Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

Football coaches have tried a lot of motivational techniques over the years. Tony Sparano dug a hole and buried a football. Jay Norvell wore a blue shirt. Jon Gruden sends players who play well to good teams. Jack Del Rio did whatever he did that resulted in his punter suffering an ax wound. Most of these are very…Read more...

About midway through the first half of Saint Joseph’s match-up against Duquesne on Saturday, Pierfrancesco Oliva drove to the rim looking for a layup. Dukes defender Michael Hughes rose up and blocked the shot, causing Oliva to fall down hard to the floor. The Hawks player immediately grabbed his leg and began…Read more...

The Celtics fell 105-103 in Orlando on Saturday, and they are, by their own high standards, scuffling. Boston is 25-17, only good enough for fifth in the East. It’s a real comedown for a team that came within a game of the Finals last year without two of their best players. So it’s hard to separate Kyrie Irving’s…Read more...

The National Lacrosse League’s Georgia Swarm moved to 4-0 with a 13-11 win in Philadelphia on Saturday, led by star forward Lyle Thompson’s three goals and three assists. But the game was marred by comments from Philadelphia Wings’ PA announcer, as well as from some fans:

Blake Griffin had a solid revenge game against his former team on Saturday. In his first game back to Los Angeles since getting traded to Detroit, he put up 44 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals in the 109-104 victory. It even looked like he got a chance to stick it to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer…Read more...

The Bradley Center, home to the Milwaukee Bucks for 30 years, as well as Marquette hoops and the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, was partially imploded Sunday morning, as workers detonated charges to bring down the roof. It wasn’t a full demolition, as the arena is too close to nearby buildings (including the Bucks’ new…Read more...

The Rams’ offensive line is in the soul-protecting business. The Cowboys’ vaunted defensive front, fresh off holding the Seahawks’ NFL-best ground game to just 73 yards rushing in last week’s wild card win, spent all week talking, dreaming, drooling over the havoc they were going to wreak at the line of scrimmage.…Read more...

Anker’s Eufy RoboVac 11+ isn’t the company’s newest or most powerful robotic vacuum, but it’ll still do the yeoman’s work of keeping your floors clean by bopping around your house every day with basically zero input from you. It’s also extraordinarily quiet, compared to my Roomba.

Support your New Years fitness goals by loading up on protein from this Quest Nutrition Gold Box. Boxes of bars in scrumptious flavors like cinnamon roll and apple pie, so you’ll actually enjoy feeding those newfound muscles of yours.Read more...

Perhaps when Jon Gruden insisted that he got “a lot of phone calls from people who are dying to come and play here,” he was telling the truth, and those players didn’t mention how long they planned on staying. Even the briefest stints in Oakland appear to be performance-enhancing.Read more...

The officials in tonight’s Cowboys-Rams game made their own avant-garde contribution to the NFL’s constantly expanding reality. Is a catch a catch if no one recovers what is later ruled a fumble? Did a play actually end on the one-inch line if it was originally ruled a touchdown? And now: can a quarterback be ruled…Read more...

Jim Boylen’s tenure as the Chicago Bulls’ interim head coach been marked by near-mutiny from his own players and rarely-seen open mocking from other teams, but also: the actual basketball has been really shitty. The Bulls are 5-13 under Boylen, a hair better than their 5-19 start under possible future Timberwolves…Read more...

The Kansas City Chiefs rolled over the Indianapolis Colts, 31-13, to advance to the AFC Championship Game. To keep themselves amused during the blowout, Chiefs fans threw snowballs onto the field at least three different times.Read more...

Are you tired of sportswriters over-ascribing thinking to every physical motion and intent to every split-second decision? Then you’ve come to the wrong damn blog post! Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes mostly just missed on his most ambitious throws in the divisional round today, but early in the second half, he dipped his…Read more...

Have you ever found yourself wondering, “I like college gymnastics but can it be more like a video game?”Read more...

The Chiefs are manhandling the Colts on both sides of the ball right now, but the game is still faintly in reach thanks to this blocked punt by Najee Goode and end-zone recovery by Zach Pascal.Read more...

Duke forward Cam Reddish had been ice cold for over a month, shooting just 25% from the field since the Blue Devils’ Dec. 1 win over Stetson. Instead, Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett have carried the load over an eight-game winning streak.Read more...

Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett’s contract was set to expire after the 2019 season, but Ian Rapoport reports that Jerry Jones will extend it after the playoffs—no matter what happens tonight against the Rams.Read more...

With Grayson Allen on to antagonizing and endangering opponents in the NBA, NC State forward Wyatt Walker has taken up his mantle in the ACC. The Samford transfer was ejected just two minutes into Saturday’s game for the maneuver you see above.

It took two extra periods of play for the Georgetown Hoyas to take down the Providence Friars this afternoon, 96-90. But the home team wouldn’t have gotten to that second overtime in the first place were not for two freshman sinking two clutch shots, including one buzzer-beater, when the Hoyas needed them most.

Up three with 11.8 seconds left in the game, the Northern Kentucky Norse ran a creative inbounds play try and get away from Wright State’s attempts at fouling. The home players lined up in what can only be described as a four-receiver set, trips right. The player to the left of the inbounder/quarterback ran a comeback…Read more...

Rookie phenom Luka Dončić put the Dallas Mavericks on his back in the final 90 seconds of their matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves last night. His first two clutch baskets came at the rim thanks to picks that DeAndre Jordan set. The first drive resulted in a heavily-contested layup, and the second resulted in…Read more...

After an institutional fuck-up prevented her from playing the sport she loves for 16 games over 43 days, Maori Davenport made her triumphant return to the basketball court on Friday night for Charles Henderson High. Needless to say, everyone in the gym that night was pretty hyped she was back—especially Davenport…Read more...

Get some good sleep and save some money with Casper’s Winter Sale, now through January 21. If you spend over $1,000, the sleep retailer will knock off $100, plus they’ll gift you with $25 to use toward a future purchase. And unlike other Casper promotions, you don’t have to buy a mattress to take advantage of it. So,…Read more...

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy announced today that his website’s comments section, long one of the most vile places on the internet, has been shuttered “until further notice.” His reasoning was that the biggest fans of the site were just too racist:

Last week, USA Gymnastics asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to approve $88,000 in holiday bonuses for its office staff. On Thursday, the Orange County Register reported that the gymnasts on the U.S. men’s national team have not received their monthly support checks from the federation, and that coaches who worked with…Read more...

Two days after Gary Kubiak was tabbed as the next offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos, Gary Kubiak will not be the next offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos.

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

Two days after Trevor Bauer sort of admitted it was wrong of him to harass a 21-year-old woman on Twitter, he’s still very tender about the topic. When the Cleveland pitcher was asked about it today in a media session with reporters, he literally fled the scrum before the reporter could even finish asking his question.

I eat fruit every day, not because I am supposed to but because I want to. So far today I have eaten two clementines and some grapes. I will probably eat one, maybe two more clementines before the day is through. I have no idea if eating this much fruit is healthy and I do not care. Kill me, fruit. It’s how I wanna go…Read more...

Under the headline “Rams QB Jared Goff is really funny ... if you’re paying attention” ESPN’s Los Angeles Rams beat writer Lindsey Thiry examines how the “tall, blonde, super-cool California kid” under center is actually a secret font of dry humor and witty zingers. Thiry spoke to Goff’s coach, parents, and teammates,…Read more...

It’s been five years since Chris Kluwe described in detail Vikings special teams coach Mike Priefer’s outspoken bigotry and homophobia, including when Priefer said, in a team meeting, “We should round up all the gays, send them to an island, and then nuke it until it glows.” Priefer has been employed by the Vikings…Read more...

Enes Kanter coverage tends to fork into two categories, both of which are true to the man himself and both of which are honestly pretty confusing taken together. One is Kanter Bravely Stands Up To Authoritarian, and the other is Kanter Bungles Badly While Seeking Attention. Perhaps there’s some overlap. It’s possible…Read more...

In an interview with Jim Gray last month, Tom Brady was discussing how he’s managed to play quarterback at a high level as he ages into his 40s. When talking about the inherent violence of playing QB and the unavoidability of getting hit, he told Gray he has gotten very good at sensing when a hit is coming because his…Read more...

FIFA would like you to know that it is not full of bad people. On Wednesday, the world soccer governing body put out a statement in support of Hakeem al-Araibi, an Australia-based soccer player who was detained in Thailand in November.

Charles Henderson High School basketball player and Rutgers recruit Maori Davenport can play in her team’s game tonight thanks to an emergency motion by a Pike County Circuit judge. Until today, she had been ineligible for her senior season due to USA Basketball’s fuckup, which was compounded by the Alabama High…Read more...

One of the best subplots of the NFL season was the rise of Twitter user @CableThanos_, a Seahawks fan who earned himself some internet fame by producing charmingly deranged hype videos throughout Seattle’s run to the playoffs. Now, unfortunately, he has become the victim of shameless biting.

Subject: Babe Ruth

Either Notre Dame’s Brianna Turner slipped or she’s a shameless flopper, but regardless of how she ended up on the floor, Louisville forward Bionca Dunham shouldn’t have been hit with a flagrant-1 for simply playing defense here.Read more...

It has been a while since last we at Let’s Remember Some Guys Remembered Some Guys, but that doesn’t mean that we’d forgotten. We haven’t forgotten any Guys, of course, at least beyond the attrition that comes with being alive and periodically having to do things other than Remembering Guys. But also we have not…Read more...

According to the Liverpool Echo, UEFA has suspended Croatia and Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren for one international match because of a postgame Instagram Live rant Lovren went on recently in which he bragged about elbowing Sergio Ramos and called the Spain national team “a bunch of pussies.”Read more...

Fifteen-year NHL veteran Rick Nash, who hasn’t played since suffering a concussion in March 2018, has retired from hockey because “the risk of further brain injury is far too great if (he) returns to play,” according to a statement released by his agency Friday morning.

It looked like they would choke away the game of the year when Oklahoma City went supernova towards the end of the fourth quarter, but the San Antonio Spurs held on and knocked out one of their closest competitors in the Western Conference on Thursday night, in a 154-147 double overtime dreamscape.

The best noise-cancelling headphones, a sitewide Converse sale, and a simplehuman trash can, lead off Friday’s best deals.

A couple of the best players in the NHL were feeling strong and violent on Thursday night: While Connor McDavid and Alex Ovechkin each netted a pair of goals in their teams’ wins, they also showed up to the rink ready and willing to dish out more visceral pain.Read more...

There’s never been a better time to upgrade that old pair of Chucks. Converse is taking 30% off their entire site with promo code THIRTY, so get brand new pair of classic sneakers and then proceed to wear them out until they’re literally falling apart at the seams, as one does. This sale will only last through the…Read more...

When the words “tactician” or “technician” crop up, the way they do around Andy Murray, who just announced his forthcoming retirement due to chronic hip pain, there’s a whiff of euphemism in the air. Sure, this player is missing that certain oomph, but nevertheless! Even so! Alas! He persisted, and became champion…Read more...

Famously abstinent former football star and current baseball scrub Tim Tebow got engaged to girlfriend and 2017 Miss Universe Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters yesterday.

Stock up and bulk up for the new year. Amazon is marking down a number of protein powders and supplements, including products from ProBar, Quest Nutrition, Garden of Life, Optimum and more.Read more...

If you missed Thursday night’s Thunder-Spurs game, you missed a doozy. It went to double overtime, and the teams combined for 301 total points, which made this the first 300-point NBA game since 2006. The superstar players were mostly fantastic, but there was enough time and room in the game for guys like Derrick…Read more...