Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

Two weeks ago, the fourth episode of the current season of Game of Thrones, HBO’s hit show about relatives who smooch, leaked a few days early to the delight of fans. It was a good-ass episode, and despite the leak, it scored all-time high ratings for the show.Read more...

Elvis Presley died in a Graceland bathroom 40 years ago today. He was 42 years old.

Originally published in the October 17, 1977, edition of The Baltimore Sun, this column appears here with permission from the author’s estate.

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

The Wall Street Journal has a scoop today, which seems to really be trying its hardest not to explicitly spell out its main implication: that former Ole Miss football coach Hugh Freeze made not just one, but many phone calls to escorts during his time at the school, usually around the times when he’d go on recruiting…Read more...

First it was Novak Djokovic, sitting out the rest of the season to just, uh, generally debug.

Warmth on demand isn’t just science fiction anymore. Polar Seal clothes give you the ability to add even more warmth to your winter layers with built-in warming elements, powered by any standard USB battery pack. The two heating zones and three heating levels are controlled by the waterproof buttons on your wrist. …Read more...

The article hangs on a wall in my office. I am actually staring at it as I write this—it is taped, slightly crooked, to the white paint above my desk, positioned between a Chicago Blitz bumper sticker, a picture of my mother’s late Uncle John, and a photograph from the 1987 Mahopac High School freshman class trip to…Read more...

In this week’s Funbag, reader Benjamin asked this excellent question:

Back in June when Paul Parilla, the board chair of USA Gymnastics, was being deposed for one of the many lawsuits filed against the sports federation by victims of Larry Nassar, the former national team doctor who has been accused of sexually abusing gymnasts under the guise of medical treatment, he was asked if USA…Read more...

The cool thing about Joey Votto is that he never stops being Joey Votto, and that’s what makes him one of the most peculiar and entertaining stars in baseball. He’s the slugging first baseman who chokes up on his bat and seems to love a walk more than a hit; he’s the guy who can force a team into playing a four-man…Read more...

The Saints fired two team orthopedists after learning they had diagnosed cornerback Delvin Breaux with a contusion even though Breaux really has a fractured fibula, according to ESPN’s Mike Triplett.Read more...

Super Smash Con, a combination tournament and convention focused on the Super Smash Bros. fighting game series, kicked off this weekend’s festivities with a ridiculous show of skill known simply as the Combo Contest. Inspired by the NBA’s Dunk Contest, this exhibition invites some of the most creative Super Smash Bros.…Read more...

Baseball’s hottest player is on a team that isn’t going anywhere this fall. Last night Giancarlo Stanton homered in his sixth straight game, a team record. It was his 11th homer in his last 12 games, and his 23rd in his last 35. He has 44 on the season, and also leads the league in slugging percentage (.646). He’s on…Read more...

Gizmodo Did the Army Chief of Staff Just Subtweet President Trump? | Vitals Eating “Clean” Won’t Solve Any of Your Problems | Jalopnik Richard Hammond’s Grand Tour Crash Left The Event Organizers In Some Major Trouble | Kotaku Nintendo Switch Bending Problems Are Still A Thing |Read more...

Yahoo’s Charles Robinson has gotten his hands on a portion of the NFL’s 160-page report on the Ezekiel Elliott domestic-violence case detailing an exchange between Elliott’s accuser, Tiffany Thompson, and an unnamed friend in which they discuss using sex videos featuring Thompson and Elliott as a means for…Read more...

It was the cruel efficiency of the Holocaust that always shook me—the way, as you listen to the stories of concentration camp survivors, the patterns emerge. It started with a few rules, here and there, and people saying things would be fine. They took away one right, then another, then another, and then came the…Read more...

Because the home run is back and it’s cool again, it’s absolutely acceptable to kick off each blog morning with some massive moonshot by another young large boy with a build and a slugging percentage that would’ve fit right in 20 years ago—the most fun baseball era of my life, not for nothing. I do not want to know…Read more...

The Cabeau Evolution was your favorite travel pillow (by a long shot), and you can save 25% on yours today, the first deal we’ve seen since Prime Day.

LeBron James used some of his time on stage tonight at an event for his charitable foundation to speak about the weekend’s events in Charlottesville, Va., where a white nationalist rally became a domestic terrorist attack. James noted the need for a greater sense of love and community, emphasizing the power of small…Read more...

Per the official scorer’s account of tonight’s Tigers-Rangers game, Rougned Odor did not steal home tonight. Technically, the Texas second baseman scored on a balk from Detroit pitcher Daniel Stumpf—because a player already aboard must advance one base on a balk, and he explicitly cannot be credited with a stolen base…Read more...

Sports babies, generally, are good. A replacement-level sports baby is still one who is adorable and funny and gloriously chubby-cheeked, and a sub-replacement-level sports baby is still probably going to make you aww at least once. But a truly great sports baby? A truly great sports baby is on another level, and…Read more...

It’s now been nearly three weeks since Red Sox top prospect Rafael Devers got the call to the big leagues, moving on up at the ripe ol’ age of 20 after spending just nine games at Triple-A. It’s gone better than the team ever could have hoped. In his first 16 major-league games, Devers has hit .339/.397/.677. He has…Read more...

All Westerns are set at the end of the world. In most of the genre’s staples, the specific reasons why this particular gunslinger is in this particular town fighting this particular scoundrel quickly fade away. Stories of discovery and exploration take place in unforgiving environments, places where anyone can become…Read more...

Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler got himself ejected very quickly yesterday, after saying what appeared to be just a few choice words to umpire Angel Hernandez about a first-strike call. (Yeah, a first-strike call, evening the count at 1-1 with no one on base and one out in the fifth inning. Very tense situation!)…Read more...

Thank you for your continued support of Deadspin. Let’s go.Read more...

This era of console gaming is a strange one, owing partially to the fact that about five years ago, many people in the industry feared consumers would reject bulky $300 consoles in favor of cheaper and nimbler competitors like the iPhone and the iPad. Why pay so much for games you can only play in front of your TV at…Read more...

Monday night in Durham, well-intentioned protestors tore a testament to the Confederacy down from its perch, sending it tumbling 15 feet to feebly fold over. It was glorious, if long overdue. It was also a glimpse at what the future holds for similar pro-CSA statues littered around North Carolina, thanks to the shrewd…Read more...

Yesterday, Deadspin published a report about how Vox Media and SB Nation profit off of unpaid and underpaid workers. With names and other identifying information redacted by request, here are some of the dozens of emails I received in response to the article.

After weeks and weeks of speculation, rumors, and false starts, it looks like Everton are finally getting their man. According to the BBC, the Toffees have agreed to a £45 million fee for Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson. So now what?

Today only, Amazon’s offering one of the best prices ever on a near-perfectly reviewed DEWALT lithium-ion combo kit as part of a Gold Box deal.

Donald Trump gave what was unquestionably the most depraved, unhinged, and abysmal press conference of his presidency on Tuesday afternoon.Read more...

Liverpool are currently playing the first leg of a Champions League playoff round, and things got unexpectedly sexy during manager Jürgen Klopp’s pregame press conference.

This week, several more CEOs of major corporations resigned from the White House’s Manufacturing Council, citing concerns with President Trump’s conduct and policies. For those looking to all the other CEOs to rise up as moral beacons: Look elsewhere.Read more...

Time for your weekly edition of the Deadspin Funbag. Got something on your mind? Email the Funbag. Today, we’re talking Trump rumors, movie props, backpacks, and more.

At last check in July, indie wrestler the “Progressive Liberal” Daniel Richards won his match against a Trump supporter but still had to wear a diaper and drink gross milk out of a baby bottle. A couple of weeks later at Dukes Fest, a Dukes of Hazzard-themed festival in Virginia, Richards wrestled again and used the…Read more...

Rhys Hoskins hit 91 homers in the minor leagues, including 38 last season and 29 this year. The Phillies called him up last Thursday, but he was stuck on one lonely single so far in his major league career.

Welcome to Meat Sack, a guide to sports-related body horror. Today’s column is about enjoying the great outdoors.Read more...

As everyone knows, the best thing about the Premier League is its absurd depth. In England you have an entire country where practically every single town worships their local club with an intensity that makes Nebraska’s passion for Cornhusker football look like Nebraska’s passion for Cornhusker soccer. Because there…Read more...

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

Now that the weather’s nice enough to exercise outdoors (or at least tell yourself that you will), Nordstrom Rack’s running a pretty solid sale on Adidas apparel and shoes for men, women, and kids. It’s a good time to stock up on basics to throw on for the gym, or running errands.Read more...

Ready yourself for takes: the U.S. Tennis Association has granted Maria Sharapova a wild card into the U.S. Open main draw, meaning she will play her first Grand Slam since he return from a 15-month ban for use of the substance meldonium, a heart disease medication said to improve recovery. In general, wild cards are…Read more...

NFL practices are a fun, affordable way to see your favorite players up close. If you’re near enough to the field, you can even hear what they say. On this pass from constantly underperforming QB Blake Bortles to receiver Allen Robinson, we get a little insight into the mystery that is the Jacksonville Jaguars, and…Read more...

Last night, Rockies starter Chad Bettis made his first start of the season since his testicular cancer returned in March. After weeks of chemotherapy, Bettis took the mound in front of the home crowd and shut out the Braves for seven innings, helping his team to a 3-0 win. As the bottom of the seventh inning began,…Read more...

I don’t know if this tone-deaf fantasy football auction segment that ESPN2 aired yesterday, with its galling resemblance to a slave auction, means that nobody involved in its production saw or understood Get Out, or if they’ve never read a history book, or if they’re all just really dumb, nor do I know which of those…Read more...

Sometimes you run across a column that is just so plainly stupid and written in bad faith that it’s hard to muster the indignation necessary to give it a proper critique. How do you even begin to tell the guy eating his own feces that eating his own feces is bad?

Gizmodo How to Tell If You’re a Neo-Nazi | Kotaku Agents Of Mayhem: The Kotaku Review | Jalopnik For $49,900, Could This 1995 Ferrari 348 GTS Get Your Horses Prancing? | Skillet This Yeti Cup Will Greatly Improve Your Ice Cream Game |Read more...

An exclusive deal on Anker’s robotic vacuum, a huge deal on Logitech peripherals, and a $20 Starbucks gift card for $10 lead off Tuesday’s best deals from around the web.Read more...

That funky delivery belongs to Reds 2B Scooter Gennett, called on to pitch to spare the bullpen in Cincinnati’s 15-5 loss to the Cubs last night. It went about as expected, which is to say: It didn’t go great.Read more...