Panathinaikos now and the team his club faced yesterday in the Greek Cup semifinals, fellow giants Olympiakos, straight-up refused to play the second half after they were upset with officiating decisions in the first half. 

Not sports

My favorite Valentine’s Day candy isn’t available this year because. ... Jared Leto’s Joker movie has reportedly been canceled. ... Police were called to a Home Depot in Wichita after a man went into the bathroom and said he going to “blow it up.” He meant he was going to do some serious damage to the toilet.

Assman would not be denied

For the record, this has not happened at SI

Incredible acting for just an Onion sketch

His hair caught on fire and he didn’t stop playing

That’s from a KISS cover band’s performance in Sioux City, Iowa.

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.