Skip to main content
Come Fan with UsSaturday, June 20, 2026

The List: Parts of sports we wish were hoaxes

Sometimes, as sports fans, we really wish we’d been played for fools. It would be easier to tolerate.

And now, back to “Yellin’ and Yellin’”
And now, back to “Yellin’ and Yellin’”
And now, back to “Yellin’ and Yellin’”
Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE
Bill Hanstock
Bill Hanstock is a writer, author and Emmy Award-winning producer. He began writing for SB Nation in 2011.

What if you could pick an aspect of sports to be Catfished by? Here’s our short list of the things in sports that we’d most want to be hoaxes:

- Skip Bayless, obviously

- Cleatus

- The “Discount Double-Check” commercials

- Lockouts

- Sports shows where two guys bicker at one another for an hour

- The New York Yankees (seems too good to be true, right?)

- Skip Bayless

- People who make signs spelling out a network name and bring them to a sporting event just to get on TV

- Dana White

- Rampant anti-monster truck bias in sports media

- Concussions

- Cancellation of BattleBots (still hoping!)

- Jon Gruden rumors

- Raiders fans

- Bob Costas’ Weekly Moment O’ Gravitas

- $8 for a stadium hot dog? Really?

- Skip Bayless

- The Chicago Cubs, because no one deserves that pain

- The Napa Know-How Man

- The Designated Hitter

- Bill Plaschke

- The guy in the nosebleed seats who thinks the players can hear his lone heckling voice

- Alabama (the state)

- Greg Oden’s injuries

- The Jacksonvile Jaguars, 2002-2012

More in The List

NBA
Anthony Davis to the Lakers is a heck of a start to the summer, but it’s only the startAnthony Davis to the Lakers is a heck of a start to the summer, but it’s only the start
NBA

There’s a LOT still left to be resolved after this blockbuster for both the teams involved and the rest of the NBA.

By Paul Flannery
The List
Dwyane Wade is always a step aheadDwyane Wade is always a step ahead
The List

The Miami Heat legend engineered the ultimate end to his storied career: retirement on his terms.

By Paul Flannery
The List
The 2019 NBA MVP debate is impossible to resolveThe 2019 NBA MVP debate is impossible to resolve
The List

Who deserves to win MVP this season: Giannis, or Harden? It depends on your criteria.

By Paul Flannery
The List
How the Warriors COULD be vulnerable, even if they actually aren’tHow the Warriors COULD be vulnerable, even if they actually aren’t
The List

We’re not worried about Golden State’s midseason malaise ... unless these nagging issues somehow don’t get solved.

By Paul Flannery
NBA
Maybe the Celtics were never as good as we thoughtMaybe the Celtics were never as good as we thought
NBA

The longer the East’s preseason favorite stumbles through listless stretches in the regular season, the more this becomes a painful reality.

By Paul Flannery
The List
The Raptors are the NBA’s mystery contenderThe Raptors are the NBA’s mystery contender
The List

The record says everything is going according to plan in Toronto, but we still have no idea how good this team really is.

By Paul Flannery