Column Archive

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.

Remembering Gene Upshaw

The passing of Gene Upshaw should remind us that sports unions have had successes over the last 30 years where the rest of the labor movement has suffered.

Women's Gymnastics: The Big Mac of the Beijing Games

Women’s Gymnastics: The Big Mac of the Beijing Games. There is something utterly remarkable about the athleticism and intensity of women’s gymnastics. There is also something repellent and even nauseating. Welcome to women’s gymnastics: the big mac of the Beijing games.

Bush, basketball, and Bombast in Beijing

Here are the last three entries of the Nation Olympics blog.

China's Olympic Trials

The real scene at this year’s Olympics will be off the playing field, where advertisers and China’s government vie for the gold medal in hypocrisy and skullduggery.

Why He Fears the Fist: A Response to Jonah Goldberg

LA Times columnist Jonah Goldberg has called the black-gloved fisted salute of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, an expression of "violent xtremism" and that's just the beginning. It's remarkable how 40 years later, Smith and Carlos still have the capacity to upset all the rightpeople.

Kermit Washington's Remarkable Redemption

Former National Basketball Association player Kermit Washington has never asked for redemption. He’s lived it. And saving millions of lives in the process.