Column Archive

They Call Him Mr. Brown: Edge of Sports Interview with the Inimitable Jim Brown.

If there were a Mount Rushmore for political athletes, who would be carved into the great monument? For my money, it would include Muhammad Ali. It would also have to include Billie Jean King and Arthur Ashe. And the fourth face would belong to Hall-of-Fame football legend and activist Jim Brown. Brown, who retired from the NFL in 1965 as the all-time leading rusher in league history. His running style would punish opposing defensive players and is still a staple of NFL films. Brown has also been called the greatest lacrosse player of all time, earning multiple honors at Syracuse University. Brown retired from football in his prime, one of the few in history to walk, not limp, away from the sport. He appeared in movies like The Dirty Dozen. But Brown has long transcended the spotlight of sports and entertainment. He has devoted the first part of his political life to economic empowerment in the black community. But it's been over the past twenty-five years that Brown has waded deep into one of the most intractable issues of our time: gang intervention. In this Nation exclusive, we speak to Mr. Jim Brown about gangs, the execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams and just about everything short of football.

Merritt-ocracy: The Paulson Sporting Doctrine

Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson has informed the people of the US that they need to bail out the banks. Now his son, Merritt, wants the people of Portland to pick up the tab for his sports franchises. Like father, like son.

Palin Drops The Puck

"America's number 1 hockey mom" showed up to kick off the NHL season in front of the Philadelphia Flyers at - of all places - the Wachovia Center. She was then greeted in a manner fitting the class, demeanor, and high-mindedness, of a political campaign run in the gutter.

Sarah Palin

Gov, Sarah Palin sure loves her sports. She also uses sports as a mask for an ideology that makes Ghengis Khan look like Dr. King.

Vince Young and the NFL's Depression Denial

There is so much that’s tragic about the situation of Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young. But the NFL’s approach to mental health issues holds the potential to make a bad problem worse.

Leave Josh Alone

There has been all kinds of hand-wringing, hypocrisy, and horror over Josh Howard’s cell phone camera confession that he is not a fan of the National Anthem. But when it comes to taking shots at Howard, you better believe that you can count me out.

The Passing of the Bear

First Gene Upshaw, now Don Haskins. Another giant of the sports/politics collision has passed. Haskins led the first All African American starting five to the NCAA championship in 1966… and won 718 other games on the journey.

Why We Need A People's History of Sports

There are those who insist that sports and politics dont belong in the same sentence, the same zip code, or the same universe. Here is the book to prove it all wrong.

Gustav and the Dome

I know the media says that New Orleans "dodged a bullet" but there is a great deal of work to be done – not just to rebuild but to get people back home.

The 2008 Olympics: Subterranean Rot

There were brilliant performances aplenty at the highly rated 2008 Olympic games in Beijing. But beneath the beauty festered a host of questions the mainstream media chose not to ask.