picks Page 53 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Bhutan Wins Again! A Match Report From A Deadspin Reader In Bhutan
Bhutan pulled it off! The tiny landlocked Himalayan nation advanced to the second round of World Cup qualifying—where they could be placed into a pool with Asian heavyweights like Iran, Japan, or South Korea—by knocking off Sri Lanka 2-1 yesterday, winning the two-legged tie 3-1 on aggregate. The ...
A 21st-Century Rip Van Winkle: What Changed In My Decade Behind Bars
When the New World was two centuries newer, Washington Irving set a fable, "Rip Van Winkle," in the oldest parts of New York State, where the original Dutch settlers' culture still lingered. Life was European then—just set in America. But progress stops for no man. The story's hero evades his naggin...
If You Like Lanky, Versatile Big Men, Root For Frank Kaminsky
If the only skin you have in March Madness is the money you've invested in bracket pools, might I suggest paying attention to the 7-foot Midwesterner with the name of a 50-year-old plumber? Wisconsin's extremely talented forward Frank Kaminsky has led the 31-3 Badgers to their first-ever No. 1 see...
If You Hate College Basketball, Root For Iowa State
Maybe you're one of those basketball aesthetes who dreads March Madness, who just doesn't understand why anyone would want to watch a bunch of semi-skilled college kids try to hump a ball into a basket 35 seconds at a time. That's fine! You can hate college basketball all you want, but I'm here to t...
Don Lemon Is Great At His Job
Last night, Don Lemon took to his show, CNN Tonight, to host a discussion of, as he put it, The N-Word. It wasn't the first time he'd done so; nearly two years ago, he devoted an entire special to this topic. Famously, note cards were used, and the question of whether the words "cracker" and "nigger...
We Asked 14 Retired NFL Players: Would You Do It Again?
With Chris Borland's retirement from the San Francisco 49ers at age 24, the question of whether an NFL career is worth the potential price is coming up yet again. This makes it a good time to turn to the people with the most informed opinions on the subject: former NFL players....
Everyone Wants Chris Borland To Mean Something
The San Francisco 49ers' official statement on Chris Borland's retirement doesn't mention why he's retiring, of course. It has a quote from the general manager on how they respect his decision, and a big fat paragraph on his accomplishments in a successful rookie season, but nothing stands out quite...
Did Dan Snyder Kill A Redskins Critic's Radio Show?
Bruce Allen is the Washington Redskins' president and an unwitting jokester, well-known for such thigh-slappers as his claim that no matter how bad the team is, they're "winning off the field." He accidentally inspired more guffaws last week by claiming that his boss, team owner Dan Snyder, "doesn't...
What Happens To Enforcers When Hockey Uses Them Up?
More winter Friday nights than not through my first few years of high school, I was in my usual seat at the local arena, three or four rows up behind the home team's bench. On the ice, the Ontario Hockey League's Ottawa 67's, a group of—boys, really, aged 16 to 20. A handful of them would go on to...
NCAA Tournament Bracket PDF: Download It Here
The NCAA Tournament bracket has arrived. Here's a printable PDF for you to download. Tip times and locations are below, via CBS Sports....
L.A. Police Chase Results In Live, Televised Gunfight
A man police say is suspected of kidnapping led Los Angeles officers on a chase through south L.A. before stepping out of his car and firing a handgun at cops—before taking a barrage of return fire and seeking cover. All four Los Angeles major network affiliates covered the battle live—despite polic...
Now There's A Ranch-Dressing Restaurant, So Let's Walk Into The Ocean
Listen. I say the following with a pristine record of support for unhealthful dairy-based coating glops—both as a genre of foodstuffs and in most specific instances—as well as with the firm backing of all available science: Ranch dressing is bad. Bad dressing....
Read The Bullshit Charts A "Scientist" Is Hawking To Sports Teams
Every team wants the perfect draft pick. It's a deceptively simple-sounding goal that haunts every executive in sports, because they are being asked to do the nearly impossible—predict what human beings will do. Sure, every few years a player like Andrew Luck or Bryce Harper comes along who simply...
Tennessee Responds To Your Nike FOIAs And The Answer Is Super Shady
Wednesday, I asked those of you in Tennessee to submit a public records request on behalf of Deadspin because ours had been denied due to a chilling and arbitrary law limiting records requests to Tennessee residents only. I wanted copies of Tennessee's communication with Nike, because the universi...
How Jordan Cameron Used The NFL Media
For about two hours yesterday, before he signed with the Dolphins, TE Jordan Cameron was returning to the Browns. It was a "done" deal, according to multiple respected NFL reporters:...
List of Kale Items Made With Kale On New McDonald's Menu (With Kale)
The hippies over at Mother Jones magazine drew our attention to how McDonald's "can't decide whether to troll hipsters or embrace them," so while we all figure out which side of the coin ingesting kale falls on, we're wondering about the new McMenu....
Video: Brawl Leads To Man Being Stabbed At Celtics Game
A man wearing a Rajon Rondo jersey was stabbed in the balcony area of TD Garden near the end of tonight's thrilling victory over the Grizzlies, according to Boston.com and numerous other media reports....
Tennessee Won't Give Us Nike's Emails; Maybe They'll Give Them To You
The University of Tennessee recently decided to do away with calling nearly all its women's sports teams Lady Vols, a move that came at about the same time the university announced switching from Adidas to Nike for athletic apparel. Now, they are all Volunteers who will use the Power T logo—except f...
The NBA Players Union Just Announced It's Ready To Make War On Owners
The National Basketball Players' Association announced today that it has rejected the league's "cap smoothing" proposal, an idea floated by commissioner Adam Silver that was supposed to be an artful way of dealing with the massive influx of cash that will be coming into the league once the new TV de...
How One Of America's Greatest Sportswriters Disappeared
It was almost endearing how an ink-smudged, deadline-addicted newspaper editor of yore would squint through the smoke from his cigarette and ask a bright young man why the hell he wanted to write sports. An editor like that was usually about as sensitive as a bolt cutter, but he couldn't resist th...