Before this visit of the greatest team in modern English football, a gaggle of excitable young West Ham fans were overheard discussing their side’s prospects for the afternoon. “No, but actually be honest,” said one boy to another. “What do you really think will happen?”

After a moment’s thought, he predicted a 3-1 defeat for the hosts, with Erling Haaland scoring two of the goals. A couple of hours later, his crystal ball had delivered almost the perfect forecast.

Erling Haaland’s latest hat-trick fires Manchester City to win at West HamRead more

Matches like these are peculiar beasts for supporters of opposing teams playing Manchester City, a club who continue to make a mockery of the supposed competi…

Micah Parsons will be doing what he does best for the Dallas Cowboys full-time during the 2023 season — rush the passer. Surely he will be depended on to use his linebacker skills to stuff running plays and drop into coverage from time to time, but his main job will be to chase after opposing QBs. Parsons is using this offseason to bulk up the can he is able to consistently hold his own against offensive tackles. He has already put on five pounds of muscle and is also doing boxing workouts to help with his hand fighting. “Just trying to stick in the run,” Parsons said via Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. “It’s hard battling 300-pound guys at 255 pounds every week. So I’m just trying to put on five pounds of muscle, just eating right, and living right.” I assume…

Thanks to Ryan Thibodaux’s diligent ballot tracking, we already knew that Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines (thank God) were going into the Hall of Fame this year. Now that all of the ballots have been counted, we can see if anyone else will be joining them. Ivan Rodriguez made it! This is good, because Pudge is awesome. That’s it, nobody else made it. The other suckers will have to wait until next year. Here is how all the votes shook out: Which snub are you most angry about? Please tell me in your loudest possible voice. …

Oh hey, the Oscars are on Sunday night! And congratulations to America’s celebrities for enduring another painfully long and arduous awards season. YOU POOR THINGS! Being shuttled from red carpet to red carpet, forced to wear nice clothes, asked the same dumb questions over and over again (“How’s it feel to be nominated?”) … it’s just such a grind, isn’t it? Who has the energy to open ALL those goody bags? Oscar season (and it is now referred to as a “season” with a straight face, specifically so that Andy Greenwald can make terrible sports analogies) is basically one long stretch of commiseration between stars and entertainment journalists, all of whom play along despite the fact that they know it’s dumb and they hate participating and they ALL know that the ente…

So here he is — the victor. It's John Guzowski AKA "Nard_Dogg 1," who came out on top due to his uncanny ability to click correct boxes. It's somewhat of a tradition here at Deadspin that John's prize is one free post today, where he can talk about whatever he wants. That's so much better than cash or a T-shirt or a charitable donation. Off he goes! Let me begin by saying it is an honor and a pleasure to be posting on Deadspin. Also, I must give required shout-outs to Kudler, McMaster, Cotter, and the Weasel. It was tough to pick just one thing to talk about in my post. So, I decided to write about what I know best: the pain and agony associated with being a Cleveland sports fan. Thanks again to AJ for letting me post. Fear and Loathing in Cleveland It…

COLUMBIA, S.C. — North Carolina could not pull off the improbable. Far from it. No. 1 South Carolina rolled to an 88-41 win over the No. 8 Tar Heels on Sunday afternoon in the Albany 1 Region, advancing to the Sweet 16 for the 10th consecutive time behind 20 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and three steals from MiLaysia Fulwiley. The Gamecocks (34-0) improved their home winning streak to 59 games. In Albany, N.Y., South Carolina will face the winner of Monday's clash between No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 4 Indiana. "We haven't played like that in a super long time," South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. "Every single (one) of our players made an impact coming into the game. And we needed a performance like this. And hopefully … playing this good of basketball…

data-mm-id=”_9rxj0733b”>While he remains the most unrelatable superstar in sports for your average fan, it's always seemed like Tom Brady had a solid sense of humor (or maybe I just feel that way because I grew up in Boston). Regardless, his rare appearance in pop culture are usually funny, i.e. when Mark Wahlberg and his teddy bear broke into Brady's house in Ted 2. I start with that because his most recent cameo is equal parts shocking and hilarious. Paul Rudd came out with a new TV show on Netflix on Friday. It is called Living With Yourself. It's about Rudd attempting to improve his life by cloning himself in a shady strip mall spa. Who does he see as he arrives? None other than the Golden Boy himself, Tom Brady, strolling out of the spa. A spa that looks exactly lik…

data-mm-id=”_prfv9fsz8″>Georgetown held Senior Night over the weekend. Among those seniors was George Muresan, son of Gheorghe Muresan. George appeared in 19 games for the Hoyas this season. His entire family was there to celebrate the end of his college career and they gathered at halfcourt to take a picture with coach Patrick Ewing and another person who is clearly not related. As usual, it was great to see Gheorghe, still the tallest player to ever appear in an NBA game at 7-foot-7. It's been two decades since injuries forced him to retire. Over the last 20 years he's raised two very tall children with his 6-foot-1ish wife, Liliana, and run a successful basketball skills camp in Virginia. It's incredible how far he's come. Gheorghe was drafted 30th overall in the…

data-mm-id=”_9gt5a38em”>Ryen Russillo appeared on Monday's edition of The Bill Simmons Podcast. Simmons and Russillo had a free-flowing conversation that occasionally touched on mature subjects, including coronavirus. While discussing the suspension of the NBA season, Russillo addressed a message to media members on Twitter. Specifically, people giving billionaire owners crap for not responding quickly to the season possibly being lost. You can listen at the 32:32 mark of this video.It was clearly something that had been annoying Russillo, who had tweeted about it a few days prior. He mades some salient points about owners needing time to put together plans, but on the other hand, no.Everyone is trying to figure this out. Blaming the NCAA for not making a decision HOURS after the …

data-mm-id=”_6uprq3wpb”>Indiana has announced senior-to-be Justin Smith has graduated and will transfer. Smith was the team's third-leading scorer last season, averaging 10.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Despite his outstanding athleticism and defensive prowess, Smith was maddeningly inconsistent at times for the Hoosiers. While his departure will hurt, it could also open up a ton of possibilities for head coach Archie Miller. During his three years in Bloomington, Smith showed flashes of brilliance. But all-too-often he disappeared during key segments of games. He also never developed as an outside shooter despite a desire to play on the wing. As a junior he only hit 26.3 percent from 3-point range. Smith was an excellent defender but also drifted in games at times on the de…