Full Archive

Why We Need A People's History of Sports
Why We Need A People's History of Sports

September 8, 2008
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
Gustav and the Dome

September 2, 2008
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
The 2008 Olympics: Subterranean Rot

August 25, 2008
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
Remembering Gene Upshaw

August 24, 2008
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

August 15, 2008
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
Bush, basketball, and Bombast in Beijing

August 12, 2008
Here are the last three entries of the Nation Olympics blog.

China's Olympic Trials
China's Olympic Trials

August 4, 2008
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
Why He Fears the Fist: A Response to Jonah Goldberg

August 1, 2008
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
Kermit Washington's Remarkable Redemption

July 30, 2008
Former National Basketball Association player Kermit Washington has never asked for redemption. He’s lived it. And saving millions of lives in the process.

Spying on a Sportswriter
Spying on a Sportswriter

July 23, 2008
My work organizing against the death penalty earned me some unwelcome – and unconstitutional – attention from the authorities. This is an outrage that affects each and every one of us. They picked on the wrong sportswriter and on the wrong group of activists.