Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

Based on reports and video evidence from the scene, a blimp just crashed at Erin Hills golf course, the site of this year’s U.S. Open.Read more...

Underdogs sometimes resort to somewhat underhanded tactics in order to win. Parking the bus, faking injuries to waste time, hard fouling—these are all acceptable albeit unsporting strategies overmatched soccer teams commonly use when coming up against the big boys. But this Argentine lower division defender, who…Read more...

In an interview with CNN, Alexey Smertin, the head of anti-racism for the Russian football union, who just two years ago denied that racism existed in Russia and said giving bananas to black players was “just for fun,” was asked how racist incidents could damage the World Cup in Russia next year. He said:Read more...

Sometimes, I’ll lay awake at night and dream of the day I can write a lede as chilling as the one Alex Acquisto has written for the Bangor Daily News:

According to a report from Jeff Passan at Yahoo Sports, Major League Baseball will change its uniform policies for one weekend only later this year. An MLB memo announced that from August 25-27, “Players Weekend,” everyone will be allowed to get a little creative:Read more...

The Big Lead’s Stephen Douglas has done the world a service today by discovering some old clips of Stephen A. Smith talking about sex, relationships, and what an accomplished sex-doer he is.

Jalopnik Fiat Chrysler Recalling Nearly 300,000 Minivans For Spontaneously Deploying Airbags | io9 X-Men: Dark Phoenix Is Getting One Thing Extremely Right | Kotaku Chun-Li And Dante Look Weird Now, Capcom | Lifehacker 11 Career Paths for New Grads Who Hate Offices |Read more...

In a pretty grim return on their investment, the Los Angeles Rams have traded 2014 No. 2 overall pick OT Greg Robinson to Detroit for a 2018 sixth-round pick, reports Adam Schefter.

Earlier this week, irresponsible and unfounded reporting claimed the Golden State Warriors will not be visiting the White House following their NBA Finals victory. That story was false; there’s still good reason to think that the team, or at least a few key members, might skip out on the tradition.

The Browns, impressively, did not screw up their draft, taking DE Myles Garrett with the first overall pick. But offseason activities have barely begun and already there may be reason to worry.

Scarcely two days since the Golden State Warriors won the second title in three years, Jerry West is leaving the team to become a special consultant to the Los Angeles Clippers.Read more...

The Yankees got out to a four-run lead over the Angels in the top of the first inning tonight, and Aaron Hicks wasn’t ready to see it slip away. With the bases loaded for Anaheim in the bottom of the inning, he leaped for a perfectly-timed grab over the wall in center field in order to rob Luis Valbuena of what would…Read more...

The Rangers started the sixth inning with Jeremy Jeffress on the mound. Two home runs, a single and a hit by pitch later, he was replaced by Tony Barnette. Two walks and two singles later, he was replaced by Dillon Gee. It was only then, after allowing five runs, that the Rangers finally managed to record their first…Read more...

As the Chicago White Sox were beating the hell out of the Baltimore Orioles—a bullshit team favored by Deadspin staffer Laura Wagner and Gizmodo Media Special Projects Desk deputy editor Tom Scocca—play-by-play man Jason Benetti offered a fried pickle to color man Steve Stone, who refused to enjoy it.Read more...

Matt Harvey’s night started badly with a leadoff dinger by Anthony Rizzo, got worse with a home run by Ian Happ, and got much worse with a towering moon shot from Kyle Schwarber in the fourth inning. At 467 feet, this one was just one foot shy of the stadium record:Read more...

Come now, and behold the most majestic moment of this afternoon’s Reds-Padres game. Regard this fan. See how he has flung himself into motion, offered his body up for sacrifice; see the raw emotion on his face. What can Cincinnati catcher Tucker Barnhart do to catch this foul ball? Tucker Barnhart can do nothing! This…Read more...

After what feels like years of chest-puffing and across-the-aisle shit talking, Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather have finally agreed to fight each other for what will undoubtedly be a huge pile of money. The fight will take place in Las Vegas on August 26. It will be a 12-round bout at 154 pounds, and dumb as hell.

After suffering two concussions in a five-week span, Chicago Bears linebacker Leonard Floyd had his rookie season cut short last year—with effects that have lingered well into the offseason, he says.Read more...

Thank you for your continued support of Deadspin. Drink more water.Read more...

Ed Orgeron was hired to be LSU’s head coach on Nov. 26; Tom Herman signed on for the same position at Texas on Nov. 27, reportedly after turning LSU down. Both are now in the midst of their first full spring heading up their programs, which consists of spring practices, hitting the recruiting trail, and, apparently,…Read more...

The Sacramento Kings—who won 32 games and traded their franchise center for what essentially amounts to a pair of rookies—face a crucial summer. The team will be very bad next year, although they have a pair of first-round picks in this year’s draft to develop. Thanks to a disastrous trade with Philadelphia a few…Read more...

Lucas Pouille, who at one point projected to be a great tennis player but may end up just a good one, saved a match point against Jan-Lennard Struff today with some nifty reflex volleys. A few points later world No. 16 Pouille notched a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8) win in his second-round match at the Stuttgart Open, which,…Read more...

Ahead of the Confederations Cup, which begins Saturday in Russia, FIFA has announced a “ground-breaking” procedure for limiting racism and discrimination in soccer. Referees will now be able to abandon a match entirely if fans participate in racist or discriminatory behavior.Read more...

After months of jawing, sniping, and preening, retired boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and MMA fighter Conor McGregor have agreed to a set date for a fight in Las Vegas on Aug. 26.Read more...

NORRISTOWN, Pa.—The linoleum floor is cold against my legs, and I don’t really care. A company hoodie replaced my suit jacket hours ago, the jacket shoved into my work bag just in case. I’ve found a power outlet, the equivalent of gold during the frenzied rush of the Bill Cosby trial testimony, reporters hungry for…Read more...

The national football schedule hasn’t even started and already the Jaguars are in the news. It says here that QB Blake Bortles is “sick and tired of being below average.”Read more...

All of the best-known basketball sneakers were high-tops. Every sneaker spokesman from Chuck Taylor to Michael Jordan to Allen Iverson to LeBron James had, until recently, worn signature high-tops.

The United States Men’s National Soccer Team started out the last round of World Cup qualifiers in the most embarrassing way possible, losing to Mexico at home then getting ripped apart down in Costa Rica. The results were bad, although CONCACAF qualification is generous to say the least, though what was most…Read more...

That little, fluttery lurch in your stomach? That’s the feeling of your Wimbledon hopes shriveling up just a little bit. Roger Federer, bearing a new haircut and the swollen expectations of fans spoiled by his season to date, was shocked by world No. 302 Tommy Haas in the second round of the Stuttgart Open, a…Read more...

Curtis Blackwell was fired from his position as Michigan State football’s director of college advancement and performance after he failed to report a sexual assault allegation and “took it upon himself to investigate,” according to police documents obtained by the Lansing State Journal.Read more...

Cubs rookie Ian Happ went 1-for-5 last night with a walk, a grand slam, and four strikeouts during the Cubs’ 14-3 beatdown over the Mets. That makes him, per Baseball Reference, one of only five players in baseball history to hit a grand slam and earn a Golden Sombrero in a single game.Read more...

When Peter Barbey, a member of one of America’s 50 richest families, bought the Village Voice in 2015, hopes were high for a financial and cultural revival of the legendary paper. Today, the company’s union negotiations suggest those hopes may have been misplaced.Read more...

Read receipts, the small flags that pop up below texts to signal to the person texting you that you’ve read their message, are the most unfairly maligned technological innovation of our age.Read more...

Bosnian soccer federation president Elvedin Begic has officially apologized to his Greek counterpart after a June 9 post-match fight that climaxed when an assistant coach punched Greek forward Giannis Gianniotas so hard that he lost a tooth.Read more...

I freely admit that not everybody needs a miter saw. In fact, most people probably shouldn’t own one. But if you’re in the market, Amazon’s top seller is marked down to $99 today, within a few bucks of an all-time low. In addition to the #1 seller designation, the Hitachi C10FCE2 also carries a 4.5 star review average…Read more...

In April, Michigan football players, coaches, and their family members went to Italy for spring break to play football, do tourist things, and enjoy what the university described as an “educational” experience. The trip was fully funded by an anonymous donor and on Tuesday, Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel told…Read more...

Compete’s video team headed to the University of Utah to check out their varsity esports program, which began as a student-run League of Legends fan club called Crimson Gaming and has since grown into an official scholarship program for budding pro gamers.Read more...

Former NBA commissioner David Stern is clearly still extremely mad about Real Sports host Bryant Gumbel calling Stern “some kind of modern plantation overseer” in 2011. He appeared on reporter Nunyo Demasio’s podcast this week—a good get for Demasio!—and let fly against Gumbel during the very lengthy episode.Read more...

One of the most important decisions shaping the upcoming Premier League season didn’t actually involve any team from England. That decision was in the hands of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which had to rule on Atlético Madrid’s appeal of their FIFA-imposed two-window transfer ban. Though not a direct party to…Read more...

Carlos Ruiz had played 1,109 games in his career before Tuesday. The longtime Phillies catcher, now with the Seattle Mariners, had only played two other positions: An inning at third base during extra-inning games with the Phils in 2008 and 2011, and an inning at first earlier this season. Last night against the…Read more...

The shots are falling for Brittney Griner. Through her first nine games of the 2017 WNBA season, she averaging almost 24 points per game on 57 percent shooting. She’s also shooting 85 percent from the free-throw line. But don’t call it a hot start. Don’t call it an offensive streak, either. Call it what it is—the…Read more...

In the next big Mario game, our favorite plumber has a special hat. This hat allows Mario to take over the bodies of other creatures and objects. The more I think about the implications of this ability, the more I start to question the fabric of reality, if not Mario’s own existence.

No matter how much MLB and worthy physicists deny it, and no matter how sincere they are, the balls used in major-league games are, it says here, juiced one way or another. It could be that central baseball, worried that declining levels of offense would bore fans, hatched a fiendish conspiracy; it could be that some…Read more...

The handwringing over Odell Beckham Jr.’s decision to skip out on the Giants’ voluntary OTAs has been the most exhausting storyline of the NFL offseason. The NFL media would be a lot better if everyone stopped pretending to care that some players skip OTAs, and Beckham appears to agree with that sentiment.Read more...

There was a brief and confusing tiff between Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy and umpire Alan Porter during last night’s Braves-Nationals game. While in the field during the top of the second inning, Murphy asked Porter to shift out of his line of sight, which is a pretty common request from middle infielders.…Read more...

Five people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (LA), were shot Wednesday morning during a Congressional baseball practice. According to reports, a gunman walked up to practice and opened fire on the baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia.

Much of baseball’s attention for slugging rookies has focused on Aaron Judge, and understandably so—a major-league leading 22 home runs will do that, along with a 6'7" frame and playing for the New York Yankees and everything else the 25-year-old has to offer.Read more...

If you’re looking for a single image to serve as an encapsulation of the Mariners’ 20-7 loss against the Twins tonight, it’s tempting to go with starter Christian Bergman grimacing after allowing his first home run of the night or doing the same after his second home run or exiting in the third inning, or maybe the…Read more...

Kent State freshman Tyler Heintz died today after a team workout, the university has confirmed.

Yasiel Puig opened up the scoring in tonight’s Dodgers-Cleveland game with a two-run dinger, and he celebrated accordingly by sending a message to a few fans in the crowd with two select fingers. #PuigYourFriend, indeed. Here’s one angle:Read more...