ac Page 369 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Tampa Bay Rays can sure beat the tar out of awful teams
You can only play who is on the schedule. That’s an axiom as old as baseball, and it’s mostly true. The Tampa Bay Rays got to start their season with nine games against MLB’s kids with mittens pinned to their jackets year-round, and they’ve done all they can do. Which is to beat the ever-loving piss...

Battle of the bottom of the Eastern Conference barrel
The Eastern Conference hasn’t been as wide open as the West this season, so their play-in race wasn’t nearly as exciting. There isn’t much expected from the play-in participants in the east, even though the Miami Heat were in the Eastern Conference Finals last postseason. In the east, the Milwaukee ...

Who will win as the Lakers, Timberwolves, Pelicans, and Thunder battle for play-in spots?
The 2022-23 NBA regular season has come to a close, and it’s time again for the league’s newest tradition, the play-in tournament. This year the Western Conference had the race to watch down the stretch as it was tighter than spandex in the wrestling ring. In fact, the west was close for most of the...

OBJ’s addition to the Ravens does nothing to shield Baltimore from Lamar Jackson’s plea
For months, it’s been the elephant in the room for the Ravens. Baltimore has done almost everything in its power, because actions mean more than any words out of John Harbaugh’s mouth, to anger and agitate star quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Ravens haven’t committed long-term to Jackson as the corne...

The Mavericks give away the game
Well now it’s pretty obvious what NBA teams really think of the play-in tournament. The Dallas Mavericks spent the weekend doing everything they could to drop right out of the 10th seed and into the draft lottery, which they successfully did. Mavericks fans are probably most excited about the season...

MLB’s rule changes have made baseball more like itself
One week into the MLB season, the rule changes are by and large a huge success. It seems that fans and players alike overwhelmingly like the changes. ...

Don’t be so quick to count out the Western Conference's top-seeded teams
A large swath of NBA media is out on the top seeds in the Western Conference — and it makes sense, because, for the first time since the 1996-97 season, the East is far and away superior....

Kim Mulkey meeting the man that brought Britney Griner home is the White House story we needed
Angel Reese has owned her moment. From being named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four after LSU won their first national title in program history, to the reactions from her “dealings” with Iowa’s Caitlin Clark being the best example of “Two Americas” we’ve seen in quite some time, to her publ...

The 10 Plagues of Egypt for sports fans
Have you seen The Prince of Egypt? It’s the animated movie that features the Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey song “When You Believe” and tells the story of Moses. I don’t need to get into the ins and outs of religion, but the movie ends with the Israelites escaping slavery and Moses leading his pe...

Redefining what it means to be a unicorn
“Unicorn” is up there with “new normal” and “positionless basketball” as far as terms I would love to see removed from my brain. Any big man with guard skills is dubbed a unicorn, and we’re led to believe the NBA is a mythical universe populated by elves, dragons, and wizards. Well, technically the ...

Previously out of work Frank Lampard is back at Chelsea for the interim
Chelsea FC have literally been the definition of average in the Premier League this season. For a club that was crowned European champions less than two years ago, being considered average at anything might as well be worse than relegation. The Blues have close to the same number of wins, draws and ...

Brett Favre is your Jackass tournament winner
Mr. Packer barely squeaked past the former Georgia Bulldog to capture the inaugural Sports Jackass Bracket Championship. This matchup was by far the closest of the tournament, and these competitive jackasses saved their best for last. Had this been an actual competition on the field, it would’ve com...

The Baltimore Ravens are doing everything they can to agitate Lamar Jackson
Lamar Jackson has suffered a plethora of indignities at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens. Add one more to the mix. Traditionally, MVP-caliber quarterbacks negotiate for top-dollar extensions that set the standard for the quarterback compensation model. Throughout their battle with Jackson, Baltimor...

The Isiah Thomas-Michael Jordan beef still going strong decades later
I guess if Michael Jordan gets to remain bitter about events from 40 years ago then everyone else from that time should be granted the same courtesy. In 2021 it was Scottie Pippen — promoting his bourbon and book — who was publicly critical of Jordan. Since the NBA 75 Greatest Team gathered at the 2...

We created a 64-topic bracket only for you to vote for Michael Jordan for 3 weeks
Folks, we spent a lot of time on this Great Debates bracket. Did anyone ask for a bracket of 64 different regularly debated topics? No. Do we at Deadspin get paid to produce content? According to my direct deposit alerts, yes. Of course, no one wants to hear complaints about sports writing, but it’s...

John Elway parts with Broncos, gets out before draft history sinks in
John Elway’s tenure with the Denver Broncos was mercifully sent to the glue factory Wednesday, and he can now add “consultant” alongside “general manager” and “Super Bowl-winning quarterback” to the list of roles he formerly occupied for the organization. Thankfully for Donkos fans, Elway got out be...

Did Donald Trump hijack John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s raised fist?
In 1968, John Carlos and Tommie Smith risked it all at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City as they stood on the podium with their fists raised high. On Tuesday, a twice-impeached former President who has been harassing and harming Black people for decades from the Central Park/Exonerated Five to...

LeBron leading Lakers' late playoff surge — with a first-round exit likely
The Los Angeles Lakers are riding high late in the season as they attempt to sneak into the top six of the Western Conference avoiding the play-in tournament. After beating Utah Tuesday night, L.A. sits a half-game back of the fifth-place Golden State Warriors and tied with the Clippers (both 41-38)...
