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Bobby Valentine's Last Stint as Manager

In perhaps the most bizarre baseball managerial hiring since Ted Turner employed himself, the Boston Red Sox tapped Bobby Valentine to be their manager for the 2012 season. But Valentine's last stint as a "manager" should give everyone in Quinzee pause.

Syracuse, Penn State and the Problem with Sun Kings

Last week, Syracuse University men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim walked onto his home court at the Carrier Dome and received a rousing standing ovation. This wasn’t because he was starting his thirty-fifth season as the team’s head coach, or to commemorate the Hall of Famer’s forty-ninth year in association with the school as student, athlete and coach. It was a community-wide show of support for their embattled leader now facing pressure to resign after his longtime assistant coach was accused of being a pedophile. If that sounds like a horrible echo of the happenings at Penn State University, the similarities don’t end there. Not by a long shot.

NBA Lockout Ends and Players Get Played

I’m an NBA junkie and I’m thrilled to be watching ball sooner rather than later. But with every game of this warped, bastardized 66 game season, I’ll remember that we had a lockout where the rich got richer, the players got played and the fans didn't get a damn thing.

Two Scandals, One Connection: The FBI link between Penn State and UC Davis

Two shocking scandals. Two esteemed universities. Two disgraced university leaders. One stunning connection.

Tebow Redeemed?

“You are what your record says your are.” It’s a classic lunchpail NFL phrase, courtesy of retired coach Bill Parcells. It means forget how good you or your team think you are. Forget your stats. Forget all the ways you came up just short. The end results define the entire journey. It’s the amoral slogan of the sports world’s soul. It allows us to cheer for unsavory individuals and root for teams that vacuum our wallets clean. You are what your record says you are, and winning excuses all. But this consecrated commandment of sports is being challenged like never before. If you are what your record says you are, what does that possibly tell us about the man with the top jersey sales in the NFL, Tim Tebow?

NBA Players: Welcome to the 99 Percent

If I were an NBA player, I’d be mighty confused right now. I wouldn’t be confused about why the entire 2011–12 season is now in jeopardy. I wouldn’t be confused about rejecting the ultimatums and “last, final offers” of NBA Commissioner David Stern. Instead, I’d be confused as hell by the media’s reaction to my union’s collective and unanimous stand.

The World Joe Paterno Made

This is the world Joe Pa made. It’s a world where libraries, buildings, and statues bear his name. It’s a world where the school endowment now stands at over $1 billion dollars. It’s a company town where moral posturing acted as a substitute for actual morality. In such an atmosphere, seeing the players and fans gather to bow their heads and mourn Saturday wasn’t “touching” or “somber” or anything of the sort. It was just sad. It was sad because they still don’t get it.

"Smokin'" Joe Frazier: The Death of the Disrespected

This shouldn't have been Joe Frazier's fate: the convenient hero of everyone who wanted to see Ali punished for his politics. This shouldn't have been Joe Frazier's fate: internalizing and nursing every barb from "Gaseous Cassius" instead of letting it roll off his back. This shouldn't have been Joe Frazier's fate: rejected by the same establishment so quick to embrace him when it suited their needs.

Penn State and Berkeley: A Tale of Two Protests

Last night, two proud universities saw student demonstrations that spiraled into violence. On the campus of Penn State University in State College Pennsylvania, several hundred students rioted in anger after the firing of legendary 84-year-old head football coach Joe Paterno. At the University of California at Berkeley, 1,000 students, part of the Occupy USA movement, attempted to maintain their protest encampment in the face of police orders to clear them out.

Joe Paterno and the Sick Logic of College Football

After 46 seasons coaching at Penn State University, Coach Joe Paterno now faces a crisis that could burn the storied football program to the ground. And if recent charges are true, his legacy deserves to burn to along with it. But this transcends Penn State. It's about the very culture of billion-dollar amateur football.