Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

Alan Maloney, a high school wrestling referee in New Jersey who called another referee the n-word in an incident two years ago, this week told a black teen from Buena High School that he couldn’t wear a cover over his dreadlocks during a wrestling meet, and that he would have to forfeit or cut them off. The wrestler,…Read more...

Louis Riddick wasn’t responding directly to fellow ESPNer Stephen A. Smith’s latest dose of stupid, but in this clip from this morning’s episode of Get Up, it certainly seems like that’s what Riddick was doing.Read more...

So I guess ESPN got what they wanted. Days after LeBron James said “duh” when asked if it would be cool to have one of the best players in the world on his team, rival general managers are reportedly losing bowel control over the terrifying implications of a player acknowledging aloud what is plainly obvious to any…Read more...

The Mavericks lost to the Clippers last night in a rather entertaining edition of the DeAndre Jordan Bowl, one where nobody was particularly interested in playing defense and Lou Williams did the Lou Williams thing of making every goddamn shot he thought about. Leading the line for the Mavs was Slovenian rookie…Read more...

A massive majority of D.C. residents want to give Dan Snyder nothing, save their middle finger. But a few of the most powerful folks around town have been conspiring for some time behind closed doors to refute the will of the people and give the Skins owner choice public lands for a new stadium. A key member of this…Read more...

On Tuesday, the New York State Attorney General’s Office announced that they had reached a settlement in their suit against the Donald J. Trump Foundation over its (prolific) self-dealing and other assorted misdeeds. Beyond the usual Trump-scented malfeasance in which the foundation engaged, one detail especially…Read more...

On Friday morning, Michigan special prosecutor William Forsyth released a withering report, which you can read here, about Michigan State’s handling of years of sexual assault complaints against Larry Nassar. In the report, Forsyth blames MSU’s “culture of indifference and institutional protection” for the eventual…Read more...

The players themselves came up with another way of fostering team chemistry: They called it the 5 o’clock club.

ESPN yakker Stephen A. Smith, who has always been a huge weirdo when it comes to drugs, went on TV last night and shared his thoughts on addiction during a discussion about Josh Gordon. It basically unfolded like the real-life version of this tweet.

A huge AmazonBasics sale, a bidet sale, a discounted dehydrator and Tile Mates with replaceable batteries kick off Friday’s best deals.

Nick Richards had the right idea. After setting a screen on the right side of the arc, the Kentucky forward rolled toward the lane and found himself open as two defenders converged on ball-handler Keldon Johnson. Richards received the pass and turned toward the hoop, where he had a good look at a layup or even a dunk,…Read more...

The most important man in baseball every December is Ryan Thibodaux. Thibodaux runs the Baseball Hall of Fame Vote Tracker, which does exactly what it promises: it keeps a running tally of BBWAA members’ ballots, allowing you (and also, crucially, people who are actually good with statistics) to get a sense of the…Read more...

Gizmodo Mystery Drone Still on the Loose at Gatwick Airport, But Flights Resume Anyway | Jalopnik Brand-New Volkswagen Arrives at Dealer and Drops an F-Bomb to America | Kotaku Smash Ultimate’s Big Boys Finally Kick Butt | Lifehacker How Do I Use a Smart Speaker Without an Assistant Spying on Me? | The Takeout Pixar’s…Read more...

Allow me to throw cold water on your hopes and dreams of seeing Nathan Peterman throw (and complete? to his own team, even?) passes in silver and black in the final two weeks of this season. He is merely on the Raiders’ practice squad, leading the scout team as regular backup A.J. McCarron is back home in Alabama for…Read more...

The insanely overpowered Duke Blue Devils gave Texas Tech their first loss of the season Thursday night, at Madison Square Garden, in a refreshingly competitive 69–58 game. Among other things, this was humanoid megafauna Zion Williamson’s first career game at the home of the Knicks, and so of course afterward he was…Read more...

The resurgent Rockets lost by two points in Miami Thursday night, but here’s what you need to know: they were up eight points in the second quarter when Chris Paul suffered another hamstring injury and had to leave the game. After the loss—which, to be fair, came on the second night of a back-to-back—Rockets head…Read more...

This is an odd one: Kings guard Buddy Hield celebrated his 25th birthday Monday. I know this because the NBA, ESPN, Basketball Reference, Draft Express, CBS Sports, Yahoo Sports, RotoWire, something called Roster Source, and The Official Site of the Sacramento Kings all tell me that he was born in December of 1993.Read more...

All appears to be forgiven in Columbus as Ohio State has already announced a plan to keep retired coach Urban Meyer on campus. In an interview with 10TV’s Dom Tiberi, Meyer revealed that he will be co-teaching a course on character and leadership at Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business. He will be teaching…Read more...

Eddie, a sea otter at the Oregon Zoo, died this morning, as reported by the Oregonian. He was 20, a remarkably old age for otters, which usually live to be around 15. His main pastimes were dunking a little ball into a hoop, and blowing himself.

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

Gizmodo The Amazon Alexa Eavesdropping Nightmare Came True | Jalopnik It Was Japan’s Most Daring Car. Then the Economy Imploded | Kotaku New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe’s Peachette Is Even More Interesting Than Any Of Us Predicted | Lifehacker How to Score Free Food, Drinks, and Amenities at Hotels | The Takeout …Read more...

Nice, simple drinkware is something you need to own if you share a hobby with every person to ever appear on HGTV — entertaining. It goes with any theme, any decor, any level of formality.

The pitched legal battle over control of the Denver Broncos continues to drag on. Bill Bowlen, brother of owner Alzheimer’s-stricken owner Pat, is carrying on with a lawsuit against the three-person trust tasked with overseeing the ownership transition, and the trust and one faction of the Bowlen family is fighting…Read more...

In July, after ending a mysterious slump and winning his first grand slam title in two years, Novak Djokovic split up with his hug-loving spiritual guru, Pepe Imaz. However, Djokovic seems to have retained a lot of Imaz’s teachings, like those about the power of telepathy and telekinesis and the limitations of the…Read more...

Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan, long a skilled troll, is gearing up to play the Steelers this week and probably sack Ben Roethlisberger a bunch. The Steelers have been ass on the road lately, and though their backs are against the wall, the Saints still have the No. 1 seed to play for, so they’re not going to…Read more...

Well, this is an easy sale to get behind. Eddie Bauer is taking 50% off just about everything, and they’re doing it right as we’re hitting peak cold weather season. That’s impeccable timing considering they’re best known as the company that patented the first quilt down jacket. Shop men’s, women’s and even gear to…Read more...

The University of Maryland has released surveillance video and other footage from the football team’s offseason workout on May 29, 2018 that resulted in the death by heat stroke of football player Jordan McNair. The surveillance videos add little to the story, and the parts of the videos that contain medical…Read more...

Every sports league is too long, but each is too long in its own specific way. The NFL’s mirrors the sport’s true nature as a weekly television show; Major League Baseball can make a half-convincing case for those multiple months of deeply meaningless games in its middle as part of its broader summery essence; the NHL…Read more...

So you bought a loved one an Amazon Echo. Maybe it was on sale, or maybe it was on someone’s list. But inevitably, an Echo is a bad gift. It’s also a lazy gift. But don’t worry. It’s not too late to return it and get a better gift.Read more...

Just two months ago, Rick Pitino and I had big dreams. He was going to stride confidently back into the NBA, take control of a franchise desperately in need of his knack for player development, and begin the satisfying third act of his career. I, on the other hand, was going to ascend into the cosmos, seize control of…Read more...

Right as the Pistons sealed a road overtime win against the Timberwolves last night, Blake Griffin prompted a short stoppage in play when he confronted a fan near the Pistons bench. Griffin, who went off for a game-high 34 points, was held back by his teammates as he yelled “What the fuck did you say to me?” at a…Read more...

During his eventful three-plus seasons with the Wizards, Kelly Oubre distinguished himself as a supremely annoying heel, most notably as a central figure in the ’Zards’ futile, one-sided rivalry with the Boston Celtics. Oubre famously lost his cool and shoved Kelly Olynyk to the hardwood in the 2016-17 playoffs,…Read more...

The cover of the newest issue of Bloomberg Businessweek dispenses with the magazine’s fondness for abstract, artsy covers. In one of a small handful of instances this year, the front page centers a single person with a straightforward headline. “How to Clean Up A #MeToo Mess,” reads the white text over an image of a…Read more...

A big Calvin Klein sale, a big box of meat, and a discounted iTunes gift card kick off Thursday’s best.Read more...

Familiarity breeds contempt in sports rivalries, but in some cases it can also breed repetitive dullness. For the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals, who have met in the playoffs each of the past three seasons with the victor going on to win the Stanley Cup, there was a looming possibility that both teams…Read more...

Duquesne, a 5.5-point underdog, played a back-and-forth game with Penn State last night. The Dukes led by seven at halftime, and they tied it on a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left.

Patriots WR Josh Gordon will reportedly be suspended, again, for a drug policy violation, again.

Jalopnik Woman Becomes High Mileage Hero By Driving Her Hyundai Elantra One Million Miles In Five Years, And Even Hyundai Can’t Believe It | Gizmodo Samsung Can’t Afford to Hold Back Anymore | Kotaku GTA Online Players Find Easter Egg By Tipping Bathroom Attendant At Least 500 Times | Skillet Make Korean Sauna Eggs in…Read more...

We are thick in the middle of the most hilariously named bowl games, and while Wednesday’s Frisco Bowl can’t compete on that front with this, the day before, or this, the day after, perhaps we can take some solace in the fact that until last year the Frisco Bowl was the Miami Beach Bowl, meaning all of these players…Read more...

Is there a better gift than a big-ass box of meat? I’m struggling to think of one. Butcher Box sells $135 e-gift cards that can be redeemed for the special holiday gift box of your giftee’s choice, and our readers can buy a card for just $120 right now with promo code KINJA.

The Rockets set a new NBA single-game record for made three-pointers Wednesday night, in a 136–118 beatdown of the lousy Wizards. The various unconscious Rockets combined to knock down 26 threes, which is one more than the Cleveland Cavaliers knocked down in an insane 25-of-46 performance against the Hawks in March…Read more...

David Fizdale has a tough job. His Knicks are 9–24 on the season. They’ve lost three straight, they’re one of the two or three worst defensive teams in basketball, and Kristaps Porzingis is out indefinitely. A lesser coach might struggle to conjure motivational messages any more vivid than “the gigantic Latvian will…Read more...

Back in May, Capitals goon Tom Wilson flattened Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Following the hit, humongous Penguins defenseman Jamie Oleksiak tried to square up with Wilson for a little fisticuffs. Wilson, perhaps noticing the way Oleksiak’s mass observably alters the…Read more...

Major League Baseball and the Cuban Baseball Federation reached an agreement Wednesday on a deal that would allow Cuban baseball players to play in America without having to defect and be smuggled into the United States. From MLB.com:Read more...

Indiana attorney general Curtis Hill filed a pair of limited objections today in USA Gymnastics’ ongoing bankruptcy case in federal court. The reason for the objections, implied by the filings and confirmed by the Indianapolis Star, is that his office is investigating the Indianapolis-based organization.

Gizmodo ‘Like Riding on a Dirt Road’: First Reviews of Elon Musk’s Underground Tunnel Are Disappointing | Jalopnik I Went to China to Race a New Car. Then Things Got Weird | Kotaku The Biggest Video Game Disappointments of 2018 | Lifehacker Why Are Rappers, YouTubers, and TV Stars Suing Epic Games Over Fortnite’s…Read more...

It’s easy to see why you—basketball reporter or blogger or TV analyst or general enthusiast not hailing from New Orleans—might salivate at the prospect at Anthony Davis and LeBron James on the same roster. I’m right there with you. It’s an enticing prospect, because it would provide a flesh-and-blood answer to a…Read more...

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

The Kansas Jayhawks under Bill Self have been so consistently good that their dominance of the Big 12 may be getting a bit boring. But if there’s ever been an especially dull Kansas squad, at least at first glance, it’s the one that’s been on the court so far this year. The Jayhawks look incredible, no doubt—they’re…Read more...