Column Archive

The Irresistible Realness of Dusty Rhodes

Tributes are pouring in for the late Virgil Runnels Jr. the influential pro wrestling impresario who passed away on Thursday at the age of 69. This is not a tribute to Mr. Runnels. This is a tribute to his alter ego, the man who “dined with Kings and Queens and slept in alleys eating Pork ’n’ Beans” otherwise known as “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes.

Two Roads: The Politics of David Blatt and the Passion of Steve Kerr’s Father

The 2015 NBA Finals coaches, Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors and David Blatt of the Cleveland Cavaliers, have both reached this summit in their first year on the job, but that’s not all they share. The two rookies are also bonded by histories intimately tied to the conflicts that plague the Middle East. In an NBA Finals where children at press conferences have generated endless hot takes, this history has been discussed, if at all, in a remarkably shallow fashion.

The People of Oakland Need to Occupy Their Sports Teams

I had the thrill to spend this past weekend in Oakland, and the the sheer wide-eyed joy over the long-awaited arrival of the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals was everywhere. T-shirts, buttons, baseball caps, even flashing messages on the city buses: It was a “Dubs Nation” festival of awesomeness

Sepp Blatter’s Shocking End

In news that knocked the sports world over with a feather, the 79-year-old FIFA boss Sepp Blatter resigned Tuesday at an impromptu Zurich press conference. Just three days afterwinning re-election for the fifth time amidst unprecedented scandal, Blatter’s 17-year reign has come to an end. He took no questions and gave no concrete reasons for his departure, making speculation the order of the day. But pompous, bizarre, and off-key to the last breath, Blatter lectured the world that he “will organize an extraordinary congress for a replacement for me as president…. I am now free from the constraints of an election. I will be in a position to focus on profound reforms. For many years we have called for reforms. But these are not sufficient.”

Sepp Blatter Re-Elected Just In Time for the Women’s World Cup

Next week is supposed to be the launch of one of the crown jewels of international soccer, the 2015 Women’s World Cup. Instead, this adrenalizing tournament is threatened with being overshadowed by the unraveling ugliness of the international soccer body FIFA under the warped, now reelected leadership of Sepp Blatter. As Blatter starts his fifth term caked in scandal, with promises of "more bad news to come," the World Cup will fight for attention and space, their obstacle the monstrous ego of one man. It is a fitting metaphor for how Blatter has treated women's soccer since he took power in 1998.

Montreal: Adopted Home of Jackie Robinson, John Carlos, and Now Michael Sam

When it was announced that free agent linebacker Michael Sam was signing with the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes, many people’s thoughts turned to Jackie Robinson. Robinson famously spent a year playing for the minor league Montreal Royals before making his way to the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was believed by Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey, quite simply, that Montreal was less bigoted than the United States. Jackie Robinson would have the experience of playing without the weight of a dominant culture casually putting his humanity on trial with every at-bat. But I didn’t think right away of Robinson upon hearing news of Sam.

Will the FIFA Raids Scuttle the Vote to Suspend Israeli Soccer?

As the 2015 FIFA Congress remains roiled in disarray following the dramatic arrests of leading officials on corruption charges, the Palestinian Football Association is not deterred. They are still moving forward with a Friday vote to suspend the Israeli Football Association unless they pledge to push their government to cease the detentions, imprisonments, and targeting of Palestinian players and clubs (here is a comprehensive list of their concerns). As PFA president Jibril Rajoub said, “Nothing has changed, the vote is still on the agenda.”

An NBA Player Is Missing the Playoffs Because the NYPD Broke His Leg—Why the Sports-Media Silence?

The NBA Finals may be determined by an act of police violence. This is an incendiary fact, yet a curious media silence surrounds the saga of injured Atlanta Hawks guard Thabo Sefolosha. The nine-year pro has been absent from the playoffs after a group of New York Police Department officers broke his leg in April following a late-night confrontation outside a Chelsea nightclub. The police accounts about what took place conflict dramatically, with video that emerged of a group of officers surrounding Sefolosha, with one brandishing a nightstick.

Having a Wedding? A Sweet 16? Consider One of Brazil’s World Cup Stadiums!

In Brazil, a debate raged throughout 2013 about whether two plus two equals four, or if in fact the correct answer was five. Those arguing that two and two was four were the millions of workers, students, academics, and citizens who said that spending billions on building new stadiums for the 2014 World Cup was a criminal use of resources. They said that every shred of data we have shows that mega-events require mega-spending, which leads to mega-debt, mega-displacements, and mega-militarization. The other side said that the World Cup would be a glorious affair providing not only international acclaim but an economic tide that would lift all boats.

It’s Not Tom Brady We Should Be Worried About—It’s Roger Goodell

For most of this week I’ve resisted delivering a steaming hot take about this “deflategate” story because I could not force myself to give even the slightest of fucks. It’s been difficult to care about the bereaved and aggrieved Patriots nation of fans who are in full froth over their Super Bowl–winning team being branded as cheaters. I also wasn’t overly concerned with the tarnishing of quarterback Tom Brady’s legacy. If anything, this story only mattered to me insofar as I truly wondered—since the NFL believes that the Patriots swindled their way through the playoffs—why they didn’t have to just give up their precious Lombardi Trophy. After all, forfeiting the championship was the brutal judgment delivered unto the USA Little League ChampionsJackie Robinson West.