Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

The farcical idea that sports and politics don’t mix has once again been shaken to its cardboard foundation with what’s been going on in the UK with Gary Lineker and the BBC (every time I hear or see “BBC” I can’t help but shout it like Austin Powers during the end credits of the first film, but that’s just me). Given…Read more...

We’re less than a week away from the start of the NCAA Tournament and several of the stars that will shine during March Madness will end their college careers during the showcase. While the lose-o-rama for Victor Wembanyama, the projected No. 1 overall pick, has been underway for several months now, and Overtime Elite…Read more...

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Somewhere Fred VanVleet is smiling and cursing happily after a subpar official received his just due. The University of New Orleans defeated Mississippi Valley State 7-3 in a college baseball game on Friday. As the college basketball season is heating up, millions of people still found time to view the final out on…Read more...

On the eve of free agency, Jalen Ramsey’s residency on the trade block is coming to a close. According to NFL insiders Ian Rapaport and Josina Anderson, the Los Angeles Rams have agreed to a trade package sending the All-Pro cornerback to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a third-round pick and tight end Hunter Long.

Now that Tom Brady is gone for good (supposedly), the Tampa Bay Buccaneers need a quarterback. It’s been reported by NFL Network that the Bucs have their sights set on former No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield. The Bucs could be looking at Mayfield to compete with former second-round pick Kyle Trask for the starting…Read more...

Steph Curry lighting it up on a Saturday night in primetime while Mike Breen delivers an emphatic “Bang!” as the background chorus is a familiar scene. Curry is only four games into his latest comeback from his second major injury of the season, but the Milwaukee Bucks presented a litmus test for the Golden State…Read more...

If you’re familiar with the XFL, then you know their goal is to be different from other professional football leagues. This has been their mission statement of sorts from the beginning. They don’t want to be a carbon copy of the NFL or USFL. They want to stand alone as the go-to alternative for football fans in the…Read more...

In this iteration of fans disgracing their teams, an Alabama Crimson Tide basketball supporter showed up at the SEC tournament on Saturday wearing a T-shirt with GOATS on the front, and “Killin’ our way through the SEC in ’22” on the back.

I know I’m one of the few sports writers leaping to my keyboard to riff on Mikaela Shiffrin breaking the all-time record for wins — earning No. 87 in Åre, Sweden, and passing Ingemar Stenmark on Saturday — but I wanted to issue this as a reminder that Olympic success is kind of bullshit. The last image the sports…Read more...

The third season of Ted Lasso debuts next week, and I think we’ve officially hit our hype threshold for a sitcom, and definitely for a sitcom inspired by a commercial. (RIP Cavemen, the Geico caveman show, gone too soon.) If you haven’t watched the feel-good phenomenon, consider this a spoiler warning for every…Read more...

Two high-profile SEC athletes were both revealed to be connected to deaths within a couple of weeks of each other.Read more...

It had been long rumored that the Chicago Bears were going to move off the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. In such a quarterback-heavy class, a team with a solid situation under center was destined for a great haul in exchange for a top draft pick. While most experts assumed the Indianapolis Colts would be…Read more...

The Chicago Bears are trading the No. 1 pick of the NFL draft to the Carolina Panthers are moving up, according to Ian Rapoport.Read more...

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One of the best stories in the NFL, Adam Thielen’s improbable run with his hometown Minnesota Vikings came to an end this morning as the team released him. At 32 years old, Thielen proved he still had some gas left in the tank in 2022, posting 70 receptions for 716 yards and six touchdowns. According to reports, the…Read more...

CHICAGO — In just a few days almost every American will be doing the same thing — filling out a bracket. And as people decide on which 12 over 5 upset they’re going to pick, or what team could make a deep tourney run out of nowhere, I’m here to tell you that the first game of the day on Friday at the Big Ten…Read more...

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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...

Updated: Shalonda Mixon, sister of running back Joe Mixon, was named as one of two suspects in the shooting incident outside the Bengals star’s Ohio home, TMZ is reporting.Read more...

In case you’ve been out of the loop — or just need a reminder — here are some of the noteworthy NFL-related news nuggets from this week.Read more...

Fred VanVleet is now immortal. Hitting nearly every 3-pointer you attempt for two playoff rounds and winning a championship is great. However, only Toronto Raptors’ fans and non-causal NBA watchers remember that. The narrative in the 2019 NBA Finals was Kevin Durant’s injury and Kawhi Leonard playing like a superstar…Read more...

There’s one quarterback situation in the NFL that one would think is worthy of endless speculation. He’s a recent Super Bowl winner, plays in a massive market, and garnered two firsts, a second, and a capable starting QB on the trade market two years ago. If you haven’t guessed who I’m talking about already, don’t…Read more...

Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, Nolan Arenado, Pete Alonso, Paul Goldschmidt, Kyle Schwarber. With a roster like that, you’d expect Team USA Baseball to dominate every game they play. They’re totally going to destroy Great Britain this Saturday in their first game of the World Baseball Classic, but fans were…Read more...

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The Men’s NCAA Tournament is just over the horizon and as its 32 automatic bids are earned in rapid-fire over the next week, it can be too much to track on your own. That’s what this space is for. One of these 32 automatic bids from a smaller conference is likely to become a Cinderella, but first gaining entry into…Read more...

Updated: Prosecutors said that no immediate charges will be filed against Shawn Kemp following his arrest.Read more...

Dillon Brooks must not have seen or fully absorbed peak Chappelle’s Show-era “When Keepin’ It Real Goes Wrong” sketches. This week, Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks tried being his authentic, obnoxious self in an ESPN profile that featured quotes that drew the ire of equally cranky Golden State Warriors forward…Read more...

Anyone familiar with Undisputed on FS1 knows about the contentious relationship between co-hosts Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe. While shows like Undisputed are frequently blasted for being over-scripted, Sharpe and Bayless shared an unscripted moment on Thursday morning’s show.Read more...

Mark Adams is done at Texas Tech. After being suspended for an “inappropriate, unacceptable, and racially insensitive comment” — he referenced slaves and their masters though claims he was quoting from the Bible — Adams stepped down from his role as men’s basketball coach, the school announced Wednesday.Read more...

Kevin Durant must’ve broken a mirror or walked under a ladder somewhere in his travels. The Phoenix Suns forward has had some of the worst luck with injuries the past few years and sustained yet another one Wednesday night. During pregame warmups, Durant slipped on the court and rolled his ankle before making his Suns…Read more...

There’s a new leader in the clubhouse for athletes who blew a ridiculous amount of money in the worst ways. Vince Young, everybody’s favorite Longhorn quarterback, made more than $35 million in his seven-year career. And he spent a lot of it at The Cheesecake Factory.Read more...

Today is the one-month anniversary of the NBA trade deadline that put the league in a blender. While the Phoenix Suns seem content with their half of the trade that netted them Kevin Durant, the Brooklyn Nets have quietly been winners in their own way. In addition to the first-round picks Phoenix surrendered, giving…Read more...

Turns out we had it all wrong. WWE superstar Liv Morgan appeared on The Bump to discuss her viral moment from Tuesday’s New York Knicks-Charlotte Hornets game — and it wasn’t an awkward first date, or a random fan trying to mack it to her. It was actually WWE live event executive Justin Scalise.Read more...

On Wednesday afternoon, FOX’s hit show The Masked Singer released footage from its new episode that aired last night. It’s of someone with a rather large and athletic build singing “One Call Away” by Charlie Puth. The tone sounded like a professional singer and I had some preliminary guesses of Ne-Yo, James Maslow, or…Read more...

In the ongoing battle between Georgia and Florida in which both states seem to be competing for the most “wait, what?” moments of the year, politicians in the Peach State have given their home a slight lead as they’ve decided that legally betting on sports is a no-go for the residents of a state that had to put up…Read more...

Mavs v. Pelicans: The Mavericks mounted a furious comeback against the Pelicans, to try and overcome a 25-point fourth-quarter comeback but fell just short. They went 10-18 from the 3-point line but still ended up losing the game 113-106. The Mavericks’ performance behind the arc explains how they got back in the…Read more...

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Suffolk County (Mass.) prosecutors dropped all charges against NBA trainer Rob McClanaghan, who was accused of drugging and raping a woman at a Boston hotel in November.Read more...

Jim Boeheim’s tenure reflects a coach whose career almost spanned half a century at Syracuse. From bringing his alma mater a national championship in 2003, to winning the second most games of any college basketball coach, to ushering in and out the Big East Conference (as we knew and loved it) to his patented zone…Read more...

It’s not that Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist stands atop college basketball’s points per game (28.9) mountain this season, it’s her consistency every time she steps on the floor. The 6-foot-1 senior forward has taken part in 34 tip-offs this year and every single time she’s put on her Wildcats’ jersey, she’s scored at…Read more...

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Update: DeAngelo was suspended two games by the NHL without pay on Wednesday for spearing Corey Perry. He’ll forfeit nearly $55,000 in salary for taking a shot at the Lightning forward’s manhood.Read more...

Updated March 8: Chris Beard is emerging as the front-runner for the men’s basketball head coaching job at Ole Miss, according to ESPN, citing sources. Beard was fired from his position at the University of Texas following a Dec. 12, 2022 arrest.

It’s well past time for a media mea culpa on the Sacramento Kings. That means myself included. Prior to the season, The Athletic’s John Hollinger had the Kings finishing 10th in the West, FiveThirtyEight’s Jared Dubin predicted they’d finish 16 games under .500 and in 12th. DraftKings, Vegas sportsbooks — you name it…Read more...

In August 2021, the Buffalo Bills guaranteed Josh Allen $150 million. He played at a draft-bust level as a rookie, slightly improved in his second season, and after the Bills signed Stefon Diggs, Allen took off in season three. Lamar Jackson was selected in that same draft and in his first full season as a starter, he…Read more...

One of the most maddening things about take culture is people want to be right so badly that they end up rooting for the take over all else. So if your reaction to the latest, depressing Zion Williamson injury update was: “I told you he was made of glass,” I don’t have the time or energy to entertain your glee.Read more...

As her father and grandfather remained trapped in Kyiv with war raging around them, Ukrainian tennis star Marta Kostyuk was making headlines, taking down Russian competitor Varvara Gracheva in the finals of the ATX Open on Sunday. After winning the match in two sets (6-3, 7-5), Kostyuk shook the umpire’s hand but…Read more...

Dabo Swinney is up to his old tricks again. Every year it seems like Clemson’s football head coach says or does something that reminds us of just how wild it is that a 50-plus-year-old grown man named William still goes by the nickname of Dabo. Well, “that boy” — which is what Dabo stems from — has put his foot in his…Read more...

Becky Hammon to the NBA feels like a tired story, one that gets revived on occasions like International Women’s Day to remind sports fans that she’s more than capable of leading a basketball team in any league. However, I’m not going to do that because I want to highlight just how exhausting this narrative is — not…Read more...