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What If Big-Time College Football Abandoned The NCAA?
Originally published in Bloomberg View....

How Maurice Clarett Lost His Way, Bombed Out Of The NFL, Planned A Murder, Missed An Exit, And Found Himself (And Warren Buffett) In Prison
In 2009, Joe Moglia, then the CEO of TD Ameritrade, quit his job to coach football. He wanted to coach a college team. But no athletic director wanted him. So he took a job, in 2011, as head coach of the UFL's Omaha Nighthawks, a team that included former Buckeye Maurice Clarett. Moglia had an unort...

The Deep Breath Before The Plunge. <em>The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey</em>, Reviewed.
1. It's always important to remember that the first film of any trilogy—particularly one that has to not only introduce a bunch of new characters but take time to remind us of all the people/dwarves/elves/wizards we'd forgotten in the nine years since we last saw them—is always going to be the slowe...
![Saint Joseph's Player Gives Villanova Fans The Finger, Then Blows The Game [UPDATED]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/18853efgfm3hxjpg.jpg)
Saint Joseph's Player Gives Villanova Fans The Finger, Then Blows The Game [UPDATED]
There are goats. And then there are goats. Get a load of what Saint Joseph's junior forward Halil Kanacevic did during last night's loss to Philly rival Villanova. He shit the bed during the game's final two minutes, but he also made it easy for everyone to dog him for it because he had given the Vi...

Paul Tagliabue Lifted Anthony Hargrove's Suspension Because Of Brett Favre's Penis
Earlier today, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue vacated the punishments of the New Orleans Saints players implicated in the bounty scandal. One of those players is defensive end Anthony Hargrove, a current free agent who was suspended seven games for allegedly lying to investigators. Tagliabu...

Paul Tagliabue Ruling: The NFL Doesn't Have A Bounty Problem; It Has A Roger Goodell Problem
When Roger Goodell appointed Paul Tagliabue to hear the Saints' bounty appeal, the players fought to get the ex-NFL commissioner to recuse himself. There was no way, they thought, that Tagliabue would kneecap his successor, invalidating the suspensions that Goodell had pronounced from his unassailab...

Grierson & Leitch's Year In Review: Your Favorite Movie Is Bad And You Should Feel Bad
Yes, many people are already writing their Top 10 movie lists for 2012. We're saving ours for the last week of the year, but while we wait for this full, rich, and weird movie year to end, we're looking back at certain highlights and lowlights. Today: We look at a financially successful movie, a leg...

Paul Tagliabue Agrees With Goodell's Bountygate Findings, Vacates All Player Fines And Suspensions, Confuses Everyone
Just a few minutes ago, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who was tabbed to hear the second round of appeals brought forward by the players involved in the Saints bounty scandal, passed down his ruling. And it is confusing. NFL spokesperson Greg Aiello is currently tweeting out Tagliabue's st...
!["That's A Man, Baby": These ESPN Radio Bozos Unload In Horrible Anti-Transgender Rant [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/Image_Not_Found_1x_qjofp8.png)
"That's A Man, Baby": These ESPN Radio Bozos Unload In Horrible Anti-Transgender Rant [UPDATE]
"I think ‘it' is the politically correct term." That's how Steve Czaban, a Washington, D.C.-based ESPN Radio host, described a transgender basketball player while speaking with co-host Andy Pollin and regular guest Chris Knoche. But let's back up....

<em>The Sporting News</em> Is Going Online-Only
The Sporting News announced today that they're done with their print magazine—they'll be all-digital from now on, aside from a handful of sport preview yearbooks. There's not a whole lot to say about this change (aside from the unpleasant reality that some layoffs presumably accompany it). If nothin...
![Here's An Unverified Story About Cam Newton Buying Superman Onesie Pajamas [UPDATED]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/187y5xalysd46jpg.jpg)
Here's An Unverified Story About Cam Newton Buying Superman Onesie Pajamas [UPDATED]
Sup, gang. We got this email from a reader a few minutes ago. We're passing it along because, well ... do we really need to explain?:...

Greg Hardy Tells The Falcons To Get The Fuck Off His Field, Gets Trolled By Matt Bryant
It was Week 4 when Matt Ryan told the Carolina Panthers to "get the fuck off of his field" at the conclusion of his team's dramatic victory over the lowly Panthers. Headed into this week's rematch, it became known that the Panthers were still agitated by Ryan's boasting, and were looking to get so...

Even After Booth Review, Officials Yesterday Botched This Down By Contact Call Against Andrew Luck
Midway through the second quarter of yesterday's Titans-Colts game, Tennessee intercepted an Andrew Luck pass and returned it for a touchdown. While Indianapolis would get two late field goals to secure a 27-23 win, without them the margin of victory would have hinged on this play—and as you can se...
![The Kick Is Up, And It's Good!: Your Sunday NFL GIF Roundup [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/187uh1u1econ3gif.gif)
The Kick Is Up, And It's Good!: Your Sunday NFL GIF Roundup [Updated]
We'll be putting all our GIFs for the day here, from the double-bird field goal salute, Rex Ryan digesting a delicious meal and Lee Smith being eaten by Bills fans. We'll update the post as the later games conclude, so stay tuned. ...

Here's How Fox Avoided A Fine From The FCC Last Night When Nate Diaz Flipped Off Benson Henderson
This isn't the first time Nate Diaz has flipped off an opponent in the middle of a match, nor the first time he's shown his propensity for flipping people off—that's what Nate and his brother Nick do. Those guys just love flipping the bird. Nonetheless, Fox was caught off-guard, unless the conting...

Meet AJ Matthews, The 7-1 NBA Talent Playing At Farmingdale State Because No One Told Him About The SATs
Yahoo recently published a profile of AJ Matthews, Farmingdale State center and favorite for Division III player of the year. It shouldn't be surprising that he's kicking ass at Farmingdale State—he's 7-1 and athletic, a late-comer to basketball but also the recipient of a good deal of coaching sinc...

Just Like <em>Heaven's Gate</em>: Why Didn't The <em>Lord Of The Rings</em> Series Fail?
Next week, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens, setting in motion another Tolkien trilogy from director Peter Jackson that will end in the summer of 2014. Everyone's wondering whether these Hobbit movies can live up to the Lord of the Rings films, whose combination of commercial and critical suc...

The <em>B.S. Report</em> Report: I Love This Parlay So Much I Could Die
Julia Alvidrez, Gawker Media's operations manager, is an unabashed fan of Bill Simmons and everything Grantland. She is also an occasional reader of Deadspin. Every week, she will recap Simmons's podcast, The B.S. Report, for us....

<em>Madden 13</em> Is So Complex, Even John Madden Reads The Strategy Guide
Broadcast legend and former NFL head coach John Madden was in attendance for his former squad's miserable performance against the Broncos last night, though it seems he wasn't paying much attention to the game. What's his choice of reading material? Hard to tell. But we hope it inspires him to do s...

Grierson & Leitch's Year In Review: The Year's Worst Scenes
Yes, many people are already writing their Top 10 movie lists for 2012. We're saving ours for the last week of the year, but while we wait for this full, rich, and weird movie year to end, we're going to start looking back at certain highlights. Today, it's our least-favorite individual scenes....