houston Page 24 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Did Bum Phillips Ruin Earl Campbell?
Like most Oilers—or “Earlers,” as they were known as their star galloped his way to Rookie of the Year and two MVP trophies his first couple of years in the league—Earl Campbell loved playing for the cowboy-hatted, easy-going Bum Phillips, who was always easy with a wisecrack. Bum once said of the t...

How Much Of Jalen Hurts Is Just Oklahoma?
Here’s a chicken-or-egg question to puzzle over for the next several weeks, until Oklahoma faces a ranked opponent: Was Sooners quarterback Jalen Hurts completely underutilized at Alabama, or is head coach Lincoln Riley an unequivocal offensive genius? In Hurts’s debut game for Oklahoma on Saturday,...

George Springer Carted Off After Smashing Head Into Outfield Wall During Acrobatic Catch
Every time an outfielder tracks a ball to the outfield wall, there’s a small but not insignificant chance of something violent happening. Perhaps not quite on the scale of the outfielder in the baseball blooper reel from The Naked Gun, but danger is inherent anytime someone sprints toward a wall, es...

It's All On Bill O'Brien Now
Since arriving in Houston, Bill O’Brien has been on a mission to consolidate power and become both the team’s head coach and general manager. He prevailed in a power struggle with former GM Rick Smith, then did the same with Brian Gaine, who the Texans cut loose this summer and will still be paying ...

Justin Verlander Once Again No-Hits Toronto For The Third No-Hitter Of His Career
For the second time in Toronto, and the third time in his career, Justin Verlander let out a victorious yell near the pitcher’s mound as his teammates mobbed him to celebrate him throwing a no-hitter. This latest one came in a 2-0 victory against the Blue Jays and was sealed when third baseman Abrah...

Jadeveon Clowney Heads To Seattle In Trade
Jadeveon Clowney’s time with the Houston Texans is coming to an end as the team has shipped off their underappreciated edge rusher to the Seattle Seahawks. Jay Glazer first reported the news that the two teams had “agreed to trade parameters,” while Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle added some d...

What's Going On With Jadeveon Clowney?
Jadeveon Clowney is still not under contract, owing to his refusal to sign the franchise tender offered by the Texans, who were unable to sign him to a long-term contract by the tag’s July 15 deadline. But it’s nonetheless been a busy few days for Clowney, who:...

The Reason Justin Verlander Had A Reporter Barred From The Club House Is So Dumb
It seems we finally have an explanation for why Astros pitcher Justin Verlander insisted on having Detroit Free Press reporter Anthony Fenech blocked from entering the Astros’ club house after a game last week. You probably won’t be able to guess where this is going....
![Astros Bar Reporter From Postgame Presser At Justin Verlander's Request [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/v21wickhqyoo6fcrd7ix.jpg)
Astros Bar Reporter From Postgame Presser At Justin Verlander's Request [Update]
A Detroit Free Press reporter was barred from the Houston Astros’ postgame press conference last night because Justin Verlander said he would refuse to speak with media if the reporter was present....

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

Yordan Alvarez And The Astros Made A Strong Case For Relegating The Orioles
In only the second-worst beatdown the Orioles have suffered at the hands of a Texas-based team in Camden Yards, the Astros ran roughshod all over Baltimore in a 23-2 win on Saturday. The hapless O’s were only allowed two innings of scoreless respite as the remaining seven included at least one run t...

Russell Westbrook Restructured His Contract To Give Tilman Fertitta Some Money
This will be hailed as unselfishness and a team-friendly move, but it’s actually neither of those things: Russell Westbrook, in order to facilitate his trade to the Houston Rockets, agreed to restructure his supermax contract and shift the payment of some of his salary into the future....

Texans Rookie Lonnie Johnson Jr. Got Kicked Out Of Practice For Tackling Like A Psycho
The Texans and Packers held a joint practice yesterday, and as is often the case when two teams that are already grumpy from practicing every day in high temperatures get together, a fight broke out. This was different from your standard training-camp fight, though, because it was instigated by one ...

Carmelo Anthony Says He Doesn't Understand Why The Rockets Didn't Want Him Anymore
I can’t decide what’s weirder: the realization that Carmelo Anthony’s NBA career is likely all the way over, or remembering that Carmelo Anthony played in an NBA game as recently as this past season. He bombed out of the rotation in Houston after 10 games, was dumped in a trade with Chicago, and the...

The NFL Holdout That Caused A Homicide (Justifiable, The Jury Said)
In the 1981 offseason, feeling underpaid and unhappy about Oilers owner Bud Adams’s treatment of former coach Bum Phillips, Earl Campbell asked for a raise. Only a year earlier, at the close of Campbell’s second season, the normally tightfisted Oilers had agreed to restructure Campbell’s rookie cont...
![The Strikeout Machines In Houston Are Firing At Full Capacity [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/uqozbulnnrk2s7ksxzfp.gif)
The Strikeout Machines In Houston Are Firing At Full Capacity [Update]
Justin Verlander’s still got it. The 36-year-old Houston Astros starter flexed his muscles once again on Tuesday night, striking out 13 Cleveland Indians over seven innings of scoreless two-hit ball as his team picked up its 10th win in the past 12 games. It was the Astros’ fourth straight win with ...

Which Of The NFL's Five Holdouts Has The Most Leverage?
The NFL’s current collective bargaining agreement has largely made training camp holdouts a thing of the past. By codifying significant daily fines, docking a regular-season game check for each preseason game missed, and placing limitations on the accrual of service time toward free agency, this CB...

Either Justin Tucker Is Secretly A Michael Vick Clone, Or <i>Madden 20</i> Still Has A Few Bugs To Work Out
EA’s Madden NFL 20 is currently in early access, meaning a select number of folks are currently able to get a couple hours of gameplay in before the game’s official Aug. 2 release date. In a surprise to absolutely no one, there are some problems with this current iteration of an Electronic Arts-deve...

Yuli Gurriel Can't Stop Smashing Dingers
Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel is on a remarkable run. Coming into Tuesday night he’d crushed 11 home runs in 17 games in July, including six over the course of five games* to open the month. That’s two more homers in three weeks than he’d hit in the other three whole months of the season. Tuesda...

Josef Martínez Dribbled Two Houston Dynamo Players Into An Early Grave
Josef Martínez is Atlanta United’s do-everything striker, was the best player in MLS last year, and has been the hottest player in the league over the last two months. The 26-year-old Venezuelan has scored 11 goals in his last seven games, including two against the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night ...