Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

Because the NHL insists on trying to play a regular season during a pandemic and ecological disasters, there are going to be some ugly games.Read more...

Johnny Damon looks like he had a rough night.

The American baseball fan’s median age as of last season was 57-years-old, or, as Dan Le Batard occasionally jokes, death. And it doesn’t require a Pulitzer-worthy investigative search to discern Major League Baseball’s whiteness.Read more...

Craig Carton sucks.

There is a poignancy in the current moment in women’s tennis. Naomi Osaka learned from the best, and then ended another one of Serena Williams’ evanescent chances to tie Margaret Court’s 24 record Grand Slam singles titles.Read more...

We’ve known for a while now that even though the overwhelming majority of people are slogging through the pandemic, and a lot pine for “slogging,” the uber-rich have profited even more than they usually do during these times.

Jeanette Lee, at one time was the most famous pool player in the world. While the temptation for the ignorant will be to dismiss that as simply being attractive or having the ass-kicking nickname “The Black Widow,” most of it was due to her being one of the best players in the world. Her accolades stack from here to…Read more...

The Maple Leafs were able to clear some, if not all, the clouds of stink out of ScotiaBank Arena after their collapse against the Senators on Monday by beating those same Sens 2-1 last night. You can be sure the Steve Simmons ilk will still be referencing that pissing away of a four-goal lead to the remedial class…Read more...

The Miami Heat can’t keep losing like this.

The NBA and NBA Players Association are committing more than $2.5 million to HBCUs in addition to providing more support to fair COVID-19 care.

We’re getting a little more clarity on the death of former Chargers and Buccaneers wide receiver Vincent Jackson, and it’s a sad yet familiar story. According to Florida police, Jackson suffered from chronic alcoholism and his family feared that he showed signs of brain trauma stemming from his football career. Former…Read more...

If you want to understand just how crazy, uneventful, and weird this college basketball season has been, just look at the top of the rankings.

Injuries suck.Read more...

The Carson Wentz waiting game is finally over. Wentz has been traded to the Indianapolis Colts, where he will be reunited with his former offensive coordinator Frank Reich. And just like that, “Wentzylvania” is no more.Read more...

Naomi Osaka has faced Serena Williams five times now, and the 23-year-old’s straight-sets victory in Thursday’s semifinal at the Australian Open marked the third win for the three-time (so far) major champion over the 23-time (so far) major champion, including both of their meetings at Grand Slam events.

We all know the end is nearing for Serena Williams’ career.Read more...

A pissed-off Draymond Green is one of the most insightful NBA minds we’re blessed to have.

Tim Tebow’s career was a bust.Read more...

It’s fair to say that Serena Williams has met her Serena Williams in Naomi Osaka.

Pitchers and catchers reported to training camps on Wednesday, and the San Diego Padres marked the traditional passage of spring by turning the baseball world on its head by announcing they had signed Fernando Tatis, Jr. to a staggering 14-year, $340 million contract, according to reports.

It’s easy to make fun of Tim Tebow’s minor league adventure, to brush it off as a publicity stunt, to mock the whole enterprise for being peak Wilpon era Mets when they signed him in September of 2016.

The NBA has no business having any form of an All-Star Weekend in the middle of a pandemic, but since it is going to go forward with it anyway, we might as well tweak it to have a little fun.

Pittsburgh has a Ben Roethlisberger problem.

On February 1, NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar penned a New York Times op-ed calling for NBA players to set an example by taking vaccines for the coronavirus, in order to instill faith in the process among the Black community, due to hesitancy stemming from years of (justified) distrust. Abdul-Jabbar noted data…Read more...

It hasn’t been a vintage season for Juventus, who look like they might surrender the Serie A title for the first time in 10 years. Their pursuit of the Champions League the past few years has moved beyond obsession, which led them to pay $120 million for Christiano Ronaldo a few years ago. That has looked to be in…Read more...

I was always taught that you should never show up somewhere unless you were invited. I’m guessing Adam Silver didn’t learn that lesson growing up.

The big story out of Melbourne today is that Rafael Nadal actually looked like he’s in his mid-30s last night, as he blew a two-set lead to Stefanos Tsitsipas, with the latter looking much the fresher in the fifth set. That sets up a semifinal match with Daniil Medvedev, who when he hasn’t been yelling at his coach…Read more...

At some point, the Brooklyn Nets will need to get stops. Simultaneously, when it matters, they’ll need to prove they’re healthy. But even without Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, James Harden was able to turnaround what would’ve been a dispiriting loss to the Phoenix Suns — who led by as many as 24 points earlier in the…Read more...

Rush Limbaugh, who died on Wednesday at the age of 70, was a terrible human being whose hate the world is better off not having in it. That includes the sports world, which at least did its best to expel Limbaugh years before the physical world finally did.

Zion Williamson is only 50 games into his career as a New Orleans Pelican but it already seems clear that he’s going to be a problem for years to come — if he can stay healthy and in shape. Through 50 games, he’s averaging 23.6 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game. According to ESPN Stats and Info, he’s been one…Read more...

For the most part, the NBA has done a good job navigating through the pandemic.

Brett Gardner was the Yankees’ third-round pick in the 2005 draft, debuted in pinstripes in 2008, and has been in the Bronx ever since. He’s the last remaining player with the Yankees from their last championship team in 2009… except that right now, even he’s not remaining.

It’s not what the NBA wants you to think about. And Jayson Tatum probably doesn’t want to think about it much either. It’s not how athletes at his level process things. But Tatum was honest Tuesday when he talked about being short of breath during games more than a month after testing positive for COVID-19. That he…Read more...

There really isn’t a better wielder of the axe that struck the final blow on this era of Barcelona than Kylian Mbappé and his three-goal night. While it’s been Lionel Messi’s world for so long, any minute now it’s going to be Mbappé’s to do with how he sees fit. That is, if it isn’t already.

The conversation around transgender girls competing in sports is growing every day.

There is a Sliding Doors scenario, where the NHL simply let Jim Balsillie buy the Arizona Coyotes and move them to Hamilton, Ontario, more than a decade ago. Would it have worked? Hard to know. Balsillie’s BlackBerry tanked not too long after the proposed buy-date, and could have led to a host of problems north of the…Read more...

Six weeks ago, when the entire world watched homegrown white American terrorists storm the U.S. Capitol in a dangerous temper-tantrum/coup, Colin Kaepernick’s name and image kept being mentioned. The people that called Kaepernick unpatriotic for peacefully kneeling during a racist song because police officers have a…Read more...

Another day, another screw-up in the world of hockey when it comes to diversity. This time, it was The Hockey News.

In the never-ending battle of “kickers are people too,” Miami Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders would like to have a word. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Dolphins have given Sanders a five-year, $22 million extension that includes $10 million in guarantees, making him the highest-paid kicker in the NFL.

One thing that college is supposed to do is serve as a transition between childhood and adulthood, getting people ready for the “real world.” Jalen Johnson is now fully there, making a decision about what’s best for himself and his family, and getting ripped for it by some dope who only sees the world through college…Read more...

Updated on February 16, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.: Ariel Young, the five-year-old that was injured in the car accident with Britt Reid, is out of her coma. An initial update was posted by Tiffany Verhulst last night on the GoFundMe page for Ariel’s family that says “Ariel is awake.” However, while this post didn’t go into…Read more...

Draymond Green is speaking facts once again.

The NBA released a memo of what their totally farkakte March 7 All-Star Game will look like. The Slam Dunk Contest will indeed take place during halftime of the game, and the 3-Point Contest will be held before the game. Players who are part of the game must travel to Atlanta in private jets and must test negative for…Read more...

Texas’ complete handcuffing by winter’s rare invasion into the state is a scary situation, and thousands not having power or heat in sub-freezing temperatures is a real problem. You know that. I know that. But apparently the Dallas Stars don’t seem to know it, and required the mayor of Dallas’ office to illustrate the…Read more...

One of the rites of...well, not spring exactly, but a rite of reminding you that spring might actually arrive at some point before the light within you has completely extinguished, is the knockout stage of the Champions League. It drops into the sporting scene at the end of February, right after your NFL withdrawal…Read more...

What can the Rams expect with Matt Stafford?

Spring training starts this week, with pitchers and catchers day arriving on Wednesday for eight teams, and the rest of the majors getting going on Thursday or Friday. Hopefully, this year’s ramp-up to the season will go more smoothly than 2020, when the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues had to shut down and all of…Read more...

While basketball and hockey started at different times, there is a small sense of comfort and normalcy, as poisonous as those words can become, in the return of the February doldrums. The Sunday after the Super Bowl is always a comedown. The parades have been had, such as they were this year. Campaigns have worn off.…Read more...

I’ll be honest, I haven’t cared about Johnny Manziel since long before he was investigated for the domestic abuse of his then-girlfriend, Colleen Crowley. If you’ll recall, Manziel was charged with misdemeanor assault following allegations that he struck Crowley several times after the couple left a Dallas bar in…Read more...

As we’ve commented in the past, even with most seasons across sports being thrown into upheaval, be it shortened preseasons or odd schedules and lineups that change on a daily basis thanks to COVID protocols, the chalk has remained at the top of the standings.