Column Archive

History as Handi-Wipe: Rush Limbaugh is Not Muhammad Ali

Tuesday morning on National Public Radio, Rush Limbaugh's biographer Zev Chafets equated the object of his affection to boxing's own Muhammad Ali. This is not a joke.

Memo to Bud Selig: Move the Damn Game

A steady thrum is increasing in volume outside Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig's door to move the 2011 All Star Game out of Phoenix. Recent laws passed in Arizona—from banning ethnic studies in the Tucson public schools to mandating that the police demand the papers of “suspicious” immigrants—have mobilized people to take the Boycott Arizona campaign to Selig's door.

Crooklyn: New Jersey Nets Sold to Russian Billionaire

With a bank account estimated at in excess of $13 billion, there is little Mikhail Prokhorov wants that he cannot have. But the ease with which Russia’s richest man bought the NBA’s New Jersey Nets speaks volumes about the ailing financial state of the league and the future of Brooklyn

"We're trying to get a deal done" Interview with NFLPA President DeMaurice Smith

When DeMaurice Smith was elected president of the NFLPA in March 2009, there was a pronounced surprise that the replacement for the late Gene Upshaw wasn't an ex-player but a former U.S. attorney. Now a little more than a year into his tenure, Smith is preparing for a lockout when the CBA expires after next season. We caught up with Smith in Washington, D.C where he was a guest on Edge of Sports radio.

Boycott Phil Jackson: Why Lakers Fans should Root for Los Suns

Lakers Coach Phil Jackson's views on Arizona's Senate Bill 1070 make his team's upcoming series against Los Suns, a battle between fear and resistance.

That's Bill Russell

At a cocktail party before the festivities, I approached Russell with more than a little trepidation. Most of us in sports media have had the experience of meeting one of our heroes and wishing we'd saved ourselves the trouble. There's a part of us that doesn't think our idols have the right to be cranky, grumpy, silly, stinky - in other words human. Sometimes the fantasy is best left untouched. That wasn't the case with Bill Russell.

New Reason to Protest the Arizona Diamondbacks: House Bill 2281

Significant protests are planned this weekend at baseball stadiums in Atlanta and Miami against the Arizona Diamondbacks because team owner Ken Kendrick bankrolls politicians that support the anti-immigrant SB 1070.

“This is Beyond Sports” Chuck D on the fight in Arizona

Chuck D. The Hard Rhymer. The man on the mic for the most politically explosive hip-hop group in history, Public Enemy. With albums like “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” “Fear of a Black Planet,” and anthems like “Fight the Power” and “Bring the Noise” along with the breathtaking production of the Bomb Squad, PE created a standard of politics and art. Perhaps their most controversial track was “By the Time I Get to Arizona” (1991) about seeking revenge against Arizona political officials for refusing to recognize Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday [Lyrics include 'Cause my money's spent on The goddamn rent/Neither party is mine not the Jackass or the elephant.] Today, in the wake of Arizona’s draconian anti-immigration Senate Bill 1070, “By the Time I Get to Arizona” has been remixed and revived by DJ Spooky. Chuck D also recorded his own track several months before the bill was passed called “Tear Down That Wall.”  I spoke to Chuck about the music and the nexus between immigration politics and sports.

The Ugly Truth: How Diamondbacks Owner Ken Kendrick Continues to Support SB 1070

On May 20th Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick is holding a private fundraiser inside his owners box at Chase Field for SB 1070 supporter State Senator Jonathan Paton. While Kendrick publicly distances himself from the bill, he is using the team's stadium as a fund raising center for SB 1070 supporting politicians. Until this practice ends, the team should be boycotted and protested at every turn.

Los Suns Also Rise: Phoenix Suns Win in More Ways Than One

Anyone who believes that sports can’t be an effective platform for social justice needed only to watch last night’s game between Los Suns of Phoenix and the San Antonio Spurs. The unprecedented decision by the entire Suns organization - from owner Robert Sarver to star players Amare Stoudamire and Steve Nash - to come out against Arizona’s anti-immigrant Senate Bill 1070, created a sports broadcast like no other in my lifetime.