Why The American Dream Is Still Alive In Sports
Political innocent I may be, but I find great irony in that, while everybody agrees there is massive inequality in the United States today, it's in sports where the American dream still lives — more...
View ArticleNo Rest For Ye Merry NBA Players This Christmas
Holidays have long been made for sports. Football has all but replaced the turkey as the signature of Thanksgiving. For decades, Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day meant stadiums filled for...
View ArticleWomen's Team Sports: Where Is The Love?
Two recent sporting disappointments underscore the state of interest in women in sports. The first: Lindsey Vonn, sadly acknowledging that her injuries were too serious, announced that she would not be...
View ArticleIn Ice Skating's Biggest Story, The Media Were Poor Sports
It's difficult to understand why certain athletes are harshly singled out by the media, but one of the most baffling examples has to be the criticism displayed toward figure skater Nancy Kerrigan after...
View ArticleAn Olympic Shame: Vladimir Putin Plays Host To Winter Games
You know those commercials for prescription medicines on television when they devote the first 15 seconds to the benefits of the drug and then take the next 45 telling you all the bad things that could...
View ArticleThere's A Reason They Call It Madness
More than any other nation, America is awash in teams. There are the pro teams, the college team, the high school team, the fantasy teams.Well, at a certain point, something has to give — and...
View ArticleTime To Root, Root, Root For Final Innings
Sometimes the most disparate of people end up as pairs. As baseball begins, here's your 2014 All-Star Odd Couple: Bud Selig and Derek Jeter.
View ArticleBad Behavior From A Sports Franchise Owner? That's Not New
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has been banned for life from the NBA after he made racist comments.Sports bans aren't new.In 1990, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was banned from...
View ArticleThe Olympics: A Modern Day World's Fair (And Money Magnet)
Because it's the 50th anniversary, there's been a wave of nostalgia for the last New York World's Fair. It made me wonder: Whatever happened to World's Fairs?Well, it turns out that they still exist....
View ArticleDon't Judge Exceptional Players By The Company They Keep
Ty Cobb, miserable human being that he was, is still considered the greatest American athlete of his era. But did you know the Georgia Peach never played on a championship team? Still, when the first...
View ArticleDon't Overlook The Unsung Umpire; Referees Can Be Pretty, Too
Not so long ago, while enjoying a libation in a decorous saloon, the proprietor — who happened to hail from the fabled Windy City — suddenly jarred the genteel assembled by turning on the Cubs game....
View ArticleWill A Triple Crown Win Save Horse Racing? Don't Bet On It
At the start of a movie these days, how often do you read: "Based on a true story?" But if a movie was made about California Chrome, whether or not the horse wins the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, it...
View ArticleDeford: How To Host A Sports Extravaganza That Won't Break The Bank
You know, it is the 21st century, and it is possible to acknowledge that and make both the World Cup and the Olympics more affordable. The current waste and opulence simply aren't defensible...
View ArticleDeford: NCAA Says Amateurism Is Alive And Well, But The Jig Is Up
Amateurism is dead, revealed so in the trial against the NCAA now in progress in Oakland, Calif., U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken presiding.
View ArticleGolf May Be Too Polite A Sport For Presidential Politics
There's been much criticism of the president lately, even within his own party, that he's too detached and withdrawn, not combative enough anymore. This can be explained completely with a sports...
View ArticleNonprofit NFL Seeks Super Bowl Volunteers, Again
That familiar old preface we so often hear — usually from long-winded people — is: "To make a long story short." I've noticed lately that that expression has become more common, but, to make a long...
View ArticleAmericana: Hot Dogs, Apple Pie And Football?
Every election suggests change, so given all the scandals involving football, now's an appropriate time to envision what reforms might be forced upon the sport. Well, I'll tell you: It's tough to mess...
View ArticleOutside Of The Games, Are Sports Corrupt?
We so regularly excuse the chicanery of sport. We fans suspect that our team is just as guilty as whatever ooze bubbles to the surface elsewhere, so let it go lest we be the next one caught. For us...
View ArticleBe Thankful This Year For The San Antonio Spurs
Has there ever been a team in any sport in the United States that everybody loves as much as the San Antonio Spurs? Sure, there have been popular teams — the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Cowboys when they...
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