Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

This might be difficult to believe, but up until today Simone Biles had never won a world championship gold medal on the vault.Read more...

Roger Federer has cut an unusual path into the fourth round at Paris: he played just two sets of tennis to get there. He had a first-round bye, then second-round opponent Milos Raonic withdrew from the tournament, and then he defeated the sleepy pirate Fabio Fognini, 6-4, 6-3. So all of a sudden, a slightly creaky,…Read more...

The Raiders suffered their most humiliating loss of the season Thursday night, a dismal 34–3 pounding to a one-win 49ers team that came into the game with a bottom-ten scoring offense, a bottom-ten scoring defense, and a rookie quarterback making his first career start. The Raiders opened up with a field goal, then…Read more...

Where Wild Card’s set of trading cards for the 1992 presidential election is concerned, the question is less how the set came to be than why. The how part is easy: Given a smallish photo budget, a sufficiently defective sense of judgment, and no meaningful pressure to sell any of the cards, a company could…Read more...

The horses had all the hay they needed, the random bucket of water had been emptied into the wash trough, the cook had his sacks of grain or flour or whatever, and there were no more logs to split. The menial morning chores were done. And I thought, Shit, I guess now I gotta go have a thrilling Old West adventure. I…Read more...

Maryland backup punter Matthew Barber was involved in a physical altercation with at least one teammate after Tuesday’s team practice, and he later told the Baltimore Sun that he was attacked because other players thought that he had been a whistleblower during the investigation into the football program that led to…Read more...

Bol Bol is not your average 7-foot-2 basketball player. He is not awkward, not stiff, not gangly. He does not succeed solely on his height—though it certainly helps. He is mobile, and he is athletic, and he is offensive-minded. Physically, his body can’t help but remind you of his famous father. But a more immediate…Read more...

Perhaps it was giving too much credit to a pathetic Oakland Raiders squad to have thought that 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens, who started last night’s game despite never having taken a snap in regular-season NFL action, was going to have a hard time. But even though it came against a team as lifeless as the Raiders,…Read more...

I always get stuck on the “t.” It’d be a hell of a lot easier to say the name of Montreal Canadiens rookie center Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Cot-Kuh-Nee-Emmy) five times fast if it weren’t for that dang “t” at the end of the first syllable. But alas, this is everyone’s problem now—the 18-year-old third-overall pick out of…Read more...

Jalopnik Why Won’t Dealers Negotiate On Pre-Owned Cars? | Gizmodo Man Shot by His Own Dog Proves That in Virtually Any Scenario, They Are Still Good Boys | Kotaku The Internet Reacts To Piranha Plant In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | Lifehacker How to Manage Your Seasonal Depression | The Takeout Tamales are a treat for…Read more...

It happened again! Nine months after two Trail Blazers fans played an infuriatingly bad game of tic-tac-toe between quarters, that game has a challenger for the title.Read more...

There are quite a few permutations of the Lord of the Rings films out there on Blu-ray, but the extended editions are the ones you want, and the extended trilogy pack is down to $26 at at Amazon today, complete with all three extended films totaling 11 hours, plus 26 hours of special features to boot. No wonder it’s…Read more...

Raheem Mostert left Thursday night’s totally awful and pointless contest between the 49ers and Raiders in the third quarter, after he was tripped on an inside run, tried to brace his fall, and had his right forearm bend in several wrong directions. This video is extremely unpleasant:Read more...

Well this was all very dramatic. DC United were down 2–1 in the 116th minute of Thursday night’s knockout round match against Columbus Crew, until Nick DeLeon ripped home a clutch equalizer from the edge of the box off a blown clearance.Read more...

Wednesday night, after his Pelicans lost to the Warriors, Anthony Davis said he’d like to see DeMarcus Cousins return to the Pelicans in free agency. That seems like it might be a long shot—apart from New Orleans’s looming salary crunch, there’s the matter of Cousins playing for one of the NBA’s all-time great teams,…Read more...

De’Aaron Fox spent his Thursday night leading the plucky Kings to a dominant road win in Atlanta. I do not expect you to take that very seriously! There are data points you mark in the The Kings Might Be Good column—a 6–3 record; road wins over the Thunder and Heat; a five-game winning streak; offensive and defensive…Read more...

Hue Jackson finished his tenure as head coach of the Cleveland Browns with a record of three wins, 36 losses, and one tie. In hindsight, it’s remarkable that Jackson was given a second year in charge after starting the 2016 season 0–14 and finishing 1–15; it’s even more incredible that he was given a third season…Read more...

This development will not have the day-to-day importance to players on the University of Maryland football team as the firing of head coach DJ Durkin, but it is nonetheless another step in the right direction: James T. Brady, the chair of Maryland’s board of regents, has resigned, effective immediately.Read more...

Longtime football writer Paul Zimmerman, better known as Dr. Z, died today at age 86, his former colleague Peter King announced. Zimmerman hadn’t written for years due to a series of strokes, but for a time he was one of the best football writers out there and worth remembering today. Here’s what I wrote for The…Read more...

Winnipeg Jets wonderkid Patrik Laine has had a bit of a slow start to his third NHL season, earning just five points in his first 12 games and going scoreless in his last five. But a return to his home country of Finland, for a game this afternoon against the Panthers, seems to have jump-started the young sniper.Read more...

Last April, Stephen A. Smith rained down righteous fury upon then-Knicks president Phil Jackson. New York fans have probably never felt in greater alignment with ESPN’s handsomely compensated take ejaculator. It was beautiful and cathartic to witness, all storm and fury, audible saliva froth and recklessly abandoned…Read more...

Back in 2013, Sam Mikulak entered the men’s all-around final at the world championships as the second-highest qualifier behind Japanese demigod, Kohei Uchimura. The gold medal was out of the question with Uchimura still very much in his unbeatable prime, but it looked like the American had a very good shot at making…Read more...

Browns defensive coordinator and interim head coach Gregg Williams, who preserved his job and earned a promotion simply by being the least bad of Cleveland’s three senior coaches, wants you to know he doesn’t have to be here. Other teams have been falling over themselves to hire Gregg Williams, best known for a 17-31…Read more...

BOISE, ID—On paper, Paulette Jordan is the kind of candidate Native peoples dreamt of a generation ago.

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that during Tuesday’s football practice, which was presided over by briefly reinstated and then subsequently fired head coach DJ Durkin, Maryland punter Matt Barber was attacked by teammates who believed he spoke to investigators looking into the death of Jordan McNair and Durkin’s…Read more...

The behavior of two asshole fans threatened to ruin the spectacle of yesterday’s Scottish Premiership match between rivals Hearts and Hibernian. One of the assholes punched Hearts’ keeper in the face in the middle of the match, and the other chucked a coin at Hibs’ manager, striking the coach square in the face.Read more...

Uggs may be a controversial shoe, but when you’re in your own home, comfort should trump fashion every time. For those who can’t resist the call of the coziness, Ugg slippers are currently on sale at Nordstrom Rack, in styles for both men and women. With colder temps on the way, your soon-to-be shivering toes will be…Read more...

Drew Magary’s Thursday Afternoon NFL Dick Joke Jamboroo runs every Thursday during the NFL season. Email Drew here. Buy his book here.

These Lakers are “Showtime,” ridiculously so, but possibly in some ways that they would rather avoid. The saliva and sucker punch, yes, but also in a more general way. In some sense, the battle to prevent vomit pooling in your mouth from spilling out onto your fresh tuxedo while you race to the toilet might also be…Read more...

Carlos Beltran, his wife Jessica, and his three kids pulled off a stellar group costume for Halloween this year by going as ... Carlos Beltran on all his former baseball teams. Even the cat, dog, and fish participated.

One of the earliest urban rent strikes in United States history was organized in New York City, in 1907, by a 16-year-old girl named Pauline Newman. In its reporting on the strike, the New York Times described Newman, a Jewish immigrant who worked at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company and would go on to become an…Read more...

That Simone Biles was going to win the all-around title at the 2018 world championships was something of a foregone conclusion even before the competition in Doha started. The only question was, by how many points? But by the third rotation, she had raised an unexpected additional question: How many times could she…Read more...

Former NFL quarterback Chris Simms, who famously got his spleen exploded during a game, went on Mike Florio’s radio show today and shared the story of a different time in which he was grievously and spectacular injured by a big hit.

When Jane Gross became the first woman reporter to enter an NBA locker room in February of 1975, it merited a mere 100-word Associated Press write-up the next day. Nine months later, when Jennifer Quale entered an NBA locker room, she had her face in sports sections across the nation and others across the globe.

Last night, Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Derrick Rose managed to put together likely the flukiest game of his career, scoring 50 points en route to a win over the Utah Jazz, after which he was immediately and widely praised for never giving up after all he’s been through. So what’s he been through?Read more...

Dusty Hanks sits on a small plane with his teammates. He’s quiet, but his mind is full envisioning the maneuvers he’s about to perform. It’s pointless to talk, anyway; the plane gets louder as it climbs.Read more...

First things first: yes, the Live Deadcast at Headquarters Beercade in Nashville next Monday is indeed happening on the day before election day. Yes, many or most or nearly all of us will be somewhat stressed out as a result of this. And yes, while we’re doing this, pledges made in blog posts are worth nothing at all.…Read more...

AirPods, the Cricut maker, and an iRobot Roomba 801 lead off Thursday’s best deals from around the web.

Following the publication of an audio recording in which prep school basketball coach Mike Woodbury said, “I’m gonna fuck you in your ass” to one of his former players, other people who played for Woodbury in the past are coming forward with their own stories of his abusive behavior.Read more...

LIMA, OHIO—Within five minutes of meeting Janet Garrett’s campaign team for the first time, I’m asked to help with their speaker set-up. The laptop audio playing the Spotify playlist is coming out of the projector, and they don’t know how to hook it up to the main speaker, where it would be louder. I’m happy to try…Read more...

Gizmodo Scientists Find Link Between Parkinson’s Disease and the Appendix | Kotaku How To Play Long Video Games When You Have No Time | Jalopnik Here Is Why Some Dealerships Aren’t Actually Interested in Selling You a Car | Lifehacker How Spotify Family Plan Subscribers Can Get a Free Google Home Mini | The Takeout My…Read more...

Your hands do a lot for you — why not buy them their own home gym? This set of exercise putty from CanDo includes six 2 oz. tubs of goo (in fun primary colors, no less), and unlike an elliptical or a set of dumbbells, it only costs $12. Playing around with the putty is basically a form of resistance training for your…Read more...

The Thursday night game is Raiders-49ers, which, I’d rather die. But pregame, we get a sitdown interview with Jon Gruden (who you thought couldn’t nuke his roster any further after the trade deadline passed, but that didn’t take into account his chasing players into retirement), conducted by his “good friend” Howie…Read more...

Quick thought experiment: A bird has pooped on you outside a restaurant, and a kind bystander has offered you a paper napkin to clean yourself off. Do you use the napkin and go about your day, or do you go inside and wash off with running water in the bathroom?

Spencer Dinwiddie scored 13 points after about the three-minute mark of the fourth quarter of Brooklyn’s Wednesday night win over the Pistons, including a four-point play, two clutch game-tying threes, and the eventual overtime game-winner. It was a virtuosic finish for a fun and underrated player:Read more...

The Timberwolves held Jimmy Butler out of their Halloween home game against the Utah Jazz, for honestly who knows what reason. Shams says it’s part of “a six-week-long process aimed at getting the All-Star out of Minnesota.” Woj says it was for rest. Either way, the Jazz are tough customers, and sitting Butler seemed…Read more...

Recently my wife told me I would enjoy meeting a friend of hers, who she described as “a big Halloween person.” When I asked what made this friend a big Halloween person, she told me this friend made her own superhero Halloween costume from scratch this year. And I, a punctilious dickweed, skipped right past being…Read more...

San Francisco Giants legend and Baseball Hall of Famer Willie McCovey died today in a Bay Area hospital after losing what his former team called a “long battle with many health issues.” He was 80 years old.Read more...

It took players walking out of a team meeting, the resignation of the school president, universal outrage, and public condemnations from the governor and the parents of a dead teenager, but finally Maryland has stumbled desperately into the decision they should’ve made months ago:Read more...