Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

Don’t look now, but Aaron Rodgers is the MVP of the NFL — again.

We had a pair of fourth quarter thrillers on our hands last night, as two surprising unbeaten teams in the NBA and NFL tried to keep their winning streaks alive. The Bulls mounted a late comeback against the Knicks, which would be a largely meaningless phrase if both teams hadn’t shocked their long-suffering fan bases…Read more...

If, by instinct, you turned on TNT last night at 8 p.m. EST expecting to see Ernie, Charles, Kenny, Shaq setting up a prime time basketball game, you received an unpleasant surprise: Hotel Transylvania 2.

The NFL is continuing its tradition of not doing enough to promote diversity by doubling the Rooney Rule requirement to interview at least two external minority general manager/executive/coordinator candidates. Head coaching slots were already under this rule, but now, along with GM roles, must include at least one…Read more...

A day late, and really 11 years late, Joe Quenneville resigned from his head coaching gig, though now it’s with the Florida Panthers. Quenneville was cowardly and disgustingly allowed to be behind the bench Wednesday night for the Cats, not even an hour after Kyle Beach had poured his heart out on TSN. It was yet…Read more...

The news flashed out of nowhere, which is probably the most worrying thing. The Padres hired Bob Melvin as a manager, which is great for them. Melvin has been making the most out of whatever he’s been given in Oakland for a decade now, and a lot of that time it has been a mishmash of misfit toys. He’ll immediately…Read more...

Philly’s favorite son, Allen Iverson, has been keeping a close eye on the 76ers’ dilemma regarding Ben Simmons wanting to leave town. Iverson gave Philadelphia the best years of his career and even led the team to its last NBA Finals appearance in 2001. There aren’t too many athletes who know that rabid, cantankerous…Read more...

He is a fan favorite in Chicago, yet never came close to averaging 20 points per game.Read more...

Yesterday, the Houston Texans traded their lead running back, Mark Ingram, to the New Orleans Saints along with a swap of late-round draft picks.

If the world ended today (because that’s the only way the NBA season would end today, and I hate cliches, but this one is useful in this case), the NBA would finish with the fewest free throw attempts per game in the history of the league. Even though we’re only five games into the season and players haven’t yet…Read more...

As I’ve repeatedly stated, this was the season I really tried to follow MLS closely. It’s been mostly hit, some miss, but it’s hard to not see the charm. It is perhaps the last bastion of the true No. 10, where the space in midfield allows them to work their magic and drive teams to success. It’s where some teams…Read more...

Ugh. Russell Westbrook has become a “guardian of the game” guy, and it couldn’t be more disappointing.

Thursday Night Football has a reputation for being underwhelming. Just look at the seven Thursday games we’ve had thus far this season. Only two were really enticing matchups: Week 1's Cowboys-Bucs and Week 5's Rams-Seahawks. Luckily, in Week 8, we get another thrilling matchup between the 7-0 Arizona Cardinals and…Read more...

Take two for Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Ky….well, the third member of Brooklyn’s big trio is on a leave of absence, and maybe that is part of the reason for the Nets’ struggles early on this season.Read more...

With a forecast in the low 50s and scattered showers in the morning, the Wolverines are coming to East Lansing this Saturday — on the eve of Halloween, it’s got all the makings to be the perfect day of good old Midwestern college football.Read more...

(TW: Sexual assault)

It couldn’t end any other way, especially when you bone it and get zipped by Rayo Vallecano to fall to ninth in the La Liga table.

(TW: Sexual assault)Read more...

“JJ Watt is out with what looks to be a season-ending injury.”Read more...

Does Alex Rodriguez know what “analytics” means? You would think he should, being a television commentator for baseball in 2021, but life is full of surprises — such as A-Rod praising the Houston Astros in Game 2 of the World Series for an “anti-analytics inning.”

NFL owners are aghast that noted scumbag Stan Kroenke is trying to back out on the bill for a lawsuit related to his shameless, fraudulent, and clearly illegal move of the Rams from St. Louis back to LA.Read more...

I’ve wondered about something in sports for a while now, and it just happened again and left me massaging my temples. When heaping praise upon one individual, you don’t need to disparage another in the process of doing so.Read more...

The team formerly known as the Cleveland Indians is being sued over their non-rights to the name “Cleveland Guardians.” The Cleveland Guardians moniker is already trademarked by a roller derby team located in Parma, one of the suburbs of Cleveland. However, that hasn’t stopped Cleveland’s MLB franchise from attempting…Read more...

Maybe it’s just my misconception of why people watch and follow sports. It seems like they’re held to too high a standard at the worst possible times. Because we’re asking people completely unequipped to deal with serious, life-changing issues… to say and do things that we’d imagine we do if put in the same spot. Even…Read more...

There have been so many sick moves in the NBA over the years. Some became signature moves that certain players are known for on the court, while others are seen as iconic moments when time seemed to stand still. The crossover dribble is one of those moves that gets fans to jump out of their seats, ooohing and ahhing…Read more...

The Cincinnati Bengals had an important decision to make with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Joe Burrow played plenty well enough in 2020 to solidify his place as the Bengals’ franchise quarterback for as long as he is able to play football. In the draft, the Bengals needed to use that pick to give…Read more...

Backstage drama in professional wrestling is part of the charm, given that it usually finds its way into their on-screen storytelling. Reading about rumors and whispers in the business becomes a major staple for a lot of fans. But still, like sports, when things from backstage and in the locker room get consistently…Read more...

I’m about as sick of the college football coaching carousel chatter as Mike Tomlin. I know reporters are obligated to ask these questions, but it’s like asking a child standing in front of a puddle of spilt milk, “Did you do this?” There needs to be a word for asking a question you know you’re not going to get a…Read more...

Washington Football Team wide receiver Terry McLaurin is having a very good season, probably the best of his three-year career. Scary Terry is on pace to surpass his career-best marks in yards per game (78.6) and touchdowns (on pace for 9.7), and he’s doing all of this while having Taylor Heinicke throw him the…Read more...

We’re approaching the four-month mark since the NCAA officially approved name, image, and likeness rights for student-athletes and, somehow, the apocalypse has not come, the collegiate model has not collapsed, and Dabo Swinney is still coaching (to some extent, at least). As athletes, schools, sponsors and lawmakers…Read more...

Ray Donovan. Olivia Pope. Roger Goodell.Read more...

It was throwback night in professional sports on Tuesday. The evening began with a nationally televised prime time Knicks game at Madison Square Garden on TNT… and a half hour after that started, the Atlanta Braves played in their first World Series game in 22 years. Both teams won, but that wasn’t what last night was…Read more...

A paltry $2 million fine for the franchise, less severe than the New Jersey Devils’ penalty for salary cap circumvention. Stan Bowman allowed to resign as general manager, rather than getting fired, with good odds that when hockey’s old boys network cranks up again, he’ll be a consultant or an assistant somewhere.Read more...

It’s strange. For all the absolute world-class players the USWNT has had, and still does, we still think of them as a “team.” Maybe that’s a testament to their absurd depth, and their dedication to being the best as a unit, that we rarely single one out. Megan Rapinoe may have won Player of the Tournament in 2019’s…Read more...

For all the sneakerheads out there, a top-of-the-line collector’s item just sold for close to $1.5 million in a Sotheby’s auction at Aria in Las Vegas. A pair of Michael Jordan’s game-worn Nike’s that he played in early in his rookie year — before the Air Jordan 1 sneakers were ready.

I’m starting to sense a pattern here.Read more...

Banner day for commissioners all around, as Roger Goodell couldn’t wait to get his whole foot in his mouth and possibly brain as well. Goodell announced that the investigation into the WFT’s culture won’t be released publicly other than a summary. This was on the same day, the SAME DAY, that an NHL team released a…Read more...

I understand at the dawn of every league’s championship that the commissioner has to do something of a state of the union. Roger Goodell, Gary Bettman, Adam Silver… they all have a press conference before Game 1 or the Super Bowl. Given the daily nature of baseball, Rob Manfred has to do it on the day of Game 1 or…Read more...

Where would the Braves be without Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuña Jr.? Where would the Padres be without Fernando Tatís Jr.? What about the Astros with Carlos Correa, José Altuve, Yuli Gurriel, and Yordan Álvarez?Read more...

LaMelo Ball is to NBA Twitter what IPAs are to hipsters, Band of Brothers is to old white guys, dogs to my girlfriend, wine to NBA players (?) — there is no highlight too mundane, no beer too hoppy, no voiceover too stoic, no bottle too expensive for them not to click, sip, watch or waft.

The details are always worse than you can imagine, even if the overall arc of the story is exactly what we all expected. And so it proved as the Chicago Blackhawks released the findings of their internal investigation into how the organization handled accusations of sexual assault and harrassment by one of their…Read more...

Pete Carroll and Seattle Seahawks fans are getting a taste of what life without Russell Wilson could be like if he leaves the franchise. The Seahawks were struggling before Wilson injured his right middle finger in their Week 5 game against the Rams, and they’re now 0-2 without him in the starting lineup.Read more...

On Monday, former USC quarterback Carson Palmer appeared on the Dan Patrick Show. At the end of the interview, Patrick threw in a question about Palmer’s role in USC’s coaching search and it turned into the highlight of the interview. He said that USC is looking at several coaches, and mentioned a name that no one…Read more...

Floyd Mayweather has decided to weigh in on the Kyrie vaccine situation and, in a move that shocked absolutely no one, not only supported Irving’s stance but actually went so far as to say that Kyrie was “leading a revolution.”Read more...

Is it too early in the NBA season for Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant to be sending out overcoming adversity tweets after a missed free throw? Probably. Is it too early in the season to consider the Grizzlies a contender in the Western Conference? Absolutely. It’s even too early in the season to think that Morant…Read more...

If you looked up and to the north this morning and thought you could make out a noxious cloud in the distance, don’t worry, it’s just the usual October phenomenon. The NHL season is two weeks old and the Toronto Maple Leafs have not awarded the Stanley Cup due to the majesty of their excellence and the entire metro…Read more...

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A single championship does not a dynasty make, despite Kevin Durant’s comment this summer that the Bucks were “forming somewhat of a dynasty.”Read more...

No more bullshit in Chicago — these Bulls are good.

Oliver Marmol was introduced as the new manager of the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday. At 35, he’s the youngest manager the Cardinals have had since Marty Marion, who was 34, in 1951. He’s also younger than eight players from last season’s roster, including Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright. Perhaps, more importantly,…Read more...