This week in sports: Patrick Mahomes' WR is a moron; Rick DeSantis does Rick DeSantis; Man United do themselves in

I’m sorry your wide receiver is a moron, Patrick Mahomes

While it’s hard to resist the temptation to point out noticing when a team that has Matt Nagy anywhere near it is melting down, because I know it oh, so well, the Kansas City Chiefs have bigger problems than that. When everyone is blaming the refs over a totally correct call, it’s pretty obvious they’re trying to avoid looking within. – Sam Fels Read More

An open invitation for Buster Posey to screw off

As we mentioned last night, the San Francisco Giants are in full ass-covering mode after missing out on their third prime free agent. They whiffed on Arson Aaron Judge, couldn’t get over Carlos Correa’s ankle, and then Shohei Ohtani figured out life is pretty easy when you don’t have to move and you can still get $700 million. While Giants fans are probably frustrated, deep down they probably get it. The Dodgers are just ahead of them in every way, even with Ohtani they’d still have things to do to make the Giants a consistent contender, etc. – Sam Fels Read More

There is nothing wrong with Shohei Ohtani’s salary deferment

The numbers finally came in on Shohei Ohtani’s deal with the Dodgers and the Dodgers finally announced it themselves, and it’s a bit of a doozy. Ohtani will be deferring $68 million of his $70 million annual salary until the 10 years after his 10-year deal. The $2 million salary is fine for him given the bonanza he takes in through his endorsements and sponsorships, which is all fair enough. The deferment means that, for the Dodgers and Ohtani, his luxury tax number is below $50 million, which will aid their pursuit of putting a better team around him than they currently have. And remember, the team around him they currently have, at least most of it, won 100 games last season. – Sam Fels Read More

Florida is predictably Florida in banning transgender athlete

A high school in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. has banned a transgender girl from playing on its girls’ volleyball team for 11 months due to “the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” which states that transgender women and girls can not compete on girls’ public school sports teams. – Mackenzie Meaney Read More

For a team that’s going for it, the Dodgers seem to be living on the edge

The Dodgers are certainly the story of the offseason already. Tends to happen when you sign the biggest free agent in history with the biggest contract in history that also is kind of the weirdest contract in history. They’re also not done, apparently. – Sam Fels Read More

Manchester United didn’t even show up

They could have at least tried.

It ended up not mattering. Manchester United needed the other game in their group, FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray, to end in a draw along with United beating Munich to advance into the Champions League knockout stages. It didn’t. It was a long shot, at best. But you’d think that even though it would take a miracle, a team that has nothing else to do in the evening might, you know, go for it. Even if United were to give up three goals on the counterattack, they could point at the odds of what they were attempting and be comfortable that it was worth a shot. At least they would have made something happen. – Sam Fels Read More

In Gaza, one organization struggles to keep children playing

“Now, everything is completely gone,” Tamara Awartani tells me of the afterschool programs her organization, Palestine Sports for Life (PSFL), had established in Gaza for young children (especially girls) who otherwise had no access to football or physical education. “I was able to check on one girl in one of our videos . . . she was in another youth center taking care of cats . . . and I was like ‘Oh my God, thank God she’s alive.’ But other children, I’m not able to track.” – Julie DiCaro Read More