league Page 228 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Fans finally stick it to The Man
Sports fans have become accustomed, or maybe the better word is resigned, to the idea that they can’t win....

MLB PED testing is down, slippery misleading answers way up
A slew of positive tests was the biggest story of the summer in Major League Baseball, but of course, in this bizarre year, those tests were for COVID-19, rather than what we’re used to seeing positive tests for, performance-enhancing drugs....

The NFL is plowing ahead, despite all logic
We knew when the NFL decided to go ahead with the season as scheduled, it had very little flexibility. This isn’t baseball that can pile on double-headers or fill up off-days. The NFL only has teams’ bye weeks to bounce around and that’s what they’ve done, on a limited basis. Which is why there’s no...

Ajax score freekick from five feet in loin-girding moment
We soccer fans like to think that every goal is unique and different, but every so often you do get to see something rare. I’m a total sucker for indirect freekicks from inside the penalty box, which happens once every comet. An illegal back-pass to the keeper is almost never called, and that’s just...

Paul Pogba has a Manchester United problem, not the other way around
After six Premier League games, being six points off the relegation zone while nine points off the top is not where Manchester United are supposed to be. But it feels like that gets said a lot about United the past couple years. “Not where they’re supposed to be.” ...

Spanish newspaper's description of Ansu Fati reminds us that the U.S. hasn't cornered the market on racism
Things are so terrible in this country that sometimes you can forget they can be equally shitty elsewhere. And while an interview between Jason Whitlock and President Orangutan may feel like sports “journalism” has completely fallen through the bottom of the well and is hanging out with the rock peo...

Minor League Baseball players are justifiably sick of earning ‘$4 an hour’
For many hardcore baseball fans (like me, before I began researching this story), the idea of playing in Minor League Baseball is like the dream before the dream comes true. Sure, we know there are long bus rides, the pay is lousy and there’s a good chance you can end up at Sears selling Lady Kenmor...
![Champions League season begins [yay!] under threat from its flagship clubs [wait, wut?!]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/mar41kybdw3cdfotfbkk.jpg)
Champions League season begins [yay!] under threat from its flagship clubs [wait, wut?!]
On the day the new Champions League season starts, a seemingly major story breaks about yet another campaign to form a European Superleague. It almost seems too perfect to be a coincidence. Could this report be perfectly placed for maximum effect? Would such a thing ever happen? Would it be most eff...

Virgil van Dijk’s injury blows Premier League title race wide open
In what has already been a bonkers EPL season full of goals, blown leads, and surprise teams at the top of the table, perhaps the biggest moment of the season so far occurred in the fifth minute of yesterday’s rubber-room of a Merseyside Derby between Liverpool and Everton. ...

Hands off, Sergio Aguero — at a minimum, touch of lineswoman should have been carded
If you know nothing else about soccer, you probably still know that it’s the game where you can’t use your hands....

Kelly Loeffler’s endorsement from QAnon supporter shows how far America has fallen
In a different America, Kelly Loeffler and her financial transactions — that sure as hell look like she was trading on privileged information — would be the political scandal of the year, if not the decade....

Manchester United can't unscrew itself, again, as transfer window slams shut on their fingers
Much like Lyle Lanley told the residents of Springfield before they purchased the monorail, Ed Woodward as chairman of Manchester United is like a horse with a spinning wheel. No one knows how he got it, and danged if he knows what to do with it. ...

Minor hockey league pretends it’s going to have an almost normal 2020-21 season
In case you’re thinking that life is going to get back to normal anytime soon, minor league hockey has provided the first reminder that it’s absolutely not....

Does no fans mean more scoring across all sports?
We’re now something like six months into the no-spectators sports world. Seven if you start with the German Bundesliga in May. It’s been only a little more than three here in the Colonies, as the NBA, NHL, and MLB started at the end of July. Football has only been through four weeks. And yet a commo...

For the NFL’s smartest team, this seems remarkably dumb
I’ve been staring at this bit of information for at least 10 minutes to see if I could find the logic. Maybe I’m like that guy from “Mallrats” who can’t see the fucking schooner. ...

Gareth Bale and Tottenham Deserve Each Other
It can be startling to remember that Gareth Bale has only been something of a punchline for two seasons. And we should all be so lucky to be considered a joke when making over $37 million per year to live in Madrid and not do a whole bunch. We’d all accept a pretty healthy share of laughs at our exp...

Premier League Preview: Can Liverpool Fight Off the Metrics Dragon?
Every metric-follower of any sport has an imaginary dragon lurking to torment, if not slay, their favorite player and/or team. In baseball it’s the BABIP Dragon, causing your pitcher to give up hits on soft contact simply because he hasn’t in a while. Or your favorite hitter to hit screamers right a...

The Story of Hall of Famer Turkey Stearnes, the Ballpark he Made Home and the Family & Detroit Rock Star Trying to Preserve it
Vanessa Rose stands at the ready in center field. In a half-crouch with her glove-hand resting on one knee and her throwing-hand resting on the other, she stares in at home plate as the rock star Jack White digs his cleats into the batter’s box....

Weston McKennie’s Move To Juventus Could Be Huge Boon To USMNT...If He Plays
It kind of came out of nowhere. While rumors of Weston McKennie wanting to move on from Schalke in the Bundesliga were running pretty wild, the mentioned destinations were more mid-tier Premier League clubs. Southampton was the main one, which made all the sense in the world. Certainly McKennie woul...

We Rank the Worst No. 1 Picks in NBA Lottery History
Since the NBA’s first draft lottery in 1985, there have been 11 first-overall picks who did not make an All-NBA team or appear in an All-Star Game. That number is a little inflated because Zion Williamson and DeAndre Ayton are just getting started, so when you’re trying to figure out which is the wo...