Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

After 85 years as an all-women’s undergraduate school, the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, Conn. announced in 2017 that it would begin admitting men for the 2018-19 academic year. Almost immediately after creating men’s athletic programs and hiring a coaching staff for those programs, the Division III…Read more...

Washington Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki was taken out of Wednesday night’s Game 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers when a high-and-tight fastball from Walker Buehler deflected off his wrist and into his face in the top of the seventh inning. The impact was audible, and Suzuki crashed to the ground and appeared to be…Read more...

President Trump was asked a direct question Wednesday about the ongoing and escalating conflict between the NBA and the Chinese government, which started with a seven-word tweet of support for Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey. Because he is incapable of processing the…Read more...

A day after NBA commissioner Adam Silver released a statement wondering whether everyone couldn’t just get along and enjoy some hoops, eight members of Congress, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ted Cruz, signed a letter to Silver condemning the the NBA’s response to the controversy over Daryl Morey’s tweet…Read more...

The Atlanta Braves selectively and cynically scrubbed the “tomahawk chop” celebration ahead of Wednesday’s Game 5 against the St. Louis Cardinals. This did not go far enough, as was evidenced by defiant Braves fans loudly performing the chop almost immediately after the start of the game. Moments later—and I do mean…Read more...

Hours before today’s winner-take-all NLDS Game 5, the Atlanta Braves responded to Cardinals reliever Ryan Helsley’s comments about the disrespectful nature of the team’s longstanding “tomahawk chop” celebration. In a somewhat surprising turn, the team said they would not pass out foam tomahawks to fans, and they…Read more...

A New York judge gave a group of insurance companies the go-ahead to seek evidence that the NFL sought to share cover-up strategies with tobacco companies as part of a ferocious, years-long legal battle over which side will pay for claims related to the league’s concussion settlement.Read more...

There’s only room for one Alpha Dickhead in the Pacific Division, and Drew Doughty and Matthew Tkachuk have now spent years trying to stake their claim at the top.Read more...

So, here’s a tweet.Read more...

Salah Hassan was a journalist working in Iraq for Al Jazeera in 2003 when the U.S. military arrested him, took him to the Abu Ghraib prison, and tortured him. This happened because did his job well—he was quick to the scene after a roadside bomb attack in Diyala. As Hassan spent 48 days in detention without ever being…Read more...

Peace has been achieved in our time. One day after Richard Sherman’s claim that Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield snubbed him in a handshake line was alternately proven and disproven by a multitude of new angles, the 49ers cornerback conceded that he may have gotten too far out over his skis. Sherman joined Da Zone’s…Read more...

An artist who goes by “Maso Rich” has produced hyper-faithful, parallel-universe versions of the Instagram accounts of LeBron James and Steph Curry. In these universes, LeBron is a giraffe and Steph, in an inspired bit of casting, is a bush baby. Deadspin spoke with Maso Rich on the phone to understand where these…Read more...

A friendly match in Monterrey, Mexico between the Houston Dash and Tigres Feminil was marred at the end when Dash midfielder Sofia Huerta appeared to be groped by a fan while she was taking a selfie after the game was over.Read more...

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Because the cast members of VH1's Basketball Wives have been essentially commissioned to bicker, it’s hardly news when they’re feuding. To a general audience that doesn’t follow the show (the reunion airs tonight), the granular details of the fights it spawns are as about as relevant as advances in molecular biology…Read more...

As a typical American sports fan, you very well might not know who Coleen Rooney is. If you don’t, then you definitely have never heard of Rebekah Vardy. But I can assure you that this story of Rooney, a famous WAG, going fishing for a clout shark she suspected of secretly selling info culled from her private…Read more...

Melania Trump recently posed with a very shiny ceremonial shovel, breaking ground on a new tennis pavilion at the White House—an essential piece of the legacy of the Trump presidency, which is mostly about being evil and extremely rich.Read more...

It’s long been rumored that Rihanna declined an invitation to perform at the Super Bowl LIII halftime show because she was morally opposed to the league’s treatment of Colin Kaepernick. Now, thanks to an interview she gave to Vogue, we know that rumor to be true.

All hail Holly, winner of Fat Bear Week 2019 as well as our hearts.

Despite, or perhaps due to, FIFA’s ongoing and futile efforts to curb racism in soccer, England’s national team has decided to walk off the field during its upcoming Euro 2020 qualifying matches if they face racist abuse from opposing fans. That’s according to Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham, who said on Tuesday that…Read more...

It would be ludicrous and premature, after just three games, to declare that the Oilers definitely, definitely won the James Neal–for–Milan Lucic trade with the Flames. But: I declared it after zero games, so why pop that take in the freezer now?

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Blizzard’s acquiescence to the power of the Chinese government/market has seen the company eat a lot of shit over the last 24 hours. So it was, depending on how you look at it, either the worst or most perfect time imaginable to try and broadcast the American Collegiate Hearthstone Championship.

The Rays roughed up Game 1 winner and eclipse lover Justin Verlander Tuesday night, got nine innings of tough pitching from their bullpen, and grabbed a 4–1 win to send their ALDS series against the Astros back to Houston for a winner-take-all Game 5. The Rays, who were widely considered to be chum headed into this…Read more...

Kristi Toliver should have worn a different shirt. The Washington Mystics’ veteran guard was not quiet about her and her team’s intentions as they walked into enemy territory in Connecticut for Game 4 of the WNBA Finals: They wanted to clinch the franchise’s first-ever championship, and they wanted to do it tonight.Read more...

It appears disgraced former Baylor head football coach Art Briles has brought scandal to his new team, the Mount Vernon Tigers of the Mount Vernon Independent School District, in (you guessed it) Mount Vernon, Texas. Briles and his high school program were publicly reprimanded by a unanimous six-member District…Read more...

Ben Simmons’s extreme reluctance to attempt shots from outside the paint during his two healthy NBA seasons has been overshadowed somewhat by both the vastly stranger shooting struggles of a fellow 76ers top pick, and by Simmons’s own general two-way excellence. But his shooting stroke has been badly busted, and the…Read more...

Denver Broncos cornerback De’Vante Bausby had to be taken off the field on a backboard during the second quarter of his team’s game against the Chargers on Sunday after a helmet-to-helmet collision with his teammate, Alexander Johnson, as both went for a tackle. Bausby went to a trauma center after the injury, and…Read more...

At the tail end of First Take’s extended discussion today about the ongoing debacle between the NBA and China, Stephen A. Smith had one final take he wanted to get off. He began auspiciously, if not with his trademark eloquence: “I would remind you that, throughout this world, one of the things that exists is the…Read more...

The Athletic didn’t publish any articles about Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey’s since-deleted Friday tweet in support of pro-democracy Hong Kong protestors, or about the subsequent manic attempts at damage control by the Rockets owner and the NBA, until a couple days after the controversy began. It was a long enough…Read more...

It is time now to enter the depths of Handshakeghazi.

If you paid attention to ESPN channels yesterday, you saw the network repeatedly attempt to grapple with the story of Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey creating an international incident after tweeting and then deleting his support for pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong. You heard talking head after…Read more...

Bastian Schweinsteiger was three different players. The German superstar, who announced his retirement from soccer on Tuesday, is leaving behind one of the most peculiar careers in recent soccer memory. From a wide player breaking into Germany’s 2006 World Cup side, to one of the best and most idiosyncratic central…Read more...

Today, we’re talking about getting eaten by a whale, state names as first names, typos, Hitler, butter knives, and more.Read more...

Stadium’s Jeff Goodman spoke with Gonzaga coach Mark Few yesterday about California’s recently passed Fair Pay to Play Act and the broader movement to see college athletes compensated for their labor. Few expressed some wishy-washy support for players being able to make some money, but only after bizarrely going in on…Read more...

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Andy Murray’s happy return to tennis wouldn’t have been complete without some trademark stink-faced kvetching—mostly at himself, but occasionally at his opponent when the situation warrants. Few opponents deserve a good kvetch in the face like Fabio Fognini, Murray’s matchup in the second round of the Shanghai…Read more...

It was all so good just four months ago. Back then, Tottenham were in the midst of their best Champions League run ever, beating Manchester City and Ajax on consecutive last-second magic tricks and getting ready to face Liverpool in the final. What a difference four months can make.Read more...

Today brings us what will hopefully be the final update about the state of Jets quarterback Sam Darnold’s spleen, which was thrust into a precarious position by the mononucleosis virus that has kept him out of action since Week 2. We are pleased to pass along the following announcement: Spleen strong.Read more...

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has released a second public statement regarding the controversy over Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s tweet in support of Hong Kong pro-democracy protests, and the Chinese government’s punitive response to the tweet.Read more...

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This has been said many times before, but the Cleveland Browns asked for this. All the hype and shit-talking that followed them throughout the preseason set them up precisely for the kind of embarrassing loss they had last night. Not only did the 49ers beat them 31-3, they took every opportunity to rub Baker…Read more...

As five weeks is usually more than sufficient time to establish the true pecking order in the National Football League, it is now clear that Super Bowl LIV (as opposed to Super Bowl LUV) will feature the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers.

The last time the Minnesota Twins won a playoff game, Shannon Stewart knocked in Michael Cuddyer for the go-ahead run, Jacque Jones homered, and Johan Santana threw seven scoreless innings as the Twins beat the Yankees in Game 1 of the 2004 ALDS. The next night, Hideki Matsui singled off J.C. Romero to score Derek…Read more...

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Chung “Blitzchung” Ng Wai, a pro Hearthstone player from Hong Kong, ended a stream earlier this week with a statement of support for those engaged in months-long protests against local police and government. As a result of this, Blizzard has ruled that he violated competition rules, and have handed out a heavy…Read more...

The Cleveland Browns’ dewy preseason vainglory wouldn’t be especially bothersome had it not (a) convinced people that sucking for a long time is shrewd and reasonable; and (b) compelled whoever’s in charge to slot the Browns in four primetime games this season. Monday night, the joke was on them. The Browns were left…Read more...

The Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Twins Monday night, with a 5–1 win in Minnesota to end their American League divisional series. These games were not close. The Yankees scored 23 runs in the series, to the Twins’ seven. Every other divisional series is still active, with both National League series…Read more...

Davey Martinez and the Washington Nationals didn’t resort to another bullpen appearance from a starting pitcher Monday night, thank God. That’s a gimmick that was bound to fail the more it’s used, either spectacularly and all at once, or cumulatively, or both. It already blew up in their faces Sunday night; Monday, a…Read more...

Marcus Morris is determined to bring some tenacity back to a moribund Knicks team that still lacks much by way of high-end talent, but could make up some of the difference by playing coherent basketball for the first time in years. Morris got a good start on establishing a certain toughness for this team Monday night…Read more...