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There are few—if any?—genres of baseball writing that are more entertaining across the board than the Hall of Fame ballot explanation column. That’s not to say these columns are good; they usually aren’t, and they’re frequently the opposite. They’re often cranky or self-righteous or defensive, and yet they can be…Read more...

Blake Griffin will soon have a harder time getting guest appearances on Comedy Central shows, because according to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Clippers have traded Griffin to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley, Boban Marjanovic, and a pair of picks.

Former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison last week for 10 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Nassar was the only person sentenced, but dozens of other people have been accused of helping him perpetrate decades of child sexual abuse by…Read more...

Jaromir Jagr cleared waivers today, and the Calgary Flames announced that the 45-year-old winger would be moving on from the NHL and returning to the Czech Republic as a player on HC Kladno. Jagr, after waiting a long time for contract offers in the offseason, struggled with injuries in Calgary, and he’ll find a much…Read more...

Gunfire, spells, commentators talking a mile a minute, momentum shifts, plays you can literally miss by blinking: there’s so much going on during esports events that there’s hardly any time to spare a thought for what’s going on behind the scenes, let alone what’s happening right in front of your eyes.

The Kelly Walsh High School (Wyo.) wrestlers accused of waterboarding their freshman teammate won’t be charged with any crimes, as Natrona County District Attorney Michael Blonigen said Thursday that while the actions did amount to hazing, he couldn’t press charges because of what he perceived to be the victim’s…Read more...

Buffalo Bills center Eric Wood, who was diagnosed with a career-ending neck injury in his season-ending physical, gave a weird press conference this afternoon in which, instead of announcing his retirement as expected, he showed up nearly an hour late and gave just a two-minute statement without answering any…Read more...

Kotaku Infamous Atari Player Disqualified From World Record After 35 Years | Jalopnik How Goodyear Hid Evidence Of ‘The Worst Tire Made In History’ Linked To At Least 9 Deaths | Gizmodo Artificial Intelligence May Have Cracked Freaky 600-Year-Old Manuscript | Vitals How to Keep Strava From Telling Everyone Where You…Read more...

Enes Kanter fucked up his lip and this is what it looks like.

Two winters ago, a high school pal whom I hadn’t seen in several years while he served in Afghanistan was back in New York, and, en route to a night of reconnecting over bowls of warm ramen, he abruptly ruined everything with a suggestion: Let’s go to a sports bar around the corner and watch the New York Giants.Read more...

Antarctica is mostly known as a snowy wasteland, an island at the bottom of the world with nothing but ice and the odd penguin here and there. While it is covered in a few kilometers of ice, there is a continent underneath it all, and a rather mountainous one at that. Where there are mountains, there will inevitably…Read more...

Former NFL and Boise State wide receiver Titus Young, a second-round pick who had his career cut short by clashes with coaches and teammates, is currently serving a sentence of four years in a Los Angeles prison for an assault on his neighbor. That assault is the culmination of a series of legal and off-field problems…Read more...

Sharing your running and cycling routes is the whole point of using Strava—you can see whether you’re the fastest in your neighborhood at climbing that big hill, or take on a friend’s favorite running route to see how you compare. But this weekend, analyst Nathan Ruser pointed out that the app’s heatmap of popular…Read more...

The Cleveland Indians will no longer sport images of their racist mascot Chief Wahoo on team uniforms starting in 2019. Major League Baseball announced the change this morning, saying in a statement that the caricature was “no longer appropriate for use on the field.”

No matter how great your kitchen knives are, they all need some tender loving care from time to time. This $7 Lansky BladeMedic includes two v-sharpeners, a fold-out sharpening rod, and a ceramic sharpening edge for serrated knives, all in a handheld package that can fit into any kitchen drawer.

This bomb from Shams Charania was basically just a matter of turning subtext into text:

Britt McHenry, who should really update her handwringing-about-rap shtick since N.W.A isn’t what the kids listen to anymore, was named this weekend in a New York Times report as one of the celebrities, “celebrities,” and media members who have purchased phony Twitter followers through a company called Devumi.…Read more...

Last week, Vince McMahon announced the return of the XFL. Considering the quality of the original XFL and the track record of Vince McMahon’s non-wrestling ventures, there’s reason to wonder if this thing will ever happen.

Philadelphia is already out of control with Super Bowl fever, and this baby is no exception. This kid has likely heard the word “Eagles” 10 million times over the last few weeks, so why wouldn’t his first word be “Eagles”? The only thing that’s surprising is that he didn’t say “Go Birds.”Read more...

Andrew Fuller, a gymnast who competes in trampoline and tumbling events, has accused former USA Gymnastics coach Dr. George Drew of drugging and abusing him while Fuller was training in Michigan.

In October 2003, Billy Wayne Woods and his family packed into a luxury $181,000 motorhome for a fun getaway to Florida. Call it a textbook American vacation: their destination was Disney World, and with his wife, Shirley, his son and daughter-in law and two grandchildren in tow, the trip would surely be one to…Read more...

I doubt anyone had Sixers-Thunder pegged to become one of the spicier NBA rivalries headed into this season, but here we are, two games into the beef, with Russell Westbrook and Joel Embiid reaching new levels of petty.

It’s not too late* to upgrade your TV for the large, popular sporting event happening this weekend, and you’d be hard pressed to find a better deal on a 65" 4K set than this $690 LG. It’s not their most high-end model, but it has solid reviews, HDR10 support (not Dolby Vision at this price, sorry), and oodles of…Read more...

It’s been three days since an ESPN report painted a picture of Michigan State University as a school unable or unwilling to punish sexual abusers or rapists through any kind of accountable system, particularly when the accused were part of the football and men’s basketball teams. The looming publication of that report…Read more...

It’s Super Bowl week and Tom Brady will ignore all off-the-field distractions. Almost. This morning, during his weekly appearance on a WEEI radio show featuring people who have repeatedly accused Adam Jones of fabricating the racist incidents he said he experienced in Boston, called Erin Andrews a “gutless bitch,” and…Read more...

Anker makes smart light bulbs now, because of course they do, and you can get them at a discount today.

The rumors are true: Ronda Rousey is leaving UFC for the slightly-more-scripted world of professional wrestling, as the former bantamweight champ turned up at the finale of tonight’s Royal Rumble event in Philadelphia to establish herself and a promised appearance at April’s Wrestlemania.Read more...

OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!Read more...

The Washington Post has a story today headlined “U.S. soldiers are revealing sensitive and dangerous information by jogging,” and it’s exactly what it sounds like: U.S. soldiers are revealing sensitive and dangerous information by jogging.Read more...

Hey, jackass, how about letting the man actually finish his swing before you start shouting?Read more...

Brett Favre is being sued for more than $16 million by Callais Capital Management for his role in marketing something called Sqor to eager investors. But what the hell is Sqor? It was a social media company in development, formed around the idea of helping athletes monetize their online selves. Callais contends that…Read more...

Say a prayer for Valparaiso freshman Mileek McMillan, for surely he will never be seen again on earth after what happened to him Saturday night:

Today’s grand finals between G2 and Paris Saint-Germain managed to go the full distance. It was the champs against the fresh-but-fierce PSG squad, and it all came down to a single goal in extra time.

Andre Roberson takes a lot of shit for being among the worst non-center shooters in the NBA, and for how that lack of shooting has, in the past, badly cramped the spacing for certain Oklahoma City Thunder lineups. Those inclined towards giving him shit will be relieved, then, to learn that he will be out for the…Read more...

Adrian Wojnarowski reported last week that at least one Cavs player “challenged the legitimacy” of an illness that kept Kevin Love from sticking around through the end of a game last Saturday, and then kept him out of practice on Sunday. Eventually that anonymous player was identified as Isaiah Thomas, who is having a…Read more...

Last night’s Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 action at the inaugural Evo Japan was incredible, but it was the lead-up to the final match that really stuck with me. The commentators gave a surprisingly moving speech about the passion and dedication of the fighting game faithful, the culture of the community, and putting soul…Read more...

The Warriors narrowly edged the Celtics last night in Oakland, 109-105, in a game that was within a couple possessions most of the way. As if plucked directly from the hopes and wishes of fans sick to death of this stretch of NBA basketball being defined by injuries and conflict, the game Saturday night featured…Read more...

Old man Roger Federer beat sixth-seeded Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the Men’s Singles final at the Australian Open, for his 20th career Grand Slam title. Per ESPN:Read more...

In preparation for the large, popular, football event next week, Amazon’s offering a rare discount on the 4K/HDR/Dolby Atmos-packing Fire TV.

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Injuries are chewing up this NBA season. Mike Conley, of the Memphis Grizzlies, played in just 12 games before heel and achilles pain put him out of action, and all but ended any hope of the Grizzlies continuing their seven-year streak of making the playoffs in the loaded West. Saturday Conley was officially ruled out…Read more...

At today’s FIFA 18 Ultimate Team event in Barcelona, Kurt1 put a devastating game up on opponent MegaBit, highlighted best by this dribble around a buzzing hive of defenders that resulted in a goal.Read more...

The scene is the gym of Evanston Township High School, in Evanston, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. The Evanston, uhh, Wildkits are down 44-42 to the visiting Hawks of Maine South, with seconds on the game clock and Maine South at the free throw line. Have a look at this craziness:Read more...

The List of Future LaVar Ball Headlines did not predict this one: per an appearance during his father’s bit in a Lithuanian awards ceremony, Lonzo Ball will perform his first ever rap concert in Lithuania during the summer of 2018. Soon they are going to just rename Lithuania “Balluania” and get it over with.Read more...

Caroline Wozniacki defeated top-seeded Simona Halep 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 to win the Australian Open Saturday. This was Wozniacki’s third Grand Slam final, and her 43rd major, and just her first Grand Slam title. 43 attempts is fourth-most ever before a first win in Women’s Open Era history; I am getting loopy just imagining…Read more...

It might have been intimidating for Mikado Shodai to get into the top 64 of Evo Japan’s Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 tournament and find himself facing Omito. It was definitely an emotional moment for Mikado to beat him.Read more...

It’s not every day that a bench player on a middling squad makes the news for not being selected to an All Star game, but here we are:Read more...

Next winter will be the real bellwether for the state of MLB payroll spending—handwringing over shrinking payroll today might disappear all at once if the movement of next winter’s studs lifts all boats—but the early indicators of this winter are troubling. The hot stove is cool, there’s a boatload of free agents…Read more...

Hey, remember Jared Dudley? The doughy swingman who makes the analytics crowd swoon with his sparkling net rating history? Unbelievably, the 32-year-old Dudley is still kicking around the NBA, as a seldom-used bench gnome for the doomed and hopeless and endlessly depressing Phoenix Suns, the Western Conference’s most…Read more...