Column Archive

Bud Selig: The Choice is Yours

In the wake of the passage of Arizona's anti-immigrant Senate Bill 1070, Major League Baseball has been under an increasingly hot spotlight.  Why baseball? And what will Selig do about it?

A New Era: Here Come The Suns

The Phoenix Suns as a team have come out against Arizona's SB 1070 law. This kind of political intervention by a sports team is without precedent and now every athlete and every team has an opening to stand up and be heard.

Under Pressure: Arizona D-backs Owner Comes Out Softly Against Anti-immigrant Bill

A month ago, very few baseball fans could have identified the name Ken Kendrick……

“This is Racist Stuff”: Baseball Players/Union Speak Out Against Arizona Law

In the days following the passage of the racist Arizona anti-immigrant bill, SB 1070, Major League Baseball's Latino players were conspicuous in their silence. That is starting to change.

To Catch a Fire: Diamondback Protests Take Off

The Arizona Diamondbacks have become the  the SB 1070 Traveling Roadshow and the idea of protesting them wherever they play is catching fire. America's past time, as one protestor said in Chicago, is getting a wake-up call.

Chicago Cubs Smack Down Immigrant Rights Message

When immigrant rights activists tried to spread the message to the Cubs scoreboard, they were told that their money was no good in Wrigleyville.

No One is Illegal: Boycott the Arizona Diamondbacks

This will be the last column I write about the Arizona Diamondbacks in the foreseeable future. For me, they do not exist. They will continue to not exist in my mind as long as the horribly named “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act” remains law in Arizona. It's a law that has brought echoes of apartheid to the state.

Burying Juan Antonio Samaranch

They say the famous among us die in threes. That certainly is what happened this past week. The grand matriarch of the civil rights movement, Dorothy Height passed away at age 98. Guru, the hip-hop artist of Gang Starr and Jazzmatazz fame succumbed at 43 to cancer. Then we heard about the passing of former International Olympic Committee chief, Juan Antonio Samaranch at the age of 89. Apologies to the Guru and Dorothy Height. Your traveling companion to the afterlife will be less than pleasant. But at least you should end up at different destinations.

Ben Roethlisberger: No Justice, No Play?

Ben Roethlisberger should be thanking the heavens that he possesses the unique skill to throw a football sixty yards. If he was Ben the 28 year old mill worker accused of raping a 20 year old student in the bathroom of a college town bar, he’d be in prison awaiting trial.

A Stadium Grows in Durban

I have been to many a playing field in my day, and never have I seen a sports arena as breathtaking as Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa. After taking a private tour of the $457 million marvel, I left utterly stunned, for both better and worse.