Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

Late last week, Scottish MMA writer Iain Kidd was arguing with a Twitter user about Greg Hardy’s UFC career. That user, @Fight_Expert, searched Kidd’s name online and quickly found and posted news reports from Scotland showing that Kidd had pleaded guilty to child pornography charges over the summer. Kidd’s Twitter…Read more...

There are many compelling reasons why a reasonable person might not want to be President of the United States. The hours and stress and travel are crushing, because the broader responsibility of the job is so crushing. What a president can or cannot actually do to alter the broader course of things is a bigger and…Read more...

Well, well, well. Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has two things to celebrate today. Not only did his team win Sunday after the Steelers cratered their pants, but today Oakland fired general manager Reggie McKenzie after almost seven seasons, creating an opportunity for Grudes to gain even more power.

On Monday, the law firm Ropes & Gray released its 252-page report into the institutional failures that enabled Larry Nassar’s decades-long abuse of women and girls in his role of USA Gymnastics physician. The investigation, which was commissioned by the board of the USOC in February 2018—more than a year after the…Read more...

Jared Goff had maybe the worst game of his career on Sunday night against the Bears, putting up just 180 passing yards on 44 attempts and tossing three non–Hail Mary interceptions and zero touchdowns in L.A.’s 15-6 loss. For a Rams team that had scored at least 29 points in each of its past six games, including 54…Read more...

Over the weekend, the Chang’e-4 spacecraft took flight from Sichaun province in China. It is bound for the far side of the Moon. The craft is expected to touch down early next month, becoming the first ever to “soft-land” on the far side. Where does Steph Curry think the craft is headed?

We see a lot of deals around the web over on Kinja Deals, but these were our ten favorites today.Read more...

Taysom Hill plays more than you’d expect from a backup to Drew Brees’s backup. Saints head coach Sean Payton uses Hill as a change-of-pace QB, usually to run the read-option, and he’s logged at least seven offensive snaps in every Saints game this year. Hill had more run earlier in the season when he was playing…Read more...

This morning, TMZ published a video shot by a fan at Thursday’s game between the Jaguars and Titans, in which Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette can be seen confronting someone in the stands. Fournette can be heard yelling, “You’re too old for that,” and “I’m gonna beat your ass,” at the unseen fan.

The baseball world is very bored right now, and so is in high dudgeon over the election to the Hall of Fame of Lee Smith (fine, whatever) and Harold Baines. Harold Baines! It’s alternately inexplicable (Harold Baines was good for a long time, but c’mon, he’s no Ryan Klesko) and completely explicable (the 16-person …Read more...

Sure, it’s frustrating to have your view obstructed while trying to watch the scintillating matchup that is Nets-Knicks, but if it’s a staffer on one of the teams, don’t grab the person! Don’t grab anyone, for that matter.

Frank Ntilikina racked up three straight DNPs, even on this tanking team with no immediate ambitions. The Knicks are a buffalo carcass out in the plains, and trade whispers flitted around like flies. It was uncomfortably easy to envision the Knicks’ 2017 lottery pick, who is still a basketball infant, getting…Read more...

While local police investigate an incident during Saturday’s Chelsea-Manchester City match during which a Chelsea fan was caught on camera allegedly yelling racist shit at Raheem Sterling, Chelsea have identified four fans suspected of being involved and have banned them from attending matches while the investigation…Read more...

Last night’s game between the Rams and Bears, a 15-6 victory for Chicago, has everyone talking about the power of the Bears’ defense. And with good reason! When you go out there and throttle one of the best offenses in the league in the middle of a high-scoring era like this one, you deserve to be the lead topic of…Read more...

George Steinbrenner IV, the grandson of the late longtime owner of the New York Yankees and a person I didn’t know existed until this morning, is 22 and now co-owns an IndyCar team. He thinks, perhaps quixotically, that the youths might someday be interested in IndyCar.Read more...

Cristiano Ronaldo obviously loves himself some Cristiano Ronaldo. But you know who Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t love? Teammates who act like Cristiano Ronaldo.Read more...

$90 might seem like a lot to invest in a toothbrush, but the Oral-B Pro 7500 includes multiple brushing modes, a Bluetooth connection that gives you real time feedback and advice on your phone, and even an LED ring built into the handle that glows in different colors to tell you when it’s time to switch quadrants, or…Read more...

In its second season, Big Mouth introduced a new devilish character: the looming, judgmental Shame Wizard. In the universe of the show, the Shame Wizard was responsible for maintaining healthy levels of embarrassment in his subjects. To the teens he watched over, he appeared scary and malicious, and yet his presence…Read more...

Levi’s jeans, a Fire TV, and KitchenAid’s pasta accessories are some of the best deals online today.

It’s been one week since the Bulls fired head coach Fred Hoiberg after a 5-19 start to the season. The team was handed over to assistant coach Jim Boylen, who was left with the task of jumpstarting a young and relatively talented but extremely listless squad. Here’s how that’s going so far: Boylen got the job on…Read more...

Sales at Zappos are a rare occurrence, so shoe lovers, or even just regular people who wear shoes but feel neutral about them, should listen up: For Green Monday, Zappos is taking an extra 20% select sale styles with promo code EXTRA20. But these aren’t any ordinary select sale styles; items included range from Uggs,…Read more...

Relief pitcher Lee Smith and right fielder/DH Harold Baines were both elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday night by the Today’s Game Era Committee. Its voters gave Smith its unanimous approval, while Baines just hit the 75 percent threshold with 12 out of 16 votes. (Lou Piniella fell just one vote short.)…Read more...

Kotaku Japanese Smash Bros. Players Show Palutena Doesn’t Get Underwear Privacy | io9 Another Familiar Face Is Confirmed for Bond 25 | Jalopnik An Illinois Company is Building Brand New Ford-Licensed First-Gen Broncos | Lifehacker What’s Coming and Going From Netflix the Week of December 10, 2018 | The Takeout …Read more...

Irredeemable Vikings fan and beloved voice of Deadspin Drew Magary has been moved to the injured reserve list after an accident last week. He is receiving the best possible care, is surrounded by his family and friends, and is doing well under the circumstances. We miss his randomly capitalized exuberant tweets and…Read more...

The Miami Miracle was, like any even-half-decent football play, lovingly swiped. In this case, from one of the greatest college football game ever played: Boise State vs. Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. The Dolphins’ last gasp was supposed to be the relatively simple hook and lateral that Boise State used to tie up…Read more...

It’s Electronics Day in Amazon’s 12 Days of Deals, so it’s only natural that an Anker Gold Box is one of the highlights.

For a brief moment, it looked as though the Steelers had become the second team today to pull off a miraculous late-game hook-and-ladder play to snatch a last-second victory. With 15 seconds left in regulation, Ben Roethlisberger, who was on his second attempt at a Willis Reed impression, got the play going with a five…Read more...

In a game that will likely be used to begin sleep studies for decades to come, the Eagles waited until the second half to score their first points of the day. Carson Wentz connected with Alshon Jeffery for a two-yard touchdown throw just one play after Philly’s defense picked off Dak Prescott on the previous drive. As…Read more...

Mark Sanchez was responsible for the first touchdown of the game between Washington and New York. Only problem was that it was a pick-six. On a second-and-11 on his team’s one-yard line late in the first quarter, Sanchez’s first pass of the drive was deflected at the line and taken to the house by Curtis Riley.

Holy crap. The Miami Dolphins pulled off a successful desperation lateral play as time expired in today’s game to snatch victory from the Patriots, 34-33.Read more...

The second leg of the infamously delayed Copa Libertadores final is happening today in Madrid; the soccer knowers will have more and better things to say about it than I could. I just want to call attention to this stunning 45th-minute pass from Boca Juniors’ Nahitan Nández, ahead to a streaking Darío Benedetto, that…Read more...

Believe it or not, Patrick Mahomes is still incredible at his job. Facing second-and-one and with an all-but-free down to play with, the Chiefs, and Mahomes, chose to be aggressive and get fun. As Mahomes was scrambling away from Ravens defenders in the pocket, he looked right while whipping the ball back to his left…Read more...

So, ah, it didn’t go real great for the Bulls last night, as they played their second game in as many days, at home against the hot and better-rested Boston Celtics. It took the Bulls more than six minutes to score their first point, a free-throw; they were down 18 before they made an actual field goal. It only got…Read more...

Joe Philbin clearly wanted to make a statement in his first game as the Packers’ interim head coach by going aggressive against the Falcons. Unfortunately, that aggression came in the form of indiscriminately throwing his red challenge flag whenever he saw fit.

In an Instagram post on Sunday, Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling accused English publications of helping to “fuel racism” with the way they portray young black players in the media. The accusation came in the wake of Saturday’s game against Chelsea, where Sterling allegedly faced racial abuse from opposing…Read more...

With a little over four minutes remaining in last night’s Rockets-Mavericks game, Chris Paul drove hard at rookie Luka Dončić, then used a step-back dribble (and a, uh, conspicuously extended left elbow) to separate for a short jumper in the middle of the lane. The basket gave the Rockets an eight-point lead, 100-92;…Read more...

Jason Witten retired in May after 15 NFL seasons, leaving for a job as a color commentator on Monday Night Football. Jason Garrett has apparently been trying to get him to un-retire.Read more...

The city of Atlanta has a championship for the first time since 1995 thanks to the efforts of second-year MLS franchise Atlanta United. In front of an MLS Cup-record crowd of 73,019, United defeated the Portland Timbers 2-0 to bring their immaculate sophomore season to a close.

Congratulations to Jimmy Gressier, a 21-year-old French runner who defended his title in the Under-23 European men’s cross country championships today. We’d also like to extend our apologies to Jimmy Gressier, the two-time defending Euro cross country champ who many people now know only because he face-planted while…Read more...

The Army Black Knights held a 10-0 lead against their bitter rivals, the Navy Midshipmen, heading into the fourth quarter of the 119th game between the two academies. Faced with a fourth-and-two situation, and having used the break between quarters to mull things over, Army coach Jeff Monken elected to go for the…Read more...

College basketball promotional contests have a way of displaying the athletic ineptitude of fellow classmates or visiting alumni to the delight of an observing crowd. But every now and again, someone will show up to dominate the competition in way that’s just as exciting.Read more...

During a lull in play between the Rochester Americans and the Providence Bruins, longtime play-by-play broadcaster Don Stevens did what any good announcer would do and decided to fill the moment with some mindless banter. Stevens gave his color commentator, Ric Seiling, an opportunity to talk about his ongoing work as…Read more...

Will Grier became the latest college football player to declare his choice to focus on his future, and the upcoming NFL draft, over participating in a meaningless exhibition game. West Virginia football’s Twitter account released Grier’s statement on Saturday that announced he would be missing the Mountaineers’ match…Read more...

Something’s eating Joel Embiid. The 76ers center has seen a recent dip in form, with a string of mediocre performances that are a far cry from the MVP-like numbers he was putting up towards the beginning of the season. Over his last three games, he’s shot just 14-for-42 (1-for-9 from three), with his worst game of the…Read more...

With less than two minutes left in regulation, the Michigan Tech Huskies pulled their goalie as they attempted to chip away at what was then a 4-2 deficit against their rivals: the Northern Michigan Wildcats. This move gave NMU goaltender Atte Tolvanen the window he needed to make history. Less than a minute after the…Read more...

What kind of person still reads physical books? The best kind of person, IMO. If you’re one of them, this is probably your favorite time of year, because you know that Amazon always drops an awesome coupon. Just like Black Friday, the discount this time around is $5 off $20 via code GIFTBOOK18, and it works on…Read more...

At the Golden Spin of Zagreb, a skating competition in Croatia, the American pair skaters Ashley Cain and Timothy LeDuc were in the final third of their long program on Friday, heading into their last overhead lift, when LeDuc’s hand appeared to slip as Cain was exiting the lift. She fell, headfirst, onto the ice.…Read more...

Today, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks will be swapping some junk in boxes from their respective garages. The trade is centered around guard George Hill, who’s shooting 46.4 percent from three and could be useful to Milwaukee, but the real draw here is Australian five…Read more...

David Silva has long been one of the most aesthetically pleasing players in soccer, mostly because he is a wizard with the ball at his feet but also due to a handsome look that married strong, angular facial features with what was a delightfully messy mop of hair. Then last year he buzzed off that flowing mane, which…Read more...

Redheaded American forward Josh Sargent—probably the first- or second-most likely American teenager to inherit the mantle of “Wonderteen” from Christian Pulisic—has been behind in the pecking order for striker-rich Bundesliga squad Werder Bremen for most of the season. However, this afternoon, the 18-year-old was…Read more...