Some people are fans of the St. Louis Rams. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the St. Louis Rams. This 2014 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group.
Your team: St. Louis Rams
Your 2013 record: 7-9
Your coach: Generic Southern coaching prototype Jeff Fisher, who hasn't ever posted a winning record with this team, but is a steadying influence, or something. Jeff Fisher could go 4-12 but it would be a quiet 4-12, and his bosses would be like, "Well, no one died. GOOD JOB, FISH!" No one's better at projecting the illusion of competence. Fisher has molded the Rams in the Titans' image: unfathomably boring and built to pull off a lucky 10+-win season once every five years or so.
Also, Gregg Williams is still here, and he is …
The team is overrun with pathetic draft picks, rage-filled losing coaches and a violent crazed fan base, but all roads lead to senile octogenarian who set the tone and call the shots. His Commitment to Excellence in Insanity has made the last year difficult, but highly entertaining. Let's remember when. ESPN football reporter Chris Mortensen responds to accusations that he made no attempt to contact the Raiders organization before reporting that the team was available for sale, by saying that " the Raiders have lost the privilege with me of running stories past them for comment," because he claims they would have simply denied it anyway. Mortensen later apologized and the Raiders were not sold.
Three days after the Super Bowl, Tom Cable—who was 4-8 as interim head…
As everyone could have seen coming, Brett Favre was the winner of the 2010 Sports Human Of The Year award. Karen F. Owen made it close, but Favre had 53.41 percent of the vote. He did not throw away the award in the final seconds. We congratulate Favre, who is certainly going to show up at Gawker Media offices to accept his award as soon as he has the opportunity. Your past winners: 2006: Barbaro.
2007: Isiah Thomas.
2008: Baby Mangino.
2009: Tiger Woods.
2010: Brett Favre. See you next year, kids. …
data-mm-id=”_eykjn6brf”>Paige VanZant is begging for a fight. On Tuesday the UFC flyweight took to Instagram and asked the UFC to give her a fight, then listed 18 fighters who are wiling to take her on.The fighters she listed to have asked for a fight with her are: Miranda Granger, Antonina Shevchenko, Emily Whitmire, Andrea Lee, Montana De La Rosa, Lauren Mueller, Shana Dobson, Veronica Macedo, Alexa Grasso, Diana Belbita, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Wu Yanan, Angela Hill, Poliana Botelho, Molly McCann, Jodie Esquibel and Nadia Kassem. That's a lot of options for UFC president Dana White to consider. Unfortunately, White claims the 25-year-old VanZant turned down a fight against Maycee Barber at flyweight and strawweight. Apparently, that's the fight White really wants to make. V…
data-mm-id=”_3cqxvkdz0″>The best time of year has arrived: the NFL playoffs. It's an extremely competitive field this season, top-to-bottom with quality teams. But not all are made equal. Here are your official NFL playoff power rankings. 12. Philadelphia Eagles (9-7)Philadelphia Eagles v New York Giants / Steven Ryan/Getty ImagesThe Eagles are the kings of the steaming pile of garbage that is the 2019 NFC East. Carson Wentz is playing extremely well, but the Eagles are so depleted from injuries they're starting practice-squad guys at nearly every skill position offensively. The fact that they're even playing in January is an accomplishment itself, but it would be astonishing if they got to play more than one game. 11. Tennessee Titans (9-7)Jacksonville Jaguars v Tennes…
data-mm-id=”_wy16ozj78″>It will be all hands on deck when the NBA restart officially gets underway on July 30. One of the talking points around the bubble environment down in Orlando is that teams are having to make do with less personnel than they're accustomed to because they were only allowed to bring so many essential employees. This is also true for the media teams tasked with broadcasting the games. TNT announced their broadcast schedule for the NBA's "seeding games" set to take place between July 30 and August 15, when the playoffs begin. With Marv Albert choosing to sit out the restart because of safety concerns, Kevin Harlan and Ian Eagle will be the two main play-by-play callers for TNT, and they'll be pulling double-header duty, too. TNT has announce…
data-mm-id=”_ehyszrk1u”>Andrew Church, a former second round pick, was one of the 39 minor league players released by the New York Mets earlier this week. The 25-year-old pitcher had been a part of the organization since 2013. He briefly retired during the 2018 season and returned last year. At the time, he said that he was frustrated and wanted to spend more time with his wife and young son. After the Mets released him, he shared some more details about his retirement. He has choice words for the organization, especially their handling of Tim Tebow. View this post on Instagram Please read to understand my true feelings. Today I got released by the NY Mets organization. The people on the other end of the phone had nothing but good things to say and I appreciated that…
data-mm-id=”_oy53kf6fy”>The times have changed and continue to change. It took Colin Kaepernick several years to win, but he did in the end. For all his missteps and prolonged silence, he started a movement that opened the door to real change — and not just in the corners one would suspect. His story has evolved, and those who vilified him are finding him vindicated. As such, his corporate capital has more value. This is America after all, where the true measure of a man is often reflected in dollars, cents, and handshake deals. Of course, it's not all bad because to realize Kaepernick is now a net-positive for a brand and palpable to a widespread audience is to realize just how far public sentiment has shifted. This morning, the unemployed quarterback and Disney announced a cont…
data-mm-id=”_ujjrvrxyk”>It was, to state the obvious, an unusual baseball season. We were privy to a 60-game sprint after multiple bleak months in which it looked like it'd ultimately be a zero-game sprint. Major League Baseball's popularity remains fodder for actual concern and concern trolling. The 30,000-foot view would suggest we shouldn't be taking huge stock in this small sample size and Americans' desire to consume the product amid a pandemic and unprecedented sporting competition.We do have some hard data, though, on the most popular players in regards to jersey sales, which MLB released today.MLB announced the 20 most popular jerseys based on sales.11 teams represented. No Red Sox players. pic.twitter.com/A93bN0NqYs— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) September 25, …
data-mm-id=”_mhthh0eq6″>How quickly New York Giants fans forget how close they were to running Eli Manning out of town for the same reasons they're now trying to run Daniel Jones out of town. That's what two Super Bowl MVPs against the greatest dynasty in NFL history will get you, though. Amnesia. It's a hell of a reaction if taken in moderation and Big Blue nation is clearly dosed up enough to forget reality.Though his first three seasons as a full-time starter, Manning was one of the most turnover-prone quarterbacks in the NFL, throwing 55 interceptions in total from 2005-07. After throwing four interceptions in his first two playoff games, many pundits and fans questioned Manning's leadership and called for his ouster leading into the 2007 season. Then he led the…