Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

This is going to sound like a conspiracy theory, but hear me out. If you only put your best players in your lineup, you tend to do well. I know, right! Insane! Call me crazy, but so too did they call Galileo crazy when he said the Earth wasn’t the center of the universe, and look where we are now. Basically, I’m a…Read more...

It’s often stated that pitchers are weird, which helps explain why they tend to wet themselves every time it’s even suggested they need to change their routine. Just watch what happens when MLB tries to put in a pitch clock next season. The streets will run yellow with hurler urine!Read more...

After three years of embarrassing tanking, GM Sam Presti and the Oklahoma City Thunder have returned to relevance. They came into the NBA Lottery with the sixth-best odds at the top pick in the 2022 NBA Draft and ended up with the second pick in the draft. The Orlando Magic won the first pick and will have first dibs…Read more...

For most of his career, it was impossible to picture Lionel Messi in any other jersey than the blue and maroon of Barcelona. Nine months into his stay with Paris Saint-Germain, transfer talk for one of the best to ever lace up a pair of boots is surfacing once more, with a report coming out on Tuesday that Messi will…Read more...

The Minnesota Timberwolves were eliminated from the playoffs on April 29, and with that 114-106 loss to Memphis, we thought all aspects of the T-Wolves franchise would be gone until next season. For those of us who enjoy Anthony Edwards putting guys on posters and stupid fouls from Karl Anthony-Towns, it was a mildly…Read more...

This year’s Eastern Conference Finals matchup should be a rough, rugged, defensive series that will most likely come down to game seven. The Heat and Celtics are pretty evenly matched and familiar, having faced off in the ECF just two years ago. This will be the third meeting for the Heat and Celtics in the conference…Read more...

The second round of the playoffs worked, in part, the way that the NHL dreamed up when it went to this postseason format of divisional brackets. You can question the wisdom of it happening in the second round, but we’re getting the Battle of Alberta and the Battle of Florida now.Read more...

Before the 2021 NFL season started, before the preseason started, before team minicamps started, from the moment Ja’Marr Chase was drafted, people were calling him a bust. I’m not some saint in this situation either. I wholeheartedly believed that the Bengals should’ve selected Penei Sewell with the fifth overall…Read more...

Brace yourselves — we’ve got an automatic addition to the college football all-name team coming to Oklahoma from Tyler Junior College. Joining the ranks of Nebraska’s DeColdest “ToEvaDoIt” Crawford and Alabama’s Kool-Aid McKinstry, the Sooners throw their hat into the ring with sophomore quarterback transfer General…Read more...

I think it’s fair to say that Dallas isn’t going to get the press that Boston has been getting since about a month into its second-half turnaround. Jayson Tatum has been unbelievable, which is new for him because he’s lacked the consistency that’s demanded of great players. What Luka Dončić is doing offensively isn’t…Read more...

Sasha Banks and Naomi took their ball and went home. This is far from a work or part of WWE’s scripted episodic weekly television programming. Two of Vince McMahon’s most talented female performers walked out of Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va., and didn’t return despite being booked in last evening’s original main-event…Read more...

Despite Phil Mickelson sticking his foot so far down his throat it almost came out the other end, LIV (read: Saudi-backed league) golf continues to press forward with their plan of an eight-event series that begins this June in London and includes five tournaments in America. The only problem? Mickelson and Greg NormanRead more...

Ever since the Seattle Seahawks traded Russell Wilson, they feel like a team that’s lacked direction, especially in the quarterback department. Although the Seahawks seem hell-bent on rocking with Drew Lock under center in 2022, NBC Sports’ Peter King says Drew Brees would be a good fit in Seattle should he actually…Read more...

This is yet another distasteful side effect of the NHL’s salary cap. Fans and observers of a certain team, especially a successful one, have to start judging just how much sand is left in the hourglass. They have to weigh the age of the best players, salaries of those players, when contracts run out, how much money…Read more...

If the success of Boston’s Ime Udoka and New Orleans’ Willie Green has taught NBA ownership anything, when it comes to hiring coaches, it should be out with the old, in with the new. These two rising coaching stars stepped into dysfunctional messes, with Udoka trying to bring together a team that was fractured under…Read more...

Having a mascot/nickname that’s intimidating is essential in sports. There’s a reason why teams are never called the “librarians” or the “kittens.” And ever since Miami Football introduced the turnover chain a few years ago, we’ve seen multiple teams replicate the gimmick. But, every now and then, somebody takes it…Read more...

That was quite an exhilarating second round of NBA Playoff action… until it wasn’t.Read more...

There are one or two players who make the leap toward legitimate superstar status every playoffs. This year it was Jason Tatum and Ja Morant. To those who have been watching, Luka Dončić was finally given the opportunity to show what he could do in the second round, which is much of the same domination he’s leveled…Read more...

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There was a baseball game on the Northside of Chicago last night. I didn’t watch it. I haven’t watched any of them. But Twitter tends to tell me if there’s anything that happens of note with the Cubs. I can’t say I’m not informed. I just don’t have to watch Marquee Network’s high school AV Club level production to get…Read more...

Patrick Beverley sure didn’t waste any time jumping on the Chris Paul slander wagon following Phoenix’ Game 7 loss to Dallas. Pat Bev was up bright and early on ESPN, throwing jab after jab after jab at long-time rival CP3. Nowadays, it feels like we hear the phrase, “keep it real,” far too often, but Beverley did…Read more...

Over the weekend, Jameis Winston’s commentary about realizing his passion “wasn’t football,” it was “playing football” seems to have resonated with Drew Brees. It was also more interesting than anything he’s ever said in the public sphere. Brees is going through a pseudo-mid-life crisis exacerbated by career changes…Read more...

As of March, it has been 25 years since I had my introduction to society. My ninth birthday was in my sights, as was the end of the school year. Springtime in Chicagoland may not always bring sunshine and flowers, but it does come with promise. The occasional 60-70 degree day gives just enough hope that the dirty snow…Read more...

Wow. Freaking wow.Read more...

Sports only serve as an escape from society if you’re white.

Much like the Canadiens-Leafs series last year, this is why the NHL rejiggered its playoff system nearly a decade ago. To get things like the Edmonton Oilers vs. the Calgary Flames in the playoffs. OK, Gary Bettman’s NHL was only really concerned with getting Penguins-Capitals as often as possible and never really…Read more...

Last week, the NBA presented and christened its Eastern Conference Finals Trophy after Larry Bird. It was a well-deserved honor for an old Hick from French Lick, who helped pave the NBA’s Gilded Age. However, King James should be the most revered monarch over the East. LeBron was the Eastern Conference rep in the NBA…Read more...

When it comes to truly historic pants-shittings, they generally get to be known simply by the name of the place they took place. Say “Belo Horizonte” to any fan with even a reasonable amount of soccer knowledge, and they’ll know it was Germany 7-1 Brazil. Except that was a deeply flawed Brazil team that was lucky to…Read more...

After rushing for 16,000 yards in the NFL, Frank Gore is entering the next phase of his career as a professional athlete and stepping into the boxing ring. On Saturday, Gore had his first pro boxing match on his 39th birthday against Yaya Olorunsola in Biloxi, Miss., for Gamebred Boxing. Gore took the bout furiously,…Read more...

Playoff Draymond Green showed up in Game 6 against the Memphis Grizzlies. Then, the Golden State Warriors forward took a break from basking in the glow of his 14 point, 15-rebound, eight-assist performance to address ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins’ comments about his 24 combined points in the first five games of the…Read more...

The Milwaukee Bucks did not have enough to finish off the Boston Celtics in Game 6 at home on Friday. Just like in the Bucks’ win on Wednesday night in Boston, they were down double digits going into the fourth quarter after a third-quarter Celtics run. The Celtics would extend the lead early in the fourth, but this…Read more...

Ezekiel Elliott had one of the best starts to his NFL career of any Cowboys player in recent memory. As good as Elliott was during his rookie season in 2016, his production has declined every year since. Many fans in Dallas, including owner Jerry Jones, continue to hold out hope of a return to the Zeke of old.

They knew. Read more...

Michele Tafoya is no stranger to controversy, whether made up out of whole cloth and not really even involving her, or overlooked when she was too cozy in her sideline job with some of the NFL’s worst humans, or completely of her own doing by going on cable news and advocating for white supremacist policies.

The New Orleans Saints are looking to do some damage next season. Will they overtake the Buccaneers for top dog in the NFC South? Probably not. Will they compete? Probably. They will be a competent team with the talent to win several games, and with the NFL schedule officially unveiled, some people have realized that…Read more...

It’s deja vu all over again for the Milwaukee Bucks — their conference semifinals are looking eerily similar to last year’s series against the Brooklyn Nets. To refresh your memory, they were saved from being sent packing by none other than Kevin Durant’s big toe, juuuuust landing on that three-point line and sending…Read more...

The Washington Capitals just pissed away their first-round Eastern Conference series against the Florida Panthers. The President’s Trophy winners were on the ropes in three straight games. And the Panthers won all three of those postseason contests in succession, two in overtime and one after trailing 3-0, to be the…Read more...

I’ve watched enough disaster movies to know what a fleeing crowd looks like — people scattering, screaming, panicking. It’s one thing if movie extras are running from the Chitauri in the Avengers, but it’s another deeply disturbing, unnecessary Twitter video when it’s a crowd of Milwaukee Bucks’ fans trying to watch…Read more...

Nobody ever tweeted about a Florida Panthers playoff series victory before last night, when Carter Verhaeghe, off a pass from Claude Giroux – trade deadline acquisition and bringer of tons of vicarious Panthers fans from Philadelphia – lifted Florida to a 4-3 overtime win over the Capitals, and a 4-2 win in the series.

I don’t delve into the macabre often. I don’t even watch Law & Order. Thinking about monstrous people isn’t something I enjoy. I understand the obsession with true crime, but podcasts featuring tales of sex trafficking, torture, murder, and rape are the last thing I associate with relaxation.

Legends aren’t born, they’re made. The Twitter account @NFLGameLeaks is no different.

The NFL schedule release is the public-relations juggernaut that somehow is designed to be grand yet always comes off as vanilla. Leaks, intentional or not, happened throughout Thursday as the puzzle of the 18-week regular-season extravaganza came into focus. It’s a forced event on the league calendar that somehow has…Read more...

I find it equal parts awe-inspiring and maddening when an athlete can play two sports let alone pick one up and, in a relatively short period of time, become better at it than a lot of people who do it for a living.

Death threats, mob executions, unbearable heat — the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., where the 2022 PGA Championship will be hosted next week, has quite the spine-chilling history. In honor of it being Friday the 13th and all, let’s dive into the scariest stories that the club has to offer in its 86-year…Read more...

The city that never sleeps doesn’t know how to budget, either.

Adam Silver might be receiving a call from somebody very soon. It’ll be a friendly call from one of the NBA team owners saying that he will be in New York for a visit shortly. He will suggest that the two of them play golf soon, and as soon as that request is made, the commissioner should turn his phone off…Read more...

In any sport, the postseason is where stars carve out their legacy. The NBA playoffs are no different. In the NBA, it’s said that teams usually need a superstar or multiple stars to compete for a championship. Jimmy Butler is the man for the Miami Heat, but he’s never considered among the upper echelon of NBA hoopers.…Read more...

I wish Vegas would’ve given the public odds on how long Rich Strike’s feel-good story remained feel-good. While it didn’t take a turn to Cancel Town in the first 15 minutes after the race, it did get there during trainer Eric Reed’s 15 minutes of fame, so my unders bet would’ve hit.

I’m usually a sucker for reaction shots of big public viewings of playoff or World Cup games. Seeing that much unbridled joy amongst a group of strangers makes me believe in a better world or that there is a purpose to this silliness.

WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner’s detainment in a Russian prison was extended by a month Friday after a court appearance, multiple reports stated. Griner had been expected to appear in court on May 19, despite not being formally charged with any crime. The early appearance yielding a short extension of her…Read more...