st Page 817 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Story, Lindor and Tatis are the best crop of shortstops since A-Rod, Jeter and Nomar
People really like to post rankings, because they generate a lot of conversations and tend to rile people up with strong feelings about players or teams. “You have WHO ranked at No. 1? You have to be kidding. No way.” It’s a good time. In fact, I love posting rankings. I love sharing my opinions and...

These teams have never been to a Super Bowl, but how close did they get?
There are 12 teams who have never won a Super Bowl — and four of them haven’t even been to the big game....

Is the NFL dodging concussion payouts by holding Black players to a lower cognitive standard?
It should be no surprise to anyone when the NFL is accused of doing something racist. The league’s track record speaks for itself....

Boom! Madden predicts Chiefs Super Bowl victory, and history says they’ll probably be right
For 17 years, EA Sports has simulated the Super Bowl, beginning in Madden 2004 — featuring the infamous Michael Vick and his 95 speed on the cover — in which the New England Patriots defeated the Carolina Panthers 32-29. Though Madden has only nailed the exact score in one instance — the Patriots sl...

Joel Embiid, Immanuel Quickley, and other picks to guide your DFS slate
Gambling is a humbling-ass undertaking. Fred VanVleet was awful against the Orlando Magic two nights ago, finishing with nine points and five assists, shooting 4-for-12 in the process. Last night, also against the same Magic? No one saw 54 points, three steals, and three blocks (!!) on 17-of-23 shoo...

15 bizarre Super Bowl Prop bets to bank on
We’ve reached that point of the year again when it’s acceptable to place bets on Gatorade colors and call yourself a “casual” gambler....

The Nets might just have too much
Most eyes were on Brooklyn again last night, as the Clippers, the hottest team in the league, were the guests of the NBA’s latest and most vibrant science experiment in the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets came out on top 124-120, with Kyrie Irving going for 39, James Harden merely “settling” for a triple-do...

Another armada of soccer-playing Yanks is heading to Europe
The January transfer window closed yesterday — sometimes it closes in February, sometimes it snows in April — and a plethora of American players left their MLS digs behind for European riches. Some will be back, some are real longshots, some have very bright futures. The fact that this has become so...

We're gonna have to put up with Brady for a while longer
The masses have been speculating that the end has to be close for the career of Tom Brady for several years. After all, the guy is 43 years old and now playing in a state where most people go to retire, so it seems fitting. Brady has previously said that he wants to play until he’s 45. People have a...

Rams got taken to the cleaners by Detroit in Stafford deal
It’s Trash Talking Tuesday, and today I’m trashing the Los Angeles Rams for giving up a king’s ransom for quarterback Matt Stafford....

Wizards and Beal should consider parting ways
Ray Allen didn’t ask to be traded when it was clear he probably should’ve done so if he wanted to win. Not when the Milwaukee Bucks sent him to the Seattle Sonics in season seven, and not when the Sonics shipped him to the Boston Celtics before season 12....

North Carolina Central finally gets its shine as basketball’s best HBCU program with ESPN+ docuseries
The ones in the “in-crowd” have always known, but in a few weeks, the rest of the world will be introduced to the real....

Has the NHL had its first team-to-team COVD-19 transmission?
If there was going to be a league that went full fuck-up, it was always going to be the NHL. It’s not clear yet if the league is now home to the first team-to-team transmission of COVID-19, but there are some blinking red lights for sure....

The gutsiest calls in Super Bowl history
In the biggest games of the year, it often takes the coaches with the gutsiest calls to win the game....

If Matt Stafford were a Black QB, he would have been out of a job long ago
Talk about a double standard....

For better or worse, Dustin Pedroia was Boston
There’s an easy-to-reach joke when someone really old dies. “Oh he died years ago, he just fell down yesterday.” That’s basically how it feels with Dustin Pedroia announcing his retirement today. He’s only played nine games in the past three seasons, so his retirement basically announced him. ...

However you feel about pro wrestling, Bianca Belair’s Royal Rumble win matters on many levels
People who watch wrestling often argue over the legitimacy of the art form with friends who don’t watch. The skeptic will often point to the staged punches and kicks, ignoring the very real table bumps, glass spots, and other physical demands that most human beings aren’t cut out for. The wrestling ...

Connor McDavid is once again running into an Oilers-shaped wall
Perhaps we should find comfort in the normality of it, given the angry seas that is this point in human history. Any recognizable port can feel like home right now, anything to lash the ship to feeling like a savior. And that’s as far as I can take my ship/seas metaphors. But here we are, and even i...

Idiot of the Month: Kelly Loeffler eclipsed by even bigger moron
Welcome to Deadspin’s IDIOT OF THE MONTH awards, a brand-new segment in which we list a series of stupid people and say caustic things about them. Hot off the heels of a fun, popular, and spirited 2020 IDIOT OF THE YEAR series, we have decided to give the people what they want....

What are the best performances by Black quarterbacks in the Super Bowl? We rank them
There have only been seven Black quarterbacks to play in a Super Bowl. That stat could be surprising to some considering the NFL has been majority Black for decades....