Column Archive

China's Brutal Olympic Echo

China’s brutal crackdown in Tibet has revealed that Western leaders are more interested in covering for China than standing for human rights. It also reveals that pre-Olympic repression is as much of a tradition as the lighting of the torch.

Brett Favre: The Restricted Archetype

Brett Favre had an undeniably brilliant career. But his flaws have been airbrushed out of existence, his every flaw a beauty mark. They are flaws that could only be ignored on a Caucasian quarterback.

Why the Wire

Yes, this is a blog about the collision of sports and politics. But sometimes the world stops, as it did last night when the finest television program in human history went off the air.

The Senator from Comcast?: Arlen Specter and SpyGate

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) is taking the NFL to task for the scandal known as SpyGate. But there may be more to Specter's motives than have been revealed. Some of his top contributors have more than a passing interest in seeing the NFL knocked down a notch.

Can't Knock the Hassle: Chavez Challenges Baseball

When Hugo Chávez struck out in his December referendum aimed at overhauling the Venezuelan political system, a small group of overfed men raised their glasses in triumph: the assorted owners of Major League Baseball.

When Paint is Not Enough: NBA All Star Weekend Comes to New Orleans

Last weekend the NBA All-Star Game came to New Orleans, and both players as well as the league attempted to leave something positive behind. But the problems in NOLA far transcend what David Stern and the NBA brought to the table.

Amongst the Slime: Rocket Roger Comes to Congress

Before we discuss any part of the Roger Clemens steroid kabuki theater, let's concede that there are only about 1,500 ways we can think of where the Government Oversight Committee's time could be better spent. This is Government Oversight, remember. That means they could be sending subpoenas to find out why  Bush and Friends are so keen on bugging our phones, or drilling in Alaska, or underfunding the VA. Hell, they could be holding hearings on how Bush got that black eye reaching for a pretzel a few years back. Anything, but this.

Soccer Star Stands for Gaza

Egyptian soccer star Mohamed Aboutreika is a player who believes that you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything . It’s probably true that most readers don’t know Mohamed Aboutreika from Muhammad Ali, but the two men share far more than a name. After scoring in the Egyptian national side’s 3-0 victory over Sudan in the African Nations Cup, the player known as the Smiling Assassin lifted his jersey to reveal a T-shirt that read, “Sympathize with Gaza.”

We Might Be Giants

Super Bowl XLII was supposed to be a coronation of the 18-0 New England Patriots. From the hype of the pre-game show, you'd get the impression the Patriots weren't even facing a carbon- based opponent: they were playing history. The New York Giants were given no chance. Yet after a last-ditch touchdown drive by quarterback Eli Manning, and a stunning thirty-two-yard catch by Giants receiver David Tyree--who used his helmet as a hand--we got an ending no screenwriter would have the sand to write. The Giants win is the sports equivalent of standing in front of a tank and willing it to stop

The Super Bowl: Who Stole the Soul?

Before it is anything else, before it’s even a football game, the Super Bowl is first and foremost a two week entertainment festival for the rich and shameless: a corporate Woodstock with suits and sports cars subbing for ponchos and patchouli. Less free love and drugs, more hookers and scotch.