bay Page 7 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Stephen A. Smith may take a late night television jalopy out for a spin next year
It’s opening night for the 2025 NBA season. After Inside the NBA guffaws its way through the opening game, a portion of the audience siphons off to Apple TV or Prime Video, where Stephen A. Smith is starting his opening monologue. Except he isn’t ranting and raving about Donovan Mitchell and Jalen B...

Darvin Ham is not the reason the Lakers are losing
News flash: The Miami Heat are a better coached team than the Los Angeles Lakers. It showed in the fourth quarter of their Wednesday night matchup. Erik Spoelstra has been with the Heat organization since 1995 — its head coach since 2008. Following nine seasons as an NBA player, Darvin Ham was an as...

Stephen A. Smith weighs in on Pat McAfee and, as usual, gets it wrong
Last time I checked, Stephen A. Smith, a man who epitomizes the “embrace really loud debate” and who, just this week, had a man sniffing a female colleague’s shoe on his show, has decided to speak for journalism....
![Wander Franco released, still under investigation for alleged sexual relationship with minor [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/389d8a3e9adf5fb5a9a635d8f88137ec.jpg)
Wander Franco released, still under investigation for alleged sexual relationship with minor [Update]
Updated Jan. 5: Wander Franco was granted conditional release on Friday but remains under investigation for his alleged relationship with a 14-year-old girl and giving her mom a car and hush money for her consent. ...

The wacky ways these NFL teams can make — or miss — the playoffs
As the NFL heads into the final week of the regular season, there are still division titles and playoff berths to be decided....

These are the worst MLB free-agent signings ever
The media and fans (not so) patiently waited for the two biggest free agents —Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — to sign new deals with new teams. The American League MVP and the 25-year-old ace both inked pacts with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have spent more than $1 billion so far this offsea...

This week in MLB: Wander Franco vanishes, twice; Yoshinobu Yamamoto lands with Dodgers; Kiner-Falefa signs with Jays
Local authorities in the Dominican Republic carried out raids on two homes looking for Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, according to a report from Dominican newspaper Listin Diario. - Cale Clinton Read More...

IDIOT OF THE YEAR 2023: The complete rankings
Welcome to the grand finale of Deadspin’s IDIOT OF THE YEAR festivities. Here’s hoping 2024 will be better. It probably won’t....

The Packers have much bigger problems than Jaire Alexander calling a coin toss
I kind of like the idea of NFL players getting to be honorary captains in their hometowns. It would be a nice touch. The hometown kid done good can receive some love from his people. I am pretty sure, though, that is not currently standard NFL procedure. For Jaire Alexander to stroll out to midfield...

IDIOT OF THE YEAR: It's the final countdown (Nos. 10-1)
Here they are: The biggest dummies of 2023. Most of them are starting to take up permanent residence here. ...

Anybody up for a game of boff, marry, kill with some fringe NFL playoff teams?
Heading into the final two weeks of the NFL season, the Colts, Texans, Steelers, Bengals, Raiders, Broncos, Rams, Seahawks, Vikings, Falcons, Packers, Buccaneers and Saints are still alive for a playoff spot while only a game away from .500. Of those 12 organizations, which do you think has the best...
![Wander Franco detained in D.R. [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/738c47b73626a017a1209194e3da352b.jpg)
Wander Franco detained in D.R. [Updated]
UPDATE: Wander Franco was detained in his home country of the Dominican Republic after being interviewed by prosecutors regarding his alleged inappropriate relationships with young girls....

Luka Donic joined an elite club on Christmas
Monday night, Luka Doncic became the fastest player since Michael Jordan to hit 10,000 career points in the Mav’s win against the Suns. It puts him seventh on the list of players to hit 10,000 points the fastest in their careers. Here are the rest of the top ten fastest to reach the plateau in leagu...

IDIOT OF THE YEAR: The annual descent into madness continues (40-31)
Welcome once again, dearest and most beloved reader, to Deadspin’s vaunted IDIOT OF THE YEAR awards, the global phenomenon in which we say churlish things about people we dislike. Huzzah!...

IDIOT OF THE YEAR: The countdown begins as we look back on 2023 (Nos. 50-41)
Dearest reader! We meet again. It is that time of the year again… uh, namely, the end of the year, when we at Deadspin are proud to present our globally acclaimed celebration of stupidity, IDIOT OF THE YEAR! We’ll be with you as we count down the haughtiest, most hypocritical, and just plain dumbest...

The ending of HBO’s ‘Real Sports’ is bad for the world
It’s always been called the idiot box. But, this year, networks and viewers took sports television to a new low where common sense wasn’t required. It’s been a hard watch....

This week in the NHL: Edmonton's red hot under their new coach; Avs like to make things difficult for themselves;
That dull roar you hear in the distance would be the momentum of the Edmonton Oilers. They’re kind of out there, admittedly, which is why your house isn’t shaking. Only so much a team can do from the hinterlands of Alberta. - Sam Fels Read More...

This week in MLB: Does Shohei Ohtani really improve LA?; Julio Urias facing charges; Tyler Glasnow has a week to remember
Much like Susie Izzard (Drink!) says chiropractors “LIVE FOR THE NOISE!” I too live for the noise of the offseason. We can’t get much more than Shohei Ohtani and his reps donated to us, or at least their methods of sending the baseball press into orbit did. There should be much more to come, but the...

This week in football: Aaron Rodgers finally sees the end; FSU boycotting the Orange Bowl?; Oregon hit with Title IX suit
Injured New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers had a lot going on over this first weekend in December. He turned 40 on Saturday, then stood on the sideline Sunday and watched the Jets lose to the Atlanta Falcons while scoring eight points. That could be when it dawned on Mr. Rodgers that suiting up...

Does Colorado's No. 1 recruit beef up Buffs' biggest vulnerability?
During his inaugural season at Colorado, Deion Sanders coached a Gucci-wearin’, finesse football team that palled around with celebrities, flashed luxury watches and piled up obscene passing numbers in a series of offensive shootouts. They also couldn’t protect their quarterback or their jewelry. ...