Mariah Carey vs a mascot in a Coyote costume sets the tone for a weird 2017

The new year is just a few days old, but it's already starting to look like 2017 is just 2016 in a hat-and-glasses disguise.

If you thought the last 12 months were chock-full of weird nonsense, you'll be pleased to know it's only just begun. Just as 2016 ended with some mascot-induced beef, involving former England manager Sam Allardyce and Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha, the new calendar year has begun with a different mascot mocking a different public figure. Much was made of Mariah Carey's New Year's Eve performance, specifically her lip-syncing woes. There were claims of sabotage after the fact, and it is still a little unclear exactly what went wrong. Of course, none of this bothered The Coyote, the unimaginatively-named mascot for NBA franchise the San Antonio Spurs. The mascot did its best impression of Carey's performance, complete with the major snafus, at half-time during the Spurs' match against the Toronto Raptors. https://twitter.com/spurs/status/816466265262813184 Now, some of you may remember that the Raptors' own mascot (no prizes for guessing its name) also has previous when it comes to on-court antics. Back in 2015, we saw The Raptor have a bit of fun at LeBron James' expense when the Canadian outfit took on James' Cleveland Cavaliers. And both the Raptor and the Coyote have previous with Chicago Bulls player Robin Lopez, but frankly who doesn't?