Locker Page 56 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Hockey can’t fail this one (but it still might)
There was always hope that if there was one, there would be more. We’re not there yet, but after Carl Nassib came out, and is the first openly gay player in the NFL, the NHL has one now in Luke Prokop. Or it will, whenever Prokop gets called up. I suppose I should write “if” he gets called up, becau...

NBC is going to give Simone Biles her own Popemobile
We’re now mere days away from the Olympics, and there’s not much to add to how much of a mess they already are. The virus has already gotten within the Olympic village, it’s within those who are soon going to be at the village, and it’s already waylaid a couple of the biggest stars that were suppose...

Giannis and Jrue shut us up
Always trust your gut....

Really? The old 'fake news' gambit?
It would be nice if Liz Cambage didn’t try to refute reports that she broke COVID protocols with the term “fake news,” but the Australian star sure did defend herself after her withdrawal from the Olympic team during its Las Vegas training camp, for which she cited mental health....

Maybe it <i>is</i> still March 2020
The phrase “out of an abundance of caution” is so 2020, but here we are in 2021, seeing it again....

U.S. Women's hoops drops All-Star Game to Team WNBA (but don't panic)
There’s a big difference between the U.S. men’s basketball team’s losses to Nigeria and Australia and what happened on Wednesday night, as the American women, who are even bigger favorites for Olympic gold than the men, dropped a 93-85 decision to the Team WNBA in the All-Star Game in Las Vegas....

Uniform uniforms was a baaaaaaaaaad choice
Every sport’s All-Star Game features the best players. What’s made baseball’s Midsummer Classic unique, and many would say the best showcase around, is that you get to see things you wouldn’t see in an ordinary game, while the game still remains true to itself. Last night we saw the American League ...

Argentina, and Messi, finally win again
Saturday wound up being one of those days in sports where seemingly everything happens all at once....

Baseball’s best road ’Sho
It’s a fair point that it’s too bad that baseball’s nature as a team sport means that the Angels can have Shohei Ohtani and the soon-to-return Mike Trout on the same team, yet still be on their way to a seventh straight year without making the playoffs, and 13th straight without winning a playoff ro...

Did we need 8K cameras for this?
I get that these 8K cameras are a fun, newish toy for TV producers to go to. We saw them come on the scene for the past NFL season after touchdowns. WWE has been a big fan of them as well. They certainly create cool looking shots at opportune moments when you’re trying to focus on one guy and make i...

The Lightning won the Cup, but we <i>all</i> won, because there’s no more Pierre McGuire
When the Lightning finally ran out the clock on the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday night — having strangled them lifeless all game, and making it clear just how much of a mismatch this really was (22 shots in an elimination game and just eight in the third) — pretty much everyone other than those clad...

This was better than Jason Kidd?
It’s only Game 1, so maybe Mike Budenholzer is waiting to change how he does things as this series goes along. An NBA playoff series can be moves and countermoves as it goes longer, and you don’t want to give away everything in the beginning — so we have to allow for that. But we’ve seen Budenholzer...

Listening to John McEnroe, it’s clear all broadcasters are going to need mental health training
It isn’t just tennis where anyone who covers the game is going to need a refresher or a re-training on how to talk about things. But that’s the one in the news at the moment, as Naomi Osaka has brought the matters of mental health, depression, and anxiety into the spotlight. Tennis being an individu...

America’s gluttonous celebration is back, and you won’t be able to look away
There’s this quote I think about around this time every year. It’s from Jason Fagone, author of the book Horseman of the Esophagus. In it, he chronicles the stories of professional eaters. I read it for a college class once. That’s a story for another time....

Mike … Trout? Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time…
Friday afternoon, Shohei Ohtani was named the American League Player of the Month for June....
![A team and league full of cowards [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/4984da50efefe77ea7fad7dd67ff5953.jpg)
A team and league full of cowards [Update]
Since the publication of this column, MLB has placed Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer on administrative leave due to the allegations of sexual assault....

It can be worth waiting for
Perhaps I should save this until after we see how the NBA Finals pan out. If Chris Paul doesn’t get his ring, everything that’s been said about him before he clinched his first appearance in the Finals, after the Suns blew out the Clippers, 130-103, last night, could be trotted back out (and he clin...

SEE IT: The clutchest shot in disc golf history
I haven’t thought about disc sports since I graduated college. I’ve played disc golf twice, and both times I lost several of my partner’s discs. It just isn’t the sport for me. But, by George, this clip of James Conrad sinking a birdie to force a playoff gets me hyped to get back out there and try a...

That’s not how this works, Blazers
Y’see, the thing is, Trail Blazers, you can’t play-act being some sort of feminist champion organization for five minutes, just long enough to get people to notice, and then hope it all goes away when your credentials on that prove to be thinner than a playing card. You can’t dip your toe into these...

Paul George didn’t let the call go to voicemail
It’ll take two more wins for it to really matter. And you can certainly say things bent toward Paul George to give him this platform. The Jazz had their injuries and problems. Kawhi Leonard got hurt, leaving the Clippers not much choice but to give George the keys and the blueprints. You still have ...