Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

LAS VEGAS, Nev.—“Man, I’m usually in a suit, but it’s too fucking hot today,” a scalper told me a few hours before the big fight. It truly was too fucking hot. A police dog had to wear booties to protect his feet. This particular scalper was forced halfway inside, working the buffer area between the two sets of doors…Read more...

Former NFL player Ed Cunningham has been working as a college football analyst since 1997, and was set to begin another season for ESPN and ABC. Today, Cunningham told the New York Times that he is walking away from his job because he can no longer condone the game’s health risks.

Iowa Cubs catcher Taylor Davis has an innate talent for finding the cameras and staring into the lens until it becomes uncomfortable, so the team celebrated that skill with a two-minute compilation.Read more...

The Cleveland Browns had already signaled their readiness to move on from cornerback Joe Haden earlier this week, when word got out that they were shopping him around. Once those trade avenues eventually led to nowhere, the Browns decided today to cut him. From a distance, the move is jarring, even according to the…Read more...

One of basketball’s prevailing properties has been its ability to adapt. At moments in its history when the game began to grow stale, from the shot clock to the three-point line and even illegal zone defense, rules changed to incentivize scoring as well as provide an opportunity to win through different talents,…Read more...

You spend 1/3 of your life in bed, so it only makes sense to buy pillows that you really love. Today on Amazon, two unique options from Langria are both on sale for just $22 each.

Chris Sale pitched against the Toronto Blue Jays last night, and he struck out 11 batters in seven innings in a 3-0 win. “Struck out 11 batters” doesn’t quite describe what happened on that field, though. It’s more accurate to say that Sale demoralized 11 batters.

I got paired up with Jim on senior retreat. Holy Ghost Prep, our high school in suburban Philadelphia, had shipped 36 of us to Delaware for spiritual guidance and sleep deprivation. On the last day, we had an activity where we had to make a gift for another person. Jim was a big hockey fan and player—his dad coached…Read more...

Gizmodo Best Buy Apologizes For Selling $42 Packs of Water While CNBC Asks If Disaster Capitalism Is So Bad | Kotaku Fans Love The Way This Street Fighter V Character Walks | Truck Yeah The 707 Horsepower 2018 Jeep Trackhawk Is America’s Most Practical Supercar | Lifehacker How to Handle a Coworker Who Dresses…Read more...

Amazon’s one-day gaming PC sale, a bunch of discounted watches, and Stranger Things action figures lead off Wednesday’s best deals from around the web.Read more...

It didn’t look or feel much like a home game for the Astros. Before an announced crowd of 3,485 in St. Petersburg, Fla., each of whom had paid $10 for general admission, the Astros donned a first-time uniform combination: road gray pants and dark blue alternate tops usually worn for batting practice. “It’s all we had…Read more...

In my opinion, a classic wristwatch still looks better than any smartwatch, any day. Today only in preparation for back-to-school, pick up the a new timepiece from brands like Casio, Nixon, Timex (including the popular Weekender), and more for men, women, and kids. But time’s a-tickin’ on this deal and these prices…Read more...

In a markedly soft U.S. Open field—no Novak Djokovic, no Stan Wawrinka, no Andy Murray—third-ranked Roger Federer was brought to the brink in the very first round by unseeded 19-year-old Frances Tiafoe, who took him five sets deep tonight.Read more...

Since being selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft, Dylan Bundy has been an elite prospect, an injury-riddled question mark, a symbol of Baltimore’s many flaws with pitcher development and a presumed bust. Tonight, finally, he was what the team always hoped he could be: he was really, really good.Read more...

It’s still summer, at least for a few precious weeks more, which means it’s still the perfect time to go play spikeball in a park near you. For those uninitiated with the game, it involves spiking a ball on a mini-trampoline and also some other stuff, but you do not have to know anything about spikeball to appreciate…Read more...

An MLB.com column that chastised the Texas Rangers for their part in relocating this week’s series with the Houston Astros was extensively edited and rewritten after publication, seemingly to be less critical of the team. None of the changes are noted in the piece.Read more...

Royals GM Dayton Moore held a press conference this afternoon to discuss how the organization is handling pitcher Danny Duffy’s DUI arrest Sunday, and at one point jumped from talking about DUIs to discussing a link between watching porn and domestic abuse.Read more...

Thank you for your continued support of Deadspin. All I ever say now is goodbye.Read more...

The newest Madden game just came out, and it has an interactive story mode that actually sounds really cool. After waiting six months for the game to go on sale for $20, I’ll probably give it a whirl. The rest of the game is about what you expect by now. Those who pay 60 bucks year after year for the game see…Read more...

io9 Here’s What Happened the Last Time the White Walkers Invaded Westeros | The A.V. Club Let’s close up the Mailbag Of Thrones with Arya’s next face, Jon’s cock, and Rhaegar’s sons | Kotaku Destiny 2’s Shiny PC Beta Underlines A Difficult Choice | Jalopnik The ‘Cajun Navy’ Has Descended On Houston, For Better Or…Read more...

Welcome to the Deadspin 25, a college football poll that strives to be more democratic and less useless than every other preseason poll. Leading up to the college football season kickoff, we will give you previews of the 25 teams that you, the readers, voted to be most worthy of writing about. Now, No. 16 Penn State.

There’s an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry is “Even Steven”—he can’t gain or lose anything. When a gig cancels on him, he immediately gets a call for a new one on the same weekend. When Elaine throws a $20 bill out the window, he finds another one in his jacket. He’s equally lucky and unlucky. He always breaks even.Read more...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has determined that there was “reasonable cause to believe” that the country’s premier tennis organization discriminated against Tony Nimmons, a black chair umpire, “on account of his race and him engaging in a protected activity,” according to documents obtained by Deadspin…Read more...

What better way to get ready for the better weather than discounted Under Armour Outlet gear? Take an extra 30% off practically every style you can think of, no code needed. From the classic Under Armour long-sleeves to training shoes to their Threadborne microthread technology, this gear is perfect for running…Read more...

Some people are fans of the Oakland Raiders. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Oakland Raiders. This 2017 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read all the previews so far here.Read more...

That’s ABC News chief national correspondent and World News Tonight anchor Tom Llamas up there, live from flood-devastated Houston, with what I’m pretty sure is the worst tweet in history. Holy fucking shit, man.Read more...

Major League Lacrosse just sent an email to every player currently in its player pool—this includes inactive players—alerting them to the fact that the league accidentally exposed their personal information, including their social security numbers.

At one point in A Storm of Swords, the third installment in the book series adapted into Game of Thrones, Bran Stark and his companions are wanderin’ through the woods when the messiah prince (who is also, after all, just a bored lonely little kid) requests a story. Meera Reed launches into a tale about one of her…Read more...

Kansas City Royals pitcher Danny Duffy was arrested under suspicion of DUI Sunday 7:30 p.m. in Overland Park, Kansas, according to a Overland Park police spokesperson.Read more...

Stetson University released a statement Monday announcing that 19-year-old sophomore linebacker Nick Blakely had died after collapsing on the field earlier in the day. Blakely had reportedly gone to the sidelines shortly after practice started and said he wasn’t feeling well.Read more...

Within roughly 24 hours, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats tried to hire disgraced former Baylor football coach Art Briles, entered “discussions” with the CFL, and changed their mind. Today, team owner Bob Young called the idea to hire Briles a “large and serious mistake.”Read more...

There’s so much talking on WWE Raw. It always opens with a promo and sometimes they just talk talk talk. For every great Paul Heyman promo there are two segments that just drone on and on and on. It happens. The show’s three hours! What else are you going to fill time with, wrestling?

Back in 2014, Yulia Lipnitskaya burst onto the international skating scene by helping the Russians win team gold at the Olympics. In Sochi, Lipnitskaya memorably performed to the score from Schindler’s List, dressed like the little girl in red in the Steven Spielberg film about the Holocaust. (Three years later, her…Read more...

Technically, no one should eat midnight snacks because anything you eat right before bed will go right to your ass. But sometimes you’re drunk and there’s a pint of ice cream calling you, and nature must take its course. But what is the BEST dining option for when you are up late, and less than sober, and want to eat…Read more...

No.Read more...

Black Flag Quick Thinking And Garden Blocks Saved This Guy’s BMW X5 And E36 M3s From Harvey | io9 Star Wars: Episode IX May Return to a Familiar Planet | Kotaku How Anime Art Has Changed: An Explainer | The A.V. Club This season of Game Of Thrones was illogical, dumb, and fun as hell | Lifehacker How to See Who Has…Read more...

The scenes in Houston are scary and sad. Photos show parts of the city completely flooded, with more rain on the way. But one photo that’s been circulating is not scary or sad or real: It’s a photo of a shark on a highway.Read more...

The most captivating defensive wizards tend to have a signature move: Javy Baez has his tags, Manny Machado has his rocket throws from foul territory, Andrelton Simmons has, uh, everything. Last night, Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Pillar dusted off his signature defensive highlight, a full-speed, full-extension,…Read more...

Everything about Maria Sharapova’s first grand slam match since her April return from a 15-month doping ban was exaggerated. The venue: New York City’s Arthur Ashe stadium at night, tennis’s biggest, most electric stage. The opponent: world No. 2 defensive specialist Simona Halep, hungry for her first grand slam…Read more...

Last Thursday, the Royals sat just a half-game out of the American League’s crowded wild card race. They have played four games since, and they have not scored a run in any of them.Read more...

After suffering through an excruciating set of conditions including spinal stenosis and a herniated disc in his neck, David Wright has played less than half a season of major-league ball over the past three years. He last appeared in a Mets uniform back in spring training, where the career third baseman spent his time…Read more...

According to reports from Adam Schefter of ESPN and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, a new contract extension has Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford poised to become the highest-paid player in NFL history.Read more...

After the Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced that they were hiring disgraced former Baylor coach Art Briles as an assistant earlier today, the CFL declared tonight that Briles won’t be joining the franchise after all:Read more...

Floyd Mayweather beat Conor McGregor’s ass; McGregor put on a respectable effort against an elite boxer, winning a moral victory. McGregor looked as sharp as he could have, and showcased improved skills; Mayweather was a faded husk of his former self. The fight was competitive in stretches; the fight wasn’t close.

The University of Illinois announced today that they would stop their traditional practice of playing “war chant” music at athletic events, a decade after they discontinued the use of their Chief Illiniwek mascot at the NCAA’s behest. That should be a step in the right direction, or at least a step away from the…Read more...

Until earlier today, the Astros and Rangers were scheduled to begin a three-game series tomorrow in Houston. However, since much of the city is now underwater due to catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Harvey, it was evident that MLB would need to find another locale. They did—and it’s the Tampa Bay Rays’ ballpark in…Read more...

Thank you for your continued support of Deadspin. Shout out to Coop.Read more...

Denis Shapovalov, the 18-year-old Canadian hereafter known as El Shapo, achieved something big today: He wore a normal hat without a busted-ass strap.

Eighteen days after Ohio’s Supreme Court decided that the Cleveland Cavaliers’ proposed $140 million arena renovations merited a referendum and the public’s input, the NBA team has decided to pull out of the project.Read more...

io9 All The Questions Game of Thrones’ Final Season Still Needs to Answer | Lifehacker This Is How Much Amazon Has Cut Whole Foods Prices | Jalopnik Here Are The Cars You Hate Irrationally | Kotaku What We Mostly Liked About Netflix’s Death Note |Read more...