Some people are fans of the New England Patriots. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the New England Patriots. This 2013 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read all the 2013 NFL previews so far right here. Your team: New England Patriots Your 2012 record: 12-4, culminating in a thorough curb-stomping at home courtesy of Joe Flacco. When Joe Flacco is the best player on the field in your home stadium in the playoffs two years in a row, you are not poised for some magical return to dominance. Also, fuck you. Your coach: MILF-hunting sociopath Bill Belichick, who makes draft choices like a music snob who intentionally chooses the most obscure bands possible for his year end top-10 list. I honestly think Belichick is bored with the idea of winning Supe…
Some people are fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars. This 2012 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read the other Why Your Team Sucks 2012 previews here. 1. YOOOOOOOOOOO GABBERT GABBERT!!!! One of the great running jokes of this preseason is just how awful Blaine Gabbert has looked in training camp. Poor Jags beat writer Vito Stellino has been on hand all summer to watch Gabbert go one-for-12 playing against air. Stellino has taken great care to phrase Gabbert's abysmal play and the team's outright putridity as delicately as possible. He's a professional, after all. Vito Stellino @vitostellino Another small crowd at practice . Jags fans don't seem to be all in. The fact …
We spent last evening at Professor Thom's , the Boston sports bar here in New York City. (Apparently, it used to be Riviera's, but then some bartenders got fired, or something; it's difficult to keep track of such matters.) We were engulfed in a swarm of New Englanders, the people who, over the last several years, have celebrated titles, and celebrated titles, and celebrated titles. We saw every inch of their joy last night. (Not a euphemism!) And you know what? It wasn't so bad. It was really fun. The goofy looks around the bar at halftime betrayed any fear of jinxing; this title was happening, and one couldn't pretend otherwise. The dominance of the Celtics was overwhelming, all-encompassing and enthralling; it really had the feel of a Harlem Globetrotters-Wa…
data-mm-id=”_6or2htcvz”>The 2020 NFL Draft is taking place in Las Vegas this year to help kick off the NFL's presence in the Sin City. Everyone figured it was going to be quite a spectacle, but new details emerged on Tuesday that probably blow even the most outlandish of expectations out of the water. Somehow literally. Apparently, the draft stage will be in the Bellagio Fountains, and prospects will be transported to the stage via boat. Seriously. Refer to this helpful visualization from Arash Markazi if you, like me, are baffled: The stage for the 2020 NFL Draft in Las Vegas will be on the water at the Fountains of Bellagio. The players will be transported to the stage by boat. pic.twitter.com/8sVl8p2ZBx— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) January 21, 2020Just a whole lot to unpack…
data-mm-id=”_f3r7ydaue”>NFL training camp and the month of August are synonymous for sports fans. As the days grow shorter but the weather remains steaming, everyone's excitement for football season ramps up. Hop on Twitter and you'll see dozens of training camp breakdowns, reports of who's ahead of who on the depth chart, and snap-judgments made by fans based off a 15-second video taken by their favorite beat writer. This year, of course, things are different. COVID-19 meant camp started weeks later than normal. Rookies didn't get their minicamp, and vets didn't get the gradual warm-up they're accustomed to. Coaches are only just now seeing what their rosters look like after not being permitted to meet as a full team over the previous three months. It…
data-mm-id=”_76mt0yz4i”>Katie Ledecky can easily lay claim to the title of "most dominant athlete on the planet" right now. She routinely destroys the competition in every distance swimming event she enters and, at 23, is in her prime. But the video that surfaced on Monday might be more impressive than all the accolades she has won for her exploits in the pool.Ledecky took to Instagram and posted a video of herself swimming the length of a pool with a class of chocolate milk balanced on her head. It's a great video, but if you focus on the milk in the glass the video is truly mesmerizing. Check it out:Team USA swimmer @katieledecky posted a video on Instagram of herself swimming a full length with chocolate milk balanced on her head. I'm not convinced it's more…
data-mm-id=”_ws3erwh8t”>The trailblazing Larry King invented Twitter before Twitter. He penned hundreds of genre-bending, norm-busting columns featuring scattered thoughts separated by thee dots. That DNA has always been part of The Big Lead's helix via the morning roundup. But resurrecting the art form has long been a personal passion of mine. For over a decade, I've made public threats about bringing a version of it back. Yet the trepidation of allowing readers to see the truly unfiltered stream of consciousness always won out. No longer.Some of these thoughts are decent. Others probably stink. That's alright. They are free. You didn't pay for them. Build upon them or don't. Off we go … Here are some Free Ideas … … The name Copenhagen suggests an extre…
data-mm-id=”_xptowvv50″>Earlier this month, ESPN succeeded in its mission to lock up Pat McAfee with a five-year deal and put him close to the epicenter of its most important real estate. This drew strong reactions and a truly incredible amount of thinkpieces, which were all based on the belief it was a nice, juicy contract. Today, New York Post sports media slugger Andrew Marchand supplied empirical numbers, reporting that ESPN will pay McAfee $17 million per year. Neither McAfee or ESPN confirmed the figures but given that the source has been on top of every twist and turn of this story, there's more than good reason to believe they are accurate. Obviously the large number is going to raise eyebrows, especially at a time when Disney is cutting costs and cutting employees. On a h…