division Page 19 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

He may still be Mad Max, but he’s also a weary warrior right now
The Braves are facing down the possibility of blowing a 3-1 lead to the Dodgers in the NLCS for the second year in a row after an 11-2 rout in Los Angeles last night. As they head back home to Atlanta, the Braves’ offense prepares to face Max Scherzer in Game 6 — a sentence that’s not as daunting as...

Nick Rolovich would like everyone to know he feels very persecuted
Much to Washington State’s chagrin, their Nick Rolovich troubles aren’t over yet (and that doesn’t even count his 5-6 record with the Cougars). After Rolovich received several warnings from the Washington State University administration and athletic department that he would be removed as head coach ...

Can we make a ‘Habs-not’ joke real quick?
It was no secret that this season was going to be tougher for the Montreal Canadiens. They had to sneak into the playoffs last year when all they had to do was beat out the rest of the trash Canadian teams, and then went on a run because Carey Price was able to channel 2014 for a few weeks. ...

If anybody in the Pacific is going to disappoint, it’s Golden State
We here at Deadspin sometimes have differing opinions. That might be hard to believe, but it’s true, and as we get closer to the start of the NBA season, many of us have conflicting ideas on how the season will play out. For example, my co-worker Criss Partee believes that with a healthy Klay Thomps...

2021 NBA Central Division Preview: Woe is the Cleveland Cavaliers
This is a hard division to diagnose. But I believe of all the possible letdowns in the Central, the Cavaliers are most likely to disappoint....

2021 NBA Atlantic Division Preview: Why the Knicks will let you down this season
When spring rolls around, the New York Knicks will be in the playoffs. It will be the first time the franchise has made consecutive trips to the postseason since the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 seasons. But, that doesn’t mean that they’re going to win a series — something they haven’t done in almost a d...

2021 NBA Southeast Division Preview: The Hawks are going to break your heart
The Atlanta Hawks appeared in the franchise’s second Eastern Conference Finals last season, and their fans are preparing for what they think could be another long playoff run this year. In 2015-16, the Hawks ran into LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East Finals, resulting in a 4-0 Cav...

Someone get the Canucks an editor stet… err, stat!
When Alex Chiasson played for the Vancouver Canucks in their season opener on Wednesday night in Edmonton, his name was spelled correctly on the back of his jersey....

2021 NHL Previews: Flyers haven’t made a good move since acquiring Gritty
The Metro Division is jam-packed with teams who could disappoint. Sid and Geno are back for their 16th season in Pittsburgh, and the bottom has to fall out eventually. Similarly, Alex Ovechkin is 36 and coming off a career-worst 24-goal season. Carolina was one of the darlings of hockey last year, b...

Catching up with the NHL (We hardly had time to miss ya!)
The NHL is back on its regular schedule after two straight pandemic-curtailed seasons, and that means it kicks off right now, even though it still doesn’t feel like hockey season outside in most of North America....

2021 NHL Previews: Fifty-four years between Cups for Toronto, going on 55
The Toronto Maple Leafs have now crossed the Rangers Line. The most famous Stanley Cup drought in history belonged to New York, which for years had to hear “1940” chants until Mark Messier, Mike Richter, and company finally broke the hex in 1994....

Deadspin Fixes: the MLB playoff format
I noticed Dodgers fans were already bitching to protect themselves even before first pitch about the unfairness of the playoff system that saw their team win 106 games yet faced with the indignity of having to play in the Wild-Card Game. Followed nicely with Yankees fans complaining last night, beca...

Why, Ron?! Why didn’t you play Antonio Gibson?!
Many fantasy football players woke up this morning with their heads down. They’ve already given up on their hopes of winning their Week 2 matchup. Why? Because Antonio Gibson let them down. Gibson, the lead running back for the Washington Football Team, saw just 13 carries and two receptions in last...

Ben Wallace is the perfect embodiment of his era
Look at a photo of Rudy Gobert in any game. Typically, he’ll be wearing the same knee sleeves with padding that most other players do, maybe an arm-sleeve or two, and that’s probably it. Let’s not make this about Gobert, though — let’s take another center: Nikola Jokić. Usually, it’s just leg sleeve...

The Big 12 is feeling awfully small lately
What happened to the Big 12? They were once a dominant force in the college football world. They were feared by opponents, loved by fans, hated by others, and everything a college football powerhouse conference should be. Now, with Texas and Oklahoma having left the conference for greener pastures, ...

I’m calling on the NCAA to boycott Texas (again) after SCOTUS allows abortion ban
After the U.S. Supreme Court sat back and did nothing on Wednesday, a law went into effect in Texas that bans most abortions after six weeks. Next March, Fort Worth will host some of the first and second-round games of the Men’s NCAA Tournament, and San Antonio will be a regional site for the Sweet ...

What we know about Bishop Sycamore, the fake football team on ESPN
ESPN got catfished by a fake high school in Ohio. That sounds like the plot to an Adam Sandler movie, but it happened in real life. On Sunday, ESPN aired a Canton, Ohio, matchup between IMG Academy, one of the nation’s top high school football programs, and Bishop Sycamore. It was a seemingly normal...

Baseball For All's message to women and girls: You don't have to stop playing the game you love
The 29 young women who gathered on the pristine green turf of the Centenary University baseball field in mid-August for Baseball For All’s first-ever scouting combine for women — a group looking to continue their baseball careers into college — all shared commonalities in their individual stories....

Glendale says 'Adios, 'Yotes!'
The Coyotes will not play their 2023 home games in the Gila River Arena, after the city of Glendale announced that it would be opting out of the team’s lease agreement — meaning the team will be forced out of their current home on June 30, 2022....

Study shows NCAA has been holding back women’s sports
We need to think about the lies we’ve been told about women’s sports. That no one wants to watch us play. That the markets don’t support our success. That we should be grateful that they let us in the gym....