Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

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Hopefully, you’ve been watching enough baseball to know the answer to that headline isn’t the Red Sox. At 61-32, and now only 2.5 games behind New York for best record in baseball — courtesy of a doubleheader sweep — the Houston Astros are in a position to make the second half interesting.

It must be a slow period for sports in the U.K. as well. There’s not a dart league or a cricket game (match?) going on either? It could be the record-breaking heat that’s made fans more irritable than normal. Whatever it is, overreacting to a player’s preseason debut during a couple of friendlies is entirely…Read more...

Don’t expect the fever dream that was last year’s deadline (Aug. 2), but there are still some impact pitchers who could be on the move.Read more...

Remember when everyone and their mama thought Kyler Murray was making a mistake by walking away from the Oakland Athletics’ $5 million signing bonus after they made him the No. 9 pick in the 2018 MLB Draft?

What is it that made South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer’s TikTok song-and-dance challenge to Soulja Boy seem effortlessly cool (so cool, in fact, that Soulja Boy himself retweeted it), while Clemson’s Dabo Swinney was near-universally clowned on for doing the popular “Griddy” dance (somewhat overlooking the fact…Read more...

All good things come to an end. Sometimes they catch you by surprise. This week, Desus and Mero’s announced the end of their creative partnership. In under a decade, their electric chemistry fueled their rise from journalists to late-night talk show iconoclasts. However, the friction that led them to call it quits on…Read more...

Remember when your teacher in elementary school would tell everyone to keep their hands to themselves? That slogan needs to be a PSA for youth sporting events in America.Read more...

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There are only a few programs left in college football still capable of blowing opponents off the field with sheer talent. If a recruiting savant takes over a school like LSU, USC, or Texas, the talent soon follows like high schoolers flocking to check out the hot new student.

What do Tim Anderson, Aaron Judge, Byron Buxton, Mookie Betts, and Devin Williams all have in common? Of the 81 players that were selected for the All-Star Game, the aforementioned five represent the African-American-born contingent.Read more...

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We love our sports here in America. Especially the big three of football, basketball, and baseball. What we love even more are the superstar mega athletes that usually feel like bigger-than-life personalities. LeBron James, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers (Editor’s Note: Maybe not his conspiracy theories), Aaron Judge, and…Read more...

It took a few years for James Harden to become amenable to a smaller contract, and at $33 million this upcoming year and $36 million with a player option the following season, he’s still way overpaid. The 76er guard opted out only to re-sign with Philly in the hopes that, I don’t know, he’s able to reverse whatever…Read more...

In what appears to be a declaration of war, Greg Norman’s Saudi golf league has signed Ryder Cup captain Henrik Stenson. He announced Wednesday that he would be joining the new tour, although he expressed that he wanted to continue to play DP World Tour events. He’s obviously out as Europe’s captain for next year —…Read more...

Pittsburgh Pirates’ shortstop Oneil Cruz is a freak of nature, and it’s beautiful to watch. Standing at 6-foot-7 — a full seven inches taller than his double-play partner Kevin Newman — Cruz is a mammoth at the plate, best exemplified by his home runs, which, albeit sparse, have looked effortless. The ball leaves the…Read more...

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Former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton walked away from the sideline this offseason after 15 years but is already speaking about the possibility of a return — and it sounds like it could happen sooner rather than later.Read more...

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, a man who makes $17.5 million a year, told minor leaguers to shut up and be grateful this week amidst calls for a living wage for professional players who haven’t yet been called up.Read more...

There’s not a ton to add to the story beyond the headline. Andrew Wiggins, coming off the best year of his career, is still kind of sore that he had to get vaccinated.

Black baseball is coming back.Read more...

It’s been a wild ride for Jimmy Garoppolo in San Francisco, to say the least. He’s been nothing short of a savior for the franchise, returning them to their status as a powerhouse in the NFC. But all good things must come to an end, and that time has officially come.

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When Ryan O’Callaghan decided to come out as openly gay, for him it was supposed to be the end of the world. He thought that he would lose everything. His family, his friends, his career, it would all be over with so his plan in 2011 was to kill himself after the conclusion of his NFL career.Read more...

The latest Deshaun Watson rumor, coming from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, is that Judge Sue L. Robinson is planning to hand down a suspension of between two and eight games for the new Browns quarterback under the league’s Personal Conduct Policy. This is a significant reduction from earlier reports that suggested…Read more...

Lane Kiffin’s mouth is moving, which history tells us, means obnoxious words are spilling out. At Monday’s SEC Media Day, the Ole Miss head coach performed a cover of the same song every obstinate coach has been playing for the past year. Kiffin was just one of the few foolish enough to pitch a terrible solution to a…Read more...

Pitching has become so easy in MLB that relievers can carry a conversation with the booth while getting the last out of the eighth inning in a one-run All-Star Game. No longer content to interview guys in the dugout/not actively in the field, players talked with announcers during the showcase that ended in a 3-2 AL…Read more...

Being an All-Star is a good feeling, or at least I’d think so. Clearly, I’ve never been named an MLB All-Star, but the confirmation that you are in fact one of the game’s best players, getting to line up alongside several legends, and have that star next to your name on your Baseball-Reference page has to be one of…Read more...

We’re inching closer and closer to NFL training camps and eventually the regular season starting in September. Heading into all that there are quite a few quarterbacks around the league that have some lofty expectations to live up to and others who are on the hot seat and in danger of losing their starting positions. …Read more...

How much would you pay for nosebleed seats? What is the maximum? Imagine your dream matchup in your favorite sport. The hype is through the roof. There’s history between these two teams, or individuals, depending on the sport, and you can’t wait to get out to the stadium. Would you be willing to pay $2,000? $5,000?…Read more...

USC football is back.Read more...

PORTLAND — As I sat on a hill near the 9th green waiting for the shotgun start at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club for the second round of the Greg Norman-run Saudi Tour Invitational, “Thunderstruck” blasted from a sound system. No birds chirping here; it’s AC/DC turned up to 11.

Juan Soto is going to win the All-Star Break in many ways, but the most significant might be by virtue of being the most thirst-inducing thoroughbred at the auction. It makes sense that he took the Home Run Derby a few days after the Nationals announced they’re listening to offers. There are a half billion dollars on…Read more...

The first step is always the hardest because people hate admitting their faults, especially in a place like America where denial is a part of this country’s DNA.Read more...

LOS ANGELES — They cheered Juan Soto at Dodger Stadium last night.Read more...

James Harden sounds more mature this offseason than he did a decade ago when he wanted to be paid like the top option instead of as the league’s highest-paid sixth man. This version of Harden plays like a sixth man and sounds more concerned with getting the Sixers bench unit properly compensated too. Reportedly, he…Read more...

Somebody out there, please hear what I am saying, please bring back the NFL 2K series, or at least NFL Blitz. Something has to be done to get the Madden franchise back on the right track. I haven’t played the game since 2015, and haven’t rushed to Best Buy on the day of its release to purchase it since Chicago legend…Read more...

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A “First Take” analyst said something recently that set Twitter on fire, and it didn’t come from Stephen A. Smith. SAS is out for a few weeks after undergoing shoulder surgery, but former NFL player Domonique Foxworth had no problem stepping in to debate WFAN legend Mad Dog Chris Russo in his absence.

Now in his third decade as a general manager or team president, Danny Ainge is in the next stage of what’s been a blessed NBA existence. As a supporting player on a pair of championship Celtics teams, he was one of the league’s first 3-point specialists, reached the NBA Finals with Portland, then Phoenix, losing to…Read more...

Remember when no one gave a damn about Summer League? Less than a few years ago, when free agency was the main way teams sought to improve, scouting young players in Summer League didn’t hold the same relevancy. Superstars rarely leave their teams in free agency. Usually, it’s through sign-and-trades. Teams are now…Read more...

It has been a while since the United States put up an impressive performance in the sprints. For the majority of the new millennium Jamaica, led by Usain Bolt, has dominated the 100 and 200 meter events. Then, even during last year’s Summer Games in Tokyo, with no one from Jamaica in the Men’s 100 finals, the winner…Read more...

Beckham woke up Friday morning to Twitter notifications saying he’d signed a deal with the Buffalo Bills.

Certain types of quarterbacks used to be referred to as “gunslingers.” That moniker isn’t cool anymore.Read more...

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When discussing small-market superstars, there are a few things we can be brutally honest about. First, free agency is not an option. Fellow All-Star-caliber players are not signing up to play in Oklahoma City or Dallas. History proves this. What superstars have ever left their small market to join another…Read more...

There are few things more overwhelming than the tornado that forms when two pugilists circle each other for months, and even years, before finally engaging each other in the ring. Right now, between King Vasiliy Lomachenko, Teófimo López, Devin Haney, Shakur Stevenson, Ryan Garcia, and Gervonta Davis, the lightweight…Read more...

Minnesota Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson is calling his shot by saying he’ll be the best at his position by the end of the 2022 NFL season. Jefferson’s bold proclamation has been the talk of Twitter, but he might not be far off. The third-year wideout offered up his thoughts in a recent interview with…Read more...