Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

If I didn't know better, I'd say the Bears are on the brink of the only situation in which Bears fans feel truly comfortable and safe: A good, old-fashioned quarterback controversy. Tyson Bagent, who even Bears fans had never heard of before he spelled an injured Justin Fields last week, led the Bears to their second...Read more...

Chemistry is an inexact science. It's about as immeasurable through analytics as other nebulous traits like heart and grit. Contending teams are usually an intermingling melange of personalities, players with strengths, and weaknesses coalescing into a cohesive unit.Read more...

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown is one of the best in the NFL and has flourished even more since arriving in the NFC East after three years with Tennessee. Brown finished his first season in Philly a few yards short of 1,500 yards receiving, which was good enough to rank fourth in the league. Thus far, he...Read more...

What're you gonna do now, NHL?Read more...

The rematch of last year's Pac-12 championship game was as advertised despite USC losing the remainder of its luster against Notre Dame a week ago. Caleb Williams didn't throw a touchdown pass, or an interception, and spent the majority of the game reprising his role as Sisyphus, rolling the rock within finishing...Read more...

The only top 10 matchup on Saturday's slate of college football featured two Big Ten teams that make filing your taxes feel exhilarating. Watching Ohio State and Penn State exchange punts for three-plus hours made me yearn for raw broccoli just because I felt myself getting backed up. The Buckeyes won, 20-12, but...Read more...

When the Texas Rangers sift through the regrets and resentments of their Game 5 loss to the Houston Astros, the most difficult part to get over will be the fact that they did everything right. Bruce Bochy pulled Jordan Montgomery quick enough in the sixth to keep the game within a run, and Adolis Garcia's three-run...Read more...

More than nine months after Jamea Jonae Harris was shot and killed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, a federal wrongful death lawsuit was filed in her passing against three men including Brandon Miller, formerly of Alabama's men's basketball team and current Charlotte Hornet. Harris was killed on Jan. 15, with Darius Miles, who...Read more...

I remember the first time I saw Trevor Lawrence. It was the summer of 2017 during an NFL Network show devoted to the Elite 11, the preeminent competition for high school quarterbacks. It's been the ideal barometer for who the next batch of signal-calling prospects are. And I remember seeing he was a Clemson commit...Read more...

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Whenever a college sports scandal arises, it's important to remind ourselves that the punishment doesn't fit the crime, because often the crime is something normal people think should be legal. Heinous violence, hazing, and sexual deviancy aside, recruiting violations, extra practices, and things like this...Read more...

Time is money. Delaying the inevitable is a waste of time. NFL owners can afford to do that.Read more...

Welcome to Deadspin's The Sports Nihilist, where all is for naught, and we are but accidental jolts of electrified meat stuck to the surface of a rock in an indifferent universe.Read more...

One would think after all these years and all the data every baseball fan has been shown, they wouldn't treat modern managing in the playoffs like we were still in Salem in the 1600s. Torey Lovullo wasn't desecrating all that we hold dear when he pulled Brandon Pfaadt in the sixth inning, even though Pfaadt had faced...Read more...

It's not quite as impactful or scandalous as Ime Udoka getting sidelined before Boston's season last September, but a year later another Eastern Conference contender has lost an influential coach on the eve of the season. Milwaukee's serendipitous reunion of longtime Portland Trail Blazers head coach/current Bucks...Read more...

Another NBA season is on the horizon and here we are with another James Harden melodrama. No one should be surprised that Harden has not shown up to the 76ers' facility this week, as he's dug into wanting out. Obviously, this isn't Harden's first time around this block, as he's previously forced his way out of Houston...Read more...

Aaron Rodgers loves being in the news. Sadly, positive reinforcement in the form of clicks has taught him that, if he can't be in the news for football, he can stay in the news with the ridiculous things that come out of his mouth. He's in the crosshairs of the woke" mob, telling America he was immunized (when he was...Read more...

NBA, stop digging through couch cushions for change with all of these City Edition uniforms. It was a good idea the first time. A uniform designed to highlight a team's home is a way to be artistic. NBA cities are multicultural, so a change every once in a while to reflect that is fine. But to change designs every...Read more...

The rise and fall of the American quarterback is fascinating - unless you went to the University of Florida. For a school with so many NFL-caliber quarterbacks, who is the last one that didn't flame out professionally? Don't you dare bring up Tim Tebow or Rex Grossman. Both were alright for a little while, but neither...Read more...

A great team is only as strong as its weakest link. At least that's the consensus among every motivational coach I've ever heard. But for the sake of this space, it's true for NBA contenders as well. I'll examine the weak spots in some of the most iron-clad lineups in the NBA entering the 2023 season from...Read more...

The 2022 postseason hinged, or was bookended, by two Yordan Alvarez homers. One was in Game 1 of the Division Series against the Mariners. The other was in Game 6 of the World Series against the Phillies. Both were part of innings where the Astros overturned a deficit into a lead. There is nothing more dramatic in the...Read more...

The union between Mecole Hardman and the New York Jets ended abruptly this week when the former Pro Bowler was shipped back to the Kansas City Chiefs. Hardman left KC via free agency in the offseason, signing a one-year deal with the Jets, but played in just five games for Gang Green.Read more...

Women being forced to deal with the ramifications of the decisions that men - and other women - make is a huge part of being a woman. The Las Vegas Aces understand that better than anyone.Read more...

We might still be looking for an actually decent game in these playoffs, but at least we might get a series. The Rangers apparently didn't learn that when you have the Astros down, it's best to get that stake right through the heart instead of playing with your food. The Astros beat up Max Scherzer, and Texas couldn't...Read more...

James Harden usually waits until the spring to vanish. Whenever you need him most, he's gone. In a tense series game, you can always count on Harden bouncing when the going gets tough.Read more...

The sneaker market is about to get a little more crowded, with Skechers preparing to launch their basketball division. For years, Skechers was seen by many as a brand of shoe geared toward skateboarders but also produce a wide range from casual to walking, running, and other types of shoes. Now, they've decided to...Read more...

If the world was falling apart just a bit less rapidly, I would do nothing but guffaw over a Los Angeles Clippers employee using a burner account to start a rumor that Taylor Swift was dating Austin Reaves.Read more...

After extensive research by osmosis, and two preseason games, I'm ready to declare Victor Wembanyama the next Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.Read more...

There is no winning with Vince McMahon, at least not for plebes like you and me. He just closed a merger with Endeavor that will net him billions. He already had billions. Whenever he spins off this mortal coil, because he'll never retire, he'll have been a transformative figure in not just wrestling but the...Read more...

Once the Milwaukee Bucks acquired Damian Lillard via trade from Portland last month, they immediately became the favorites to win it all in the NBA. However, not everyone is on board with the Bucks running away with the title because they acquired another All-Star/All-NBA player. An anonymous scout recently gave their...Read more...

Last month, Deadspin reported on a Media Matters discovery that ads for the NFL (and various NFL teams) were showing up on white nationalist accounts on X.com (formerly Twitter). That revelation led to the league reaching out to X to pull their ads from accounts that advocate for white supremacy.Read more...

The NFL season started on Sept. 7, and through six weeks, there are no unbeaten teams remaining and plenty of parity.

A great team is only as strong as its weakest link. At least that's the consensus among every motivational coach I've ever heard. But for the sake of this space, it's true for NBA contenders as well. I'll examine the weak spots in some of the most iron-clad lineups in the NBA entering the 2023 season from...Read more...

Update, Oct. 18: Conor McGregor won't be charged in relation to sexual assault allegations in Miami, according to authorities.Read more...

The NFL is getting its signals crossed about player safety. Fans, as well as the guys on the field, don't like seeing carnage as much as the next war vet. If you're of the notion that injuries aren't the worst part of football (then, boy, do I have a slideshow for you), but also you'd be in the minority. It sucks...Read more...

It was never about the flag or the anthem. It was about white America being pissed off that Black, and white, athletes were attempting to hold this country accountable for its greatest sins - racism and police brutality - at the beginning of America's favorite game during a part of the week in which they're privileged...Read more...

I've seen every single episode of FOX's reality singing competition show The Masked Singer. It might seem dumb to some, and parts of it are over-the-top weird, but there's a lot to enjoy about the show. And I know I'm not alone, as it's airing its 10th season now, with a new episode airing Wednesday night celebrating...Read more...

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) summed up the problem with the never-ending congressional hearings regarding name, image, and likeness (NIL) and the current state of college sports. They are disingenuous. The NCAA has been a part of many congressional hearings but its president was before the Senate on Tuesday, for the 10th...Read more...

USMNT fans got to see just about every element of the national team in their two friendlies of this window, good and bad. If you wanted dynamic, vibrant attacking moves that made one dream of what could come on the bigger stages that will soon be here, they had that for ya. If you were a sadist and wanted to see some...Read more...

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Utah Jazz fans, your team lost to the Chicago Bulls 25 years ago. Friends conversed about Michael Jordan's game-winning shot in the 1998 Finals on AIM, and Karl Malone teamed up with Diamond Dallas Page to take on Dennis Rodman and Hollywood Hogan at WCW's Bash at the Beach a month later. Let the past live in the past...Read more...

Boxing seems to be at it again, testing the waters and gauging fan interest in another special attraction super fight. This time, the participants are Canelo Alvarez and Conor McGregor. Combat sport site Roots of Combat posted a clip of a young Canelo in the ring with Floyd Mayweather Jr., with the word masterclass"...Read more...

Update Oct. 17, 3:15 p.m.: We know now the identity of the viral Chargers fan: Merrianne Do.Read more...

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Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is already feeling good, looking like he's in midseason form, and the regular season hasn't even begun. Antetokounmpo and his new running mate, Damian Lillard, look like a well-oiled machine ready to wreak havoc on the NBA. Giannis is feeling so good about it that he...Read more...

The Atlanta Falcons took a calculated zag in the 2023 NFL Draft, and a lot of people co-signed with the decision to take Bijan Robinson. His measurables, skill set, pedigree, and school indicated Art Smith was getting a can't-miss star, perfect for his creative running schemes.Read more...

The first two games of the American League Championship Series played out as if Major League Baseball's scriptwriters wanted to show how far the Rangers could bend without breaking, twice. Texas' bullpen was the team's biggest red flag by a mile heading into the postseason and its offense didn't drive in a run after...Read more...

There was a time when the Red Sox GM job was one of the most glittering in all of sports. Before Theo Epstein, it was the seat that gave any candidate a chance to have their name live forever and end the championship drought in Boston. After Epstein, it was the chance to work for one of the more forward-thinking...Read more...

Zach Wilson isn't old enough to know this, but the general manager who drafted him knew the fictional Shane Falco. During an early scene in The Replacements where Falco reports to training camp, striking players confront him in the parking lot. Douglas is one of the meatheads who flips Falco's truck. I hope he...Read more...

It is very NHL, and specifically very Toronto Maple Leafs, to make a big deal out of changing their goal song for the season, and then having to change it after one game. The lesson, kids, is that you never cross Hall & Oates. The Greeks knew it, the Carthaginians knew it, and now the Six knows it. It's also very...Read more...