Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

One would think that with MLB seriously considering a switch to robot umps, the humans currently doing the job would show a little urgency and at least try to display why they’re better suited than a machine. Case in point, Friday night at Dodger Stadium when Cody Bellinger was given a standing ovation by the fans…Read more...

NBA fans are preparing for one of the most equitable and competitive playoffs in recent memory. The lack of an active dynasty or superteam has the door open for nearly any team to make a Finals run. We’ve highlighted five teams headed toward playoff glory and five teams destined for despair. We considered everything:…Read more...

The Cleveland Browns are taking the Commanders’ route of naming things associated with their team. The home of the last-place team in the AFC South is now called Cleveland Browns Stadium after the team and FirstEnergy ended their naming rights agreement. The company was charged in a political corruption scandal for…Read more...

The Dallas Mavericks went from the Western Conference Finals to being fined for punting on the postseason in less than a year. As a result of a decision to sit key guys and play Luka Dončić only a quarter in essentially an elimination game against the Chicago Bulls on April 7, Mark Cuban’s pockets are going to be…Read more...

The NBA on Friday announced that Charlotte Hornets restricted free agent forward Miles Bridges — who pleaded no contest to a felony count of injuring a child’s parent in exchange for three years probation and no jail time after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend in front of their two children — will serve a 30-game…Read more...

Washington football fans are rejoicing this week as two bids for the Commanders have reportedly come in that would shoot Dan Snyder into the strata of the atmosphere occupied by Donald Sterling, Robert Sarver, and other discarded ex-owners of professional sports franchises. Let’s call it Irrelevancy.Read more...

Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan doesn’t want his daughter Diar to miss any more school after she attended — and possibly swung the game in the Bulls’ favor — the team’s 109-105 play-in tournament win over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday instead of being in class.Read more...

We’re 12 games into the MLB season, so no good team should panic, and no bad team is too far gone — one would think. The Detroit Tigers were projected to be especially awful, but you’d hope to at least get through *checks calendar* April 14 without the manager having to intervene like A.J. Hinch did Thursday when he…Read more...

From college to the NBA, as long as we’ve been watching Zion Williamson play basketball, he’s never had a season that wasn’t impacted by an injury. Since his one-and-done year at Duke to his four seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, the league’s most electrifying player still hasn’t been able to showcase his skills…Read more...

Have we all recovered from that tear-jerker of an episode on Sunday? I mean to watch the Minnesota Timberwolves unravel in front of the world was absolutely heart-wrenching. Just kidding. I know the Timberwolves’ imploding was about as sad as [SPOILER ALERT] Logan Roy finally kicking the bucket later in the day on …Read more...

Here we are again. The whispers have become a rumble. CM Punk is on his way (back) to AEW. Except this time, he’s kind of gaslighting his way there. Which is strange for someone who once hated leaks to the wrestling media so much he decided to start a fight over it.

The NFL Draft is arguably the second-biggest event on the league calendar behind the Super Bowl. Every team participates and shapes its roster for the next season. And every franchise will go into the month of May thinking it has made the right moves to get closer to a championship. But of course, only a handful of…Read more...

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The best team in baseball has one of the hottest hitters of this young season, but there’s a young hot hitter also on his own 12-game streak, so I thought it’d be fun to debate over whose accomplishment is more impressive: The Tampa Bay Rays’ 12-game winning streak, or St. Louis Cardinals rookie Jordan Walker’s…Read more...

The idea that the wrestling world and the real world are separate entities has generally been urinated on in recent times. With wrestlers and companies using social media to forward storylines and feuds, as well as the “dirt sheets” moving into their own industry with fans gobbling up whatever backstage gossip they…Read more...

One of the worst figures in the NFL is reportedly now out of the league, with Dan Snyder reportedly reaching an agreement to sell the Commanders to a group led by Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Josh Harris for $6 billion. Harris’ group includes billionaire Mitchell Rales and Magic Johnson, with the former NBA star also…Read more...

Parents may want to think again before letting their child train with Mark Taylor. Video has emerged of the Macon, Ga.-based sports trainer causally using the n-word — and using racist/bigoted language.Read more...

No position in the NFL has more turnover than running back. Most teams have switched to a by-committee approach rather than one superstar. And even the 49ers have suitable backups to Christian McCaffrey. With the NFL Draft two weeks away, former Texas standout Bijan Robinson will be the first tailback off the board.…Read more...

It’s time for another rousing rendition of: Does. the NFL. Care?! America’s favorite game show where we rate how much the Shield protects its players. Today’s question centers around a shiny new helmet “designed to reduce QB concussions.” The NFL and NFLPA approved the use of the Zero2 Matrix QB helmet this week, and…Read more...

Stop the presses if you’ve heard this one before, but Bryce Young is building a reputation as one of the more polarizing quarterbacks to ever hit the draft process. Blessed with creativity akin to Salvador Dali, Young can work wonders on a football field, but his diminutive size and frame are anomalies in every sense…Read more...

TNT’s flagship show Inside The NBA is at its best this time of the year, as fans tune in multiple times per week to watch Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neal do their thing. But what happens when the star of the NBA’s biggest and best studio show gets on TV to tell fans not to watch…Read more...

A problem with the Sports Emmys is there simply aren’t enough categories for individuals. Most awards are for shows, segments, reports, documentaries, etc. Only a handful acknowledge the on-air personalities, so those who care about bringing home some hardware are in for an uphill battle.Read more...

Ray Liotta’s Henry Hill said in Goodfellas that your killers “come with smiles.” The Toronto Raptors’ killer was a nine-year-old girl who surely arrived at Scotiabank Arena with a smile on her face, because her father allowed her to miss school. Once the game began though, Diar DeRozan was more relentless on defense…Read more...

On one level, I get it. I bet Toronto is a lot like Chicago. Whenever the first warm stretch hits, you’re looking for any excuse to be outside. And most likely drunk as shit when you are. Usually that streak doesn’t hit until somewhere around Memorial Day, so to get it in April feels like you’re stealing and you’d…Read more...

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What’s the first thing you do on your phone when you wake up? After turning off your alarm, how long does it take for muscle memory to take you to a social media app? Three, four swipes? Now, ask yourself: What would happen if you didn’t? You may miss out on a funny meme or the latest trend or a few morsels of juicy…Read more...

If you’re a fan of throwback jerseys and nostalgia, we’ve got a treat for you. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are bringing back their swashbuckling uniforms from the early days, when they seemingly did nothing but lose. That’s right, you can call this a comeback because those wonderful creamsicle uniforms are returning in…Read more...

Once the New York Giants signed their future over to Daniel Jones, their fans could anxiously pivot to running back Saquon Barkley. While the two haven’t quite reached the stage of acrimony, it’s not for a lack of effort from the media. Today’s overblown headline is “Barkley reportedly won’t sign franchise tag before…Read more...

Once the New York Giants signed their future over to Daniel Jones, theri fans could anxiously pivot to running back Saquon Barkley. While the two haven’t quite reached the stage of acrimony, it’s not for a lack of effort from the media. Today’s overblown headline is “Barkley reportedly won’t sign franchise tag before…Read more...

If the NHL ever considered instituting its own play-in tournament, and they have, and last night’s Lakers-Timberwolves what-have-ya wasn’t enough to dissuade them, then the Islanders and Penguins have recently showed the league that were they forced to waylay into each other in a single-elimination to get to the…Read more...

Over the years, Shaquille O’Neal and the TNT crew on Inside the NBA have given us plenty of hilarious moments. Just about every episode at this point produces a segment that gets picked up and goes viral on social media. Many of those moments have come out of the mouth of Dr. O’Neal, and the latest gem can also be…Read more...

One of the most annoying things in life is when people try to limit your vices for you. The term “drink responsibly” is less of a rule and more of a loose guideline, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let doctors define “binge drinking” for me. That’s why when I go to a sporting event, a bar, or a beerfest, I treat…Read more...

CHICAGO — Intro music matters, especially here.Read more...

Once again the Los Angeles Lakers found themselves in a game that they desperately needed to win, clutching victory with one hand hoping that the opposing team would fall off of the cliff first. That is certainly a path to a 108-102 overtime victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves who were missing both Rudy Gobert…Read more...

Let’s not bury the lede here. The last five to eight minutes and overtime between the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves was some of the worst basketball on offer this season, and certainly a contender for worst fare offered up in what is supposed to be an important game. Between the Lakers’ inability to…Read more...

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Friday will mark one month since Aaron Rodgers emerged from his darkness retreat and told the world he wanted a different employer. His appearance on the Pat McAfee Show will be four weeks old on Wednesday and we’ve seen no progress on a deal between the Jets and Packers at all. I get it, just because the public…Read more...

Anyone who grew up watching the NFL draft (and others) before social media existence probably misses that anticipation of not knowing who their favorite team would select. That nervousness, sweaty palms, butterflies in the stomach, hoping one’s team would draft that next generational talent or even a solid guy who…Read more...

The NFL has gone The Wire season five Marlo Stanfield on its Sunday Ticket package. They removed the middle man and the price of the brick is not yesterday’s price. Through its new distribution partner — YouTube TV — the new Sunday Ticket options were released on Wednesday. Not only is it more expensive, but the NFL…Read more...

With Haley and Hanna Cavinder announcing that they’re eschewing a final year of eligibility to turn full-time influencers, this seems as good of a time as any to share an influencer take that was naturally occurring. Seeing as it’s easiest to write when you’ve got a muse, and site output is down, this is a win-win for…Read more...

On one level, it is understandable that Jesse Marsch wants to be careful in picking his next job. He has one Premier League firing to his name, and should he add another in quick succession it would probably close the door on him working in the biggest league in the world forever. Managers are no different than…Read more...

While sneaking into the bottom rung of the playoffs is something to be eschewed in the NBA given that it rarely leads anywhere, there’s still a perception in the NHL that all you have to do is “get in.” The NHL has dined out for decades on the idea that the playoffs set everything anew, and that one hot goalie can…Read more...

As the Washington Capitals exited last year’s playoffs in the first round against an upstart Florida Panthers squad, it felt like the end of an era. The core of the team stayed together from their 2018 Stanley Cup victory but hadn’t won a playoff game since and was only growing grayer. And if being past your prime is…Read more...

I’ve been a fan of a tanking team for a couple of years now, and I think the hardest part of staring at big boards before the season even hits its dog days is when that big board is dumbed down to a bar menu. The 2023 NFL Draft is one such menu. It’s airport Chick-Fil-A, going to Frontera when Topolobampo is right…Read more...

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Love is a mysterious thing. It can’t always be explained. It involves a certain kind of alchemy. Sometimes the people you love are widely adored. Other people hear about your love for them and think, “Gee, that’s only natural.” Other times, the people you love are misunderstood, overlooked, or even hated. Sometimes,…Read more...

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A football league that’s been a willing participant in the discrimination and systemic oppression of Black people for over 100 years has announced that it will continue to expand into a continent where football — the global version — is king, which is also the place that Black people come from.Read more...

Before the NBA’s regular season wrapped up, before his San Antonio Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks in the finale, Gregg Popovich didn’t want to talk about his future. The 74-year-old Hall of Famer brushed off questions about his retirement. Instead, during his pregame media availability, the all-time coaching wins…Read more...