Manchester City v Liverpool, tinfoil hats and a most modern rivalry

DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE?

The Fiver lives for weeks like this. Ultimate Barclays, where hype ratchets up to the point where matches can never live up to the billing. Those occasions blown up to such Montgolfier Brothers’ balloon levels usually end up so low in entertainment that they would normally qualify for last place on Match of the Day 2. Long-time Fiver readers probably expect the old comedy one-two shuffle where this august banter email turns to the winner-takes-all battle between Norwich and Burnley, some meta riffs on Dean Smith’s ordinary-man demeanour, Delia Smith, Sean Dyche’s growling alpha realism and a sideways jibe towards Frank Lampard Frank Lamparding it at Frank Lampard’s Everton.

‘My position is the same’: new El Ghazi post on Israel-Hamas war ‘surprises’ Mainz

A new statement by the Mainz forward Anwar El Ghazi regarding the Israel-Hamas war has left his Bundesliga club perplexed after he was sanctioned days ago after posting another comment about the conflict on social media.

The Dutch player, who was warned and suspended after his previous remarks about the conflict, was cleared to return to training on Monday after showing remorse, the club said in a statement at the time.

Nice suspend Youcef Atal for social media post on Israel-Hamas warRead more

El Ghazi posted another statement on Wednesday that the club said was “incomprehensible”. Mainz said they would examine it from a legal perspective.

“For the avoidance of doubt, my statement on …

2024 the Memorial: Preview, Props, Best Bets

The final tune-up before next week's U.S. Open just happens to be one of the biggest non-major events of the year. Jack Nicklaus' the Memorial Tournament begins Thursday at Muirfield Village, which is also the seventh signature event of the year featuring an elite 73-player field competing for the $20 million purse. Our golf experts preview the event and provide their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week. THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT Location: Dublin, Ohio, June 6-9 Course: Muirfield Village Golf Club (Par 72, 7,571 Yards) Purse: $20M (Winner: $4M) Defending Champion: Viktor Hovland FedEx Cup Leader: Scottie Scheffler HOW TO FOLLOW TV: Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday: 12:30-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6 p.m. (CBS) Streaming (ESPN+…

You’re going to show Joel Em-V-Biid some respect, and you’re going to like it

The NBA’s most annoying PR push is over. Joel Embiid is the league’s MVP for the 2022-23 season, and as per the unwritten rules of NBA Twitter, is now immune to criticism. Anyone with something bad to say about the Philadelphia 76er big man shall henceforth be declared objectively wrong and exiled to Elba because the Process has a Michael Jordan trophy to his name. Hear ye, hear ye, let the reign of King Embiid last for 1,000 millennia. Alright, now that I’ve been sufficiently patronizing, let’s move on to the truth of the matter, and that is Embiid probably deserved to win the award. I have no qualms with the selection as I also would’ve picked the Cameroonian for MVP, and have been appropriately vocal about it. However, lofty awards merit lofty expectations, and Embiid ha…

Blake Griffin Vents About The Pistons' Focus, Right Before Reggie Jackson Goofs Around For The Camera

The spiritual sequel to Dwight and Stan isn’t as consequential as the original, but it’s nonetheless compelling. The Pistons escaped with a 98-94 win over the Pelicans on Wednesday, although New Orleans closed the gap and at one point led in the fourth quarter, bringing the score within three in the final minute. Even with the victory, Blake Griffin was dissatisfied with his 21-26 team’s inability to put the game away. “This is nothing to be proud of, man,” the Pistons forward said. “This is just masking our issue. We gotta lock in and finish games. Our lack of focus at the end of games is awful. That’s why we lose games like this.” Enter Reggie Jackson, being wacky for the camera: Griffin’s thin smile says it all. Great timing, Reggie! …

Why Your Team Sucks 2016: New York Jets

Some people are fans of the New York Jets. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the New York Jets. This 2016 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read all the previews so far here. And buy Drew’s new book here. Your team: New York Jets. Your 2015 record: 10-6. Let’s see how it ended! To jog your memory, that was the last of three consecutive drive-killing interceptions that cost the Jets a playoff spot and OBLITERATED any possible goodwill generated from the previous 15 games. The Jets waited until jussssssssst the last second to turn back into the Jets. Against Rex fucking Ryan, of all people. It was astonishing to behold. Also, Brandon Marshall can’t lateral for SHIT. And the team’s Color Rush uniforms made the colorblind fully blind. Your…

Why Your Team Sucks 2013: Chicago Bears

Some people are fans of the Chicago Bears. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Chicago Bears. 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: Chicago Bears Your 2012 record: 10-6. Lovie Smith went 7-9 three years ago. The Bears could have fired him THEN. But no no no, they had to wait until firing him made the least amount of sense. Your coach: CFL refugee Marc Trestman. I was in Chicago this spring and talking with a friend of mine who was a Bears fan. HIM: Have you seen Marc Trestman? Like, actually looked at him? ME: No. HIM: He's fucking creepy, man. Just creepy as hell. ME: Really? HIM: Really. So I went and looked for video of Marc Trestman looking creepy, and here…

The Closer: The AL Central, As Written By The Coen Brothers

Notes from a day in baseball: • 1. Ya, How 'Bout Them Twins? You Betcha. Like Marge Gunderson questioning Jerry Lundegaard down at the car dealership, the Twins simply will not go away. Minnesota is just one game behind Detroit for first in the AL Central, after the Twins beat the Indians 9-4 on Thursday. Didn't Detroit have a 10-game lead about a month ago, when we predicted … ah yeah, that.

• 2. Beaches. Meanwhile, the Dodgers' once majestic lead in the NL West is now nearly extinct in the wild, in part courtesy of the Chicago Cubs. Aramis Ramirez got his 100th RBI on the tail end of a three-run homer, as Chicago beat LA 6-5. The Dodgers are only a half-game ahead of second-place San Diego, which beat the Reds 4-2. Well, it should all be over soon, as the Dodger…

Kyrie Irving Has Been Back For Three Games and He's Already Complaining About Needing More Help

data-mm-id=”_8w3s8b6mr”>The Brookly Nets dropped their second straight game on Wednesday. Coincidentally, it was Kyrie Irving's third game back after missing a quarter of the season. After the game, Kyrie Irving did what he does best — complained about the situation he had chosen to be in. Worse yet, he did it after his team lost a game on the second night of a back-to-back when they were playing their third game in four nights.BRK with Kyrie this season: 5-9 (.357)BRK w/o Kyrie this season: 13-13 (.500)BOS with Kyrie last season: 37-30 (.552)BOS w/o Kyrie last season: 12-3 (.800)Kyrie's teammates seem to be faring OK without a certain piece https://t.co/rnEA8RlgTh— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) January 16, 2020As Tom Haberstroh points out in the above tweet, the Nets an…

There Could Be Timeouts During NFL Draft But They Won't Be Called Timeouts

data-mm-id=”_a3c1a928f”>If there's one thing anyone working remotely during the national quarantine has learned, it's that technical snafus happen at inopportune moments. Whether it's a meeting with your boss or a conversation with a commercial partner, no one wants their feed to cut off mid-sentence, leaving both parties in the precarious position of asking, "What was the last thing you heard?"Well, as the NFL prepares to host a totally digital draft where every member of every team will be separated (except the Jones family, I suppose), they're preparing for the inevitable tech issues we all face on a daily basis working from home. As they do so, one idea that's come up is a team calling "timeout" on the draft and pausing everything if the…