Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

Behind the scenes at a BattleBots tournament looks part science fair, part NASCAR pit stop. Robot bits are strewn across work benches, sparks are flying, and crews are furiously prepping for the next battle, replacing smashed parts with new ones and testing their weapons. In one corner, sits Chomp. Chomp looks like a…Read more...

The NCAA turned to Condoleezza Rice and a committee with no players or professors to fix college basketball; it should have just turned to Nigel Hayes.Read more...

1. Cavaliers def. Warriors

Molly Knight asks a really, really good question:

A year after Wayne Rooney left Manchester United to return to his boyhood club, Everton, the former England great is reportedly on the cusp on joining D.C. United in MLS. United will reportedly pay a £12 million transfer fee for Rooney.Read more...

After half a decade under head coach Brett Brown and four years and two contracts into the career of star center Joel Embiid—the team’s only All-Star—the Philadelphia 76ers and their fans face a moment of reckoning. It’s a painful one, but it won’t get any less painful if we ignore it. The facts are what they are, and…Read more...

Nobody needs it explained to them that it’s relatively normal for a rookie, no matter how talented, to play like ass for an entire series in the second round of his first trip to the playoffs. This is how things are generally supposed to go.

You can keep your food and drinks hot all day with big savings on Thermos products, today only.

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers) and the Charlotte Checkers (Hurricanes) played the longest game in AHL history Wednesday night, with the Phantoms winning 2-1 in the fifth overtime. The game took 146:48 minutes of game time in total.Read more...

The Detroit News reported Wednesday night that recently hired Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia was indicted on a sexual assault charge in 1996, when he was in college. The case never went to trial after, according to authorities, the victim decided not to testify due to feeling she could not “face the pressures…Read more...

The Celtics are one more decently bad injury away from barely being able to field a full NBA-caliber rotation, but that didn’t stop the guys they have left from carrying their team to a 114-112 Game 5 win over the 76ers, clinching Boston’s spot in the Eastern Conference Finals.Read more...

Newly hired Detroit Lions head coach and former New England Patriots assistant Matt Patricia was indicted by a grand jury on one count of aggravated sexual assault in 1996, according to a report from the Detroit News. Patricia, who was 21 at the time, was charged alongside a teammate of his on Rensselaer Polytechnic…Read more...

Possible first-overall draft pick Luka Dončić, who’s been playing in Spain with Real Madrid since he was 16, is already the kind of all-around athletic beast who appears to be the final form that every basketball player is evolving towards. He’s a six-foot-eight guard/forward hybrid who’s comfortable shooting on the…Read more...

Carlos Carrasco carried the Cleveland Indians to a 6-2 win over the Brewers this afternoon. But all the fun for the AL Central division leaders didn’t seem to come until after the game, as shown by a Twitter poll put out into the world by Cleveland pitcher Brady Aiken.Read more...

The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office announced today there won’t be any charges filed against Oakland Raiders lineman Donald Penn. There had been an investigation into possible domestic violence between Penn and his wife from April.Read more...

“Actually,” Darren Rovell probably smirked as he adjusted his bowtie before lecturing a celebratory Marvin Jones, who had just tweeted about a bakery franchise he is opening with his wife, “it’s more complicated than you think.”

Kotaku It Took Battlefield 1 Players A Year To Open This Door | io9 Disney Teases Marvel’s Expansive Post-Avengers 4 Plans | Jalopnik Dead: Cadillac ATS Sedan | Lifehacker Stop Reading Books You Don’t Actually Enjoy |Read more...

Don’t let the chest, arm, and shoulder strength distract you from the physical marvel that is his fingers not snapping under the stress.Read more...

The Pelicans had earned a fleeting lead towards the end of Game 5's second quarter last night. They’d sunk five straight shots from four different guys, with the one-browed god Anthony Davis doubling up on feral dunks. Both these teams are lean and love to run, and at this point the tempo was furious, the ball…Read more...

Earlier today, while waiting on my porch for some delivery guys to turn up, I checked in on what was happening in Deadspin’s work chat—my job requires me to surveil the staffs of the various Gizmodo Media Group sites to make sure they’re diligently working for the betterment of our corporate overlords—and immediately…Read more...

The internet is lonesome and atomizing and weird, which is strange when you consider that Bringing People Together is the one aspect of its ostensible promise that is unquestionably a success. It’s probably not the internet’s fault that, having been brought together, everyone just immediately started threatening to…Read more...

It was 30 years ago this Wednesday that the end of regional professional wrestling began. At the very least, it went out with a bang.

Gabe Grunewald is one of the most inspiring and upsetting stories in sports right now—at just 31 years old, her running career has been interrupted by cancer three times, in 2009, 2011, and 2016. In 2017 she somehow raced a partial schedule through the U.S. championships while undergoing chemotherapy. It was…Read more...

Nearly every member of Donald Trump’s wealthy cabal of cabinet members has faced some sort of scandal in the president’s first term. Scott Pruitt, Tom Price, David Shulkin, Ryan Zinke, and Ben Carson have all dominated the news at one time or another with their corrupt spending habits. The press had a field day with…Read more...

Asdrúbal Cabrera gave the Mets their first hit of the game today with a ground-rule double to shallow left field, which allowed Jay Bruce the chance to bring him home. However, as soon as Bruce stepped to the plate, he was called out, stranding Cabrera and ending the inning. It seems Mets manager Mickey Callaway…Read more...

If you are subscriber to The Athletic, I have some bad news for you:

There were never many good public editors across media, but ESPN hasn’t had a useful one in nearly 10 years, not since Le Anne Schreiber. The gig usually consists of delivering criticism that is only critical to a certain point, because the critic is still employed by the company they’re critiquing. It’s an unenviable…Read more...

The Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors wrapped up their five-game eliminations of, respectively, the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans last night. Like the series they ended, neither game was particularly closely contested; both losing teams did just enough to preserve their dignity and no more. That’s more…Read more...

When those bullies from business school mocked you for getting a useless doctorate in medieval literature, they didn’t see the world of history podcasts coming. Now it’s cool as hell to sit in your closet and read out your doctoral thesis. Because it turns out that podcasts are a fantastic way for people to learn…Read more...

In a better world, the news that Toronto FC and USMNT striker Jozy Altidore’s underwent foot surgery yesterday would’ve been awful. Oh Christ, you would’ve thought to yourself after seeing the Altidore news in this hypothetical world where the weather’s a little nicer and your parent company is a little less of a …Read more...

In the right corner: Charles Barkley, man who thinks coaches need to have great relationships with their best players in order to win. In the left: Shaq, who would like to use his history being a toxic shitheel as proof that players and coaches can win while hating each other. What follows is a failed attempt to argue…Read more...

Ichiro retired (or whatever) last week. Appropriately, Peter Gammons has an Ichiro tribute (behind the paywall) at The Athletic today. It’s about how dedicated Ichiro is to the craft of baseball, and opens with an anecdote from Barry Bonds.Read more...

Last week, Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks threw the two fastest pitches of the season (102.0 and 101.9 mph, respectively) during the same at-bat to White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson. He didn’t get his bat on either of them but somehow managed to draw a walk. Of course Hicks couldn’t last atop the leaderboard, so long…Read more...

If you’ve ever spent time around people blessed with a particular combination of self-absorbtion and privilege, this story, from Indy Week, about a Duke administrator getting two campus baristas fired for daring to listen to rap music while on the job won’t really shock you. It will make you mad as hell, though.

Gizmodo Boeing Loses $20 Billion in Contracts After President Trump Violates Iran Deal | Kotaku Japanese Reaction To Israel Serving Its Prime Minister A Shoe With Chocolate | Jalopnik Here’s How Much Horsepower A $1,600 Craigslist BMW E30 Makes After 278,000 Miles | Two Cents Your College’s Recommended Student Loan…Read more...

SANIBEL, FLORIDA—At the lowest tide of the month, the Gulf of Mexico peels back from the shores of Sanibel Island to reveal its treasures. Bruce Schulz is out there on a late February morning to find his piece of the booty.Read more...

George Andrie has always been a devoted father to Mary Brooks and her six siblings. But with the benefit of hindsight, Brooks also sees that something was always a bit off about her dad, going back to when she was a child. The outgoing guy she always knew suddenly became less socially engaged in the early 1980s, about…Read more...

The Yankees beat the Red Sox 3-2 for their 16th win in 17 games, on the back of an 11-strikeout night from Cy Young candidate Luis Severino and a go-ahead RBI single from Aaron Judge in the seventh, to move into a tie for the best record in the AL East and in all of baseball. But all any of them wanted to talk about…Read more...

Last year, Gravel’s well-designed toiletry bag was a hit with our readers, and a Kickstarter success story. But if the original didn’t have enough space for all of your travel gear, their bigger Expeditioner bag is now available for preorder.

I’m not proposing you replace all of your wine glasses with Riedel, but if you want to have a couple pieces of really nice drinkware for special occasions, you can pick some up for $45 each today on Amazon, down from the usual $60.

For exclusive videos, pictures, and more, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Send us your confidential tips at tips@deadspin.com, call our confidential tips hotline at (347) 746-8471, contact our writers directly, or use our anonymous SecureDrop system.Read more...

Chris Paul is advancing beyond the second round for the first time in his NBA career, and he did so by putting the Rockets on his back for their 112-102 Game 5 win against the Jazz. Paul got a new playoff high of 41 points, with 10 assists, seven boards, and no turnovers. And after Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell, who…Read more...

Adeiny Hechavarria left tonight’s game against the Braves in the top of the eighth inning when a Ronald Acuña Jr. pop foul struck a speaker suspended from the stadium roof, ricocheted back into the field of play, then bounced off the turf and struck the Rays shortstop square in the face as he attempted to field the…Read more...

One start removed from a 16-strikeout show against the A’s, Mariners pitcher James Paxton caught everyone’s attention again, tossing a three-walk, six-strikeout no-hitter in a 5-0 win for Seattle against the Blue Jays.

Orioles pitcher Dylan Bundy had a very short Tuesday night start against the Royals, but his outing was anything but merciful. Bundy marked himself with the dreaded infinity ERA by failing to record an out in the first inning as Kansas City smashed dong after dong, scoring seven runs on Bundy off homers from Jorge…Read more...

The next time someone tells you Blue Lives Matter is a misguided, stupid slogan, show them this.Read more...

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

The chamber of commerce in Georgia’s Douglas County holds an annual charity cornhole tournament, the point of which is to raise money for a local scholarship fund. This year, that tournament also served as a place for some husky men in shorts to throw haymakers at each other.

Chicago Bears rookie linebacker Roquan Smith had his car broken into over the weekend, and in addition to a Georgia jersey from the national championship game and other valuable memorabilia, the thief or thieves made off with his Bears-issued tablet.Read more...

I once read an essay from which I can remember a single thing: that the author, a white man entering his forties, was no longer afraid to commit acts of minor to moderate civil disobedience in the service of righteous causes, or for just for shits-n-gigs. Send him to jail? Sure. Whatever he had to pay, literally or…Read more...