Column Archive

All-American Michael Sam Comes Out and the NFL Is On the Clock

In our light-speed sports media environment we were all given roughly one hour. We had one hour to feel both exhilarated and optimistic about the future of Michael Sam. Then NFL executives started talking.

It Begins: 4 LGBT Activists Arrested in Russia for Quoting the Olympic Charter

The message has been sent loudly and clearly from Putin’s Russia: first rule of the Olympics, don’t talk about the Olympics. At least, don’t talk about what the Olympics, theoretically, are supposed to mean. 

Ten Points about College Hoops All-American Marcus Smart Pushing A "Fan"

Moments like this are exactly why the Northwestern football players felt compelled to form a union. So-called “student-athletes” have no power. They have no grievance procedure. Right now, as we speak, Marcus Smart is being told that the best thing for him, his family and his future NBA draft status, would be to just apologize and take whatever slap-on-the-wrist the Big 12 or the NCAA hands down. The most upsetting part, given the economics at play, is that this is probably good advice.

Democracy Now Appearances

Check out Dave Zirin on Democracy Now speaking about the Olympic Games from the standpoint of a former Olympic luger as well as the protests surrounding the start of the Sochi Winter Olympics that begin this week.

The 2014 Sochi Olympics: Something For Everyone!

You have to hand it to Vladimir Putin. We would not be able to raise these myriad issues without Putin’s determination to use the Olympics to “remake a region” on the backs of Russia’s most vulnerable, no matter the cost in blood or treasure. He is everything the International Olympic Committee has ever wanted in a world leader. So the next time someone knocks Putin and the Olympics, just remember: they have united people across the world… in collective disgust.

Not a Broncos Fan? Then This Super Bowl, Root for Russell Wilson

If you are a fan of the Denver Broncos more power to you. If you’re down with the Legion of Boom and the Seattle Seahawks, then put on your silver and blue, play some Macklemore—or Blue Scholars—and have a great Sunday. But let’s just say you happen to be somebody who has no rooting interest in the Super Bowl or, even better, are not a football fan but will find yourself at a Super Bowl party and want something to do other than rank the best commercials. Here is one reason to go all-in and root for the Seattle Seahawks. No, my one reason has nothing to do with Richard Sherman, although I bet his victory speech would be one for the ages. The reason to root for Seattle can be found behind center. And his name is Russell Wilson.

Richard Sherman, Racial Coding and Bombastic Brainiacs

Richard Sherman is the embodiment of what sports writing legend Robert Lipsyte once said to me was his true initial attraction to Muhammad Ali. “He made my job so incredibly easy. I just had to write down what he said and the copy was gold.” In fact Sherman has pointed to Ali as an inspiration, saying, “[Ali] understood how to manipulate the world. When he said, ‘The champ is here,’ he probably wasn’t that cocky. He created a persona. He was a leader, an entertainer, and he knew how to break people down in the ring. I didn’t really care about boxing, but I wanted to be like Ali.”

Richard Sherman’s Latest and his Refusal to Be a Brand

Richard Sherman said something that has needed to be said since Jack Johnson commented that he would be Jim Jeffries’s “master” a mere forty years after the end of slavery. It has needed to be said since Muhammad Ali said, “I don’t have to be what you want me to be.” Using the platform to tell harsh truths is not a recipe for being a Madison Avenue “brand.” It is a recipe for actually doing something that moves society forward.

Israel, Palestine, Pinochet… and a Soccer Jersey?

A new sports uniform has been accused of “fomenting terrorism” as well as inspiring “violence and hatred” and no, it’s not the Knicks’ hateful new bright orange duds. The accused team is a Chilean soccer club called Palestino ( Club Deportivo Palestino) and their offense was incorporating an image of historic Palestine on their jerseys.

More Shame for 60 Minutes: First Benghazi, Then the NSA, Now Alex Rodriguez

It is difficult to think of a brand that has bled out more credibility over the last six months than 60 Minutes. On Sunday night, they took a break from falsely feeding the Benghazi fever-swamps or doing infomercials for the NSA to puff-up the institutional power of Major League Baseball.