Emile Smith Rowe gets Arsenal rockin’ and rolling on his return

One of the Emirates Stadium’s favourite ditties, to the tune of the Status Quo classic Rockin’ All Over the World, finishes by acclaiming “Saka and Emile Smith Rowe”. One of those players has done considerably more of the song’s heavy lifting over the past two years so, on a night that never really veered from the procedural, it was heartening to see the balance shift just a little. Defeating a limited, depleted Luton gave little cause for overexcitement but it did suggest the Arsenal faithful are not flogging an entirely dead horse by hailing two lavish homegrown talents in the same breath.

Smith Rowe’s descent from decisive sure thing to bit-part enigma has been a tough watch and owes, more than anything, to a dispiriting run o…

EDward Gaming jolt Heretics, win Valorant Champions 2024 title

EDward Gaming recorded a 3-2 victory over Team Heretics on Sunday to win the Valorant Champions 2024 title and $1 million first-place prize. Team Heretics claimed $400,000 as the runner-up in the tournament. EDward Gaming's Yongkang "ZmjjKK" Zheng of China was named the MVP of the playoffs. We are the 2024 World Champions of Valorant!#VALORANTCHAMPIONS pic.twitter.com/B1LSEo2exM— Edward Gaming (@EDG_Edward) August 25, 2024 Team Heretics got off to a fast start with a 13-6 win on Haven before EDward Gaming responded with a 13-4 victory on Sunset and 13-9 triumph on Lotus. Heretics forced a decisive fifth map with a 13-11 win on Bind, however EDward Gaming captured the title with a 13-9 victory on Abyss. The 16-team event began Aug. 1 with group play. Eight teams adva…

IDIOT OF THE YEAR: 40 of the dullest tools from 2021's shed

Happy holidays, you filthy animals, and welcome to Deadspin’s annual IDIOT OF THE YEAR extravaganza. Within these hallowed slides are 50 of the year’s least bearable dorks, whose transgressions range from “just kinda silly,” to “dangerously stupid,” to “Trevor Bauer.” The IDIOT OF THE YEAR selections ahead were voted on by an expert team of Deadspin staffers, whose first round of balloting was thrown out after they’d unanimously picked themselves No. 1. With that conflict of interest loophole sewn up, the team tried again. This list is the product of that scrupulous process. The qualities considered included, but were not limited to: Volume/Wrongness Coefficient: Look, nobody cares if you’re wildly off the mark about everything in private. But please don’t shout a…

Promising Tennis Youths Subjected To Awkward, Humiliating On-Stage Ritual

This week, the highest-ranked male tennis players 21 and under have been assembled in Milan to play a year-end tournament. These included the 18-year-old Denis “Shapo” Shapovalov, the flashy, long-locked Canadian who bulldozed into the fourth round of the U.S. Open this year; 20-year-old Russian Andrey Rublev, who became the youngest U.S. Open quarterfinalist in 16 years; and a handful of others. It’s a fine idea for an event: drum up some enthusiasm around a sport that may well suffer a minor PR crisis once Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer eventually slow down in next two decades. But it did not begin on an auspicious note on Sunday night. Prepare yourself to cringe with every part of your body from the ends of your hairs to the tips of your toenails, then take a look: The players…

Summer Movies 2015: The Grierson & Leitch Preview

When
Furious 7 came out last week, it was heralded by many as the kickoff to the 2015 Summer Movie Season, which was strange, considering it's still April. (And just barely April.) By that rationale, it’s also the start of Oscar Season, or the 2017 Fall Movie Season, or the 2019 Dawn of Human Awakening Season.
That said: You can draw a straight line from Furious 7 to the upcoming onslaught of summer movies: It’ll be here, and over with, before you know it. Thus, our Grierson & Leitch week-by-week guide to what's coming, taking you from this weekend to Labor Day. Now, all schedules this far out are subject to change, but this is pretty close to how it will go down. Get ready for lots of superhero flicks, lots of kid flicks, and, yes, Ted 2.
APRIL 10
It has …

Louis Gossett Jr. Is Little Help, Frankly

So, remember, back in May, when Siena basketball player Kojo Mensah was so desperate to be allowed to transfer from the school that he called on Louis Gossett Jr. for help? Gossett memorably said he could be of assistance because he "can call directly to Bryant Gumbel, Bob Costas and Ahmad Rashad." Well, apparently Gossett was successful in getting Mensah out of Siena … because he was just one of the five basketball players shot at Duquense University over the weekend. Mensah was one of the three players still hospitalized after an incident at a dance. So, yeah … thanks a lot, Lou. Shocked Campus Responds With Prayer [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
Louis Gossett Jr., Hoops Savior [Deadspin] (By the way, Gossett really is wearing a hat that says "U.S. Postal Inspector…

Witness Identifies Aaron Hernandez As Shooter In 2012 Double-Homicide Drive-By

After former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arrested for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, police in Boston connected him to a 2012 drive-by in which he allegedly pulled up next to a car outside of a club, and shot into the vehicle, killing two men and leaving two survivors. Hernandez is already serving a life sentence without parole for killing Lloyd, but will go on trial this February in Boston for the double-homicide. Yesterday, during a pre-trial hearing, one of the survivors, Raychides Sanches, identified Hernandez as the person who killed Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado during the drive-by. According to prosecutors, one of the men bumped into Hernandez at a club, spilling his drink. As a result, Hernandez allegedly waited for the men to leave the club, pull…

College Football Picks for Week 4

data-mm-id=”_r1chufw2i”>Season Record: Koster: 17-12; Giuffra: 18-11; Phillips: 18-11; McKeone: 17-12Michigan (+3) at WisconsinKoster: WisconsinJim Harbaugh on the road, in a big game? Yeah, I don’t think so. It will be close, but no cigar once again for those in Ann Arbor desperate to believe that this is the savior. Wisconsin 26, Michigan 21Giuffra: WisconsinMichigan has looked like hot garbage at times this year, while Jonathan Taylor and Wisconsin’s ground-and-pound offense has been unstoppable. Yes, it was against lowly opponents, but the same is true of Michigan. At home, I give the Badgers the edge. Wisconsin 30, Michigan 24McKeone: MichiganYes, Michigan has looked terrible, and go on the road to play a tough conference rival. But this is where they turn it around! …

Patrick Mahomes Found Destiny Running Free on Third and Forever

data-mm-id=”_0t8qoh5vp”>Patrick Mahomes, an otherworldly talent, looked extremely mortal for almost 53 minutes during Super Bowl LIV. The Kansas City Chiefs' title chances were on life support. Down 20-10 and facing a 3rd and 15 from their own 35-yard line against a San Francisco defense that had taken on the form of a python, ruthlessly suffocating the breath from an arcade-inspired unit, it was now or never. They say hope springs eternal. But for the world champion Chiefs, it sprung step by furious Tyreek Hill step. The fastest man in football was running free in fifth gear, exploring the luxurious space beyond the Niners' secondary. Mahomes, poised as ever, lofted a rain-bringing throw to his receiver as the world waited for fortunes to change. On 3rd & 15… @PatrickM…

WDIV Doubles Down on Matthew Stafford Report With Remarkable New Article

data-mm-id=”_1soxk3ehv”>In the 30-plus hours since Bernie Smilovitz of Detroit's WDIV reported that the Detroit Lions have been actively shopping Matthew Stafford, no one else has been able to match that information. General manager Bob Quinn immediately denied the story in a text message to the Free Press. The rumor has managed to do something quite impressive in our fractured times: bring about almost universal agreement that there's absolutely nothing to this. Smilovitz, though, is standing by his reporting. In a new post this morning titled Sources confirm Lions have had Matthew Stafford trade talks, each paragraph is better than the one that came before.”We stand by our story and by our sources. We find tremendous validity in what we are reporting because of what Kelly …