sports Page 254 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Manny Machado is great, whether anyone bothers to notice or not
There’s been so much noise around the San Diego Padres for a few years now, it’s quite understandable that Manny Machado has sort of sunk under the radar. There has been a raft of buzz-worthy players acquired by the Padres since Machado in 2019. He didn’t win an MVP like his fellow prize of that par...

TBS sets new standard for cringiest promo of all time during Game 1 of the ALDS
One of the less glamorous parts of being a professional play-by-play commentator is being handed a cringy script and being told to act enthusiastic about a show you don’t watch or a product you don’t use just so you can appeal to your boss and finally get back to calling the game. It’s such a forced...

Is MTV Cribs-era fashion making a comeback?
The split jersey look usually serves a purpose. It’s for parents with kids playing against each other in a nationally televised sporting event, or for a young woman who has to support both her brother and her new boyfriend who would go on to become her husband and an NFL bust....

Randy Johnson is one NFL photographer Davante Adams wouldn’t mess with
These days, Randy Johnson is still combining his two favorite interests, owning a bird’s eye view of the world beneath him, and photography. As a 6-foot-10 Hall of Fame pitcher, he towered over the field as the tallest player in Major League Baseball History. He’s also probably one of the few aces w...

Steve Kerr is in crisis-management mode, but when is he not?
The Golden State Warriors like to act like they’re a buttoned-up, professional franchise that abstains from drama. The chemistry and coaching have been likened to the Tim Duncan Spurs or the peak “Onto Cleveland” Patriots. While they’ve had consistent success and won championships like those teams, ...

The USWNT better hope their frontline is good enough
Having worrying autumn friendlies is apparently contagious in the US National team program....
![Where in the world is the Giants’ punter? [Update] He's back in the States](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/aa3eccb26fcc59a74da0a9de9c1b4059.jpg)
Where in the world is the Giants’ punter? [Update] He's back in the States
Do you know where your punter is? In the case of 31 NFL teams this week, he’ll be at practice. The 4-1 New York Football Giants aren’t conducting drills from the same continent where starting punter Jamie Gillan is. After the Giants defeated the Packers three days ago in London, Gillan — nicknamed “...

The NBA’s Eastern Conference might see a bit of a shake-up in the standings this season
It’s October, so it’s Halloween season, but it also means the NBA is back. All the talk and some drama will be moved aside as teams return to the court, hoping to do what the Golden State Warriors did last season in raising the Larry O’Brien NBA Finals trophy....

College Football Marty McFly Rankings Week 6: Tennessee, L.A. football, and Texas are all back
Like a poorly thought-through movie-to-TV series, it appears the Marty McFly rankings are on life support. The actor I hired to play Michael J. Fox’s character is no Michael J. Fox, the de-aging for Christopher Lloyd is too expensive, and the DeLoreans keep breaking down. Never mind that these are t...

The NFL could easily make its unnecessary roughness penalties more tolerable for the masses
Penalties that turned all of social media into Atlanta Falcons fans and made the crowd at Arrowhead Stadium even angrier than when they booed Unity in 2020 are not new. It only feels like the illegal contact to/with-the-head penalties are a result of the NFL being forced to admit the long-term effec...

Kevin Durant Disease is contagious
It used to be that a player would demand out of somewhere when the team he was on no longer — or never — did live up to his talent. It’s when he sought, and maybe deserved, teammates and a front office that matched his skills and ambition, which the current one couldn’t. ...

Don’t be in such a rush to show your genius
When you come at the Houston Astros, you’d best not miss. ...

Daniel Carlson is inching ever closer to Justin Tucker territory
Having a clutch kicker is a luxury that most NFL fans would die for. In today’s NFL, there’s really only one kicker that everybody trusts to get the job done when the game is on the line: Baltimore’s Justin Tucker. Sure, there have been years where guys like Adam Vinatieri, Harrison Butker, Stephen ...

Ron Rivera throws Carson Wentz under the bus as Washington’s pathetic sideshow rolls on
Last month, the Washington Commanders assumed their designated position on the NFL’s porcelain throne, and are henceforth known as the Washington Commodes (they are playing like ass). The stench has intensified since then. Losing to the Detroit Lions in Week 2 set off an avalanche. Now trapped under...

Ranking the 12 NFL head coaches hired straight from the Power 5 college ranks since 2000
Dear NFL GMs and owners, you may want to think twice about hiring a head coach straight outta the college ranks. While there have been success stories — Jimmy Johnson going from the U to Big D being the best example — that really hasn’t been the case in this millennium. Matt Rhule is the latest flop...

Tommy Tuberville called Black people criminals, and it likely helped him
For the average American, saying what Tommy Tuberville said last week would be career-ending....

The Raiders may have lost on Monday night, but going for two was the correct decision
OK I’ll say it, Josh McDaniels was right when he went for that 2-point conversion late in the game against the Kansas City Chiefs in their Week 5 Monday Night Football matchup....

‘How to lose an all-star before his rookie extension’: A Charlotte Hornets production
This year was supposed to be Zion Williamson season. Not Zion Williamson’s season. Zion Williamson season in the same fashion that it’s duck or rabbit season. Prior to missing all of 2021-22 to rehab a foot injury, the discussion heading into the year was “Will Zion forgo his max rookie extension to...

Let’s hope rest doesn’t matter much
Right at the top, I’ll admit this is all a forlorn hope. Whatever happens in the first season of baseball’s expanded playoffs isn’t going to cause too much of a ripple in how the sport looks and how teams are managed. I get that. But we can at least start here. ...
![Davante Adams won't be charged with misdemeanor assault after all [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/e47f439ea73c12e25d117293655ba942.png)
Davante Adams won't be charged with misdemeanor assault after all [Updated]
The season is quickly swirling down the drain in Las Vegas, and frustration is beginning to show. Following another crushing loss on Monday Night Football, Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams shoved a photographer to the ground leaving the field....