Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

When I think of post-peak steroid era users in baseball, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, or Robinson Cano aren’t the first names that come to mind. That dishonor goes to former Brewer Ryan Braun. The 2011 NL MVP began his career by regularly tallying 100-plus RBI, 30-plus home run seasons. He accomplished each feat in…Read more...

This offseason has been atrocious for the Arizona Cardinals. Through all the trials and tribulations of signing their franchise quarterback to an extension and making sure he doesn’t play video games all day every day, you’d think the Cards and Kyler Murray would finally be happy with where they’re at. That doesn’t…Read more...

It may be the most meaningless short-term consequence of Vince McMahon’s resignation as WWE’s chairman and CEO after 40 years as professional wrestling’s most powerful dignitary — the art form’s creative direction. McMahon almost exclusively called the shots from the top since the first full year of Ronald Reagan’s…Read more...

An offensive lineman has never won the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Is that a tragedy? Or does it make sense? Offensive linemen rarely ever score touchdowns, pick up yards, or do the Griddy (although a few have tried).Read more...

Zach Wilson may have avoided serious disaster after leaving Friday’s preseason game with a pronounced limp from a non-contact injury. Head coach Robert Saleh said the franchise’s young quarterback will undergo an MRI today, but sources are saying he reinjured his PCL and could miss only a few weeks.

It’s important not to succumb to too many overreactions in the preseason, especially during opening week. Teams are just starting to figure things out, and starters are coming in and out of games like they’re playing hockey. I try to not get too caught up in making predictions based on a few preseason games.Read more...

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After an unfortunate motorcycle accident took the first half of Fernando Tatís Jr.‘s season from us, many baseball fans were getting hyped to see him return to action. He was pimping home run balls in the minors and hitting heckling fans with that signature “can’t touch me” attitude that many Padres fans love and many…Read more...

Don’t worry Deion Sanders, I’m not about to make a case that James White belongs in the Hall of Fame. He made comments recently about how he feels the standard of players being inducted has dropped in recent years. Richard Seymour, LeRoy Butler — hey argue amongst yourselves.

Standing up for your program and athletes is commonplace for a college head coach, especially one with the pedigree of John Calipari. Coaching one of the royal bluebloods of college athletics in Lexington, with a lifetime contract no less, certainly skews his view of things from the mountaintop. A loss to St. Peter’s…Read more...

College football starts in a little more than two weeks. And for 135 days, the jostling to become a national champion will be ongoing. Obviously, only four teams will compete in the College Football Playoff but a dozen teams will be selected to the most lucrative bowls, otherwise known as the New Year’s Six.

00000111000111. In binary, that means “LJ” according to the free translator I just Googled, so take that translation with a grain of salt. In baseball, that string of numbers means “OMG”, because that’s exactly how many earned runs White Sox ace Dylan Cease has given up in each of his last fourteen starts.

The Cleveland Browns have relentlessly embarrassed its fanbase for going on nearly a quarter century. Most of the reason the Dawg Pound has been shrouded in masks made of paper bags and jerseys listing dozens of failed starting QBs as if they were KIA is the putrid on-field product. While the franchise has had a few…Read more...

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Shame on the NBA.

The Baltimore Ravens released their first official depth chart for 2022 five days ago. It lists 12 wide receivers. Together, those dozen receivers have combined for 1,227 career receiving yards. Congratulations! That total would make the full careers of the entire Ravens’ 2022 wide receiver room the Ravens’ all-time…Read more...

It’s become a tradition more irrelevant than any other.

Overall, the Field of Dreams game is fine. Perhaps teams should be “flexed” into it during the season, so you don’t end up with two Quad-A rosters in the one regular season game MLB gives the network primetime treatment. Though if you’re trying to showcase baseball in 2022, having two teams that have simply chosen to…Read more...

The NBA retired its first number ever Thursday, and Bill Russell’s No. 6 couldn’t be a better choice — if it’s not the only choice. A transcendent figure as a player, as a coach, and as a civil rights leader, Russell’s legacy takes dictionaries’ to define. Of the four major professional sports in America, Jackie…Read more...

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When oddsmakers release NBA win-total futures, most casual fans scan right to their teams’ over/under and say, “My team’s better than that.” After a prolonged and misguided rant about sharps who do this for a living doing their job, the next move is to find the franchises they hate and bitch about the line being…Read more...

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Since 1900, a player has hit three home runs in an MLB game 624 times. Only 16 times has a player hit four. Nobody has ever hit five.

I get caught in the trap as much as anyone, but I’m an impulsive guy. Baseball isn’t like other sports, where you can change one rule, any rule, and see the effects on Opening Day. In baseball, everything takes some time to have an effect.

The 2022 Dodgers may be the most dominant regular-season team we’ve ever seen. And they have a chance to solidify it.

Unless you’ve been on vacation in a cave lately, I’m sure you have seen the video of the little leaguer who got hit in the head with a pitch and then went to console the pitcher that hit him. Most would contend that this was a great moment of sportsmanship and forgiveness that many youth sports parents and coaches can…Read more...

Were you in the mood for a world-class bus-tossing? Did you want to start your day with the sound of an express pulverizing an unsuspecting individual DJ Jazzy Jeff’d into its path? Does the morning need a kickstart with a thunderous “THWACK?” Friendo, you’re in luck:Read more...

Tom Brady will not be on the field for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins on Saturday. Instead, his first work in the season against a defense from a team other than his own was today in a joint practice with the Dolphins.

I’m not sure Joe Judge and Matt Patricia could fit a loveseat through a double door if they were the two men who arrived with your moving truck in the greater Boston area. The two colossal failures as NFL head coaches were a combined 23-52-1 in nearly five seasons with their respective teams. If you ask a Giants fan…Read more...

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We all have teams that just rub us the wrong way, and most of the time, we can explain our disdain for the said team with relative ease. Whether it be long-rooted rivalries or a distaste for a specific player, someone’s least favorite teams are usually pretty justifiable. That said, Mets broadcaster Keith Hernandez’s…Read more...

There have only been eight players in the NFL’s history to rush for 2,000 yards, and the Tennessee Titans drafted two of them. Chris Johnson accomplished this in 2009 (2,006 yards), and Derrick Henry did it in 2020, rushing for 2,027 yards. Henry is ready to return to the Titans backfield after playing in just nine…Read more...

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Mark it down: 9:35 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10. We’ve reached the peak (nadir?) of sports’ slow season. You know it’s the doggiest of dog days when ESPN is killing time with Little League World Series coverage. No disrespect to the youth, but I’m not going to subject myself to watching children’s athletics until fatherly…Read more...

Amongst the excitement of any US player heading overseas, there’s always a tremor of trepidation (I’m usually anti-alliteration but here we are). This angst is sure said player will fail, and will cast a pall over any future Yank moving to that team or even that league. We’re probably past that, given the amount of…Read more...

For Eve, it was the forbidden fruit. For Cale Gundy, it was the N-word. Entitlement is the downfall of people who aren’t satisfied with having everything.Read more...

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Seattle Mariners outfielder Jarred Kelenic was supposed to be a savior. He was supposed to help pull a franchise that had been mostly irrelevant in the annals of baseball history into World Series contention. He was a very popular pick for the 2021 AL Rookie of the Year Award last year.

At some point during the time that the Detroit Lions are on “Hard Knocks,” we had better get to see Dan Campbell at Starbucks.Read more...

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has taken Hollywood by storm since he left the WWE, producing hit after hit on the big screen. Even with Johnson’s mainstream success, he’s never forgotten his pro wrestling roots. Now The Rock is teaming up with VICE TV on a series called “Tales From The Territories.”

You may have forgotten about hockey’s World Juniors championships. It’s the middle of summer after all, which is supposed to be the definitive dead time for hockey. You’ll probably need a reminder that the WJCs, in their normal slot back in December/January, had to be scrapped thanks to COVID outbreaks with three…Read more...

We’ve reached a point where a golfer has to take a blood oath on their mother’s grave while stabbing a voodoo doll of Greg Norman for me to believe that any of these amoral sociopaths are staying with the PGA Tour. My hopes weren’t high for Cameron Smith, the young Australian who just won the Open Championship, when…Read more...

Former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch was arrested Tuesday morning in Las Vegas on the suspicion that he was driving under the influence. The Las Vegas Metro Police Department stated they conducted a traffic stop at Fairfield Avenue and West Utah Avenue, a few blocks from the Las Vegas Strip, for a suspected driver’s…Read more...

Padres’ slugger Juan Soto has a multitude of great offensive skills that make him one of the most dangerous hitters in MLB. Above all else though, Soto’s greatest weapon is his discipline.

Joe Tsai, the horses have left the stable, the train is off the track, and there is no time left on the clock. You went all in to get Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant and it has not produced the return that you wanted on the basketball court.

Jumping the gun, obviously. We’re only three weeks into the HHH version of WWE, and we won’t really know what he can do until the networks and board he works for have their say over it all, and, more to the point, have their say on the ratings and revenue his vision attracts. But it’s always fun to project out,…Read more...

Atlanta’s newest basketball star has been doing a lot over the last couple of days. Dejounte Murray has been on a tear both on and off the court since his matchup in a ProAm game with Orlando Magic rookie and No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero. Murray put a nice move and ball fake on Banchero, then threw himself an…Read more...

Earlier this summer, I was at the French Open with a group of college students who want to work in sports media. It was a Friday, and the men’s semifinals were the big story, but we got there early and went to Court Suzanne Lenglen, where a women’s doubles match was playing.Read more...