The tension building around the first overall pick has been punctured with anonymous sources for, I think, the 312th straight year. We know that Matthew "Matt" Stafford will be the Lions' guy. And it won't cost them much. Just $72 million. (Oh, but it won't be that much. Don't worry!) Rumor has it that the Lions took Stafford because his scouting report said that his name could be re-arranged to spell "Ford Farts," which is too hilarious not too draft him, despite naysayers who project that Stafford doesn't have two "R"s in his last name. Lions general manager Martin Mayhew would likely call those reports "pessimistic" and "without merrit." In all reality, nobody's going to give Mayhew a pass because he …
I don't feel like we have enough stories here on Deadspin that feature high school boys having their clothes confiscated by school administrators. Today, I seek to right this wrong. Meet the San Pasqual High School varsity water polo team. It was "Jersey Night" at a school football game; a night where members of other fall sports teams were honored and recognized in front of the crowd. The Water Polo team, understandably, was looking for a little bit of attention. They decided to show up and take their bows in their Speedos. Just their Speedos. School administrators were very uncomfortable with the display, because it's 1924, I guess, and forced the boys to forfeit an upcoming match against Patrick Henry (who would have loved the defiance) High School. My favorite …
data-mm-id=”_2da8cr55b”>The Detroit Pistons went all-in when they traded for Blake Griffin in February of 2018. Just under two years later, nothing has gone right. Griffin had a career year in 2018-19, but his body failed him as the playoffs approached and Detroit was swept by Milwaukee in the first round. Three months into the 2019-20 season, things haven't gotten much better; the Pistons sit at 12-23 on the season while Griffin struggles with injuries, and the path forward for the team is murky. Former top-10 pick Andre Drummond has been a consistent contributor over that timespan, but doesn't have the skillset required to win the team games on his own. He also has a $28 million player option at the end of this season that he seems likely to decline in order to test the fre…
data-mm-id=”_je5btgjnv”>Major League Baseball's hot stove is still simmering. Here are all the latest MLB rumors, including a few big-name guys who could be traded. Indians want final Francisco Lindor trade proposalsKen Rosenthal is reporting the Cleveland Indians want to bring the Francisco Lindor trade saga to a quick end. The Indians have asked for every team's best and final offer, and they will "make an assessment over the weekend." The Reds, Dodgers and Padres are all known to be in pursuit of the All-Star shortstop. The Indians are likely just assessing if they'll get enough to move Lindor this winter. If they don't like the offers presented, then can then just move forward planning to have him around in 2020. They clearly want to get this sorted ou…
data-mm-id=”_1c2g7fz5t”>Tom Brady told the world Tuesday morning that he would not be returning to the New England Patriots. By the time dinner rolled around, word had gotten out that the 43-year-old would be moving south for the next stage of his career and planned to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That same evening, NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson said that a source had told him Brady had dinner in Tampa over the weekend with Derek Jeter, Bill Gates, and Jeff Vinik, owner of the Tampa Bay Lightening, in a since-deleted tweet. After reporting it, Hanson had two other sources deny that it happened, but his original source stood by the story. Two sources have now *denied* that Brady was @bernssteakhouse Sunday night. My original source stands by his story. Have reached out to som…
data-mm-id=”_jldhwg4go”>The NFL is considering a new rule allowing teams to elect to try and convert a fourth-and-15 play from their own 25-yard-line instead of kicking off. It's an interesting idea that, in theory, could keep trailing teams in the game for a longer period of time, allowing them to score and then try and retain possession with a higher probability of success than an onside kick. The only issue is, it could also be used against those trailing teams. This rule was previously discussed and included a clause that only trailing teams could utilize this opportunity. However, the new rule doesn't have that language in it. Here’s the updated language of the proposed rule change on an alternative to the onside kick – and it *doesn’t* specify that a team must be …
data-mm-id=”_7923kx1ec”>Ding Dong, the witch is dead, sang the AFC East as the clock hit 00:00 in Miami on Sunday. The New England Patriots, after falling to the Dolphins by the score of 22-12, are officially eliminated from the playoffs. It will be the first NFL postseason without Bill Belichick and his team since 2008. New England will finish with a .500 record or worse for the first time in 19 years. And for the first time since Belichick decided Tom Brady would start for the team, the Patriots are rudderless and have no clear path forward to winning again. The Patriots badly need to replenish their talent level at just about every position. They're currently slated to pick No. 15 in the 2021 NFL Draft, which will likely be just out of reach for any high-level QB prospect barri…
data-mm-id=”_4rxxf766f”>The Dallas Cowboys had quite an adventure on Sunday, fumbling four times in the opening frame of their early-afternoon matchup against the Atlanta Falcons and going down 20 points before mounting a truly wild comeback. On the legs and tattoo choices of Ezekiel Elliott and a drive by Dak Prescott (aided by one of the worst onside kick blunders in recent memory), Dallas managed to squeak out a 40-39 victory in a game they had no business winning. It was, if anything, quite an exciting game. Such games lead to strong emotions after the fact, as demonstrated below by Dan Orlovsky stating he believes the Cowboys saved their season through their comeback against Atlanta. Let us suppose, in an alternate universe, that Dallas lost this game. That Atlanta became the 441s…
data-mm-id=”_p8dr9wcl5″>Rob Manfred made some news on Friday during an interview on The Dan Patrick Show. Major League Baseball's commissioner talked about potential rule changes in the game during the segment. One section that stood out was Manfred's discussion on shifts, saying they could be limited in the future. Here's the pull quote that stood out:Rob Manfred says on the @dpshow that shifts could be limited in future: "A lot of people feel that the extreme shifting that you’re talking about has changed the game in ways that are not positive and it remains a really hot topic in terms of conversation within that committee.”— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 23, 2020The full interview with Dan Patrick below:While I may not love shifts, they should be …
data-mm-id=”_5cvwskfzu”>If you follow college basketball or made a bracket this year, odds are you've heard of Ken Pom Dot Com. It's a popular site that ranks college basketball teams based on a bunch of advanced metrics I won't try to explain because, well, I'm no advanced metrics expert here. What I am an expert at is seeing something spicy on social media and turning it into a blog. This one is about Ken Pomeroy, the creator, owner, facilitator, etc., of the famous kenpom.com, calling out CBS/Turner on Twitter for not mentioning his website by name despite referencing his stats throughout the tournament. And don't just take Pomeroy's word for it. I also noticed this too. If you listened to the broadcasts and think back on the times announcers said thing…