mat Page 5 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Let's have some fun with who could replace Rob Manfred as MLB commissioner
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has announced his retirement, calling it once his contract expires at the end of the 2029 season. There are many people who are perfectly qualified to take over for him, so here are our top 10 choices for the next commish. ...

Wait until you hear what the Kansas City Royals want to do
If you think the Oakland A’s have a lot of nerve in asking for taxpayers to fund their new stadium on the Las Vegas strip to the tune of $380 million in public funding, wait until you hear what the Royals are doing in Kansas City. ...

Jenny Cavnar becomes first woman to get full-time MLB TV play-by-play gig
For the first time in MLB history, a woman will serve as the leading play-by-play announcer for a major league team. NBC Sports California announced Tuesday that Jenny Cavnar will serve as the primary play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Athletics. ...

Patrick Mahomes has made Kansas City the NFL’s pop culture hub
The league’s preeminent dynasties of the past 60 years have typically been stationed in major metropolitan areas consisting of Dallas, San Francisco, Washington, Miami, Boston, as well as the six states that represent New England. Pittsburgh’s run in the 1970’s was the rare exception. ...

This might have been the worst year ever for Super Bowl commercials
The dirty little secret about Super Bowl ads is viewers can watch them before the Big Game, with companies (presumably) wanting to stretch the impact of their most expensive spots of the year. Why anyone would seek out commercials before they’re forced to watch them, I have no idea, but, uh, yeah, i...

It feels like Jake Moody’s new record should’ve happened a few times over the past 3 decades
(UPDATE, 9:15 pm EST: Kansas City kicker Harrison Butker broke Moody’s record in third quarter with a 57-yard make that pulled the Chiefs to within 10-6.)...

49ers' rookie kicker nails Super Bowl-record 55-yard field goal
San Francisco 49ers kicker Jake Moody made Super Bowl history by connecting on a record 55-yard field goal....

USA Hockey hiring Bruce Guerin feels wrong; Edmonton still haunted by this ghost
As you may have heard after considerable wailing from players and at least the Canadian fanbase who need anything to feel good about themselves these days, the NHL has finally reinstituted an international calendar for not only the Olympics but eventually a World Cup the next few years. The latter w...

Vegas mayor not sold on A's move?; Corey Kluber calls it quits; 50 reasons to be amped about 2024 season
A Nevada teacher’s union doesn’t believe that $380 million in public funds that could be put towards education should be used to fund the new home of the Las Vegas A’s, and they’re suing to stop it. - Julie DiCaro Read More...

NBA trade deadline winners & losers; Doc Rivers already starting to lose Bucks players; Jalen Brunson the best PG in the league?
So, now that we’ve had a couple of weeks to digest things and get all the Doc Rivers 3-1 lead jokes out of our systems, it’s time to get down to business. Now that Milwaukee has played a few games and had some time with their new head coach, it’s painfully clear that this catastrophe is the definiti...

In soccer, yellow mixed with orange now equals . . . blue?
There is a throughline to some joke about a player in the future being shown a blue card and then having an arduous and impatient wait to be released out of a penalty box/sin bin. I’m clearly too mature to make such a joke. ...

Read the room, USA Hockey
As you may have heard after considerable wailing from players and at least the Canadian fanbase who need anything to feel good about themselves these days, the NHL has finally reinstituted an international calendar for not only the Olympics but eventually a World Cup the next few years. The latter w...

Kirk Herbstreit is going to need Secret Service for future visits to Athens, Ga.
Perhaps the juiciest story to come out of college football’s National Signing Day centered not on a recruit but an ESPN analyst. According to Dominic Raiola, father of top three QB recruit Dylan Raiola, Kirk Herbstriet reached out to him to endorse Dylan flipping from Georgia to Nebraska. ...

Diversity in hiring is working for the 49ers, and other NFL teams don't like it
The rules in the NFL apply to all 32 teams. The compensatory draft pick rules are not exclusive to the San Francisco 49ers. They have received extra selections because they assembled a staff and front office that is not exclusively white men. ...

Here's what it will take to win Super Bowl LVIII
Football fans across the globe, be sure to enjoy the build-up to Super Bowl LVII, San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs. Another NFL game of significance will not be played until Sept. 5. That Thursday evening will be in the midst of an American presidential election campaign, and we should all...

A lack of relationships curbed the NFL’s enthusiasm for Bill Belichick
Bill Belichick’s offseason job search ended in pitiful fashion last week. For unknown reasons, a bevy of general managers vying to keep their jobs in a highly competitive industry opted to hitch their wagons to young, unproven coaches they’ve had prior relationships with rather than an eight-time Su...

Dude, it's only second-grade basketball . . .
There has been a lot said and written about horrible youth sports parents. Just recently, former NBA player Matt Barnes allegedly told a high school student announcing a game between Harvard-Westlake and Crespi Carmelite High School — where the small forward’s son plays — that he’d slap the sh*t out...
![Matt Barnes removed from Sacramento Kings broadcast [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/bcbb4072e4d668fd7e20eec343b0dad9.jpg)
Matt Barnes removed from Sacramento Kings broadcast [Update]
Updated Feb. 21: Matt Barnes has been removed from the Sacramento Kings broadcasting team, weeks after the news of him putting his hands on a high school broadcaster, a spokesperson from NBC Sports California told The Sacramento Bee. ...

Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker saved Arsenal’s season
We spend a lot of time trying to unearth the little tactical nugget, or superlative performance from one player, or decoding the 3D art that most soccer matches at the highest level usually are to figure out why one team won or lost and why this team is higher in the table than the other. But someti...

These are the current and former NBA players who need their own podcast
A decade ago, who would have thought that current and former players would be the best analysts and commentators in the NBA? A novel idea, eh? Former players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson’s “All The Smoke” and Gilbert Arenas were early purveyors of player-run podcasts. It’s since evolved to includ...