ti Page 706 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The WNBA unveils new playoff format
The WNBA announced a new playoff format today that will increase the number of potential games in the tournament and completely get rid of single-elimination games. It will remain an eight-team playoff, with teams seeded based on overall standings over a 36-game regular season, but the first- and se...

HBO filmed Colts’ Nyheim Hines fanboying out on Tavon Austin and it’s very sweet
I had no idea that Tavon Austin was playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Nine years ago he was the most explosive player in college football at West Virginia, and arguably one of the most dynamic players in the history of the sport. At 5-foot-8 and under 180 pounds, he was still the No. 8 overall p...

Mel Tucker's potential $95 million deal is redemption for every Black coach who's ever blown a whistle
Jay-Z once asked, “Would you rather be underpaid or overrated?” For Black coaches, that option has rarely presented itself, as most times they’re both underpaid and underrated. Mel Tucker and Michigan State are about to change that....

NBA GMs are apparently feeling unfairly maligned
NBA general managers are circling the wagons. ...

NWSL comes to the conclusion of its landmark season
In a lot of ways, having the Washington Spirit in the NWSL final is perfect for the league. No matter where the league goes from here, what it becomes, the 2021 season will be viewed as a turning point. While the stories themselves were horrifying, heartbreaking, and infuriating, sunlight is always ...

<em>Thursday Night Football</em>, Week 11: Rhamondre Stevenson has the tools to be a feature back in the NFL
New England is one of the biggest surprises of the NFL season. While there was certainly skepticism surrounding rookie QB Mac Jones, most doubters had their sights set on the lack of talent at the Patriots’ offensive skill positions....

The NFL’s domestic violence program appears to be going just great
(TW: domestic violence, assault)...
![Ref allegedly uses N-word during Tennessee high school basketball game [UPDATED]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/2caaeeea486c3f05f6b12ba0b82d0bc2.jpg)
Ref allegedly uses N-word during Tennessee high school basketball game [UPDATED]
The story out of Smyrna, Tenn., on Wednesday night appears to be both rage-inducing and fairly self-explanatory, but there’s a lot more that needs explanation, and a lot of questions that need answering. ...

Cam Newton was present on the field Sunday, but Panthers need the 'old Cam' back to lead them
It has been all smiles in Charlotte since Cam Newton signed with the team that drafted him No. 1 overall in 2011. Last week, the Carolina Panthers went on the road and defeated the Arizona Cardinals — who were playing without two of their best, Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins — who have the best re...

Will the knuckleball ever make a comeback?
The knuckleball might not be dead, but it’s certainly on life support. There are only two active players who’ve primarily used a knuckleball at the Major League level: Steven Wright, who is currently a free agent and hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2019 and Mickey Jannis, who is also a free agent...

Back to the future with the USFL
Mullets, mom jeans, the United States Football League — you’d be forgiven for thinking you woke up back in the ’80s this morning. Fox Sports announced its sponsored relaunch of the short-lived league, scheduled for the spring of 2022. With an eight-team, two-conference model, spring football will re...

Jets are going with Joe Flacco instead of Mike White on Sunday, so watch something else
New York Jets Rookie quarterback Zach Wilson has still not recovered from his knee injury, but that doesn’t mean we get another week of the Mike White experience. The Jets instead will be going with a face from their recent past against the Miami Dolphins — 36-year-old Joe Flacco. They traded a sixt...

Stephen A. Smith got it right in his rant against the Brooklyn Nets
Welp, that’s it. It’s time to shut down the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Stephen A. Smith is done and never going back after the Nets’ lackluster performance Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors....

It’s fine, this is fine. No really, it’s fine
In the euphoria of the US’s latest “Dos a Cero” triumph over Mexico, most US fans probably joked with their friends that they would follow this up with a turgid and flat performance in Jamaica. Joke to mask the pain, because we all suspected it, just at differing levels. Maybe some thought they woul...

Los Angeles County lawyers are still making Vanessa Bryant suffer
There’s a lot going on in California. The Golden State Warriors are on fire. Anthony Davis thinks the Lakers “suck.” And the Staples Center will be called the Crypto.com Arena starting on Christmas. Maybe that’s why more people aren’t focused on what’s still happening to Vanessa Bryant. ...

If an athlete buys an ownership stake in a team and no one knows it, does it make a sound?
What’s the point of owning a sports franchise if you can’t make irresponsible trades, overpay role players, furtively watch from a dimly lit owner’s box or make Roger Goodell eat shit?...

Every player can’t be the MVP, so let’s stop chanting it at everybody
There’s a growing trend that’s gained too much momentum lately in arenas around the NBA. Fans chanting “MVP” for any player that gives even a halfway decent performance on a given night. This isn’t meant to discourage fans from chanting, but I’m only asking if we can think of something more suited f...

An injury-prone flamethrower to the Angels — what could possibly go wrong?
The Los Angeles Angels had 12 different pitchers hit the IR in 2021 due to non-COVID-related injuries. That number was just six in 2020, but seeing as how the season was only 60 games, you could argue that 2020 was worse for the Angels in the pitcher injury department. In 2019, the Angels had 20 pit...

Marcus Stroman cuts the Yankees instead of his hair
The Yankees’ policy on personal appearance has long been worthy of mockery, and mockery it has received, for decades, going back to Don Mattingly’s appearance on The Simpsons, when Montgomery Burns kept telling the first baseman to cut his sideburns....

Giannis may seem like body armor dunking a basketball, but he has some of the same mental health issues as others
That singular focus on greatness, nothing else matters, no price is too steep, and there is always more sweat to be poured into the workspace... it turns out is not healthy. For one, where does an obsession like that even come from? For Giannis Antetokounmpo it came from a place of fear....