Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

The Jets are a poverty franchise. They haven’t been to the playoffs since 2010. I don’t care what the outlook for the team is, until they win a playoff game, my stance on the matter isn’t changing. There’s reason to be optimistic given Robert Saleh’s solid start as head coach, Breece Hall’s limited time in games,…Read more...

The NBA season is nearly one-third over, and the team with the best record in the Western Conference is… the New Orleans Pelicans. They have the highest average point differential of any team in the conference by almost two points, outscoring teams by 7.1 points per outing.

America’s most prominent soccer reporter, Grant Wahl, has passed away while covering the World Cup in Doha, Qatar, according to his brother, Eric.Read more...

As extra time started, neither Brazil or Croatia showed any urgency. The weight of a FIFA World Cup quarterfinal entering the additional 30 minutes-plus after going scoreless in the contest’s original time could’ve been swapped for the rhythm of a Tuesday exhibition. World Cups are how every country judges its …Read more...

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Welcome to sports take workshop, where opinions are half-assed because there’s not enough evidence to fully support the spice. Today the focus is Baker Mayfield. The new Los Angeles Rams QB was cut by Carolina on Monday, claimed off waivers by the Rams on Tuesday, and came off the bench to lead L.A. to a comeback win…Read more...

With bowl season rapidly losing its significance and only really three games that matter remaining, now feels like as good a time as any to look back on the best of college football’s regular season. From upsets to heated rivalries and Heisman-defining moments, there was no shortage of great games in 2022.

Two-time All-Star Trea Turner will be a Philadelphia Phillie for the next 11 years. He will be 30 in 2023, meaning the deal will end when Turner turns 40. This long-term contract with Turner near the end of his prime has some people worried. The two biggest concerns I’ve seen given to this situation are Turner’s…Read more...

It’s here that the Qatari rulers and FIFA would expect me to simply write about the quarterfinals of the World Cup that start today. And they are mouthwatering, in a vacuum of just soccer. All eight teams come in with a great story. Whether it’s Brazil not only trying to collect their sixth trophy but simultaneously…Read more...

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The end of Brittney Griner’s detainment in Russia arrived early Thursday morning, after the White House announced that she was on an airplane returning home safe and sound. The timing was a surprise to everyone outside of the Biden and Griner family’s inner circle. However, the two individuals involved were not. The…Read more...

Someone’s getting coal in their stocking, because Los Angeles Lakers’ guard Patrick Beverley is turning into a real-life Grinch. Earlier this week on the Pat Bev Podcast the 34-year-old, three-time All-Defense Team member told listeners that he has already informed his kids that Santa Claus isn’t real. BAH HUMBUG!

Depending on your perspective — and bias — the transfer portal and NIL can be sacrilege, a movement, a nest egg, an impediment, control, a disaster, or justice.

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“Starksdom?” I’ll show myself out.

I might be reading into this too much, but did Kyrie Irving writing “I’M FREE” on his taped-over Nike sneakers feel slightly like Ye going on TikTok and declaring himself free? A 3-year-old could connect those dots, considering each knucklehead’s history of antisemitic views that subsequently got them dropped from…Read more...

Being a San Francisco Giants fan is tough right now. Never mind that the team is likely not re-signing Carlos Rodón. Never mind that there’s no plan for the hole at first base. Right now, the biggest thing on every Giants fan’s mind — including my own — is how New York Post reporter Jon Heyman granted their deepest…Read more...

Right before I sat down (or stood up as it were, as I’m one of those brain geniuses who works standing up. I’m ever so svelte!), news broke that the San Diego Padres had signed Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280 million deal. Bogaerts kicks Fernando Tatis Jr. to the outfield or DH spot for a season, and then the…Read more...

At long last, a deal has been struck to release WNBA player Brittney Griner from a Russian prison. She was sentenced to a draconian nine years after a small amount of cannabis oil was found in a vape cartridge in her luggage.Read more...

At the intersection of Week 14 and Week 13, it’s time to take an unsettling look at this season’s worst. These are the squads who need a 12th man on the field to keep pace with their peers because whatever they’re doing right now isn’t working. Let’s dive in, but hold your nose, the stench is strong.Read more...

The St. Louis Cardinals found their replacement for now-retired catcher Yadier Molina, agreeing to terms with Willson Contreras on a five-year, $87 million deal. After refusing to move Contreras at the trade deadline, or pay him, the last remaining position player from the Chicago Cubs World Series team will now don…Read more...

It’s Wednesday, Dec. 7, and there is still no clear picture of the timeline for Jimmy Garoppolo’s return to the field.Read more...

Shady McCoy was one of the most exciting football players of the 2010s. He led the NFL in rushing in 2013, scored 17 touchdowns in 2011, reached five straight Pro Bowls, won back-to-back Super Bowls in 2019 and 2020 (although he wasn’t really a factor on either team at that point), and was named to the Hall of Fame’s…Read more...

Herschel Walker couldn’t bust through Senator Warlock’s blue wall on Tuesday Night, or leap over it. As the final surviving Trump-backed candidate running for statewide office, Walker’s resounding loss capped off a disastrous election cycle for Trump’s celebrity-political spawn. And just like the USFL’s failed…Read more...

You know it’s over when your star midfielder is showing up courtside at Miami Heat games. Or the rumors of contract talks with the manager are heating up, while he tries to gain leverage by whispering about European club jobs. Time to call for the Lyft officially.

It’s weird how much energy goes into debating which conference is the NBA’s best. It makes sense in college football because schools can’t play all 100-plus teams each year, and strength of schedule determines playoff spots. But in basketball, with all 30 organizations facing each other at least twice, it’s not that…Read more...

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It’s bad enough that there have been 16 NBA playoff spots since 1984. At that time there were only 23 teams in the league. It’s 2022, and still more than half of the league gets into the playoffs, and that’s not even counting the highly entertaining Play-in Tournament. Sure the New Orleans Pelicans were a late bloomer…Read more...

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In the end, it came down to being either Derek Jeter or Robinson Cano.

In an era of the NFL where yards after the catch reign supreme, with star ankle-breakers like Justin Jefferson, Deebo Samuel, and Cooper Kupp constantly putting on shows with their ability to turn screens and slants into scores, it’s weird to think about how successful someone like Tyler Lockett has been.

It would be interesting to see how much ESPN was responsible for of the $1.5 billion that Disney lost last quarter in the streaming section. What section of the Mothership do the contracts for Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and the Mannings fall under? After a year-plus, the nuance of the ManningCast has worn off. It Isn’t…Read more...

After a long night of negotiations, the biggest offseason domino fell early this morning as Aaron Judge, the AL MVP who gambled on himself this season and had a historic 2o22, has decided to return to the Yankees on a 9-year deal worth $360M, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The massive deal, pending a…Read more...

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Oh we got narratives! New ones! Old ones! Tired ones! Exciting ones! If you can find better narratives than here…fuck it!

The Heisman Trophy has been college football’s most prestigious award since University of Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger was awarded the first stiff-armed prototype in 1935. Since then, Chicago has dumped its football program and the award has morphed into a Quarterback of the Year award. That laziness has led Heisman…Read more...

“Your network is your net worth”

The Los Angeles Lakers have turned their season around.

Looks like Baker Mayfield is indeed headed to California, but not to the Bay Area to join Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers, as many have suspected.

Unlike most people, I enjoy bowl season. Despite how irrelevant it is to the final outcome of the season, eclectic matchups are the best kinds of matchups. They determine bragging rights for people whose values still align with those of their conference. Programs who only schedule cream puffs when it’s up to them now…Read more...

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The effect of an individual defensive player is hard to measure by statistics alone. It’s actually hard to even measure offensive players by traditional numbers. (What does 1,000 yards mean? Is it right to hold a single player responsible for his average yards per touch? How much should an individual’s contract be…Read more...

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Dave Dombrowski and the Philadelphia Phillies apparently don’t understand the new atmosphere of baseball. The expanded playoffs mean, or were supposed to mean, that teams don’t have to go all out for 95-to-100 wins anymore. The Phightins are proof! 87 wins and a trip to the World Series!! You just have to win 85 or…Read more...