FANBYTE SPORTS
Fernanda Prates Nov 18, 2020. 13 minute read
Van Damme’s Leading Men As MMA fighters: A Very Scientific Study
Have you ever got done watching a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie for the 38th time and thought to yourself, “I wonder how this fictional character from the early 90s would do as a professional fighter in modern-day MMA?” If you haven’t, congratulations: You might just be a reasonable person with…
READ MORE >
SPORTS
Natalie Weiner Nov 13, 2020. 4 minute read
How Women Play Tackle Football In A Country That Would Prefer They Didn’t
Women play football. Not only soccer or flag football, but full-contact American football. I and others have spilled thousands of words — even made whole documentaries — trying to convince people of this simple point, yet women and girls who play are still treated like anomalies. Even after decades on…
READ MORE >
SPORTS
Fernanda Prates Nov 6, 2020. 11 minute read
Five MMA Things That Aren’t Awful
There are a lot of bad things happening right now, so I wrote about five things that are not bad and in fact might actually be good. via GIPHY All that sappy human stuff It’s easy to forget when you’re looking at identical shots of black-and-white floating heads awkwardly delivering…
READ MORE >
SPORTS
FOLLOW US
Natalie Weiner Nov 6, 2020. 2 minute read
For the NFL, the System is Still Working as Intended
This week, it’s challenging to focus on much else besides the agonizing trickle of election results — the wait for the end of a literally years-long contest, one whose outcome is ultimately arbitrary. It’s a familiar cycle, one that has left so many people understandably cynical about politics as a…
READ MORE >
FEATURES
Fernanda Prates Oct 30, 2020. 9 minute read
The Totally Normal, Not Weird At All UFC Guide to Hall vs. Silva
Roses are red, violets are blue, I’m bad at these intros so please just skip this and dive straight into the pre-fight guide I have lovingly made just for you. via GIPHY Anderson Silva and Pets in Hats: An Exploration of Meaning After three days of deep reflection and exhaustive…
READ MORE >
SPORTS
Natalie Weiner Oct 30, 2020. 11 minute read
Sue Wicks, the First Out WNBA Player, on the Activism of the League
There are few things more complicated than the way women athletes challenge conventional gender norms, and few aspects of conventional gender norms more fraught than sexuality. One of the stereotypes that was instantly attached to the WNBA (and one that persists to this day) is that all its players are…
READ MORE >
SPORTS
Fernanda Prates Oct 29, 2020. 6 minute read
In MMA, It’s so Hard to Say Goodbye
This past Saturday, after beating Justin Gaethje to add a 29th win to his perfect professional record, UFC lightweight champion and crusher of wills Khabib Nurmagomedov announced he was retiring from MMA. The news followed an atypically emotional post-fight reaction from Nurmagomedov, who had lost his father and trainer, Abdulmanap…
READ MORE >
SPORTS
Fernanda Prates Oct 29, 2020. Less than a minute
UFC Featherweight Champion Alex Volkanovski’s mustache, a review
Alexander Volkanovski, our current featherweight UFC champion (and former small-but-utterly-jacked Rugby star) is considering repeating this look from the past for Movember this year. Maybe this review is the encouragement he needs?
READ MORE >
MICROREVIEWS
Fernanda Prates Oct 23, 2020. 14 minute read
A Totally Arbitrary, Not at All Complete List of UFC ‘Fight Island’ Moments
This Saturday, Khabib Nurmagomedov will put the UFC lightweight title on the line against Justin Gaethje in what will be the last of the currently scheduled* events at “Fight Island” — which I know sounds like the type of badass setting where high-school kids armed with katanas would engage on…
READ MORE >
SPORTS
Natalie Weiner Oct 23, 2020. 4 minute read
Volleyball is the Grim Specter of Indoor Sports in the Pandemic
There is a reality that exists right now within the United States — land of the unchecked pandemic and home of the hundreds of thousands dead — where you can go inside a college or high school gym and watch people play volleyball. Not because you know any of them,…
READ MORE >
SPORTS
Fernanda Prates Oct 12, 2020. 5 minute read
Anatomy of a Mildly Successful Fight Tweet
Content warning for misogyny, sexism, transphobia, slut-shaming, and people generally being awful on Twitter. Being a woman who covers sports and exists on the internet is not something I would recommend. Alas, thanks mostly to my professional choices but also to my inexplicable tendency to gravitate towards emotional self-harm, that…
READ MORE >
SPORTS
Fernanda Prates Oct 9, 2020. 11 minute read
Totally Normal, Not Weird At All UFC Guide: Moraes vs. Sandhagen
Have you ever finished reading a thoughtful, well-researched fight breakdown and thought “Damn, this is just too thorough and informative. I learned too much. This may even help me place bets and reap real-life benefits! I wish I had something that wasn’t like that at all to prepare me for…
READ MORE >
SPORTS
Natalie Weiner Oct 9, 2020. 4 minute read
The Player-Centric Future of Pro Sports Looks Like this Brand New Softball League
2020 was supposed to be a big year for softball — a year when the popular sport could actually hope to claim some of the spotlight, thanks to its return to the Olympics (where the U.S. has historically dominated) after more than a decade’s absence. Then, obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic…
READ MORE >
SPORTS
Natalie Weiner Oct 2, 2020. 5 minute read
College Football is Back and Jesus It’s Grim
“Football is back, kind of, for some teams,” the voiceover in a Dr. Pepper ad insists, an attempt at some kind of gallows humor. “Whatever this is, football is back.” An allegedly inspirational montage opens the show, rife with military symbolism. Eagles fly, military jets fly, people cheer, unpaid football…
READ MORE >
SPORTS
Natalie Weiner Sep 22, 2020. 3 minute read
Good Form: You Are What You Eat
America is in the midst of a sports binge. On September 10, 2020, for example, you could watch an NBA playoff game or a crucial regular season victory for the WNBA’s Washington Mystics that put them in position to earn a playoff spot. You could watch Naomi Osaka win a…
READ MORE >
SPORTS
John Warren Jul 25, 2020. 3 minute read
Blaseball Offers Strange Hope Among the Chaos of Restarted Sports
Sports are an absolute mess right now. The National Football League is preparing for the start of the 2020-2021 season by bungling their COVID-19 preparedness so badly that even players who traditionally fall in line with commissioner Roger Goodell are speaking out on Twitter. The NBA is about to begin…
READ MORE >
TRENDING