Column Archive

Arne Duncan and the Madness of March

What to do about men’s college basketball teams that don't graduate their players? Educations Secretary Arne Duncan says "ban them from the tournament! Maryland coach Gary Williams says, "As long as they make the pros, who cares?" They're both off their respective rockers.

Root for Ed O'Bannon to upset the NCAA

There is nothing quite like March Madness - not for the sports fan's pulse, and not for the NCAA's financial ledger. Of course, the so-called amateur players - without whose labor not one dime would be raised - don't see a penny above and beyond the scholarships they may be getting to attend school. Until now.

Reclaiming a Legacy: The Death of Fatima Meer and the World Cup

When I attended the funeral services of a legend of the South African anti-apartheid struggle, I learned that the most political issue in the country is memory.

The South Africa World Cup: Invictus in Reverse

On a normal week here in South Africa, it's the dispossessed and the self-possessed fighting for elbow room. But the 2010 World Cup, which starts in 90 days, has taken these contrasts and propelled them into conflict.

How Sports Attacks Public Education

On Thursday, I was proud to take part in a student walkout at the University of Maryland in defense of public education. It was just one link in a National Day of Action that saw protests in more than 32 states across the country. I am not a student, and haven't been since those innocent days when Monica Lewinsky mattered, but I was asked to come speak at a post walkout teach-in about the way sports is used to attack public education. It might sound like a bizarre topic, but it's the world that students see every day.

Note to ESPN’s Bill Simmons: Tiger Woods is not Muhammad Ali

Can ESPN please declare a company-wide moratorium on comparing current athletes to Muhammad Ali? I thought it was unfortunate when columnist Jemele Hill wrote that anti-choice icon Tim Tebow was "as courageous" as Ali. But that comparison is inspired compared to recent comments by "ESPN's The Sports Guy" Bill Simmons.

Sportsmanship: The Great Olympic Fraud

For athletes, the costs of training for the Olympics means that losing are not an option. As a result, we have petulance. We have spectacle. And we have death. We also have something that is no longer the Olympics but reality television, where as many titillations take place off the field of play as on.

Nodar Kumaritashvili: Never Forget

The charter of the International Olympic Committee states that one of the Committee's primary objectives is to "encourage and support the promotion of ethics in sports." The circumstances surrounding the death of Georgian luge slider Nodar Kumaritashvili expose the charter as an absolute lie.

Tiger Woods: When you are brand before man

There are right now two kinds of people on earth: those who would die happy if they never hear the name of Tiger Woods again and those who want their pound of flesh. The people sick of the Tiger Woods drama could care less about his marriage, his personal life, and today’s awkward, script reading. Those who want their pound of flesh, are itching for Tiger to do the stations of the tabloid-cross: Oprah, tears, and "humility."

Fruits of the Backlash: The New All-White Basketball League

Many in the media are already apoplectic about the infamous launch of the All-American Basketball Alliance (AABA). For those untainted by the news, the AABA would be a league exclusively for native-born whites. But despite the moral posturing against this utterly idioticproposal, it has to be noted that the central obsessions and buzz words that define the mission of the AABA -have long been part of the very mainstream, and often very racist, discussions of the NBA.