preview Page 243 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Free From Their Sexist, Tyrannical Former Manager, Spain Can Finally Just Play Soccer
They say that when God closes a door, he opens a window, and that wisdom is knowing to stop worrying about the closed door and start taking advantage of the open window. The metaphor applies to the Spain women’s soccer team’s experience at their first World Cup four years ago. The closed door was th...

South Africa's World Cup Debutantes Are Already Legends
No matter what happens in France this summer, the players that make up the South Africa women’s national team are already legends....

China Have One Star Attacker And A Whole Lot Of Question Marks
When you think of the most famous image in Women’s World Cup history, you don’t often remember the opponent. Brandi Chastain’s celebration after slotting home the winning penalty in the 1999 tournament has inspired the spillage of plenty of digital ink, but maybe the least remembered aspect of that ...

This Isn't The Best Germany Ever, But They Can Still Beat Anyone
For a normal national team, Germany’s recent run of relative success would be cause for celebration: quarterfinalists at both the 2017 Euros and 2011 World Cup, with a semifinals appearance at the 2015 World Cup and a 2013 Euro title. Oh, plus Olympic gold in 2016. For Die Nationalelf, though, this ...

Norway Might Have Won The Whole Thing, If Only They Hadn't Alienated The Best Player In The World
The situation with Norway’s women’s soccer team is like something out of the Iliad. In this analogy, the World Cup is the Trojan War, the Norwegian team is the heavily armed but nonetheless overmatched Greek army, and Ada Hegerberg is Achilles, the Grecian hero of otherworldly abilities who very wel...

Nigeria Have The Star Power To Go Down In A Blaze Of Glory
The question before Nigeria heading into this World Cup is the same one they’ve faced going into every other World Cup: Will this be the tournament the Super Falcons finally put it all together and make a real run? Unfortunately, the answer is probably the same as it has been in years past: No, this...

South Korea Are No Minnows, But They're Still Food For The World Cup's Sharks
The best thing you can say about South Korea coming into this World Cup is that they are fine....

France's Women Are On A Mission To Establish Worldwide Soccer Dominance
If the 100 percent non-existent aliens that purportedly flit about Earth’s skies were in fact real, and if they somehow mustered enough gumption in their lily liver-equivalent alien organs to descend upon the far superior human race and challenge us to a pair of soccer matches—one men’s, one women’s...

A Good And Smart Preview Of A Wide-Open 2019 WNBA Season
Hockey is almost over, and the NBA is basically done, so now all we have to look forward to over these impending hot summer months is a World Cup, the ability to blast Bad Girls out of our apartment windows, and some goddamn WNBA basketball. That last thing starts tonight, folks! Let’s get to the pr...

Frankly An Incredibly Good And Informative, Ah, Preview Of The 2019 NBA Playoffs, Part 2
Good day to you, hoop-sport friends! It’s time for the second part of our extremely on-time and thorough preview of the 2019 NBA playoffs. Today we’ll discuss the important topics of the first-round series that begin, uh, today: When and where they’re on TV, who’s in ‘em, how they got here, and of c...

Frankly An Incredibly Good And Informative, Ah, Preview Of The 2019 NBA Playoffs, Part 1
Well hello there, casual basketball fan! Welcome back... to the crucible of champions. The NBA playoffs are upon us once again, probably within minutes or possibly even before I actually finish writing this very long (and good) blog. Oh crap!...

A Cranky And Wishful Preview Of The 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs
The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Wednesday, and while it is considered an incontrovertible truth that the Cup is a better entertainment than the NBA Playoffs, it is also its own hot mess in uniquely weird ways, starting with this....

The Spa Where Police Say Robert Kraft Solicited Prostitution Has Some Rough One-Star Reviews
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was charged earlier today with two counts of soliciting prostitution in Jupiter, Florida. According to Jupiter police, the solicitation happened at Orchids of Asia Day Spa, which was used for prostitution and human trafficking. Kraft was reportedly captured on...

A Timely Preview Of The 2018-19 NBA Season, Which, Ah, Hm, Appears To Have Begun Already
Well hello there, fellow basketball enthusiast! It’s that time again: Time for the NBA season to have begun literally over two hours ago, when the Celtics and Sixers tipped off in Boston. There could be no better time than this to look ahead to what the 2018-19 season has in store for us, except may...

Which Episode Of <i>I Love Lucy</i> Is This Embarrassing NBA Media Slapfight Like?<em></em>
Have you seen some cryptic and not-so-cryptic tweets and subtweets from some sports bloggers about who invented the special and not-at-all generic idea of comparing NBA teams to TV shows and movies? Are you wondering who first came up with this innovative and original idea that nobody else could hav...

Everyone Needs To Relax With Their NBA Previews, Please
We at the Deadcast are not in the business of telling you not to care about things. We are more or less in the business of being wrong and flippant about things, but you can and should absolutely do what you want. If you’re excited about the fact that the NBA regular season begins comparatively soo...

Are The NHL's Mini-Dynasties Dead?
Until the Capitals broke through to win their first Cup, the Penguins, Blackhawks, and Kings dominated the NHL as the most effective triumvirate since Roman times. Instead of ending with stabbings and civil war, the modern NHL version collapsed for more mundane reasons involving salary caps and agin...

A 2018–19 NHL Season Preview Of Every Team, From Best To Islanders
Hell yeah, hockey is back! After suffering through three months of sports that do not involve ice, and night after night of 90-degree temperatures with no A/C (though that one might just be me), the most beautiful and fun game in the world has returned to save you from five-hour ALDS games and lopsi...

All You Need Is Spite: A Very Emotional NHL Season Preview
Boys and girls and babes, we all learned so much during the 2017–2018 NHL season. For example, I learned that chaos rules the universe, sports predictions are horoscopes but less accurate, and hockey games are won by pure, defiant, you-said-I-couldn’t-do-it spite and very little else....

32 Paragraphs About 32 Teams: A Thinking Fan's Guide To The NFL Season
The following is excerpted from the team chapters of the always-excellent Football Outsiders Almanac. Buy it here as a PDF, or here in print....