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Alexei Bychenko, a figure skater representing Israel, competed today in the team event. He did very well, putting out one of the few clean programs of the men’s competition. After the ten men skated, he found himself in second place behind Shoma Uno of Japan. This was a very unexpected, positive result for Bychenko.

Figure skater Nathan Chen, one of the most hyped American athletes heading into the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, made his Olympic debut tonight, and unfortunately, his performance was a major disappointment.

This is the first Winter Olympics in which single figure skaters can perform to music with lyrics, allowing for some wonderful creative freedom. Germany’s Paul Fentz has chosen to use it to treat the world to Paul Anka’s swing jazz cover of “Wonderwall.”Read more...

The University of New Mexico announced today that it has suspended football coach Bob Davie for 30 days following an outside investigation of his program. As Geoff Grammer of the Albuquerque Journal pointed out, Davie’s announced punishment comes one day after National Signing Day, even though the investigation’s…Read more...

Colorado State reportedly plans to fire men’s basketball coach Larry Eustachy, while players boycotted practice today over frustration with the athletics department.Read more...

The figure skating competition at the Pyeongchang Games is starting tonight. It’s not the one that you’re probably familiar with, the event that turned Brian Boitano, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, and even Tara Lipinksi into household names. Those skaters won gold in the individual medal contests; back when they…Read more...

Georgia Tech men’s basketball coach Josh Pastner is being sued in Pima County Superior Court for sexual battery, sexual assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. One of the parties whom Pastner filed a defamation suit against earlier this year filed a counterclaim today accusing the Yellow Jackets…Read more...

Earlier today on an quarterly earnings call, Activision Blizzard announced that it plans to add new franchises and cities to the Overwatch League in its second season. The Compete staff came up with a few suggestions for those teams’ names. Some were very good; others, quite bad. Here they are, ranked best to worst.

Because soccer fans are a famously circumspect, magnanimous, and selfless bunch, they often continue to wish the best for players that once represented their beloved clubs but have since moved on to pastures new. Hence why Liverpool fans have to be downright brimming with pride and delight after seeing former Red…Read more...

On Wednesday, USA Gymnastics announced a new fund, administered by an unnamed third party, that will provide support for counseling services for gymnasts who have been sexually abused. It’s a small, limited step forward, and—as I noted yesterday—it’s clearly about public relations. It also, however, shows just how…Read more...

Wow, what a frickin’ day. The NBA trade deadline came and passed, LeBron James traded half the players in the league for the other half, and there’s a lot of wreckage to sort through! As is tradition around here, we’re here to help out, with our in depth takes on each trade.Read more...

Fresh off winning his second-straight Australian Open, Roger Federer has taken a wild card to play Rotterdam next week. In his old age/late empire, Federer has opted for a light tournament schedule, and he hasn’t played this particular 500-level event since 2012. But he lost just two sets at the Australian Open,…Read more...

Ohio State forward Keita Bates-Diop is a man of many talents; none of them is more important for the Buckeyes than his ability to be precisely the kind of multi-purpose offensive spear that turns an otherwise average attack attack into one of the best in the country.Read more...

At the end of his first-ever appearance as Assistant District Attorney Rafael Barba on the 14th season of Law & Order: SVU, actor Raúl Esparza takes off his leather belt, hands it to a defendant in the jury box, and asks him to choke him with it.

No major sporting event has less betting surrounding it than the Olympics. I’m not sure why that is, but trust me, it’s true. You haven’t hit rock bottom until you’ve spent 30 minutes unsuccessfully scouring the internet trying to place a bet on a massive bobsled underdog.

A few months after trading for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, the 49ers have reportedly signed him to a huge extension. NBC Bay Area’s Raj Mathai first reported the extension. Although Mike Garafolo said the QB’s getting a record-high $137.5 million over five years, because of the flimsy nature of NFL contracts, that…Read more...

Jason Kelce—dressed in a Mummers outfit from the Avalon String Band—delivered an absolutely bonkers five-minute promo at the Eagles’ victory parade. He talked about team executive Howie Roseman losing his power struggle with Chip Kelly, called Ringer doofus Mike Lombardi a “clown,” sarcastically listed off a bunch of…Read more...

The Olympics start tomorrow. Figure skating! Bobsleigh! International politics! Russian doping! A chance to tell everyone about how the Olympics is a global con that leaves host cities in crippling debt! Whatever your hobby horse, there’s plenty to get excited about right now. With that in mind, let’s check in on what…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.

Olympic distance runner and American record holder David Torrence was found dead last August in his swimming pool in Scottsdale, Ariz. Today, Scottsdale police told Deadspin that Torrence’s death has officially been ruled an accident.Read more...

Yesterday, partnered Twitch streamer and Fortnite pro Jordan “Scubby” Selleck said on a stream that if anyone he knew threatened suicide, “I would dare them to do it, and then I would never talk to them again.” (The topic came up after another Twitch streamer said she had been having suicidal ideations.) Scubby also…Read more...

Let’s face it: Almost everyone prefers the Summer Olympics to the Winter Games. Basketball, swimming and beach volleyball are much easier sells to viewers than the likes of biathlon, skeleton and luge. The Winter Olympics also have way more time-based events, where athletes don’t directly face off against their…Read more...

Not only have the Cavaliers given Isaiah Thomas and Channing Frye the boot today, but they’re now trading four more players. (Yes, “the Cavaliers” can reasonably be interpreted as “LeBron James.”) Adios to Jae Crowder, Derrick Rose, Iman Shumpert, and Dwyane Wade. There goes a third of the roster.Read more...

On Feb. 5, 1988, 30 years ago this week, professional wrestling returned to prime time broadcast network television after a decades-long absence. WWE had been running semi-monthly Saturday Night’s Main Event specials in the Saturday Night Live time slot on NBC for almost three years before it got the green light for…Read more...

The Eagles’ Super Bowl parade is currently underway, and center Jason Kelce got things started on the right note. Philly fans have since livened up the festivities in their particular way.

After just 15 games as an active member of the Cavaliers, Isaiah Thomas is on his way out of Cleveland. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported this morning that the Cavs were acquiring Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance from the Lakers, with the Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor first reporting that Isaiah Thomas and Channing Frye…Read more...

At last night’s Next Level Battle Circuit, the mic was somehow unoccupied right before Arturo “Sabin” Sanchez’s match against a player who goes by SonicSol, as all the other commentators had seemingly vacated the stream at the same time. Rather than play in silence, Sanchez decided to call his own match.Read more...

USWNT stalwart Sydney Leroux Dwyer and her husband, Orlando City striker Dom Dwyer, have produced one of the premier sports babies with their son Cassius. Sydney bolstered her 17-month-old’s growing reputation for reliable adorability yesterday with an Instagram video of a little trick she taught him that doubles as a…Read more...

The Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl parade is today. Jason Kelce—dressed as a Mummer—is already having a good time, as you can see from this clip from Action News.Read more...

The UFC has its problems, but one stands out as more serious and scary than the rest: Fewer and fewer people are interested in what it’s selling.

Earlier in the playoffs, we had a small discussion over whether it was better to be a mopey fatalist of a fan who always braces for the worst, or to be an oblivious, preening asswipe… the kind of fan that will talk shit even when they’re down by 40. Well, now that the Eagles have won the Super Bowl, I have my answer.…Read more...

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is reporting that Homeland Security investigators searched the apartment of former Olympic swimming coach Sean Hutchison on Tuesday. Authorities were reportedly looking for evidence that the 46-year-old had taken nude photos of a swimmer he’s been accused of sexually abusing more than a…Read more...

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People in Philadelphia were pretty excited when the Eagles won the Super Bowl. They rushed into the streets by the thousands. Many of them also put on a show for the local news cameras that were rolling well into the night. Some stations stayed on air all night.Read more...

Ottawa Senators forward/pest/piece of crap Alexandre Burrows has been suspended for 10 games by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety, and 10 games still feels like he got off kind of easily.

Yesterday, luger Erin Hamlin was named the U.S. flag bearer for Friday’s opening ceremony. It’s traditionally a big honor, since the flag bearer is chosen by a vote of fellow athletes, and Hamlin is a fine choice: Competing in her fourth Olympics, Hamlin in Sochi took bronze in singles luge, becoming the first…Read more...

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — It’s about 36 hours before the Opening Ceremony and in a stadium in the coastal city of Gangneung, there’s a packed house for the first event of the 2018 Olympics: mixed doubles curling. I assumed everyone in attendance would be there to extrapolate geopolitical tensions from a match between…Read more...

When it comes to having a corner on the market, nothing really compares to Nike. And right now, you can save $20 on any order of $100+, or $35 on any order of $150+, when you use the code SAVEMORE. Everything you could need for a good workout wardrobe is included, from apparel, to sneakers, to gear.

Tonight’s Timberwolves-Cavaliers game was stupidly fun on several fronts—an NBA record 40 three-pointers, for one thing; a total of 34 lead changes, for another—but the fact that it ended with an insane series of LeBron James plays, each more dazzling than the last, was maybe the most fun of all.Read more...

As the time for pitchers and catchers to report draws closer, it’s looking more and more likely that unsigned free agents will host a spring training camp of their own.Read more...

The Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games is handing out special “Olympic edition” Galaxy Note 8 smartphones to competitors this year, but athletes from North Korea and Iran won’t receive them thanks to United Nations sanctions on both countries, Agence France-Presse reported on Wednesday.

St. John’s went into Philly tonight wearing a dreadful 0-11 Big East record, yet riding high off a bizarre 81-77 takedown of Duke just four days ago. Still, going up against number-one Villanova, their conference drought seemed all but guaranteed to continue.Read more...

Three-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Hurley Haywood has always been very private about his personal life, but one personal secret was widely known within the racing community: Haywood is gay. Haywood not only confirms it in his new autobiography, but hopes that being open about it will help others accept who they…Read more...

Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig is apparently without an agent after the Wasserman group announced today that they’d cut ties with him for what’s been reported as something “behavior-related.” Whatever it was, though, it doesn’t sound like it’s something that could affect his status or relationship with the Dodgers.Read more...

USA Gymnastics announced today that it has established a fund for gymnasts who have been sexually abused within the sport, which will give financial support to victims who wish to receive counseling. According to USA Gymnastics, gymnasts and their families will be able to contact the fund confidentially through a…Read more...

Late in the fourth quarter of a game between Monessen High School and Clairton High School last night, players exchanged punches near the Monessen bench. The punch sparked an all-out brawl that an estimated 60 people were involved in before cops shut it down.

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

Wide receiver Jacob Copeland had narrowed down his school to three options for today’s National Signing Day: Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida. He picked the Gators. His mom, wearing a Vols hat and Tide sweater, picked up her handbag and bounced. Yikes!

Georgetown fizzled out again Tuesday night, losing 73-69 to Providence. It was the team’s ninth loss in Big East play and the Hoyas’ fourth loss this season in which they had led with under four minutes to go. Patrick Ewing kindly took the blame and said he “got out-coached,” which may be true but doesn’t quite…Read more...

Originally published in Inside Sports (June, 1980), this story appears here with permission.Read more...