aka Page 21 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Justin Fields, Dan Orlovsky, and the never-ending degradation of Black QBs with age-old stereotypes
I find myself often being perplexed by the way some things are happening. Currently, one of those situations is the seemingly-inexplicable decrease in draft stock of a quarterback prospect I love, Justin Fields, who before the season was the consensus second-best quarterback behind Trevor Lawrence. ...

Let Russell Westbrook’s comments be a lesson: Athletes don’t have to meet your expectations
Russell Westbrook had 35 points, 21 assists, and 14 rebounds in a 132-124 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night....

Brian Cashman was ‘heartbroken’ about Masahiro Tanaka’s experiences with racism, but such reactions insult people of color
The ability to feign disbelief can be more harmful than the act that caused the initial shock. It’s a skill that some white people are either born with or have acquired over time. It’s a classic argument of nature vs. nurture, and Brian Cashman is the latest example....

Vanessa Kade quiets haters fast with $1.5 million tournament win
Everyone knows who she is now....

The Colorado Avalanche make medicine sick
It isn’t much of a story when a preseason favorite starts rising to the top of the standings. Most everyone thought the Colorado Avalanche would be a Cup contender this year, playing 56 preseason games and one warm-up series before a West Division final with the Vegas Golden Knights that will contai...

Duke? UNC? UConn? Ranking the best NCAA national champs over the past 20 years
Selection Sunday will be the first time we’ve been able to fill out a bracket in two years. A lot has changed since then, especially in college basketball, as it’s been as upside down as the rest of the world is. Juniors and seniors are the biggest draws this season, as only a few freshmen like Okla...

Ranking the greatest college basketball championship teams of the 2010s
There are a lot of words you could use to describe a college basketball season that has been wrecked by COVID-19, but the best one is “weird.” Besides the blue bloods of Duke and Kentucky missing the tournament, and North Carolina and Michigan State having subpar years with even lower seeds than usu...

It’s happening to Erik Karlsson again
Erik Karlsson has always generated an infuriating debate amongst hockey observers, where the “old school” — i.e. Molson-filled and incontinent old Canadians who somehow fell out of a duck blind and into a TV studio — could never reconcile Karlsson’s style of not eating pucks regularly and his desire...

Which football powerhouse could cut down nets at the Final Four?
The Madness is finally back, and the matchups are finally set for what will be one of the strangest NCAA tournaments in recent history. Not only will COVID-19 likely have an impact on the games within the Indiana “bubble,” but this year we are missing some of the most storied programs in all of coll...

Let these athletes tell you all about how much it sucked to have COVID
Remember when you heard that young, healthy people would have an easy time with the coronavirus? Looking back, it’s as ridiculous as comparing COVID to the flu or saying the country would open by Easter. But that’s what some thought around this time last year....

On the anniversary of sports shutting down due to COVID-19, what have we learned about sports, the virus, and ourselves?
It’s been a year since NBA player Rudy Gobert smeared his hands on reporters’ microphones at a press conference and then tested positive for the coronavirus. A year of lockdowns and masking and handwashing and flouting mask-wearing protocols....

The day it all fell apart: Deadspin talks to journalists all over the sports world about what they remember when everything shut down
A year ago today was our last “normal” day. At least in the beginning. Only we didn’t know it....

Coast to coast, which NBA contenders could DeMarcus Cousins help the most?
It’s been over three years since DeMarcus Cousins ruptured his Achilles amid what will likely go down as his final All-Star season. We’re also 18 months removed from his torn ACL that saw him never suit up in 2019-20 despite signing with the Los Angeles Lakers. This season, the 6-foot-10 center had ...

The Jazz are legit contenders, and it’s not just about their ridiculous three-point records
The Utah Jazz could win an NBA title this season....

Naomi Osaka is one of the swaggiest athletes we’ve ever witnessed
Naomi Osaka could be on the verge of becoming a cultural icon....

Naomi Osaka isn't Serena Williams' rival – she's her legacy
There is a poignancy in the current moment in women’s tennis. Naomi Osaka learned from the best, and then ended another one of Serena Williams’ evanescent chances to tie Margaret Court’s 24 record Grand Slam singles titles....

Let Serena Williams sit back, enjoy greatness, and close out her career on her own terms
We all know the end is nearing for Serena Williams’ career....

It’s clear, after dismantling Serena at Aussie, Naomi Osaka’s game just doesn’t give a…
It’s fair to say that Serena Williams has met her Serena Williams in Naomi Osaka....

Masahiro Tanaka to return to Japan, why this Yankee fan is happy for him
It sucks that Masahiro Tanaka will no longer be a Yankee, but at least I don’t have to root against him on another MLB team....

Masahiro Tanaka won’t make it to Cooperstown, but — like hoops' Hall — there should be room for stories like his
In seven seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, Arvydas Sabonis averaged 12 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. His biggest accomplishments were being the NBA’s Player of the Week at the end of March in 1996, and finishing 12th in the league in total rebounds in 1997-98....