The NCAA finally wrapped up its investigation into the Ole Miss recruiting scandal, and the resulting punishment is pretty harsh: a two-year postseason ban, scholarship reductions, and a handful of show-causes for various assistants and administrators. The NCAA’s conclusion is essentially that Ole Miss assistant coaches and boosters were running wild and committing recruiting violations left and right. From the NCAA’s release: Members of the football coaching staff knowingly committed recruiting violations and arranged for impermissible booster contact and involvement. Specifically, the assistant athletics director acted unethically when he arranged for boosters to provide prospects between $13,000 and $15,600 in cash payments, including $10,000 to one prospect, as well as lodging,…

This is the most exciting four minutes plus you'll spend all year (besides that one time you had sex). The folks at World Wide Interweb have put together what they believe are the 50 best plays of the year in sports. There's a good mix of the spectacular, the important, and the iconic, and though it's generally American-centric, there's no glaring omission. But if you don't see a highlight you think should be on the list, share it in the comments. …

Election Day is tomorrow. If you are one of those hopeless morons who think it's some sort of thought crime to mention politics in the same breath as sports, well, this is not the post for you. For the rest of you, here are some recent Deadspin stories relevant to the election.
Nate Silver's Braying Idiot Detractors Show That Being Ignorant About Politics Is Like Being Ignorant About Sports "In retrospect, we should've seen it coming. It was only a matter of time before the war on expertise spilled over into the cells of Nate Silver's spreadsheets. In fact, in some ways it had already. Turns out that nothing could have prepared Silver better for the slings and arrows of a surly and willfully obtuse pundit class than working on the fringes of sportswriting over…

The NFL has shipped off its report about Brett Favre's penis to Roger Goodell (more later), but, for now, let's look back on how this all began: with the 2008 Jets preview Jenn wrote for us, and which I'd completely forgotten about. The piece comically foreshadows things to come. Not intentionally, of course, but this was most likely written about the time when Brett started to develop a little crush on Jenn. It was turned in late because Jenn was required to run this preview past her bosses at the Jets before it was published. Observe some of her emails from early September in 2008: Hey AJ, Just wanted you to know I have finished the preview article on the Jets..but I am waiting on clearance from them before I can send it to you, and they are taking their sweet time..…

data-mm-id=”_ky5w6j2rw”>The Kansas City Chiefs won yesterday with Matt Moore starting and finishing the game at quarterback. The impressive victory over the Vikings did just enough to get some thinking, not deciding, that perhaps, the Chiefs play harder with Moore as opposed to Patrick Mahomes. And if next week, Moore starts, plays well, and wins again, we could be heading for an all-out Moore vs. Mahomes debate on morning television. It could get intense, too. Shockingly, Skip Bayless could be one of the debaters already contemplating taking a side in this hypothetical:Matt Moore beats Kirk Cousins, as I predicted on Undisputed. I'm certainly not saying Moore is better than Mahomes. But the Chiefs are playing with more spirit and fight than they did for Mahomes, who lost his last…

data-mm-id=”_5mfhmqq70″>If the hundreds of mock drafts are correct, the intrigue doesn't start until the third overall pick owned by the Detroit Lions. The Lions could wisely use the pick to trade down and get value with a team that has its sights set on Tua Tagovailoa. Though, some have suggested the Lions should select the once-projected top pick to anchor in a new era in Detroit. If Lions' management is pondering that idea, it would reportedly be upsetting news to one group, in particular: Tagovailoa's family.According to the Miami Herald, the Tagovailoas fear the possibility given the Lions' rocky coaching situation. “”Sources close to Tagovailoas say the Alabama quarterback would love for the Dolphins to trade up to No. 3 to select him. Those same sources say…

data-mm-id=”_99hc0za2w”>With the Denver Nuggets facing elimination and thus being de-platformed, Jamal Murray laced up sneakers embossed with lives state actors fatally deemed not to matter and dropped 50 points yet again. After outdueling Donovan Mitchell and setting up a winner-take-all Game 7 against the Utah Jazz, Murray stood for an interview with Turner Sports' Jared Greenberg. An interview in which he had trouble finding the right words but spoke as loudly and clearly about the current dichotomy as any.“We found something we’re fighting for as the NBA, as a collective unit…and I use these shoes as a symbol to keep fighting all around the world.”- Jamal Murray after Denver's Game 6 win. pic.twitter.com/rkwPn9QuHX— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) August 31, 2020Murray c…

data-mm-id=”_zvucgs1rv”>For the first time in… a long time, the New York Knicks are a fun basketball team to watch and their fans actually have a glimmer of hope. Tom Thibodeau has come in and inspired his new team to play defense. The young guns like R.J. Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and Obi Toppin are getting their minutes, making their mistakes, and showing flashes of NBA-level play. The Knicks are currently the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference at 14-15 on the year. Not all is perfect. Thibs still has his old habits of vastly preferring veterans to young players in crunch time, and since the Knicks aren't winning anything this year it would be better if Quickley were starting rather than Elfrid Payton. One undeniable bright spot, however, has been the play of Julius Randle…

data-mm-id=”_w4mib04hp”>After a year out of the league because of injury, Kevin Durant will make his highly-anticipated debut with the Nets this season. Teamed up with Kyrie Irving, he's expected to return to MVP form quickly and lead one of the most exciting offenses in the league. But if you were expecting to see the same old Kevin Durant when he steps onto the parquet floor in Brooklyn, think again. On Wednesday, he revealed he'll be playing a new position some of the time this season: center. “”I think coach is going to use me in a variety of ways, especially as a small-ball 5 and 4 sometimes. And bringing the ball up, too, so I’ve just got to be ready for anything.””We've seen Durant play every other position in the NBA before. He's primarily played small forwa…

data-mm-id=”_rp64xyjo2″>The Seattle Mariners are among the most disappointing teams in Major League Baseball this season. After going 90-72 and reaching the playoffs in 2022, much was expected of the 2023 version of the squad. They're currently 30-31 with a negative run differential. On Thursday, general manager Jerry Dipoto all but admitted the team he put together is not good.He discussed the squad during his weekly radio spot on Seattle Sports with Brock and Salk. When talking about the team's struggles he said the following:"And this is just being honest, we could go out and acquire prime Babe Ruth and it's not going to help us. We're not one player away or one magic spell from fixing this."He's right. Six of the Mariners' top 10 plate-appear…