Column Archive

Lebron James: The Uncool

There is already a big loser in tonight's Lebron James-ESPN-free agent-jamboree. It's Lebron James. No matter his choice at the end of tonight’s primetime special, he will have a diminished brand, a wounded stature, and a set of expectations there is little indication he can manage.

The Dramatic Drop in Women's Sports Coverage: An Interview with Mike Messner

Michael Messner is a professor of sociology and gender studies at the University of Southern California (USC) and is the co-author  of a new report called, Gender in Televised Sports: News and Highlight Shows, 1989-2009. The results will pin your ears back.

Into the Vacuum: Tony La Russa Loves Arizona’s SB 1070

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has chosen to publicly back Arizona’s odious, anti-constitutional, anti-immigrant Senate Bill 1070. He also backs the idea of people coming to the park with protest signs to express how they feel. We should take him up on that...

The Beautiful Game, A Beautiful Cause: Why I Root for Argentina

There is simply no sporting event on earth more entangled in politics than this brilliantly bombastic tournament. Anytime you have half the earth tuned in - as colonies play their former colonizers and dictatorships challenge democracies - politics follow like rainbows after rain. As long as politics are part of the mix, we might as well support a team that in addition to epitomizing the beautiful game stands with a beautiful cause. Viva Argentina!

Putting Tears Aside: Celebrating Ghana's Victory

In the aftermath of the US's 2-1 loss to Ghana, a nation the size of Oregon, no fan in the US should be grumpy as well. Yes, it was a bitter, tough defeat. Yes, Landon Donovan spoke for many when he said to ESPN afterward, “It sucks man…. Soccer is a cruel game.”  But it's not a day to cry in our beer. It's a day to appreciate the electric excitement of Ghana's victory and look back fondly the terrific run by the US team.

After Donovan's Goal: Joy or Jingoism

The remarkably thrilling goal by Landon Donovan was tempered for this soccer fan by some truly ugly commentary.

The Eagleton has Landed: A Response on Sports and Society

Terry Eagleton has been one of the great minds of the European left seemingly since Cromwell. But in his recent piece on Comment is free, Football: A Dear Friend to Capitalism, his absence of understanding on the relationship between sport and modern society demands a response.

Glenn Beck's Blues: Why the Far Right Hates Soccer

Every World Cup, it arrives like clockwork. As sure as the ultimate soccer spectacle brings guaranteed adrenaline and agony to fans across the United States, it also drives the right-wing noise machine utterly insane.

“At least under Apartheid…..” South Africa on the Eve of the World Cup

Finally, after 80 years, the World Cup has come to Africa. We should take a moment to celebrate that this most global of sports has finally made its way to the African continent, nesting in the bucolic country of South Africa. But really we should take only a moment.

THE WORST CALL EVER…Reconsidered

I was furious at umpire Jim Joyce for robbing Armando Galarraga from a perfect game. But the reactions of the players involved have compelled everyone toward compassion.