Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

With the NBA season officially upon us, now is a good time for preseason prognostications, and I'm not talking about win totals or who's going to take home the title. No, no, no, that's not what the NBA is about anymore. It's about player movement, lusting over possible super teams, and mind-blowing trades. The word...Read more...

The Golden State Warriors enter the 2023 NBA season looking for redemption for a disappointing run last year that ended with a whimper at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers. This time last year, the biggest storyline in San Francisco was whether the Warriors could recover from the punch heard around the world to...Read more...

The problem of being billed as a Stanley Cup contender, as the Edmonton Oilers most certainly were heading into this season, is that if that team proceeds to be facing the wrong way when the gates open, it gets a little more focus, and generates a little more alarm than the first two weeks of the season should.Read more...

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Major collegiate athletic conferences are like parents, they can't treat all of their schools/kids the same. Michigan has always been the Big Ten's favorite son. And in the coming weeks and months, we're going to find out if the most prestigious, arrogant, important, and wealthiest conference in all of sports is going...Read more...

The best stretch of the sports calendar is officially upon us, so grab your loosest pair of sweatpants, set some relationship boundaries, load up on snacks and beverages, and settle in for a cornucopia of entertainment. All five major sports are in season, with MLB a game away from the World Series, NBA opening night,...Read more...

The San Francisco 49ers were arguably more undermanned in Week 7 than they were in Week 6. Christian McCaffrey was able to play, but Deebo Samuel was unavailable after suffering a shoulder injury during the 49ers' 19-17 loss to the Cleveland Browns. Trent Williams fought through an ankle injury to stay on the field...Read more...

Call it my bitterness lingering from 2003. Even I acknowledge that Dusty Baker has become a fine, and probably only fine, postseason manager. The mangling of the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs of yore is long in the rearview. The Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals were less of a nosedive, though still...Read more...

When you think you have a plan at QB, Gardner Minshew laughs. Throughout his career, Minshew has been the name coaches have called when their starters go down. He's not the most physically gifted quarterback, but there's a certain je ne sais quoi to a peak-Minshew performance. Minshew's future doesn't reside in...Read more...

Bryan Abreu striking Adolis Garcia with a fastball and the ensuing benches-clearing Lone Star War will be the climax of this baseball season. Lost in the shuffle were the Rangers not capitalizing on first and second with nobody out in the bottom of the eighth and ninth of Game 5. Jose Altuve's home run and the...Read more...

Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett is having a phenomenal season thus far and is already a prime candidate for Defensive Player of the Year honors. The Browns defense, led by Garrett, is carrying the team, which is tied for second in the AFC North at 4-2. Despite a fantastic start, Garrett's performance...Read more...

The Houston Astros are digging deep to get all the H-Town pride that they can possibly gather for their Game 7 matchup at home against the Texas Rangers. Their pre-game will feature three Houston legends to rev up the crowd. Even though none of the three names are Paul Wall, they are heavy hitters in hometown pride.Read more...

The Miami Dolphins represent everything the NFL wants pro football to be. Tua Tagovailoa is throwing cute behind-the-back shovel passes for four-yard gains. Mike McDaniel represents the analytics branch that's pushed out the football guys." His offenses are concentrating on getting athletes out in open space rather...Read more...

How the tides have turned.Read more...

Look, we all know that eventually, Chelsea are going to straighten out. There's an argument that they already have, unbeaten in their last three, though that doesn't match the levels their supporters have become accustomed to over the past 18 years or so. But Mauricio Pochettino is too good of a manager, and their...Read more...

Miami Dolphins cornerback Eli Apple has built a reputation in the NFL primarily with his mouth. He's usually running it and has been surrounded by controversy pretty much since he entered the league in 2016. The only problem is Apple's words don't always match his production on the field. Apple's game was on display...Read more...

Being a Black quarterback during a time in which the NFL features more than ever can feel meaningless when you play for a franchise that's always preferred white ones. This is the story of Tyrod Taylor and the New York Giants.Read more...

The Miami Dolphins are going to get ripped on television for a few days. On Sunday, they faced a Super Bowl contender for the second time this season, and were again defeated by a double-digit margin - the Philadelphia Eagles won 31-17. Last season, Miami's five-game winning streak was criticized because each victory...Read more...

Happy National Tight Ends day everybody. Week 7 of the NFL season is the time that is set aside to pay homage to the league's most valuable tweeners. These are people not fast enough to play wide receiver, but also not big enough for the offensive line. However, football has found a place for these large men without...Read more...

In a different world or time, Adolis Garcia would have already won the ALCS. He gave the Rangers the lead in the series-swinging Game 5, and then clinched Game 6. Perhaps it would surpass Josh Hamilton's homer in the 10th inning of the 2011 World Series that ended up not meaning anything in Rangers lore.Read more...

Some of you might have forgotten about Jalen Hurts' flu game" from earlier this season. There was a bit of controversy with that Week 3 Monday Night Football game, because that news was not on the Philadelphia Eagles' injury report. Instead, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported it at halftime. Sunday brought us a repeat in...Read more...

What should have been a magic Minshew moment in Sunday's game turned out to be a low moment for the NFL. If there was a museum where the replacement refs responsible for the Fail Mary or the Tuck Rule refs who birthed Tom Brady could be dishonored for blown calls, this crew would be first ballot enshrinees. Buy a...Read more...

It's rough being a Washington Commanders fan. The team frequently teases its followers, making fans think the squad has turned a corner only to revert back to mediocrity. And if that's what the Commanders do to fans, imagine being part of that franchise as a player and not just witnessing but being a cog in that same...Read more...

If I didn't know better, I'd say the Bears are on the brink of the only situation in which Bears fans feel truly comfortable and safe: A good, old-fashioned quarterback controversy. Tyson Bagent, who even Bears fans had never heard of before he spelled an injured Justin Fields last week, led the Bears to their second...Read more...

Chemistry is an inexact science. It's about as immeasurable through analytics as other nebulous traits like heart and grit. Contending teams are usually an intermingling melange of personalities, players with strengths, and weaknesses coalescing into a cohesive unit.Read more...

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown is one of the best in the NFL and has flourished even more since arriving in the NFC East after three years with Tennessee. Brown finished his first season in Philly a few yards short of 1,500 yards receiving, which was good enough to rank fourth in the league. Thus far, he...Read more...

What're you gonna do now, NHL?Read more...

The rematch of last year's Pac-12 championship game was as advertised despite USC losing the remainder of its luster against Notre Dame a week ago. Caleb Williams didn't throw a touchdown pass, or an interception, and spent the majority of the game reprising his role as Sisyphus, rolling the rock within finishing...Read more...

The only top 10 matchup on Saturday's slate of college football featured two Big Ten teams that make filing your taxes feel exhilarating. Watching Ohio State and Penn State exchange punts for three-plus hours made me yearn for raw broccoli just because I felt myself getting backed up. The Buckeyes won, 20-12, but...Read more...

When the Texas Rangers sift through the regrets and resentments of their Game 5 loss to the Houston Astros, the most difficult part to get over will be the fact that they did everything right. Bruce Bochy pulled Jordan Montgomery quick enough in the sixth to keep the game within a run, and Adolis Garcia's three-run...Read more...

More than nine months after Jamea Jonae Harris was shot and killed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, a federal wrongful death lawsuit was filed in her passing against three men including Brandon Miller, formerly of Alabama's men's basketball team and current Charlotte Hornet. Harris was killed on Jan. 15, with Darius Miles, who...Read more...

I remember the first time I saw Trevor Lawrence. It was the summer of 2017 during an NFL Network show devoted to the Elite 11, the preeminent competition for high school quarterbacks. It's been the ideal barometer for who the next batch of signal-calling prospects are. And I remember seeing he was a Clemson commit...Read more...

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Whenever a college sports scandal arises, it's important to remind ourselves that the punishment doesn't fit the crime, because often the crime is something normal people think should be legal. Heinous violence, hazing, and sexual deviancy aside, recruiting violations, extra practices, and things like this...Read more...

Time is money. Delaying the inevitable is a waste of time. NFL owners can afford to do that.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.Read more...

One would think after all these years and all the data every baseball fan has been shown, they wouldn't treat modern managing in the playoffs like we were still in Salem in the 1600s. Torey Lovullo wasn't desecrating all that we hold dear when he pulled Brandon Pfaadt in the sixth inning, even though Pfaadt had faced...Read more...

It's not quite as impactful or scandalous as Ime Udoka getting sidelined before Boston's season last September, but a year later another Eastern Conference contender has lost an influential coach on the eve of the season. Milwaukee's serendipitous reunion of longtime Portland Trail Blazers head coach/current Bucks...Read more...

Another NBA season is on the horizon and here we are with another James Harden melodrama. No one should be surprised that Harden has not shown up to the 76ers' facility this week, as he's dug into wanting out. Obviously, this isn't Harden's first time around this block, as he's previously forced his way out of Houston...Read more...

Aaron Rodgers loves being in the news. Sadly, positive reinforcement in the form of clicks has taught him that, if he can't be in the news for football, he can stay in the news with the ridiculous things that come out of his mouth. He's in the crosshairs of the woke" mob, telling America he was immunized (when he was...Read more...

NBA, stop digging through couch cushions for change with all of these City Edition uniforms. It was a good idea the first time. A uniform designed to highlight a team's home is a way to be artistic. NBA cities are multicultural, so a change every once in a while to reflect that is fine. But to change designs every...Read more...

The rise and fall of the American quarterback is fascinating - unless you went to the University of Florida. For a school with so many NFL-caliber quarterbacks, who is the last one that didn't flame out professionally? Don't you dare bring up Tim Tebow or Rex Grossman. Both were alright for a little while, but neither...Read more...

A great team is only as strong as its weakest link. At least that's the consensus among every motivational coach I've ever heard. But for the sake of this space, it's true for NBA contenders as well. I'll examine the weak spots in some of the most iron-clad lineups in the NBA entering the 2023 season from...Read more...

The 2022 postseason hinged, or was bookended, by two Yordan Alvarez homers. One was in Game 1 of the Division Series against the Mariners. The other was in Game 6 of the World Series against the Phillies. Both were part of innings where the Astros overturned a deficit into a lead. There is nothing more dramatic in the...Read more...

The union between Mecole Hardman and the New York Jets ended abruptly this week when the former Pro Bowler was shipped back to the Kansas City Chiefs. Hardman left KC via free agency in the offseason, signing a one-year deal with the Jets, but played in just five games for Gang Green.Read more...

Women being forced to deal with the ramifications of the decisions that men - and other women - make is a huge part of being a woman. The Las Vegas Aces understand that better than anyone.Read more...

We might still be looking for an actually decent game in these playoffs, but at least we might get a series. The Rangers apparently didn't learn that when you have the Astros down, it's best to get that stake right through the heart instead of playing with your food. The Astros beat up Max Scherzer, and Texas couldn't...Read more...

James Harden usually waits until the spring to vanish. Whenever you need him most, he's gone. In a tense series game, you can always count on Harden bouncing when the going gets tough.Read more...

The sneaker market is about to get a little more crowded, with Skechers preparing to launch their basketball division. For years, Skechers was seen by many as a brand of shoe geared toward skateboarders but also produce a wide range from casual to walking, running, and other types of shoes. Now, they've decided to...Read more...

If the world was falling apart just a bit less rapidly, I would do nothing but guffaw over a Los Angeles Clippers employee using a burner account to start a rumor that Taylor Swift was dating Austin Reaves.Read more...