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Pencil the San Francisco 49ers in as NFC West’s best in 2023 at your own risk. After the shellacking that the Seattle Seahawks suffered at the hands of the 49ers in the postseason, they have taken significant steps to shore up talent deficiencies on the roster. Come autumn, Kyle Shanahan and Co. had better be ready…Read more...

Udonis Haslem will go down as one of the most beloved players in Miami Heat history. He may be second to only Dwayne Wade, and that’s saying something considering some of the stars who’ve played for the franchise. While the Heat haven’t exactly made Haslem’s swan song season one to remember, the organization has…Read more...

Wherever he is, George Steinbrenner must’ve smiled and nodded at the news of Bayern Munich firing their manager with three-quarters of the season gone. Not only would that have reminded Big Steinn of his “glory” days (obviously the Yankees didn’t regain their spot atop the baseball world until Steinbrenner calmed the…Read more...

San Francisco 49ers star wide receiver Deebo Samuel was courtside in Phoenix Saturday for the Suns-Sixers game catching everyone’s attention rocking those goofy-looking big red boots. These MSCHF boots from the 2009 Astro Boy movie retail for as much as $350 and even more on sites like eBay. While they look silly as…Read more...

From the eighth-floor lobby of Manhattan’s New York Marriott Marquis hotel, Florida Atlantic athletic director Brian White couldn’t find the exact words to describe what being in the Sweet 16 meant to the Owls’ program and community as a whole. And that was nearly six hours before tipoff of FAU’s win over Tennessee. I…Read more...

Don’t fall for the Cinderella trap. That’s the general consensus from Florida Atlantic superfans, boosters, and radio-play-by-play announcers celebrating the Owls’ East regional title at the Time Square Marriott Marquis well after midnight. Given the trend in this NCAA Tournament beginning with Furman’s upset of…Read more...

I only want one thing out of NFL talking heads before the upcoming draft, and that is to go and watch the entire Florida-Kentucky game from Sept. 10 before they ever talk about Will Levis and Anthony Richardson again. It was the bizarro version of the Baker Mayfield-Patrick Mahomes shootout. No one will be able to…Read more...

Make room, Lawrence Taylor, there’s a new contender for the most drug-riddled in-game experience. While Derek Wolfe was nowhere near the human wrecking ball that LT was, his pregame cocktail of mushrooms and Adderall is a modernized, and tempered, version of the cocaine-fueled stories that came out of the Giants’…Read more...

You know that feeling you get when a new team is going to win the title? You look at the finals matchup and say, “Suns-Bucks? Cool.” Occasionally, that feeling can happen in the semis, but it’s rare. Usually, there’s a blueblood like the Patriots, Duke, Alabama, Golden State, the Astros, or some team that you’re…Read more...

If you currently play football for Colorado, you had better use a strong black marker to write your name on the tape on your helmet. The way that Deion Sanders has the program’s spring practice set up, the players currently do not have numbers. On the field is just going to be a mass of black, white, and gold jerseys.Read more...

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We have arrived at the Elite 8, and this round is going to be a good old-fashioned slobber knocker.Read more...

Before there was Hudl and YouTube, there were VHS cassettes. And before that, film. Studying and watching footage of your opponent, yourself, or a prospect has always been a vital part of sports. There’s nothing like seeing what someone does against live competition and the variables that occur during a game. But, due…Read more...

The NHL got more Pride Night bullshit last night courtesy of the Staal brothers on the Panthers, Eric and Marc. I’d try and provide some commentary, but sometimes, you just can’t beat reality:Read more...

NEW YORK — As the NCAA Tournament bracket was released 11 days ago, both Danny White and Brian White knew only one of their schools could get to the Final Four before they knew who Tennessee or Florida Atlantic would play to open the yearly showcase. Three complete regions had been called without a mention of…Read more...

NEW YORK — Don’t let Florida Atlantic hang around. Memphis messed around and found out. Fairleigh Dickinson truly never had the legs to keep up with the Owls, but also felt the result of letting the grittiest team in the nation have time to respond. Surely a Rick Barnes-coached team from a battle-tested Southeastern…Read more...

NEW YORK — The last time an East Regional was held in Madison Square Garden, diminutive UConn point guard, Shabazz Napier led the Huskies to an unexpected Final Four and a national title. Flash forward nine years and Kansas State’s 5-foot-8 floor general, Markquis Nowell, staked his claim as New York City’s premier…Read more...

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The idea that there could be “smart” wrestling debate is probably high comedy to any non-wrestling fan, given the perception that they probably have for creatures like us (not all that inaccurate either). It’s becoming pretty farcical in the wrestling world as well these days, given the split between AEW and WWE fans.…Read more...

The Dallas Mavericks have seemingly spent this season in a state of perpetual confusion. Things started alright but have worsened as the 2022-23 campaign nears a close. Trading for Kyrie Irving only complicated matters by doing the opposite of what team governor Mark Cuban had hoped. Wednesday night’s game against the …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. Fuck you.Read more...

Life must be pretty good for the Atlanta Braves. They can kick back and watch all the headlines be about the New York Mets and their Correa fiasco, or the Mets and their Edwin Diaz fiasco, or the Philadelphia Phillies signing Trea Turner without really solving the problem that their outfield will look like demolition…Read more...

It’s a new age in L.A. Move out of the way, LeBron James. Make way for… Austin Reaves. OK, chew on that for a minute, swallow the thought, and breathe. There’s obviously room besides Reaves in the Los Angeles Lakers’ lineup for the scoring king when he’s healthy enough to return to action. LeBron is 38 though, so he…Read more...

Aaron Rodgers is still the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. More than a week after telling the football world he wants to be in New York taking snaps for the Jets next season, there’s been very little noise out of East Rutherford, N.J., regarding Mr. Rodgers — just the other additions the team has made. This…Read more...

As we’ve previously discussed, NBC NFL analyst Tony Dungy has expressed some awfully bigoted views. In January, Dungy was summarily dragged all over social media by NFL media for his horrible, terrible, no good, very bad takes on the trans community, including spreading the already long-debunked myth that children…Read more...

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Alright, it’s time for a 36-year-old white guy to break down a TikTok of a 20-year-old man who looks like a toddler sparring with Mike Tyson. Yes, I’m just as confused as you because my first reaction when the video was dropped in Slack (you have to have a feed for it to come across your feed) was this is adorable.…Read more...

Update (March 23): Chris Curtis opened the Greg Hill Show on Thursday to announce his own suspension. He also once again claimed he meant to say “Mila Kunis” instead of “Mina Kimes.” Curtis will be sidelined for a week, according to the Boston Globe’s Chad Finn.Read more...

When millions watched a video of NCAA hockey player Carson Brière pushing a wheelchair down a flight of stairs, it revealed something. The same can be said for James Reimer’s overt decision to not wear a Pride jersey with his San Jose Sharks teammates. For decades, hockey’s toxic culture has been living in secrecy,…Read more...

The days between games during the NCAA Tournament can feel like months. Practices are held. Flights are booked. Press conferences are completed. Stories are written. Narratives are created. And while most love an underdog, there’s one that’s received the label without filling the criteria. Because despite this not…Read more...

People really believe that Gisele Bündchen is a witch, huh? I guess there is a vocal segment of the population that isn’t familiar with the yoga, meditation, crystals, and stones crowd. Even though that was the lede, Michelle Ruiz’s entire Vanity Fair profile on one of the most successful supermodels to ever walk the…Read more...

By the time this week is over, the NCAA Tournament field will again shrink by at least 400 percent. One-fourth of the teams to win a pair of March Madness games last week will do so again. Half of them won’t win one more game. And after riding high over the last week and adding important wins to a program’s resume,…Read more...

It is yelling at the rain to lament that commissioners in any league aren’t stewards of the sport anymore. Look at Roger Goodell’s face and wonder if you’d trust that man to steer a fucking tricycle. But there comes a point where the commissioner is the only one who can steer a league out of a skid and away from a…Read more...

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While Gary Bettman might not think there’s anything wrong with the current playoff system (he’s wrong!), it is pretty clear that this set-up has robbed March and the first half of April of most of its drama. We’re basically down to seeing whether a wheezing Penguins team (whoops!) can keep their lunch down just long…Read more...

The early returns of NFL free agency are here, and the clear winner is the Detroit Lions — at least according to the media’s reaction. Everybody’s favorite dysfunctional franchise finished 2022 strong after an abominable start and barely missed the playoffs. Some would say they were the best team to miss the…Read more...

Amid all the talk about load management and the L.A. Clippers’ legit chances of bringing home their first NBA title, we’ve totally neglected one blemish on the résumé of Kawhi Leonard. The fact that New Balance tries to sell the world that rapper Jack Harlow is a formidable opponent to “The Claw” on the court is…Read more...

A precedent has been set. It is time for Chris Paul to take action. The Phoenix Suns are gearing up for a playoff run in the most wide-open Western Conference since Dennis Rodman and David Robinson were sharing the screen in stuffed-crust pizza commercials. With Kevin Durant likely to be available for the postseason,…Read more...

Shoes are a necessity. Sneaker culture is a way of life. But, we’re in a moment that’s making the purchasing of footwear really inconvenient. Weeks after the iconic Eastbay — a catalog that sold sneakers and athletic gear before transitioning to the internet — shut down, Foot Locker announced that it will be closing…Read more...

Very few games offer as clear a view of colliding worlds as the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder did at the Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, Paul George’s hyperextended knee put a damper on the evening. Midway through the third quarter, we witnessed the brilliance of George on display as…Read more...

Another wrinkle has been added to the ongoing Lamar Jackson saga in Baltimore. The Ravens and Jackson aren’t any closer to coming to terms on a new long-term deal. Now it’s been reported that a representative for Jackson has allegedly been contacting teams claiming the former MVP is ready to move on from Baltimore.Read more...

As badass as the moment was of seeing Shohei Ohtani face Mike Trout with the World Baseball Classic on the line last night, you could forgive Los Angeles Angels fans if they were rubbing their temples a bit during it. The cry whenever either or both of those names come up in conversation has been, “Fuck, wouldn’t it…Read more...

What would you say if I told you that baseball was capping how far a ball can be hit, basketball decided to negate shots over 30 feet, or the NFL limited how far the football can be thrown in the air? Your first reaction would probably be like mine when I read that Rory McIlroy is on board with the USGA’s proposal to…Read more...

The NFL Draft is five weeks away, which doesn’t feel close at all, yet the more dialed-in part of the evaluation process has long been underway. The quarterbacks and certain skill players get all the pre-draft glory, but a deeper look into this year’s class shows one position group, in particular, has more than a few…Read more...

Welcome back to Deadspin’s March Madness-themed Jackass Tournament. Here are the rest of the results from Round 1. Yesterday’s batch is available here.Read more...

The Golden State Warriors have been hovering at or around .500 all season long. In 2020 and 2021 you could chalk it up to injuries and the reloading process. That championship hill their overwhelming talent allowed them to ascend is starting to appear too steep for their core to climb on its own. A decade ago Steph…Read more...

One of the beauties of college sports is that viewers get to see young people act like young people. Sure the professionals play the game better, but sometimes youthful exuberance makes up for the many more fundamental mistakes. While we get to view their excitement, the coaches and sports information directors do try…Read more...