Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

Maybe the fight to get more COVID-19 vaccine shots into arms needs to be more carrot and less stick. For instance, if you get fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, you could be the backup quarterback for the Vikings.

At some point by now, you would think that the National Hockey League would have had Evander Kane sit down for a bit, either as discipline, or to help him get his life on track.

Seby Zavala was the White Sox’s 12th-round pick in the 2015 draft out of San Diego State. It took until 2019 before the catcher made his major league debut, at the age of 25, and in that cup of coffee the catcher went 1-for-12 with nine strikeouts.Read more...

I get it. Golf isn’t for everyone. Just like how some people consider baseball too slow for their viewing pleasure, golf suffers the same fate to an even larger extent. However, golf at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics has had even the most diehard golf fans falling asleep.Read more...

You know, we don’t really have to keep doing this every time the situation comes up.

Katie Ledecky is now up to seven career Olympic gold medals after winning her signature event, the 800-meter freestyle, by 1.26 seconds over Australian rival Ariarne Titmus.Read more...

Well, this trade deadline was crazy. The Dodgers continue to throw insane amounts of money at every problem they have. The Yankees teased the Red Sox by picking up Anthony Rizzo. So, why don’t we just take a small step back from all the trade talk and talk instead about someone who’s not getting nearly enough…Read more...

Less than a week after losing to France, it appears as if Team USA has gotten their shit together.

Simone Biles, continuing to deal with the “twisties,” has taken herself out of the vault and uneven bars finals at the Olympics this weekend, with the floor and beam events remaining, to use an unfortunate expression, up in the air for the greatest gymnast of all time.

Apologies for all of those times this year calling Tony La Russa a dinosaur, because the White Sox manager continues to innovate, even at the age of 76, coming up with newer and better ways to demonstrate that he’s an asshole.

Kirk Herbstreit complaining that Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC is ruinous to college athletics — “It’s all about money. It’s no longer about tradition” — is a very special kind of willful ignorance.

The Rockies didn’t trade Trevor Story, so that’s pretty much the last bit of intrigue for baseball season in Colorado, just in time for the early days of Broncos training camp.

Centers. You can’t live without these guys, even though some teams try their hardest to. They damn near all need a three-point shot if they’re not an ideal rim-runner to have on the floor.Read more...

Well, I’ve been having an aneurysm trying to keep up with all the trades happening in Major League Baseball today and late last night. We here at Deadspin have talked about a few of them already, but it seems like every half hour another impactful trade happens — so we’re rounding up all of the most recent trades that…Read more...

Washington Nationals veteran infielder Starlin Castro has been suspended without pay for 30 days for violating the MLB’s joint domestic violence policy. He was originally placed on administrative leave on July 16 while the league investigated the allegations against him.

With the United States tied with the Netherlands, deep into extra time in the Olympic quarterfinal — a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final — Christen Press took a beautiful pass from Megan Rapinoe, shot, scored… and then saw the offside flag go up.

While there’s a literal arms race taking place in the National League West in the battle for Max Scherzer (which still isn’t finalized... weirdly), the American League East is going all in for the bats.Read more...

LOS ANGELES — It is official: The Los Angeles Dodgers are now the new Evil Empire.

Yeah, never mind, fam. None of that shit happened — yet — except for Russell Westbrook going to the Los Angeles Lakers, which was by far the biggest trade of the evening.

It started before Kris Bryant was called up. Fuck, it probably started the day Anthony Rizzo signed his extension. This was the day the Cubs told everyone they dreaded, but secretly couldn’t wait for.

Hey, so, cool story. Remember that one time I wrote about how Max Scherzer was totally going to the San Diego Padres like five hours ago? Also, unrelated — have you ever seen “Elf” with Will Ferrell? Well, if you have (or if you haven’t, whatever), there’s a scene where Buddy the Elf, played by Ferrell, plans out the…Read more...

I don’t know about this one, chief.Read more...

The San Diego Padres are officially buyers.

Charles Barkley once said, “What do you call a power forward that only averages six rebounds per game?” Someone said, “what?” And the answer was, “A small forward.” That was funny as shit.

The New York Yankees were one of those bubble teams heading into Hot Stove season. They weren’t in the best position — barely above .500 in one of the toughest divisions in baseball — but had the tools, money, and prospects to grab players at the deadline and maybe make a late-season push for a Wild Card berth. It…Read more...

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers returned to Green Bay recently after a tumultuous offseason filled with uncertainty regarding the reigning MVP’s future with the Packers organization. In his first press conference since his return, Rodgers wasted no time tearing into the Packers’ front office stating that although…Read more...

An American gymnast has won the gold medal in the women’s individual all-around… again. For the last five years, since the 2016 Rio Games, it has been assumed that the gold medal would be returning to the United States, with Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast of all time, expected to do the honors for the second…Read more...

People pay more attention to these rumors than the games, it seems. You believe that shit?

There are a couple hard and fast rules in wrestling:Read more...

Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray, Kelsey Plum, and Jackie Young are Olympic gold medalists now. They should also be the catalysts for a permanent change in both WNBA and NBA basketball.Read more...

Hockey is shitty.Read more...

Admittedly, I’ve spent the week in a blind rage thanks to the trade deadline in MLB. And that’s due to my former baseball flame, the Cubs, making a spectacle of themselves. But I’ve written that article, and may have to write it again later today should this be the day the Cubs ship Kris Bryant off for the three kids…Read more...

Picture this:Read more...

Again, if you see a dude here that you label a shooting guard, then whatever. Think of this more as “Swingmen II.” If your favorite swingman wasn’t mentioned on either, then perhaps they’ll make the sleepers for Saturday, Saturday Sleepers, whatever the editors call ‘em. If he is a part of none of the above, then sign…Read more...

If you’re like most sports fans, the 2021 NBA Draft is probably the last thing on your mind right now.

There’s an old saying among NHL general managers that today’s free agent signing is tomorrow’s salary cap dump. Unfortunately, no general managers live by this saying, because there’s another old saying among NHL general managers: Today’s mistake is the next guy’s problem.

We should have enjoyed it more, if it is indeed over: the period of time where Manchester United couldn’t stop tripping over its own dick, burned through name managers simply because they had a name, bought mediocre players for astronomic prices simply to appear to be in action, and generally spun their wheels. All of…Read more...

The weirdest thing about the NBA draft is the longstanding practice that once draft day comes, there’s no more trading draft picks. It makes some sense within the framework of the league rules and salary cap, but every year, it results in weird situations where a player is drafted by a team that he’s never going to…Read more...

OK, look, Team USA wasn’t losing to Iran.

I told y’all this team was about that action.Read more...

As we said when this first broke, the task for the Dodgers is the simplest one. And it appears that they’re at least thinking about walking that road, as the team puts it into the water that they might just ditch Trevor Bauer at the first rest stop they can find before driving off.

You can’t really expect Mariners players to get it. Although the idea that GM Jerry Dipoto has to come down to the clubhouse to OK any decision he wants to make isn’t how things work in any company. The fans are probably in between, because they went into this season pretty much only looking forward to what they would…Read more...

The MLB trade deadline is this Friday, July 30 at 4 p.m. EST. Already we’ve seen big names like All-Stars Nelson Cruz and Adam Frazier get moved to contenders within the last week. There will certainly be several more moves before the deadline. Currently, there are 18 teams either in position to make the playoffs or…Read more...

Good news Texans fans! You may not have a strong defense, good head coach, tons of early draft capital, or a quarterback devoid of controversy, but what you do have is one of Aaron Rodgers’ favorite targets from his past and a team willing to do anything to keep Rodgers happy.Read more...

Apparently, Patrick Mahomes’ ambitions include not only figuratively taking over Kansas City, but pulling out his wallet to literally make it a reality.

At the top, it should be stated that there were plenty of reasons for the U.S. Women’s National Team to never take their foot off the brakes this morning against Australia. Going balls-out wouldn’t have won them the group, with Sweden getting their gimme against New Zealand at the same time. No matter where the U.S.…Read more...

Disclaimer: If you don’t see a guy here that you think is a shooting guard, he might be a small forward. What’s the difference nowadays? Who knows? Do you know anyone that plays one of the two positions and not the other? In fantasy and in 2K, nearly every two can play the three, and vice versa, and that’s probably…Read more...

It’s safe to say at this point that the USA men’s basketball team has not lived up to its expectations. The team consists of some of the best players in the world, and yet, despite the abundance of talent, Team USA continues to fall short against lesser opponents. No matter what head coach Gregg Popovich says about “…Read more...

The flat salary cap continues to make things awfully weird in the NHL — weirder than we might have ever imagined.

The strength of Simone Biles should be celebrated.Read more...