Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

It's feeling like 2020 all over again. Donald Trump and Joe Biden are presidential candidates, COVID is still a thing, and the Kansas City Chiefs will face off against the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.

All of life's wins should be celebrated, but parades are meant for special occasions. And despite how progressive this hiring cycle for Black head coaches in the NFL has been, anyone who has already poured the champagne is an idiot.Read more...

CM Punk will be missing Wrestlemania 40 after tearing his triceps during the men's Royal Rumble match.Read more...

Former NBA point guard Rajon Rondo was arrested Sunday afternoon for unlawful possession of a firearm, drug paraphernalia, and marijuana, according to a report from WDRB-TV.Read more...

While Jurgen Klopp stole most of the manager-leaving-at-end-of-season headlines, another of the biggest clubs in the world is losing their manager come May. That would be Barcelona, as Xavi announced he would be leaving his post when this season ends. The difference between the two is that one is leaving a club that...Read more...

The airline industry seems to think it can distract the people. It thinks that it can divert our attention away from that horrifying social media video of deployed oxygen masks on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 because a portion of the jet detached and fell into the sky. My attention is still squarely on that...Read more...

The San Francisco 49ers are back in the Super Bowl for the second time under head coach Kyle Shanahan after beating the Detroit Lions, 34-31, in the NFC title game. As good as the Niners have been this season, it's taken perseverance, dedication and a little luck in these playoffs. They have played with fire in both...Read more...

It should be stated that wrestling press conferences are something of a farce to begin with. They're the equivalent of asking the cast of Game of Thrones to meet the press right after a season finale, or whatever other show you want to substitute in. Are you asking the character a question or the actor? They're still...Read more...

Does anyone even know what type of quarterback Brock Purdy is? Is he the new Joe Flacco? Is he Big Ben redux? Tom Brady 2.0? He's part-Kirk Cousins, but activates Russell Wilson when he scrambles out of the pocket. All these guys reached Super Bowls by their second season and they maintained those lofty standards....Read more...

Now that NFL Championship Sunday is in the rearview, it's time to reflect on what was and what could have been. For the Baltimore Ravens, it's a matter of looking back and figuring out what you could have done differently as a team. But for Lamar Jackson, at this point, it has to be tough playing second fiddle to the...Read more...

This is hard for a Bears fan to admit, and I might, later on, decide to deny I ever said it, but I was pulling for the Detroit Lions (God, that was uncomfortable to type). It hasn't always been this way, of course. There was the heated rivalry between Chicago and Detroit during the Barry Sanders years, and it reared...Read more...

They say you should act like you've been there before." Well, this version of the Baltimore Ravens, and any edition of the Detroit Lions, hadn't - so they acted as such. The Chiefs and the 49ers have, and it showed.

This year's NFC Championship Game is one the Detroit Lions and their fans will have nightmares about all offseason. One they seemingly had in the bag against the San Francisco 49ers entering the second half up, 24-7. Although the second half was entirely different from the first, and Detroit ended up losing 34-31, the...Read more...

It'll never get better than this."Read more...

In years past Patrick Mahomes had to be Quarterback Jordan. En route to his second Super Bowl, he became the first throwzini to lead the league in passing yards and win a Super Bowl in the same season. Last year, he had to will Kansas City through the postseason by scrambling on a high ankle sprain. It was magical to...Read more...

Really thought you'd built something, didn't you, Detroit Lions? The uniform change, the positivity, the belief, the empty catchphrases, whatever they were. Thought you'd shed that old Honolulu blue-and-silver skin and become something new, something better, didn't you? Were sure you'd left the decades of Loins"...Read more...

The AFC Championship game is underway. Both Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson have put their stamp on the game with amazing plays. This matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens may very well be an all-timer. However, a familiar face will not be participating. For the third time in these playoffs,...Read more...

The San Francisco 49ers are back in the NFC championship game for the fourth time in head coach Kyle Shanahan's seven-year tenure. That's quite a feat, but eventually, you've got to win the big one. Shanahan is quickly approaching the point where people are going to begin questioning aloud if he can win the Super...Read more...

Football is a game of X's and O's, but the real difference gets made by the Jimmies and Joes. As we prepare for Conference Championship weekend, here are the 12 most important players to pay attention to on Sunday.Read more...

With teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Philadelphia 76ers among the best teams in the league the season, we could see some of the longest current NBA championship droughts snap in 2024. To honor the potential for history, here are the longest active title droughts.Read more...

Seeing a four-goal game is perhaps the rarest thing a hockey fan can witness in person. It's not too far off from seeing a no-hitter. I've been going to hockey games for 364 years, and I've seen one. Steve Thomas vs. the Devils in March of 1990 at Chicago Stadium. I didn't have to look that up (well, the date I did,...Read more...

The hammer may be coming down on members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team faster than we thought. Over the past couple of days, two players - Carter Hart of the Flyers and Dillon Dube of the Flames - had taken indefinite leaves of absence from their teams. - Sam Fels Read MoreRead more...

The 2024 Hall of Fame inductions added two names to a very exclusive list. With Joe Mauer and Todd Helton's nomination to Cooperstown, the two join 53 other players as the only in MLB history to make the Hall of Fame after spending their entire careers on one team. Listed by team, here are the realest ride-or-dies in...Read more...

Years of incidents both on and off the basketball court have finally caught up with Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green. It was announced Tuesday that Green would not be part of Team USA at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Green's suspension history played a role in the decision according to men's national...Read more...

There were some tense moments for most of the favorites in the Divisional Round. The current NFL darling Detroit Lions almost let the game slip away on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The San Francisco 49ers are fortunate that Jordan Love forgot how to throw a football in the fourth quarter, or they would...Read more...

First, it was college football. Now, college basketball may have a sign-stealing scandal of its own.Read more...

With the NFC Championship coming up, the Detroit Lions are two wins away from breaking one of the longest championship droughts in NFL history. Their opponents, the San Francisco 49ers, are looking to add to their trophy collection. The Niners haven't been champs since the mid-90s.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is departing the club at the end of the season, he announced today in a video to fans.Read more...

The most publicized team of the 2023 college football season is under the NCAA's microscope.Read more...

Former MLB outfielder Yasiel Puig - no stranger to fights - was seen getting hit and throwing punches during a bench-clearing brawl in Venezuela last week.Read more...

One of the league's best offenses is getting even better, just in time for the AFC Championship.Read more...

The Detroit Lions went 9-8 in 2022, narrowly missing out on the playoffs. It was an improvement for the moribund franchise, and both fans and analysts had high hopes coming into the 2023 season.

Bad execution can always ruin good" intentions. The league that hasn't created a safe enough space for gay players is having a Pride Night" during Super Bowl week in Las Vegas. This is what a lack of self-awareness looks like.Read more...

During an appearance on TNT's NBA Tip-Off, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic apologized for getting a heckler thrown out of Wednesday's loss to the Phoenix Suns.Read more...

If beating Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros is sport's toughest assignment, beating Novak Djokovic in Melbourne can't be too far behind it. He hadn't lost there in some 3,000 days (a COVID deportation playing some role in that), he's won the tournament 10 times and he was still coming off a previous season of claiming...Read more...

Women's tennis hasn't had a great rivalry in some time. The tour was dominated by Serena Williams for so long and no one could have managed to look her in the eye for very long. The closest was her sister Venus, yet matches between the two regularly and mostly were hard on the eyes, because both seemed so miserable at...Read more...

The NBA has done a spectacular job with Rivalry Week. Sam Presti vs. his mentors in Oklahoma City took a backseat to Chet Holmgren vs. Victor Wembanyama. That clash felt like a future NBA Finals showdown. Devin Booker and Luka Doncic exchanged their usual vitriol and potshots at one another. However, the nourishment...Read more...

The Detroit Lions are in the NFC title game. No, it's not a dream, it is reality and they've got folks believing. Detroit can turn the page, beginning a new chapter in their history. Appearing in their first Super Bowl and beating one of the NFL's most successful franchises to advance would be an extra feather in the...Read more...

At least Milwaukee Bucks fans can say that the Haslems aren't penny-pinchers. Jimmy and Dee bought their way into the NBA last spring when they purchased former franchise co-owner Marc Lasry's share. Since then, two Bucks head coaches have been fired and their most recent hire is one of the most well-known veterans in...Read more...

The San Francisco 49ers are set to appear in their NFL-record 19th Conference Championship game.

(Warning: This story contains graphic details that might be disturbing to some.)Read more...

We're down to the final four in the NFL. Despite Kansas City and San Francisco having been in this mix multiple times over the past few years, simple logic points to Baltimore and Lamar Jackson finally breaking through. We also know the NFL tends to go off script" sometimes in the postseason. The Ravens look like the...Read more...

Former LSU and current New England Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte was arrested Thursday and is accused of using an alias to bet on sports while he was underage, according to the Louisiana State Police.

Now in his sixth consecutive AFC Title game, Andy Reid is making up for lost time after struggling to get over the hump during his decade and change in Philadelphia. The venerable Chiefs coach is a virtuoso playcaller who has shepherded Kansas City to three Super Bowls, two Lombardi Trophies and has them on the verge...Read more...

Rarely is it a good sign when, A) the head coach is being asked if his job is in jeopardy, and B) the coach doesn't have much of a problem with that being asked. That's where the Los Angeles Kings, along with coach Todd McClellan, find themselves after either losing or tying their 12th of 14 games last night to the...Read more...

Bryson DeChambeau, one of the PGA defectors who took the Saudi blood money to join LIV, thinks the impending merger of the two organizations is what golf fans are clamoring for.Read more...

Former Spanish Football Federation head Luis Rubiales could be facing not only criminal charges, but jail time, thanks to his planting an extremely unwanted kiss on Jenni Hermoso's lips after Spain won the World Cup in 2023. On Thursday, the judge who presided over an inquiry into the incident recommended that...Read more...

Morehouse football desperately needs a shot in the arm. Hue Jackson is a dose of bad medicine.Read more...

Jim Harbaugh is returning to the NFL as the next head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. What you might have forgotten is that he played quarterback for the franchise in 1999 and 2000 - back when the Bolts were still in San Diego.Read more...

Seeing a four-goal game is perhaps the rarest thing a hockey fan can witness in person. It's not too far off from seeing a no-hitter. I've been going to hockey games for 364 years, and I've seen one. Steve Thomas vs. the Devils in March of 1990 at Chicago Stadium. I didn't have to look that up (well, the date I did,...Read more...