Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

The trial of former NFL player Monty Grow began today in Miami, more than a year after he was first indicted for helping to engineer a scheme that netted more than $20 million from a government program that helps military members and veterans receive health care.Read more...

For exclusive videos, pictures, and more, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Send us your confidential tips at tips@deadspin.com, call our confidential tips hotline at (347) 746-8471, contact our writers directly, or use our anonymous SecureDrop system.Read more...

There are 23 days until pitchers and catchers begin reporting for spring training. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 free-agent players who remain unsigned.Read more...

Aaron Pico is immune to boring fights. He’s fought three times, and each time, someone was getting peeled off the mat to the collective horror of the audience. (The first time, it was him.) Pico is one of the biggest prospects in the sport, owing largely to his impressive showing at the 2016 Olympic freestyle…Read more...

While speaking with reporters at an NCAA conference in Indianapolis last Thursday, NCAA president Mark Emmert was asked to comment on Michigan State’s role in abetting Larry Nassar’s years of sexual abuse while he worked as a team doctor for the university’s women’s gymnastics and rowing teams. His response was both…Read more...

A steady procession of girls, women, and mothers stood to face Larry Nassar today for the fifth day of his extensive sentencing hearing in Ingham County Circuit Court in Lansing, Michigan. When the hearing began, 88 people were scheduled to give statements on Nassar’s serial sexual abuse, but now 144 victim impact…Read more...

Anyone monitoring Philadelphia’s reaction to the Super Bowl-bound Eagles has presumably seen the video of the guy in the Brian Dawkins jersey running into a pillar. That instant classic of the Idiot Gets Hurt genre was shot from inside the subway train, and is now joined by a companion piece—an alternate angle shot…Read more...

Two NFL Network executives, Mike Mandt and Dan Dieffenbach, are out according to network spokesperson Alex Riethmiller, who declined any further comment. But sources tell Deadspin the pair’s exit is related to an internal investigation into reports of sexual harassment at the network, being overseen by the law firm…Read more...

Milwaukee Bucks coach Jason Kidd was fired by the team today, per Adrian Wojnarowski. Woj’s sources chalked it up to a plethora of factors.Read more...

Through all of 2017 and then through the first week of the Australian Open, Rafa and Fed continued their merciless march through what was supposed to be the next crop of tennis contenders. A whole generation of hopes and dreams have been splattered across their windshields. The men’s game still awaits someone young,…Read more...

“It’s spectacular to watch him every day. He is the best player there is and the best there will ever be,” said first-year Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde yesterday after witnessing yet another breathtaking display of excellence by Lionel Messi in his team’s 5-0 victory over Real Betis. Messi scored twice, assisted…Read more...

After defeating the Indiana Hoosiers last Friday, Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo was asked about the Larry Nassar case and the leadership of MSU president Lou Anna Simon. MSU has come under fire after its board of trustees voted in support of Simon on Friday, even though it was recently revealed that Simon…Read more...

Great cricket catches are all about precariousness. There’s a great deal of that built into the process of handling a live cricket ball in flight, with nothing but your bare hands, while also trying to stay inbounds, and the best cricket catches are the ones in which that tension is closest to the surface. When two…Read more...

American tennis player Tennys Sandgren, Pizzagate truther and guy who said America can’t be racist because it elected a black president, thinks the alt-right has some “interesting” ideas. This came to light at the Australian Open during today’s post-match presser when a reporter asked Sandgren about his social media…Read more...

Former Michigan State and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar will spend the rest of his life in prison for the years of sexual abuse he committed against scores of gymnasts in his care, but so far, the people and institutions who enabled him have faced very few consequences. That changed slightly today, when USA…Read more...

The Senate on Monday voted 81 to 18 to reopen the federal government, bringing a three-day shutdown to an end.

The most miserable way to watch your favorite team lose a big game is unquestionably through a miraculous comeback like Falcons fans endured last year. But what about the two other extreme options, a close game that comes down to the wire or a game that was never competitive to begin with? This year’s NFL playoffs…Read more...

The Lakers blew the Knicks out 127-107 last night, thanks to a 29-point, 10-assist night from Jordan Clarkson off the bench. What was the secret to their success?

It’s Monday morning in Philadelphia, and the city is still here. Fans rushed to the streets after the Eagles routed the Vikings 38-7 last night. And despite some dire predictions and preemptively greased up poles, fans were apparently pretty well behaved. (The cops say there were only six Eagles-related arrests all…Read more...

Today is Day 5 of Larry Nassar’s sentencing in a Michigan courtroom. Last week, more than 80 women spoke about how Nassar sexually abused them under the guise of medical treatment. Today, the 95th survivor in these proceedings gave a doozy a statement in Judge Rosmarie Aquilina’s court.

Broadly speaking, America has never been great on shame. Pride has always been a strong suit, and fucking things up in shameful and improbable ways was the national pastime long before a more racist version of Slimer from Ghostbusters got elected president, but shame just sort of never caught on here in the way that…Read more...

It probably won’t enter the annals of all-time great postseason plays, mostly because it was done in service of extending the Patriots’ exhausting run of dominance and only served to thwart Blake Bortles, but Stephon Gilmore’s fourth-quarter swat is one of the finest plays you’ll ever see in a big moment.Read more...

It’s Monday in Jacksonville.Read more...

And hand-eye coordination, and anticipation, and soft touch, foot speed, visual acuity, etc.Read more...

io9 The First, Cryptic Teases for the Setting of the Next Cloverfield Movie | The A.V. Club Look, we have no idea what the hell Shameless is doing right now, either | Jalopnik Here’s What China’s GAC Has To Do To Sell Cars In America | Kotaku The Directors Of Monster Hunter…Read more...

I’m not saying the AFC title game was fixed for the Patriots, but holy shit that was some powerful home field advantage. The Jacksonville Jaguars were flagged six times for 98 yards while the Patriots were called once, for a holding penalty on a kickoff, for 10 yards. The last time any team was called for only one…Read more...

The Eagles pulverized the Vikings, and, greased poles or no, the party spilled out of the stadium and extended seemingly the length of Broad Street. Here are some brief snapshots of Philadelphia, which we presume has canceled Monday.Read more...

Let’s say your house is on fire, or overrun by a gang of psychotic raccoons. You don’t hesitate—you take out your phone, and you call the fire department, or animal control, and then firemen/raccoon-wranglers are promptly dispatched to your home. These are well-established protocols, essential to the maintenance of a…Read more...

It’s the perfect time to plan for a a big run (or finish off training for an upcoming race). Nike has the perfect sale for those of us that need to update their workout wardrobe, because god knows how long you’ve had those leggings or basketball shorts for. For the next few days, they’re taking up to 50% off over 500…Read more...

One week after Doug Pederson game-planned his way to a defensive struggle win over the Atlanta Falcons, his Eagles routed the favored Minnesota Vikings 38-7 and earned Philadelphia its first NFC championship since 2004.Read more...

For exclusive videos, pictures, and more, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Send us your confidential tips at tips@deadspin.com, call our confidential tips hotline at (347) 746-8471, contact our writers directly, or use our anonymous SecureDrop system.Read more...

The New England Patriots overcame the loss of Rob Gronkowski and a ten-point second-half deficit to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 24-20, and return, like the swallows to Capistrano, to the Super Bowl. Fuck this shit.

The Eagles have the late game today, which probably isn’t the best-case scenario for Philadelphia. People have been tailgating since 6 a.m. Maybe earlier. The parking lots were a sea of trash by mid-afternoon.Read more...

Rob Gronkowski left the field in the first half of today’s AFC Championship after absorbing a helmet-to-helmet hit from Jaguars safety Barry Church. Tom Brady’s pass left Gronk in a vulnerable position stretching for the grab, and Church was flagged for unnecessary roughness. Gronk seemed wobbly on his feet after the…Read more...

A group of wrestlers at Kelly Walsh High School in Casper, Wyoming reportedly ganged up on a freshman teammate, held him down, and forcibly waterboarded him, according to a report from the Casper Star-Tribune:Read more...

The Rockets are very good. They’ve got an insane wealth of shooting; they’ve got a deep supply of versatile wings; they’ve got more than enough off-the-bounce shot-creating; they’ve got strong, useful pick-and-roll bigs; they’ve got two of the, oh, six or seven best players in the entire Western Conference. They just …Read more...

Looks like the Hawaiian emergency alert operator found a new job at Blizzard.

The Miami Hurricanes announced this afternoon that an injury suffered during the Orange Bowl will end the playing career of standout sophomore cornerback Malek Young, according to a Sun-Sentinel report:Read more...

People in Philadelphia are nervous today. It’s not just about tonight’s NFC title game against the Minnesota Vikings. They’re nervous what might happen if the Eagles actually win and advance to the Super Bowl.

It’s just this kind of nuanced football analysis that differentiates the true NFL geniuses from the crazies stalking the comments of ESPN.com:Read more...

A Middlesbrough fan was reportedly arrested after he was caught on video pissing into the water bottle of QPR keeper Alex Smithies during Saturday’s EFL Championship match, and then tossing the bottle back onto the pitch. It should go without saying that you are a deeply weird and antisocial person if you do this:Read more...

The Rockets prevailed over the Warriors Saturday night in a game that featured Houston pulling out to a big early lead, the Warriors surging back in the third quarter, and then an odd and awkward cold finish by the visitors that allowed James Harden to pull some late game magic and bring home the victory. Chris Paul…Read more...

Early in Saturday’s tilt in Minnesota it looked like the Raptors might pull away from the home Timberwolves, who were missing Jimmy Butler due to soreness in his right knee. That turned out not to be the case—the Wolves pulled ahead during a lopsided third quarter, and won the second half, and the game, behind big…Read more...

For exclusive videos, pictures, and more, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Send us your confidential tips at tips@deadspin.com, call our confidential tips hotline at (347) 746-8471, contact our writers directly, or use our anonymous SecureDrop system.Read more...

As “nonessential” government activities shut down due to the Republican-controlled Congress’s failure to pass a spending bill, so too does the American Forces Network, which provides TV and radio entertainment to U.S. military personnel around the world. When the shutdown took effect at midnight Friday night, all AFN…Read more...

Can you top “inside my pillowcase”?

Perennial Deadspin punching bag Benfica did the first thing worthy of our praise in years today early in its match against GD Chaves when Jonas sliced in a half-volley to open the scoring:Read more...

While most Nintendo Switch carrying cases are designed for people using the console in portable mode, this AmazonBasics case is large enough to carry the dock and cables as well, so you could set it up at your friend’s house, or in a hotel room. It’s been as low as $16 in the past, but $20 is $10 less than usual.

Everton midfielder James McCarthy suffered an injury that had his opponent in tears during Saturday’s Everton-West Brom second half. When Salomón Rondón went to take a shot on goal, McCarthy got in between the West Brom player and the ball. So when Rondón took a shot, he ended up kicking McCarthy’s leg and…Read more...

Lunatic-Hai announced yesterday that it would be disbanding and leaving the Overwatch competitive scene.Read more...