ap Page 1139 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

MLB's new playoff system has created a wonderful, hot mess of a finish
The playoffs are approaching, and perhaps an indirect benefit of expanding them is that the more flawed teams are competing for them, the funnier it can get. ...

You can stick a fork in these NFL teams, because they are done
The 2023 NFL season is in full swing and, three weeks in, there are already a few teams we can count out — because they’re finished. A couple of these teams might shock you, but if you haven’t won a game by this point, the odds of making the postseason are slim. Only six teams in NFL history have ev...

Here are all the 50+ SB Seasons, by franchise, in MLB history
Immaculate Grid has been a hit with baseball stat geeks since its launch in April. While the stats puzzle has since expanded to basketball, football, and hockey, it’s still baseball that makes the game what it is. So if you need help filling out your daily grid, give these stats a look....

The Chicago Bears are forever hopeless until new ownership arrives
I’ll never be free of this....
![Mel Tucker reportedly caught in multiple contradictions during sexual harassment investigation [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/d24e49c2b101d1c332388907bbe9fbcf.jpg)
Mel Tucker reportedly caught in multiple contradictions during sexual harassment investigation [Updated]
If you’re looking for a clue that Mel Tucker didn’t actually embrace the program rape survivor or advocate Brenda Tracy puts on at college campuses all over the country, look no further than his response to being called out in public for his behavior....

If you're going to crash and burn, crash and burn like the Reds
Almost every demise in a baseball season is slow (unless you’re the Pittsburgh Pirates–more on them later). When a team still has a shot at the postseason by September, every game means that team is chasing something. And that chase means that should they falter on Tuesday, by Wednesday’s first pitc...

We don’t want to know where Brock Purdy keeps that horseshoe hidden
The most annoying thing about Brock Purdy, and there’s more than a few, is the idea that the Niners planned all of this. ...

Buddy Hield is the type of player who could tilt the odds in a contender’s favor
If there’s any NBA trading block resident who deserves to transition to a contender this season, it’s not James Harden or Damian Lillard, it’s newcomer Buddy Hield. At least Dame Time has advanced to the brink of a Conference Finals. Hield has never even sailed the postseason waters. His 548 games p...
![Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams resigns amid rumors [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/9ca44496871fa9001764510ac92d554e.jpg)
Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams resigns amid rumors [Updated]
After starting the season 0-2, things got a whole lot worse for the Chicago Bears on Wednesday....

Just how far can the Orioles go?
It would be folly to pin too much on just a handful of games, no matter how good the Baltimore Orioles have looked. But then again, October doesn’t really adhere to trends or reason or logic either. When you get to this point in the season and try to look forward, you can throw darts at stardust, an...

The New England Patriots have a losing record since Tom Brady left
The Pips were nothing without Gladys Knight. The Jackson Five wasn’t the same without Michael. Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots are an average football team — at best — without Tom Brady....

Elon Musk might be on his way to toppling the sports insider business
The sports insider wars may have to be fought on new battlegrounds. ...

NFL Running backs don’t need to fake injuries to show the league how dangerous their jobs are
This summer, NFL Players Association president J.C. Tretter’s ill-advised suggestion that running backs fake injuries to create leverage set off alarms around the league. On Monday, the NFL finally responded by filing an expected grievance against the NFLPA. ...

Is there any point in playing this Champions League?
Nope, not really! But my editors and management insist that these posts are longer than three words, so I guess I’ll have to explain. If Manchester City waltzed to last year’s trophy, only really sweating in the final for about an hour against a stubborn Inter, they very well may never get out of a ...

The Buffalo Bills are the Forrest Gump of the NFL
The NFL is the Buffalo Bills’ world and we’re all just living in it. ...

The Colts are repeating the sins of the Andrew Luck era with Anthony Richardson
We’re only two games into the Anthony Richardson era in Indianapolis and it’s not too early to admit that the physical punishment he’s subjecting himself to is a cause for concern. Four years ago, Andrew Luck retired mid-preseason from the same team Richardson now helms, to the astonishment of fans...

The Houston Astros don’t deserve a first-round bye
With playoff baseball rapidly approaching and the standings nearly complete, this feels like a good time to point out a flaw in the new six-team format (other than increasing the number of games per round). If you’re going to hand out first-round byes, give them to the two best teams in each league....

Behold, the magic of the Blue Jays' face-plant!
It’s been a wonky season for the Toronto Blue Jays. It was supposed to be the one where they leaped from just a playoff team to AL East titan. Didn’t work out. Part of it is that Alek Manoah started throwing wiffle balls. Another part is that Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s power went to the zoo for most of...

What was Chaim Bloom supposed to do?
Just how well is a GM/executive reign supposed to go when the first task given to them is to trade the best player in baseball? That was the road set out for Chaim Bloom, who came to Fenway from Tampa, probably with hopes that he could set up a Rays-with-money set-up like Andrew Friedman in Los Ange...

Here's why victims of sexual trauma often don't fight back
Last weekend, allegations that now-suspended MSU football coach Mel Tucker had sexually harassed anti-sexual assault advocate Brenda Tracy hit the news and, as always when a prominent man in the world of sports is accused, X/Twitter and other social media platforms were besieged by those speculating...