ap Page 1208 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Lots of great players were drafted, then immediately traded — and went on to be All-Stars
The weirdest thing about the NBA draft is the longstanding practice that once draft day comes, there’s no more trading draft picks. It makes some sense within the framework of the league rules and salary cap, but every year, it results in weird situations where a player is drafted by a team that he’...

Team USA takes out all its frustrations on Iran, but it’ll only get tougher from here
OK, look, Team USA wasn’t losing to Iran....

The USWNT never got out of second gear, but was that by design?
At the top, it should be stated that there were plenty of reasons for the U.S. Women’s National Team to never take their foot off the brakes this morning against Australia. Going balls-out wouldn’t have won them the group, with Sweden getting their gimme against New Zealand at the same time. No matt...

Deadspin fixes NBA free agency — Part 2: Shooting Guards
Disclaimer: If you don’t see a guy here that you think is a shooting guard, he might be a small forward. What’s the difference nowadays? Who knows? Do you know anyone that plays one of the two positions and not the other? In fantasy and in 2K, nearly every two can play the three, and vice versa, and...

Olympics are confirming what we already knew: NBA officiating is trash
It’s safe to say at this point that the USA men’s basketball team has not lived up to its expectations. The team consists of some of the best players in the world, and yet, despite the abundance of talent, Team USA continues to fall short against lesser opponents. No matter what head coach Gregg Pop...

Will Major League Baseball do to the Cape Cod League what it did to the minors?
ORLEANS, Mass. — The fever dreams of everyone at the offices of Major League Baseball who frets about the aging population of the fanbase look a lot like the scene found one night in early July in Orleans, Massachusetts, home of the Cape Cod League’s Orleans Firebirds....

The flat cap has caused NHL GMs to get even dumber
While the lead story of the NHL’s weekend is — and should be — Montreal GM Marc Bergevin ignoring all decency, logic, and the player’s own wishes to draft alleged sex criminal Logan Mailloux, that doesn’t mean it was the only story. The NHL is in a strange place these days, with the salary cap stayi...

Deadspin fixes NBA free agency — Part 1: Point Guards
Free agency, the part many of you care about most, begins the evening of August 2....

What’s the Story? With Yanks it’s a tale as old as time
The Yankees’ pursuit of Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, reported by ESPN’s Buster Olney, is apparently serious enough that Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, not the throw-it-against-the-wall-to-see-if-it-sticks type, speculated Friday about the implications that acquiring the All-Star would have on New York...

Jets’ ‘QB whisperer’ dies after being hit by car while biking
New York Jets assistant coach Greg Knapp died yesterday from injuries sustained when he was struck by a car while riding a bike last Saturday in California. The 25-year assistant coach had stops in San Francisco, Seattle, Oakland, Houston, Denver, Atlanta, and most recently New York. He was 58 years...

Nelson Cruz can absolutely still rake
Last night, we had our first big name dealt ahead of the MLB trade deadline on July 30. Twins’ slugger c was sent to the Tampa Bay Rays along with pitcher Calvin Faucher in exchange for two of the Rays’ top-20 prospects. Nelson Cruz is one of the biggest bats in baseball. Since 2010, no hitter has m...

NFL doesn’t rate in St. Louis, the ‘Baseball Capital’ of the U.S.
ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals had their largest attendance this season last night at Busch Stadium....

It’s time for the yearly CM Punk rumors, but this one might be a little more concrete
This has been wrestling Ahab’s quest for seven years now. He is the white whale, if the white whale had Living Colour playing wherever he went. Which probably would have made him way easier to find, and been a much easier book to read. But I prattle on, and we’re not here to talk about Moby Dick or ...

Offense is way up since MLB’s ‘sticky stuff’ crackdown
It’s officially been one month since Major League Baseball implemented their guidelines forcing umpires to check starting pitchers for illegal foreign substances. Sure, the All-Star break cost us a few days worth of data points, but in general, we have seen more than enough games, analyzed the spin ...

Test your Olympics knowledge with this increasingly difficult quiz!
The Olympics are here, and for the next couple of weeks, we’re all going to be obsessed with the Summer Games. But then what? What will we actually remember? Well, let’s find out. As the Tokyo Games get underway, here’s a little quiz to find out what you remember about the last Olympics, way back in...

Olympic baseball won’t feature best vs. best and that’s a shame
It’s exciting that baseball is back in the Olympics for Tokyo after having been out of the program in 2012 and 2016. It’s also going to be a weird mix of intriguing and disappointing to watch it all unfold, because while there are going to be familiar faces, the Olympics happening simultaneously wit...

Deadspin waffles: Why the Bucks will win Game 6… aaand why they won’t
Jeff Teague is on the verge of winning a championship. ...

International drama as Ugandan Olympic weightlifter breaks security bubble
Julius Ssekitoleko may not have thought this one all the way through....

Who should be ‘next <i>men</i> up’ for Team USA if more replacements are needed?
This is not what the R&R Partners meant by “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”...

NBA Finals now best of 3, but <i>nearly</i> a 'win or go home' Saturday
Saturday night is a must-win for the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks – literally....