Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

It’s been a weird week in WWE, and not in a way that anyone at the promotion would have wanted.Read more...

This little Bob Nightengale scoop starts on shaky ground by assuming there are people in existence who can tolerate Curt Schilling enough to be considered his friends, but it has a great punchline:

This may seem like a Guide To The League Championship Series, but it isn’t really. If you need to be guided through four teams, you may be too dim to read.

In August 1998, after I Know What You Did Last Summer propelled Ryan Phillippe to stardom and plastered his face on teen bedroom walls across the country, a Paper magazine cover story christened Ryan Phillippe “The New Heat.” Months later he’d be engaged to Hollywood’s princess Reese Witherspoon, and the following…Read more...

Houston Cougars offensive lineman Justin Murphy, who left the team Tuesday, shared his experience Thursday about his rough year with the program, as well as the specific mismanagement of head coach Dana Holgorsen. Murphy, a sixth-year graduate transfer who also attended Texas Tech and UCLA, said his body is too worn…Read more...

Going into the WNBA playoffs, it would have been fair to underestimate the impact of Washington Mystics forward Emma Meesseman. Though she was one of the Mystics’ most efficient scorers—she’d be in the 40-50-90 club if she had enough attempts to qualify—she often felt like a lesser version of her teammate and league…Read more...

As I remember it, the decision to buy my white Ron Artest Sacramento Kings jersey was not a reasoning one. The decision to buy a basketball jersey, as someone who will probably only ever wear it during the six days per year that I am at or near a beach, is inherently not a reasonable one. And yet I remember seeing it,…Read more...

After Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham revealed that the members of the English national team had collectively decided to walk off the field if subjected to racism during their Euro 2020 qualifiers, the team’s manager has walked back that threat. Gareth Southgate said in a press conference on Thursday that England would…Read more...

It’s hard to find an angrier person than a professional golfer who has just had his concentration broken by a loud noise in the middle of his backswing. But thanks to Tyrrell Hatton and his fiancée, we now have the formula for distracting a golfer without eliciting a tantrum. All you need is a portable toilet and…Read more...

The F.B.I. doesn’t know her name, but they do know that she’s dead. She may have been named Marianne or Mary Anne. She may have been 18 or 19 when she was murdered. She may have been murdered in 1971 or 1972. Her body may be decaying somewhere in the empty western edges of South Florida’s swampland, but they aren’t…Read more...

A huge REI sale, refurbished Nintendo Switch, Marvel Funko calendar, and prAna gear lead off Friday’s best deals from around the web.

(NOTE: Only ranked by how these perform in a bowl with milk. If you wanna use them as an ingredient in some nouveau dessert brittle, that’s a different list.)

Game 5 of the ALDS was more or less decided by the first 20 pitches thrown by Rays starter Tyler Glasnow. The Astros battered Glasnow for four runs in the bottom of the first inning, which wasn’t totally shocking given how fearsome Houston’s lineup is. What was surprising was how they went about scoring those four…Read more...

The Patriots beat the Giants Thursday night, 35–14, to move to 6–0 on the season. This was the second consecutive week where the Patriots looked vulnerable in the first half against a plucky but overmatched underdog, before a cascading series of second-half failures tilted things dramatically for the favorites. I…Read more...

Game 5 of the American League* Divisional Series between the Astros and Rays functionally ended in the first inning. Not because the Astros put 10 runs on the board, a la the Cardinals, but because they put more than a single run on the board, in a game in which they had the insane and unfair Gerrit Cole on the mound.…Read more...

The Washington Mystics used a strong fourth-quarter surge and the interior dominance of series MVP Emma Meesseman to overcome a second-half Connecticut Sun lead, then confidently held the relentless visitors at arm’s length down the stretch to win Game 5, 89–78, and capture the franchise’s first ever WNBA…Read more...

The athletic department of Pierce College is investigating head football coach Carlos Woods after a report from The Roundup News, a school publication, revealed that the coach had collected rent money from his players, and allowed four students to briefly live in the team locker room. Jose Cordova, a former player on…Read more...

Beef! We’ve beef in the world of football, pals, between a receiver and a cornerback who share a division, which is really the only way NFL beefs can dry-age their way to maximum succulence, outside of the aging racks of intense playoff action. I’m pretty well done with that beef metaphor now.Read more...

Padres pitcher Jacob Nix was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing after he allegedly tried to break into a home in Peoria, Arizona early Sunday morning using the doggie door, according to ABC15. Teammate Thomas Cosgrove was also arrested, but was reportedly not charged with anything.

Let’s not overreact. After two weeks of the new Wednesday Night Wars, nothing about the future of the industry is really much clearer than it was before, and lord knows none of it is set in stone. All Elite Wrestling followed up its good debut showing on TNT with an even better episode on Wednesday, culminating in the…Read more...

Deadspin sources, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, confirmed to Deadspin that no NBA team has an “F” in its name. This was discovered when the Deadspin staff was using our work chat to type “F” to pay respects to a dead Macbook charger, as one does. One callow staffer refused to do so, so our unnamed…Read more...

Russell Westbrook and James Harden each dropped 22 points in the Rockets’ preseason victory over the Raptors in Saitama, Japan. In the postgame presser, CNN’s Christina Macfarlane asked a question of the two players:Read more...

In a better world, we’d all probably still work a decent amount. Probably not quite as much and definitely not under conditions that work in a thousand different ways to demean and diminish every human involved at every level, while somehow serving to enrich only the worst of those, but in that better world it’s…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.

Away is famous for their attractive and practical hard-sided luggage, but now, the travel brand is finally expanding into, well, expandables. The Expandables collection brings the same suitcase shape you know and love from Away to the softer side of travel gear.

Honus Wagner’s career hung in the balance. In 1901, the superstar shortstop was in his second season with his hometown Pirates. But a wrenched knee suffered on the turf at Exposition Park—the Pirates’ home on the north side of Pittsburgh, a few hundred feet from where their current stadium stands today—along with…Read more...

Over the last few days, many people in the NBA and wider sports media world have settled on a basic talking point when discussing the ongoing international incident that Rockets GM Daryl Morey kicked off when he tweeted a message of support for pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong: It’s complicated. But is it all…Read more...

Undefeated welterweight world champion Errol Spence Jr. was seriously injured early this morning in a single-car crash in downtown Dallas. Police say Spence, 29, was driving his Ferrari near I-30 around 3 a.m. when he sped over the center median and flipped his car multiple times. He was ejected from the vehicle, as…Read more...

Anyone who doesn’t live under a rock already know that cinematic driving scenes and stunts don’t exactly make sense in the real world (but, I mean, who goes to the movies to feel like they’re watching real life anyway?). But if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like for an actual, professional driver to break down…Read more...

After the Cardinals tore the Braves a new asshole in Wednesday’s series-clinching 13–1 Game 5 win, Cards manager Mike Shildt ripped them yet another poop valve in his triumphant, fuck-laden postgame talk in front of his team:Read more...

You’d be forgiven, Nats fans, if you wanted Howie Kendrick out of the game long before his instantly legendary grand slam in the top of the 10th that won the Nationals their first-ever playoff series. Kendrick, despite turning in a pleasant surprise of a 2019 season that saw him become one of Washington’s better…Read more...

A Sorel sale, Postmates exclusive offer, discounted carry-on, and a Funko Harry Potter Advent Calendar lead off Thursday’s best deals from around the web.Read more...

Clayton Kershaw was on in the eighth for two batters, and two batters only, no matter how he looked, no matter the result. Kenta Maeda was warm and ready, and after Kershaw faced Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto, Maeda would come in for a string of righties. So, just two batters, with a two-run lead. Kershaw threw them…Read more...

$100 In Free Delivery Credits For Your First 7 Days | Postmates | Use promo code KINJA100 on your first order (minimum $15 order)Read more...

AmazonBasics Reusable Cable Zip Ties - 8-Inch, 50-Pack | $5 | AmazonRead more...

Oh man. The Dodgers absolutely cruised through seven innings at home against the Nationals Wednesday night, in Game 5 of their divisional series. Walker Buehler was once again dominant. Postseason beast Max Muncy and Kiké Hernández pounced on opportunities presented by Stephen Strasburg’s early command troubles.…Read more...

After 85 years as an all-women’s undergraduate school, the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, Conn. announced in 2017 that it would begin admitting men for the 2018-19 academic year. Almost immediately after creating men’s athletic programs and hiring a coaching staff for those programs, the Division III…Read more...

Washington Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki was taken out of Wednesday night’s Game 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers when a high-and-tight fastball from Walker Buehler deflected off his wrist and into his face in the top of the seventh inning. The impact was audible, and Suzuki crashed to the ground and appeared to be…Read more...

President Trump was asked a direct question Wednesday about the ongoing and escalating conflict between the NBA and the Chinese government, which started with a seven-word tweet of support for Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey. Because he is incapable of processing the…Read more...

A day after NBA commissioner Adam Silver released a statement wondering whether everyone couldn’t just get along and enjoy some hoops, eight members of Congress, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ted Cruz, signed a letter to Silver condemning the the NBA’s response to the controversy over Daryl Morey’s tweet…Read more...

The Atlanta Braves selectively and cynically scrubbed the “tomahawk chop” celebration ahead of Wednesday’s Game 5 against the St. Louis Cardinals. This did not go far enough, as was evidenced by defiant Braves fans loudly performing the chop almost immediately after the start of the game. Moments later—and I do mean…Read more...

Hours before today’s winner-take-all NLDS Game 5, the Atlanta Braves responded to Cardinals reliever Ryan Helsley’s comments about the disrespectful nature of the team’s longstanding “tomahawk chop” celebration. In a somewhat surprising turn, the team said they would not pass out foam tomahawks to fans, and they…Read more...

A New York judge gave a group of insurance companies the go-ahead to seek evidence that the NFL sought to share cover-up strategies with tobacco companies as part of a ferocious, years-long legal battle over which side will pay for claims related to the league’s concussion settlement.Read more...

There’s only room for one Alpha Dickhead in the Pacific Division, and Drew Doughty and Matthew Tkachuk have now spent years trying to stake their claim at the top.Read more...

So, here’s a tweet.Read more...

Salah Hassan was a journalist working in Iraq for Al Jazeera in 2003 when the U.S. military arrested him, took him to the Abu Ghraib prison, and tortured him. This happened because did his job well—he was quick to the scene after a roadside bomb attack in Diyala. As Hassan spent 48 days in detention without ever being…Read more...

Peace has been achieved in our time. One day after Richard Sherman’s claim that Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield snubbed him in a handshake line was alternately proven and disproven by a multitude of new angles, the 49ers cornerback conceded that he may have gotten too far out over his skis. Sherman joined Da Zone’s…Read more...

An artist who goes by “Maso Rich” has produced hyper-faithful, parallel-universe versions of the Instagram accounts of LeBron James and Steph Curry. In these universes, LeBron is a giraffe and Steph, in an inspired bit of casting, is a bush baby. Deadspin spoke with Maso Rich on the phone to understand where these…Read more...

A friendly match in Monterrey, Mexico between the Houston Dash and Tigres Feminil was marred at the end when Dash midfielder Sofia Huerta appeared to be groped by a fan while she was taking a selfie after the game was over.Read more...

3 Flannels For $100 or 1 Flannel For $39 | Jachs | Promo code 3FL or FLNRead more...