Month: October 2024

Count me out on the Olympics. Again. Can’t watch. Don’t care. Sure, I will miss great performances from fine athletes who have put their heart and soul into training for the once-in-a-lifetime world stage. The Games were supposed to rally nations, give people pride about the countries they are from. For sure, on paper, it sounds like it would be a great event, something you could wrap your arms around and you would honestly look forward to every four years. Then, Thursday happened. The International Olympics Committee announced very loudly and clearly what won’t be allowed at this Summer Games in Tokyo. It said specifically that the slogan “Black Lives Matter” will be banned from athlete apparel at the Olympics. It’s part of the IOC’s ridiculous, long-standing ban o…

Alabama forward Grant Nelson hit two big 3-pointers down the stretch Wednesday night to help the 24th-ranked Crimson Tide rally for an 85-76 Southeastern Conference win at Georgia. And in the eyes of coach Nate Oats, whose team hosts Mississippi State on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa, the best is yet to come for the North Dakota State transfer. "He's showed he's got some toughness to him," Oats said. "He's struggled to shoot the ball. We trust him to make shots and those two he hit late in the game were big. I mean, they sealed the game for us. So he showed he's a winner. He showed the moment doesn't get too big for him." The 6-11 Nelson, who averaged 17.9 points and 9.3 rebounds last season for the Bison, is down to 12.6 points and 5.9 rebou…

Through their eight-year run of dominance, the Houston Astros have had a kryptonite of sorts. The Cincinnati Reds have defeated the Astros seven straight times. Houston hasn't beaten Cincinnati since 2016, the year before the first of its two World Series titles. That includes Monday's 5-3 Cincinnati victory in the opener of a three-game series in Cincinnati. Following an unusual scheduled off-day Tuesday, the series resumes Wednesday. Cincinnati swept the Astros in 2019 at Great American Ball Park and then again last season in Houston. The Reds are 11-2 in the last 13 meetings with the Astros. Before Monday's win, the Reds hadn't pulled off consecutive victories this season since Aug. 11-14, when they won four straight. Leading the way for the Reds has been Santi…

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. There was pessimism, hope, and ultimately failure. There was schadenfreude; oh, was there schadenfreude. There were also huge games, mesmerizing goals, and more twists in the title race than a M. Night Shyamalan movie (but actually good). To cap off an especially thrilling English Premier League campaign, let's take a look down the table at how we got here. The European Places Not only was this a historically competitive title race, with four teams harboring legit championship hopes through most of the season, but even a top four finish wasn't guaranteed to anyone for a change. In the preseason most pundits expected a Chelsea or Manchester City championship, in the early goings of the campaign Arsenal were playing too w…

A lot of our stories begin as tips from readers. (Have any? Send 'em here!) Sometimes, these tips don't pan out for one reason or another. Here are a bunch of emails we got in 2012 that never turned into stories, either because we couldn't confirm them or because they were so utterly ridiculous we didn't even bother to try. Everything sic. Subject: [NFL team] gambling/sex party 9/14/2012….anonymous tip. here's the rundown on the poker party last night. This time it wasn't at [REDACTED] house like I was originally told, it was at [REDACTED] home and it was a cheap ghetto nightmare!! Music so loud you couldn't even hear yourself think, sticky drinks filled w cheap alcohol spilled all over his basement floor. The ugliest broads slinking around sucking …

Time for your weekly edition of the Deadspin Funbag. Got something on your mind? Email the Funbag. Today, we’re covering egg whites, sex, cats that do dishes, and more. I took my family on a short road trip for spring break, and on the way home, my 2-year-old asked me to pull over so he could go take a crap. So I did. I pulled into the gas station, and then my wife brought the kid to the bathroom, and he announced that he was bluffing. He did NOT have to take a shit. So he got back in the car, and we drove for another 30 minutes, and then he announced, for a second time, that he had to go poop. “You’re not lying this time, are you?” I asked him. “If you’re lying, I’ll never stop for you to poop again.” But he said he had really had to go, so I pull over, and it’s…

data-mm-id=”_oko3xszyy”>For the second straight week, Kawhi Leonard is out for ESPN's Wednesday night showcase game, and someone in the NBA's scheduling department deserves to be chewed out over it. Last week, ESPN management was not happy about the situation and it's a fair bet that's the case again. The Clippers and Leonard himself are not blameless in this scenario but they're pretty clearly acting in their own self interest as far as maximizing championship chances is concerned. A system where the customers — TV partners, yes, as well as anyone who spent money on a ticket hoping to see two of the best players in the world in Kawhi Leonard and Giannis Antetokounmpo square off in an Eastern Conference Finals rematch — are set up with basically scratch lotte…

data-mm-id=”_c659fgie5″>Mookie Betts and David Price are headed west, as the Boston Red Sox have reached an agreement to trade both players to the Los Angeles Dodgers. BREAKING: The Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to a deal with the Boston Red Sox that would send star outfielder Mookie Betts and starter David Price to the Dodgers, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN. Deal is pending medical reviews.— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 5, 2020The deal is pending medical reviews but appears to be done. There could be a third team involved in the deal, as @Ken_Rosenthal reported. Significant cash will be going the way of wherever David Price lands. But the main player, Mookie Betts, will be a Dodger should medicals go as expected.— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 5, 2020Third,…

data-mm-id=”_cl8ljttto”>One of the many, many things the current coronavirus restrictions will interrupt as long as they remain in place is the latter half of the NFL offseason, where teams all gather together for meetings and practices in May and June before congregating for training camp in late July. When it became clear social distancing would stay a reality through the early parts of that process, the NFL told teams they were allowed to hold virtual meetings and practices with their teams, as long as it adhered to the same practice time restrictions they normally would be held to as laid out in the CBA. On Wednesday, Dianna Russini reported the New Orleans Saints would be passing on virtual meetings completely. The team told their players to stay healthy, take care of their family…