Column Archive

The Importance of Being Visible: Why Protests Should Be a Part of Super Bowl Sunday

This Sunday, the greatest multitude in the history of the United States will be tuning into the same television show at the same time. The 2012 Super Bowl, to be played between two major media markets, the New England Patriots and New York Giants, kicks off at 6:30 pm. This year’s game can also be called, “The East Coast Bias Bowl,” the “ESPN Nocturnal Emission Bowl” or the “Pox on Both Houses Bowl.” Popularity plus polarization will mean epic ratings. It also means a pox of sponsors branding Indianapolis’s Lucas Oil Field within an inch of its life. Given the politics that swamp the Super Bowl, from the corporate branding to the military commercialism to the anti-abortion ads, why should labor be at all sheepish about having a voice on game day?

Debating the Super Bowl Protests: Is CBS Columnist Gregg Doyel really proud to know nothing?

CBS columnist Gregg Doyel hates the thought of Super Bowl protests. But he doesn't know why.

Occupy the Super Bowl: Now more than just a slogan.

The sheer volume of the Super Bowl is overpowering: the corporate branding, the sexist beer ads, the miasma of Madison Avenue produced militarism, the two-hour pre-game show. But people in the Labor and Occupy movements in Indiana are attempting to drown out the din with the help of a human microphone right at the front gates of Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Final Insult: Nike CEO Phil Knight Eulogizes Joe Paterno

Phil Knight, the founder and Chairman of Nike, has emerged following the death of Joe Paterno as the late Penn State coach’s great defender. At a packed, televised memorial service, Knight eulogized Paterno and went on the attack against the media and Board of Trustees, firmly defending Joe Paterno's actions, or inactions, after learning that his assistant coach Jerry Sandusky may have been a child rapist. Joe Paterno desserved better. 

Joe Paterno: The God who fell

Joe Paterno's most fervent supporters always described "JoePa" as more of an educator than a football coach. The Brown University graduate with the English Literature major, it was said, always wanted to make people around him think and learn. Now, following his passing at the age of 85, the all-time winningest coach in Division 1 college football history has given us another puzzle to ponder: when assessing a legacy, how much should one scandal be weighed alongside decades of service? Should a single moral failure, no matter how vast, be enough to actually undo the decades of good works that preceded it? The lives touched? The scholarships funded? The community constructed?

A Super Bowl of Struggle? The NFLPA’s Demaurice Smith on opposing Indiana’s “Right to Work” agenda

The Super Bowl is supposed to bring attention and even glory to its host city. But thanks to an anti-worker, anti-union assault by Indiana’s Governor Mitch Daniels and the Republican controlled legislature, the big game, to be held this year in Indianapolis, is bringing a different kind of attention altogether. The NFL Players Association joined the ranks of unions across the state last week in opposing efforts to make Indiana join the ranks of so-called “Right to Work” states. “Right to Work” laws have also been called “Right to Beg” or “Right to Starve” since they undercut wages, benefits and the most basic workplace protections. Coming off their own labor battle, the NFLPA released a statement where they promised that they would not be silent on these laws during the buildup to the Super Bowl. I interviewed NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith about why they felt it was important to take a stand against this legislation.

Muhammad Ali at 70: What he meant, what he means.

The power to knock down prison walls. This is the power of Ali's legacy and history.

How the Most Lopsided Trade in NBA History Explains the World

The 1998 deal that swapped rookies Robert "Tractor" Traylor and Dirk Nowitzki was more than the most lopsided trade in hoops history. It was a "canary in the coal mine" for the way the game and the world has changed over the last 15 years.

Tim Tebow: Praising the Player. Hating the Game.

Last Friday, I wrote a column stating that Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow deserved our pity. Statistically, over his previous three games, all losses, he had been beyond terrible. I pointed out that on Sunday, he would be facing the league’s number-one defense, a Pittsburgh Steelers squad so mean, to use an old saying, that they’d cry over Tebow’s mangled body just to get salt in his wounds. I thought Tebow and his awkward hand grenade throwing motion was headed for a long, sad offseason. I was dead wrong.

Pity Tim Tebow. Seriously

The same Tim Tebow who led Denver to seven victories in eights games, revived a franchise, made the cover of Sports Illustrated, was mentioned as an MVP candidate, and inspired a nationally televised, hathos-drenched love-poem from NBC’s Bob Costas, is hanging onto his job by his fingernails. And for good reason.