and Page 477 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Minor League Baseball Team Claims Blue Lives Matter Flag Patch Is "Not Political"
The Aberdeen Ironbirds, a Class-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, defended the Blue Lives Matter flag patch on the back of their jerseys on Wednesday. The team claimed that they aren’t a political statement, but a way to honor two sheriff’s deputies killed in February of 2016. ...


Why Your Team Sucks 2019: Oakland Raiders
Some people are fans of the Oakland Raiders. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Oakland Raiders. This 2019 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read all the previews so far here....

Report: The Admissions Side Door May Have Been Open For UCLA Applicants With Influential Connections
The college admissions cheating scandal revealed the details of a formalized process for jamming the failchildren of wealthy and prominent families into otherwise credible and prestigious universities, using an expensive “side door” for parents whose wealth leaves them a rung or two shy of the oppor...

The Falcons Are Bringing D.J. Durkin To Training Camp Because No Bad Coach Ever Goes Away
Disgraced former Maryland Terrapins head coach D.J. Durkin will, bizarrely, be making an appearance in the NFL this year. As Atlanta Falcons training camp begins, the team has announced that Durkin will serve as a “guest coach,” which means he’ll watch practice for 10 days and consult with head coac...

Once Again, The A's Are Winning When They're Not Supposed To
For the second year running, the Oakland Athletics have unlocked their full potential after looking dead in the water. Last season, basically the entire rotation’s collective arm fell off and then ace Sean Manaea went down with a shoulder injury, yet the A’s won a million games and easily took a wil...

Here's A Risky But Perfect Tweener
Wimbledon is over, but grass court tennis isn’t, even if the experience is not so finely curated. World No. 83 Alexander Bublik is playing at Newport this week. Earlier this year he earned the honor (or curse) of becoming one of Nick Kyrgios’s favorite players on tour after the two goofed through an...

The Biggest Thing Holding Back Women's Soccer Is The Same Old Thing
PORTLAND, Ore. — The crowd decked out in red and black sways between elation and disappointment as the seconds tick away. Voices rise when the hometown Portland Thorns take possession of the ball, and heavy sighs spread through the crowd of close to 19,000 when they turn it over. The Thorns have mos...

Bolton Wanderers Players And Coaches Have Not Been Paid In Four Months
Despite staving off administration twice over in months prior, Bolton Wanderers finally met that dreaded fate on May 8. Since then, the club has been nothing but a disaster. With no potential owners stepping up to buy the team, and an unpaid tax bill of at least £1.2 million, things are looking dire...

Chris Paddack Gave The Marlins A Taste Of What They're Missing
Back in June 2016, a much different Miami Marlins team beefed up their bullpen with a trade for 39-year-old journeyman reliever Fernando Rodney. Rodney would play out the rest of the season with the Fish, posting a 5.89 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP over 36.2 innings as Miami finished 15.5 games out of first ...

Don Mattingly Is Ready For Robot Umpires
Marlins manager Don Mattingly watched his team get very nearly no-hit by electrifying Padres ace Chris Paddack Wednesday night, in what would’ve been the first no-hitter in Padres history. Paddack gave up his first hit, a solo dinger to Starlin Castro, in the bottom of the eighth inning, and eventua...

FIFA Puts An End To The Scourge Of Amazing, Impossible Goalkeeper Goals
Goalkeepers occasionally score goals. Some turn it into an art form; Brazil’s Rogério Ceni scored 131 times. Still, a game where a goalkeeper scores is rare. Even rarer still: a goalkeeper throwing the ball into the other team’s net for a goal....

Manny Machado Calls Eric Byrnes And Dan Plesac The "Biggest Tools Out There"
Manny Machado, while lounging at home and watching MLB Network last night, decided to pop off his shirt, log into Instagram, and get some things off his chest. What followed was a solid three minutes of Machado shitting on MLB Network commentators Dan Plesac and Eric Byrnes while pointing out the le...

Barry Sanders Was The Coolest Football Player Who Ever Lived
What would it take for a present-day football player to equal or surpass the sheer coolness of Barry Sanders, who turns 51 years old today? I’m not sure it’s even possible. Individual humans simply are not permitted to impose themselves on the sport’s structure in 2019 the way they were in 1992. And...

The Lakers Really Want You To Know They Don't Want J.R. Smith
You would have been forgiven for wondering, even assuming. LeBron likes his guys, those role players he has repeatedly gathered around him at every stop in his role as shadow GM. J.R. Smith is one of his guys. Yes, even after that....

Aspen Ladd Follows Nightmare Weigh-In With Nightmare 16-Second Knockout Loss
UFC fighter Aspen Ladd appeared weak and disoriented and in a fair amount of pain during her Friday weigh-in ahead of UFC Fight Night 155 in Sacramento. Her weekend didn’t improve much from there: Ladd was knocked out just 16 seconds into her bantamweight fight against Germaine de Randamie Saturday...

Fernando Tatis Jr. Bends Fabric Of Space And Time, Avoids Getting Tagged Out
It appeared as though Braves pitcher Mike Soroka was about the record the first out of his appearance against the Padres on Sunday. With an 0-2 count against Eric Hosmer, Soroka picked off Fernando Tatis Jr., who had a considerable lead at first base. Tatis Jr. was then caught in a rundown and, afte...

Trevor Bauer Knows He Could Just Not Pitch To Max Kepler, Right?
The Minnesota Twins are socking dingers at a historic pace, and the individual that is currently leading everyone on the roster in that stat is Max Kepler. With that knowledge, it shouldn’t be a complete surprise that he added a couple more in a 6-2 win over the Indians on Saturday, especially when ...

Atlantic League Batter Steals First, Makes Baseball History
Around the time that robot umpires were brought in to help officiate the Atlantic League All-Star Game, Major League Baseball and the independent league’s front office decided to tack on a few more rules to experiment with for the second half of the season. Among them included an expansion on the cu...

Oakland A's Unwittingly Feature Naughty Australian Slang In Ad Thanking Liam Hendriks
Oakland Athletics reliever Liam Hendriks made his first All-Star team this season, and the native of Perth, Australia, pitched a three-strikeout inning, while he also allowed a solo shot to Charlie Blackmon. To commemorate their pitcher’s all-star debut, the A’s took out a full-page ad in The Austr...