rio Page 121 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Joey Votto almost pulled off the incredibly rare unassisted triple play
Carlos Rodón came oh-so-close to a perfect game on Wednesday night, settling instead for a no-hitter after he hit Cleveland catcher Roberto Perez with a pitch in the ninth inning, two outs away from what would have been the first perfecto in the majors since Félix Hernández’s in on August 15, 2012....

No! Not that kind of edibles!
New naming rights mean stoners are gonna show up to Texas ballpark… and be severely bummed out...

Once again, for those in the back: Cancel the Canucks season now, because this proposed schedule is doo-doo
The NHL came to its senses a tiny bit by pushing back the Vancouver Canucks’ return to the ice, but a team that already has a minuscule chance of making the playoffs still will be asked to play a grueling gauntlet of a schedule to close out the season....

Jeremy Lin deserves a roster spot, but the NBA is drunk on bare-minimum contracts
Much like Isaiah Thomas signing a 10-day contract on April 3 with the Pelicans, Jeremy Lin is just looking for one more chance in the NBA. Based on his G League production this past season, he’s earned it. As I said last week, the league has a problem with its veterans being cast aside in favor of y...

15-year-old Olivia Moultrie could change how soccer works here
You probably haven’t heard of Olivia Moultrie. You’re going to, either on the field, or off, or both. And her name has a chance of being associated with massive change of the structure of soccer in the U.S....

Chicago doesn’t need your tired whataboutism, Kaycee Sogard
I don’t know Kaycee Sogard, the wife of Chicago Cubs infielder Eric Sogard. What little I do know about her, I garnered her epic, self-imposed Twitter meltdown last night, which happened, conveniently, just as the Cubs were losing to the Pirates 6-3....

Taking a look at QB-heavy draft classes, and why the best isn't always the guy who goes highest
In a quarterback league, this year’s NFL Draft looks like one of the most quarterback-rich talent pools in history. We know that Trevor Lawrence will be the No. 1 pick for the Jaguars, and after him, it’s likely that the Jets and 49ers will select signal callers, making this the first draft with qua...

Bayern Munich did that thing again
It was at the same point last season, though not in the calendar thanks to the pandemic, that this happened. Less than 10 games left in the season, Bayern Munich facing an away date against their closest rival and looking … well, vulnerable is too strong a word. Less godly, let’s say. The chasing te...

Jalen Suggs turned a ho-hum NCAA Tournament into one for the ages
The NCAA men’s basketball tournament hasn’t really been all that exciting this year. Sure, there have been upsets, and a handful of close games, but particularly in a year without Duke and Kentucky in the field at all, and several other traditional powers in the doldrums, not to mention the whole to...

Which team played the villain role best?
With the Houston Astros now wearing the crown as the most hated team in professional sports — as indicated by the chorus of boos and piercing screams of “CHEATER!” that rang through the Oakland Coliseum (whatever ridiculous name it has today) last night on Opening Day (ahh… welcome back baseball, an...

NL West Preview: The Rise of San Diego, the reign of L.A.
With Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado, the Padres have the best left side of the infield in baseball and two MVP candidates to lead their lineup....

NL East Preview: Are the Mets good enough to topple the Braves?
You could make a definitive argument that the National League East is the strongest 1-through-5 division in Major League Baseball, so long as no one fucks this up....

Draymond Green and Tony Allen argue over title of NBA's best defender
Draymond Green is the greatest NBA defensive player ever, according to Draymond Green. ...

Tanks a lot! Rockets going from 44-28 to 11-28 is putrid, but not most historic NBA drop-off ever
On Feb. 4, the Rockets went to Memphis and beat the Grizzlies by 12 points for their seventh win in eight games, moving to 11-10 for the season. Certainly, Houston was outperforming expectations after trading away James Harden, but nobody knew how bad things were about to get....

Duke? UNC? UConn? Ranking the best NCAA national champs over the past 20 years
Selection Sunday will be the first time we’ve been able to fill out a bracket in two years. A lot has changed since then, especially in college basketball, as it’s been as upside down as the rest of the world is. Juniors and seniors are the biggest draws this season, as only a few freshmen like Okla...

The best national champion teams of the 2000s
As the NCAA Tournament returns next week after missing a year due to COVID-19, one of the conversations that have been hovering over the sport is when will the NBA get rid of the “one-and-done” rule....

Jonnu Smith is a solid, Gronk-esque addition for the Patriots
The Patriots were lost in the dark in the first year of their post-Brady era. The Cam Newton experiment didn’t work, in part because of his battle with COVID, and the roster proved to have incredibly uninspiring weapons to work with. In atypical fashion, Bill Belichick has stormed into the free agen...

The Warriors prioritizing Steph Curry’s ‘window’ is what’s wrong with sports today
It’s one of the oldest clichés in sports: There’s no “I” in team....

Sleep on Cam Newton at your own peril — Belichick is no dope, and Pats are far from irrelevant
Small sample sizes are perilous for any kind of analysis, but sometimes, it’s all you have to go on....

Deadspin Wayback Machine: A look back at some of sports’ great relics
One of the great things about sports is the comfort that they provide. While the world is always changing, sometimes at a pace that’s hard to process, sports are largely static. If you watch a football game from 50 years ago, there certainly are differences in strategy and the size and speed of the ...