v Page 1291 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The NFL Pro Bowl is basically Niners vs. Ravens

Sorry, but I’m contractually obligated not to take it easy on Rory McIlroy

Golf is so much more fun when the players are petty. From Ryder Cup shenanigans to guys getting pissed about the pace of play, the game is infinitely more entertaining when there’s a clearly defined heel who fans can collectively hate. That’s why the past year-plus of golf was great television. ...

The NBA's participation policy wasn't meant for guys like Dorian Finney-Smith

The NBA likely implemented its player participation policy — read: anti-load management protocol — so that fans wouldn’t attend games only to see LeBron James and Anthony Davis, or Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, in street clothes. ...

Atlanta and the Dodgers have opted for playoff-only starters

While Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery still wait for their free-agent payday, two powerhouses that were also in need of starting pitching have chosen other routes. Oh, the Dodgers did splash free-agent cash, it was just for one pitcher who’s never pitched in the majors (Yoshinubu Yamamoto) and one...

The Bucks need to beat the Pacers at least twice before we dub their feud a ‘rivalry’

In order for a rivalry to become a full-blown blood feud, there needs to be a little back and forth in the games themselves. The Knicks and Celtics, on paper, should hate each other, but on the court, New York is never seriously competitive so it doesn’t really resonate. ...

Darvin Ham could be scapegoat for Lakers' woes

The Los Angeles Lakers are in the midst of a slump and it looks like the team’s woes will be pinned on Darvin Ham. ...

From Jerry Richardson to Dave Tepper, the Carolina Panthers have written the manual on trash owners

Three million dollars (total) in fines. Two atrocious owners. One franchise. The Carolina Panthers are a mess....

Bill Belichick can go quietly — or go kicking and screaming

Nobody leaves a job with quite as much oomph as Bill Belichick. Twenty-four years ago this week, Belichick handed a note with a scribbled message signaling to New York Jets officials at a press conference, stepped to the podium, and delivered his infamous remarks. ...

Wander Franco released, still under investigation for alleged sexual relationship with minor [Update]

Updated Jan. 5: Wander Franco was granted conditional release on Friday but remains under investigation for his alleged relationship with a 14-year-old girl and giving her mom a car and hush money for her consent. ...

Wanna watch a smart woman totally body two stupid hockey men?

There is a segment of hockey fans that have always wanted to watch the bubble of hockey men discussing hockey things get totally pierced by even just the smallest bit of logic. For that is the true enemy of most things that have been hockey ethos. So a hearty thank you to Jennifer Botterill, who dur...

Katt Williams channels his inner <i>Last Dance</i> Scottie Pippen on Shannon Sharpe's podcast

Katt Williams had some pissed-off at The Last Dance type of energy during his appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast. Before the episode had been entirely uploaded, clips of him skewering Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and Rickey Smiley were going viral on social media....

Want to reduce college football Bowl opt-outs? Pay the players

The bowl opt-outs are a letdown, but we all saw what happened to Jaylon Smith. During the 2016 Fiesta Bowl — which was not a playoff game — his leg was mangled. A projected top-five pick fell to the second round. Since then, many star players have made the intelligent business decision to not play i...

Fire at Tyreek Hill's house caused by child playing with lighter: Investigators [Update]

Updated Jan. 9: The Jan. 3 fire at Tyreek Hill’s house — caused by two children playing with a lighter they thought was a toy — caused $2.3 million in damages, according to the incident report obtained by TMZ Sports. ...

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is ascending into the MVP conversation

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the NBA’s dullest superstar, which has allowed him to sneak up behind the league while they sleep on his ascendance. On Tuesday night, SGA propelled the Oklahoma City Thunder to their latest signature win. After a two-week stretch in which they’ve made mincemeat of the NBA...

NHL contenders have something of a goalie crisis

The NHL is almost certainly delighted that it’s seen an uptick in scoring the past three seasons (though down a skosh this season from last). It probably should pull a muscle patting itself on the back for the crackdown on goalie equipment leading to lower average save percentages across the Origina...

Jackson Mahomes pleads no contest, gets 6 months probation [Update]

Updated March 9: Jackson Mahomes was sentenced Thursday to six months probation by a Johnson County judge after pleading no contest in a misdemeanor battery case. ...

It’s time for ESPN to put an end to Pat McAfee’s Aaron Rodgers disaster

There was a time in journalism when allowing people to spew false information in a public forum was frowned upon. That was before the ghouls at FOX News realized that there was a lot of money in telling people what they want to hear — truth be damned — first as wild speculation about where former Pr...

Kyrie says he's not reason rabbi's 'I'm Jewish and proud' sign removed [Updated]

Updated Jan. 5: Kyrie Irving denied being why Jazz security asked a rabbi to put down his “I’m a Jew and I’m proud” sign despite an interaction between the two. ...

What’s going on at Harvard with Claudine Gay is similar to how the NFL, sports, and America operate

Claudine Gay is the new Nikole Hannah-Jones in the same way that Eric Bieniemy is the latest version of Sherman Lewis. And while there’s a big difference between being a leader at an institution of higher learning and coaching football, the common denominator remains the same — excluding Black peopl...

This week in the NFL: Pledge allegiance or go cry in the corner

Welcome to Deadspin’s The Sports Nihilist, where all is for naught, and we are but accidental jolts of electrified meat stuck to the surface of a rock in an indifferent universe....