The Mourning After Page 39 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

NBA Free Agency doesn’t wait around
We always expect the dawn of NBA free agency to be on the bonkers side, and yet are always surprised with how bonkers it gets. With the offseason once again crunched as the league desperately claws back an 82-game season from players who will barely be able to stand at the end of it, teams are proba...

I probably owe Gregg Berhalter an apology
You’ll have to excuse me, as I’m writing this Mourning After while giggling incessantly. The U.S. Men’s National C team, B- at best, beat a close-to-full-strength Mexico squad in the Gold Cup Final, 1-0. It was a tournament that manager Gregg Berhalter was using as a laboratory to find out who could...

White Sox rookie catcher Seby Zavala makes baseball history
Seby Zavala was the White Sox’s 12th-round pick in the 2015 draft out of San Diego State. It took until 2019 before the catcher made his major league debut, at the age of 25, and in that cup of coffee the catcher went 1-for-12 with nine strikeouts....

Hey look, it’s the first QB controversy of summer
The Rockies didn’t trade Trevor Story, so that’s pretty much the last bit of intrigue for baseball season in Colorado, just in time for the early days of Broncos training camp....

The Cubs finally let go of the burden of being good
It started before Kris Bryant was called up. Fuck, it probably started the day Anthony Rizzo signed his extension. This was the day the Cubs told everyone they dreaded, but secretly couldn’t wait for....

Deadspin fixes American sports: We need to abolish trades
Admittedly, I’ve spent the week in a blind rage thanks to the trade deadline in MLB. And that’s due to my former baseball flame, the Cubs, making a spectacle of themselves. But I’ve written that article, and may have to write it again later today should this be the day the Cubs ship Kris Bryant off ...

The dealing Mariners had the right idea, the execution was just iffy
You can’t really expect Mariners players to get it. Although the idea that GM Jerry Dipoto has to come down to the clubhouse to OK any decision he wants to make isn’t how things work in any company. The fans are probably in between, because they went into this season pretty much only looking forward...

Some proper baseball beef
It’s been a bit since we’ve had some proper baseball beef. As any wrestling fan will tell you, the best storylines that pay off biggest are the ones that cover a long time, sometimes years. Clearly that’s the lesson that Javy Baez and Amir Garrett have learned. Last night’s chapter:...

The Padres just don’t give a damn
It seems like the Padres kick off every phase of transactions now. They started the offseason when they went after Blake Snell and Yu Darvish. And now they’re just about the first to move before Friday’s MLB trade deadline, as they moved to save Adam Frazier from baseball irrelevance in Pittsburgh. ...

Team USA women debunk 3x3 basketball ‘adjustment period’ myth
There’s a lot of talk about how 3x3 basketball is different from regular basketball, and it absolutely is. It’s faster-paced, more physical, harder to play defense — lots of stuff. There’s also a funny sense that the best 5-on-5 basketball players in the world might have trouble at 3x3, and need an ...

Another 'promising' young man gets a pass
Logan Mailloux didn’t apologize in his statement this week to the woman he admitted violating with a “stupid mistake.” He apologized in an interview with Daily Faceoff, but not in the statement he released to the world....

Look, I’d love to blame Tony La Russa too, but…
It makes for an easy narrative, and one all of us that wants to see baseball evolve into something more fun can easily grab onto. ...

Giannis did it, dammit
It’s what you see when you squint on draft night. They walk up to that podium — in normal times at least — too skinny in that suit. They’re always too skinny. But every fan starts doing it, imagining nights like Tuesday’s, and the path to get there. What the offense will look like, how much he’ll ha...

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 ...