Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

Waiting for Daniel Snyder to sell the Washington Commanders, which he’s turned into a failed state among legacy NFL franchises, is akin to anticipating those “imminent” charges against Donald Trump.Read more...

There might not be an immediate end in sight to the Lamar Jackson saga, but things are now starting to heat up. The market has been relatively quiet since the news broke that the Baltimore Ravens were placing the non-exclusive franchise tag on the former MVP, and multiple teams made a point of distancing themselves…Read more...

John Harbaugh will not be the only coach to have to answer questions about his starting quarterback situation during the NFL League Meetings. Kyle Shanahan won’t be asked about trade requests and franchise tags, but the media will want to know who will be starting at quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers come…Read more...

International soccer, especially this season, is highly weird. So while the USMNT’s 1-0 win over El Salvador to clinch a spot in the semifinals of the Nations League doesn’t look like much — and it isn’t — one must consider that most of the squad has been run ragged with their club teams, had a World Cup fisted into…Read more...

At a time in which the NFL has become a Teflon juggernaut despite its glaring issues, and in a moment in which those on the left, right, and the middle are calling for fairness and balance, Monday morning was an example of why those desires are rarely fulfilled. For the last two years, veteran NFL reporter Jim Trotter…Read more...

I think New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh is taking that first line from one of the signature tunes of West Side Story too seriously. You know the one — “When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way! From your first cigarette to your last dyin’ day!” With the team’s flirtation and outright “You up?” texts to Aaron…Read more...

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid is on the verge of winning his first league MVP award. He could’ve basically locked it up with a dominant showing Monday night against two-time defending MVP Nikola Jokić. Unfortunately, the 76ers announced Monday afternoon that Embiid will miss the game due to a calf injury. Even…Read more...

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The pattern of a first-year MLS club is pretty well set by now. Team gets announced, we all joke about the league being a Ponzi scheme (still might be!), they begin play in a stadium that looks fun as hell in front of raucous crowds, and then kind of eat it for most of the season. Maybe they pick it up in year 2 like…Read more...

Poor John Harbaugh. All the man wants is the starting quarterback that was promised to him when the Baltimore Ravens moved up to select Lamar Jackson in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Instead, five years later he spoke to the media on a Monday at the NFL League Meetings moments after his starting quarterback…Read more...

Every Cinderella story needs a bitter, jaded, elderly hater. Charles Barkley is college basketball’s evil stepmother analog. One of the most maddening staples of every March Madness is TNT loaning out Charles Barkley for CBS’ NCAA Tournament studio show coverage where he dissects college hoops with the deftness of a…Read more...

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been the prime symbol of everything wrong with MLB. They play in perhaps the league’s best ballpark. They have a passionate fanbase that is just screaming for a team worth their time, assuming they haven’t all been chased off (and they may need the Pirates soon given that the Penguins look…Read more...

There’s a big phenomenon when conversing about sports to find the next big thing, or who a younger athlete could become when she or he reaches their potential. Kobe Bryant or LeBron James having a Michael Jordan-like arch dominated conversations for over a decade. The name of baseball’s next great power hitter in the…Read more...

LeBron James made his long-awaited return to the Lakers lineup Sunday and took a 10-point ‘L’ in Los Angeles at the hands of the Chicago Bulls. Another player who returned to Crypto.com Arena on Sunday was James’ former teammate, Patrick Beverley. Beverley and the Bulls didn’t just snag a convincing victory, but Pat…Read more...

On one hand, mainstream interest in Vince McMahon, the “Walt Disney of wrestling” has never been higher: last year he retired in disgrace as CEO and chairman after allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. (He has previously been twice accused of sexual assault, and has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.) …Read more...

Focus, people. There are only two weeks remaining in the NBA season.Read more...

There was a four-second difference between the game clock and the shot clock. The Golden State Warriors had the lead with less than 24 seconds remaining in the game. A victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves would have put the Warriors firmly 1.5 games ahead of the play-in tournament. The Warriors ended up losing…Read more...

The ever-changing landscape of the NFL is, in a way, just like fashion. It’s never standing still, always looking for new and creative ways to evolve and, eventually, it’ll become a cycle. It’s all about trends while in the moment. Outside zone run concepts. Lighter boxes to defend the run. Versatile defensive…Read more...

lebronWe’ll refrain from the Rex Ryan jokes. LeBron James returned yesterday to the Lakers…for some reason, to aid the Lakers’ chase to get dog-walked in the first round, at best. James had been told by two doctors that he should have surgery on his foot, only to find a doctor who would tell him what he wanted to…Read more...

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Pencil the San Francisco 49ers in as NFC West’s best in 2023 at your own risk. After the shellacking that the Seattle Seahawks suffered at the hands of the 49ers in the postseason, they have taken significant steps to shore up talent deficiencies on the roster. Come autumn, Kyle Shanahan and Co. had better be ready…Read more...

Udonis Haslem will go down as one of the most beloved players in Miami Heat history. He may be second to only Dwayne Wade, and that’s saying something considering some of the stars who’ve played for the franchise. While the Heat haven’t exactly made Haslem’s swan song season one to remember, the organization has…Read more...

Wherever he is, George Steinbrenner must’ve smiled and nodded at the news of Bayern Munich firing their manager with three-quarters of the season gone. Not only would that have reminded Big Steinn of his “glory” days (obviously the Yankees didn’t regain their spot atop the baseball world until Steinbrenner calmed the…Read more...

San Francisco 49ers star wide receiver Deebo Samuel was courtside in Phoenix Saturday for the Suns-Sixers game catching everyone’s attention rocking those goofy-looking big red boots. These MSCHF boots from the 2009 Astro Boy movie retail for as much as $350 and even more on sites like eBay. While they look silly as…Read more...

From the eighth-floor lobby of Manhattan’s New York Marriott Marquis hotel, Florida Atlantic athletic director Brian White couldn’t find the exact words to describe what being in the Sweet 16 meant to the Owls’ program and community as a whole. And that was nearly six hours before tipoff of FAU’s win over Tennessee. I…Read more...

Don’t fall for the Cinderella trap. That’s the general consensus from Florida Atlantic superfans, boosters, and radio-play-by-play announcers celebrating the Owls’ East regional title at the Time Square Marriott Marquis well after midnight. Given the trend in this NCAA Tournament beginning with Furman’s upset of…Read more...

I only want one thing out of NFL talking heads before the upcoming draft, and that is to go and watch the entire Florida-Kentucky game from Sept. 10 before they ever talk about Will Levis and Anthony Richardson again. It was the bizarro version of the Baker Mayfield-Patrick Mahomes shootout. No one will be able to…Read more...

Make room, Lawrence Taylor, there’s a new contender for the most drug-riddled in-game experience. While Derek Wolfe was nowhere near the human wrecking ball that LT was, his pregame cocktail of mushrooms and Adderall is a modernized, and tempered, version of the cocaine-fueled stories that came out of the Giants’…Read more...

You know that feeling you get when a new team is going to win the title? You look at the finals matchup and say, “Suns-Bucks? Cool.” Occasionally, that feeling can happen in the semis, but it’s rare. Usually, there’s a blueblood like the Patriots, Duke, Alabama, Golden State, the Astros, or some team that you’re…Read more...

If you currently play football for Colorado, you had better use a strong black marker to write your name on the tape on your helmet. The way that Deion Sanders has the program’s spring practice set up, the players currently do not have numbers. On the field is just going to be a mass of black, white, and gold jerseys.Read more...

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We have arrived at the Elite 8, and this round is going to be a good old-fashioned slobber knocker.Read more...

Before there was Hudl and YouTube, there were VHS cassettes. And before that, film. Studying and watching footage of your opponent, yourself, or a prospect has always been a vital part of sports. There’s nothing like seeing what someone does against live competition and the variables that occur during a game. But, due…Read more...

The NHL got more Pride Night bullshit last night courtesy of the Staal brothers on the Panthers, Eric and Marc. I’d try and provide some commentary, but sometimes, you just can’t beat reality:Read more...

NEW YORK — As the NCAA Tournament bracket was released 11 days ago, both Danny White and Brian White knew only one of their schools could get to the Final Four before they knew who Tennessee or Florida Atlantic would play to open the yearly showcase. Three complete regions had been called without a mention of…Read more...

NEW YORK — Don’t let Florida Atlantic hang around. Memphis messed around and found out. Fairleigh Dickinson truly never had the legs to keep up with the Owls, but also felt the result of letting the grittiest team in the nation have time to respond. Surely a Rick Barnes-coached team from a battle-tested Southeastern…Read more...

NEW YORK — The last time an East Regional was held in Madison Square Garden, diminutive UConn point guard, Shabazz Napier led the Huskies to an unexpected Final Four and a national title. Flash forward nine years and Kansas State’s 5-foot-8 floor general, Markquis Nowell, staked his claim as New York City’s premier…Read more...

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The idea that there could be “smart” wrestling debate is probably high comedy to any non-wrestling fan, given the perception that they probably have for creatures like us (not all that inaccurate either). It’s becoming pretty farcical in the wrestling world as well these days, given the split between AEW and WWE fans.…Read more...

The Dallas Mavericks have seemingly spent this season in a state of perpetual confusion. Things started alright but have worsened as the 2022-23 campaign nears a close. Trading for Kyrie Irving only complicated matters by doing the opposite of what team governor Mark Cuban had hoped. Wednesday night’s game against the …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. Fuck you.Read more...

Life must be pretty good for the Atlanta Braves. They can kick back and watch all the headlines be about the New York Mets and their Correa fiasco, or the Mets and their Edwin Diaz fiasco, or the Philadelphia Phillies signing Trea Turner without really solving the problem that their outfield will look like demolition…Read more...

It’s a new age in L.A. Move out of the way, LeBron James. Make way for… Austin Reaves. OK, chew on that for a minute, swallow the thought, and breathe. There’s obviously room besides Reaves in the Los Angeles Lakers’ lineup for the scoring king when he’s healthy enough to return to action. LeBron is 38 though, so he…Read more...

Aaron Rodgers is still the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. More than a week after telling the football world he wants to be in New York taking snaps for the Jets next season, there’s been very little noise out of East Rutherford, N.J., regarding Mr. Rodgers — just the other additions the team has made. This…Read more...

As we’ve previously discussed, NBC NFL analyst Tony Dungy has expressed some awfully bigoted views. In January, Dungy was summarily dragged all over social media by NFL media for his horrible, terrible, no good, very bad takes on the trans community, including spreading the already long-debunked myth that children…Read more...

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Alright, it’s time for a 36-year-old white guy to break down a TikTok of a 20-year-old man who looks like a toddler sparring with Mike Tyson. Yes, I’m just as confused as you because my first reaction when the video was dropped in Slack (you have to have a feed for it to come across your feed) was this is adorable.…Read more...