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10 NFL teams everyone thinks will be good this season, but won't be
Every team had a great offseason. All those gaping, even-the-blind-can-see problems your favorite team had no longer exist. Here’s where a path to greatness starts. Of course for most, that won’t be true. The heavy hitters didn’t go away and until your favorite players get hit in the mouth, all the ...
Does it matter that 3 of the AP top 5 teams haven’t named a starting QB?
AP’s college football top 25 poll debuted Monday, and there aren’t too many surprises. Texas (11) is overrated as usual, but everything else appears to be above board. The typical formula for misguided hype includes some combination of a new coach, unproven quarterback, prestigious program, schedule...
After the ESPN shakeup, we still have Hubie Brown to keep teaching us basketball
Following its highest-rated NBA Playoff in two decades, ESPN decided to take a hatchet to its game coverage of the league. Gone from the network entirely are Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy. Replacing them on the No. 1 commentator team alongside Mike Breen are Doris Burke and Doc Rivers. Ryan Ruocco...
Damian Lillard should study James Harden to get out of Portland
No matter the level of NBA fandom, everyone has an opinion on Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden. Whether it’s about the beard, his brash attitude once he’s fed up, or his belly, Harden always gives us something to discuss. His latest stunt involved calling his boss (now former friend), Daryl Mor...
Aaron Donald rules over the institution that is John Madden Football
The release of Madden NFL ‘24 is just days away, a massive event in the gaming world. This year five NFL players will enter the season with 99 overall ratings; Aaron Donald is once again at the head of the class for a record seventh time in his career. With that, he passed Hall of Fame quarterback P...
![James Harden's Daryl Morey comments will cost him $100k [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/d3847cc53204d78a7eaacfe79e6981f5.jpg)
James Harden's Daryl Morey comments will cost him $100k [Updated]
Update Aug. 22: The NBA announced it would fine Harden $100,000 for indicating that he would not perform the services called for under his player contract unless traded to another team. Since Harden referred to Philadelphia 76ers president Daryl Morey as a liar and essentially threatened to sit out ...
Niners could be in for a bumpy ride on their QB carousel
Championship urgency is more real in the NFL than in any other sport. When that window is open, teams have to climb up the ladder and jump in like Sam in Clarissa Explains it All. Any hesitation and soon that hard salary cap will not allow a contending team to satisfy every talented player who deser...
The Yankees are getting awfully close to toast after Sunday’s collapse in Miami
It’s been a while since New York had a lost summer, baseball-wise. Every New York summer is hot and smells like anarchy, but usually one of the Mets or Yankees can make all that sweating and noise worth it for their supporters. The Mets gave up their responsibility long ago, while the Yankees have b...
The 2023 Basketball Hall of Fame class represents 40 years of growth in the sport
The way that the NBA game is currently played — the spacing, position fluidity, the resting of stars during the regular season — all of that and more has been in the works for 20 years. Prioritizing 3-point shooting to maximize room for drivers and post players did not start and end with Mike D’Anto...
The Sixers don’t have time for another prolonged James Harden trade saga
The staring contest is underway between James Harden and Daryl Morey as the Philadelphia 76ers announced they have ended talks to trade the former MVP. Unhappy with his role and contract offer, Harden requested a trade earlier this offseason, but his desired destination, the LA Clippers, couldn’t co...
Who’s more exciting: Shohei Ohtani or Elly De La Cruz?
This is not an argument about who’s the better player: Shohei Ohtani, or Elly De La Cruz. Ohtani is probably the best two-way player in baseball history, and De La Cruz has 55 games to his name. The discussion is about excitement, about who’s highlight you’re watching first, about throwing a complet...
The latest league to try to compete with the NFL is already doomed
There’s no doubt the NFL is the most popular sports league in America, if not the world. Domestically, the second-place NBA isn’t even close to it. Trying to replicate the NFL’s mainstream success has been a bunch of offshoot professional leagues, giving opportunities to players several steps down f...
Saudi League soccer and Fox Sports: A match made in apathy
There are several analogies that could be used to illustrate the hubris of Fox Sports partnering with the Saudi Pro League, and as easy as it would be to use the retirement tours of big name soccer stars, and the marginal effect they’ve had on MLS here in the states, Lionel Messi is on a barnstormin...
Big Ten athletes should be on the hunt for NIL deals with airlines
Soon, Big Ten teams from the Midwest and East Coast will have a “West Coast road trip,” like they do in the pros, and vice versa. But unlike professional athletes, these players won’t be getting compensated for their “jobs,” and some of them will be on commercial airplanes as they fly across the cou...
Wait, suddenly Philly fans are great?
It was only Michael Lorenzen’s second start with the Phillies since he was acquired from Detroit at the trade deadline. And he threw a spectacular no-hitter, no doubt about it. A whole 124 pitches, with none of them leading to a hit, was special. Lorenzen offered his thanks to everyone involved on h...
It shouldn’t be horrible for the next American to suit up with Chelsea
How American soccer players are treated in the Premier League has always been an interesting conundrum. Unless you’re a goalkeeper or somehow wind up at Fulham, heightened levels of scrutiny are at your doorstep that don’t appear in other top leagues around the world. There have been a few other saf...
USWNT’s treatment is the latest example of right-wing hatred for ‘nasty women’
Indigenous Americans were almost eradicated. Black people were enslaved. Asians are mistreated. Millions still want to “build a wall.” People of color have been oppressed for centuries, and each group has its own plight. But misogyny has stood the test of time. The overturning of Roe v. Wade, the re...
The Bengals had better hope Joe Burrow doesn’t have one of those NBA strains
Super Bowl Championship expectations are rare for the Cincinnati Bengals. Before Ja’Marr Chase was drafted they hadn’t won a playoff game since Bo Jackson played football. In 2023, the sports books have the Bengals as one of the top-five favorites to win the Super Bowl. However, they are currently d...
The Phillies are riding a good wave
The good vibes are starting to spill out of South Philly again. The Phillies might not catch Atlanta, but then they proved last season they don’t really care about that sort of thing. Last night, Michael Lorenzen threw a no-hitter in his second start for the Fightins, and his first at home. It is th...
Kevin Brown’s suspension is a symptom of a much larger problem with journalism, team-owned outlets (UPDATE)
(UPDATE, 4:58 PM: Baltimore Orioles announcer Kevin Brown was reinstated by the team Friday and released this statement on Twitter: “Unfortunately, recent media reports have mischaracterized my relationship with my adopted hometown Orioles. The fact is that I have a wonderful relationship with the o...