Happily, the eyesore is gone. Unhappily, it will not be vaporized, shoved into the Thames, flash-frozen and shattered by mallets, coated in fox blood and torn apart by famished hounds, shot into the sun, or melted down into a fine paste suitable for insulation. In 2011, Fulham chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed installed a statue of Michael Jackson at Craven Cottage. Why? Jackson wasn't a Fulham fan, appeared (but did not perform) at just one match. The answer is that Jackson was Fayed's friend, and Fayed has too much money. So up the statue went, to the consternation of Fulham fans and the derision of everyone else. This summer, Fayed sold the team to Shad Khan, owner of the Jaguars. Naturally, the very first questions upon taking over were about what he was going to do with that fuc…

According to multiple reports, the Celtics have agreed to trade the number one overall pick in Thursday’s NBA draft to the Philadelphia 76ers, clearing the way for the Sixers to finally add a guard—any guard, please God let it be a guard—to their young core. The Sixers are expected to use the first overall pick on Washington freshman Markelle Fultz. The specifics of the deal, first reported by David Aldridge, appear to be as follows: Boston will take back the third overall pick in this year’s draft, as well as the Los Angeles Lakers’ pick in the 2018 draft, currently owned by the Sixers. Reports from Woj and ESPN indicate that Lakers pick will have some interesting protections on it: if the lottery ultimately places it in picks two through five it will not convey to the Ce…

We get it. Soccer is confusing, and it's hard to know where to start. You know what a big deal the World Cup is, and this is the year you're finally going to get into it, and then you check in over at Deadspin and, well, fuck no, you're not reading 3000 words about Algeria. Don't worry about it! This is just dudes kicking a ball around, and today's as good a day as any to jump in. The guide below, which gets into everything you wanted to know about the World Cup but were maybe afraid to ask, has you covered. …

Despite appearances, the New York Mets are not baseball's worst team. That honor belongs to the Washington Nationals, a organization whose legendary incompetence should be memorialized on the marble arches of the great city that wishes they played elsewhere. Since Pierre L'Enfant is no longer around to accurately convey the majesty of their ineptitude, this humble blog will attempt to do it with pretty pictures. It's more than what's needed, but less than they deserve and it will hopefully make Mets and Pirates fans feel a little bit better about themselves. [Photo via. Special Thanks to Dan Steinberg and the rest of the Washington Post crew for their thankless coverage of this team.]
February 17: Sports Illustrated reports that Esmailyn Gonzalez—a highly-to…

It's graduation time across the country. I've done this post the past two years running, and I don't see new college grads getting any less annoying. So we'd best do it again. As you know, this time of year brings any number of asshole celebrities and dipshit politicians to college campuses to regale you outgoing seniors with sage advice and plug some fucking book they just had someone else ghostwrite. Nothing they tell you will be worth a shit. And you know why? Because they aren't really there for YOU. They're there because they get their rocks off on being considered inspirational enough to merit a celebrity grad speaker gig. OOOH, LOOGIT ME! I'M OPRAH WINFREY AND MY LIFE EXPERIENCE PROVIDES ME WITH GREAT WISDOM! I've been to these graduation c…

data-mm-id=”_wpvir7cvp”>The Carolina Panthers started the season 0-2 with Cam Newton as their starting quarterback. Newton had zero touchdowns and one interception before he was shut down with a foot injury. Since then the Panthers have gone 4-0 with Kyle Allen starting at quarterback. There has been speculation that Cam's time in Carolina could be over for a month now, but on Get Up this morning, Adam Schefter revived the rumors by saying that the Panthers could trade Newton in the offseason.Obviously, this is not a report, but it still makes sense that Newton won't be in Carolina next year. If Allen keeps winning and playing decent football, he makes the most financial sense to be their quarterback next season. There should be plenty of willing trade partners. Predicting Ne…

data-mm-id=”_cmyzi6lzk”>Holiday season is here in full force. We here at The Big Lead were so inspired by the transparency on display from Vogue that we've decided to share our plans for the season with the you, our dear readers. Here's some highlights from their survey, which certainly revealed a certain lifestyle. Absolutely losing it at this incredibly relatable feature with the Vogue editors https://t.co/UVEVErKZGn pic.twitter.com/WnhkFAok0Z— Benjamin Tassie (@benjamintassie) December 21, 2019Without further ceremony, here are the chestnuts and bolts:Liam McKeoneI will not be spending Christmas with any family members, and will instead be traversing the various youth hockey rinks of suburban Massachusetts to observe Hockey Dads in their natural habitats as they scream a…

data-mm-id=”_fekrwm1vf”>The NFL's salary-cap system is confusing, to say the least. Guaranteed at signing, total guaranteed, cap hit, total salary, signing bonus; they're all different, important and convoluted. Yet, one thing we all can wrap our heads around is cash. Cold hard cash makes sense and for the most expensive position in the NFL (QB), it's a big number. It's also proof/a reminder that some quarterbacks are woefully overpaid. Top 10 2020 QB Cash 1. Russell Wilson, $53M2. Kirk Cousins, $40M3. Carson Wentz, $39.3M4. Ryan Tannehill, $37.5M5. Jared Goff, $31M6. Dak Prescott, $30M7. Jimmy Garoppolo, $25.2M8. Brady/Brees/Rivers, $25M9. Teddy Bridgewater, $24M10. Ben Roethlisberger, $21M— Spotrac (@spotrac) March 22, 2020With the exception of Russell Wilson an…