Column Archive

What Owners Owe Us

I once had a coach who could spit tobacco hard enough to break a window. He smelled like an old hamper, and only wore pants that came with an elastic waist. Still, every last one of us loved the guy. He always said, "Sports is like a hammer, gents. And you can use a hammer for all kinds of things. You can use it to build a house, or you can use it to bash somebody's head. Choose wisely." In the twenty-first century, the heads of far too many sports fans have been bashed by far too many hammers.

Bad Sports on The Rachel Maddow Show

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The Rachel Maddow Show Appearance

DZ on The Rachel Maddow Show

Protests at the Park: The Precedent and the Promise

All summer, people have been protesting at baseball stadiums against the Arizona Diamonbacks and their state's anti-immigrant laws. These 'protests at the park" are not without precedent and not without the promise of victory.

George Steinbrenner: The Death of 'the Bridge'

George Steinbrenner was both the last... and first of a breed.

All-Star Speak-Out: Baseball Players Pledge to Boycott Arizona All Star Game

Several Major League Baseball All Stars said they would boycott the 2011 All-Star game if it takes place in Arizona. It's time for Major League Commissioner Bud Selig to wake up.

Lebron James vs. Dan Gilbert: Who Really Killed Cleveland?

Today the hate is raining on Lebron James, and make no mistake, on one level, he has earned every raindrop. The self-proclaimed King turned his free agent journey into reality television with all the subtlety of Paris Hilton.

Lebron James: The Uncool

There is already a big loser in tonight's Lebron James-ESPN-free agent-jamboree. It's Lebron James. No matter his choice at the end of tonight’s primetime special, he will have a diminished brand, a wounded stature, and a set of expectations there is little indication he can manage.

The Dramatic Drop in Women's Sports Coverage: An Interview with Mike Messner

Michael Messner is a professor of sociology and gender studies at the University of Southern California (USC) and is the co-author  of a new report called, Gender in Televised Sports: News and Highlight Shows, 1989-2009. The results will pin your ears back.

Into the Vacuum: Tony La Russa Loves Arizona’s SB 1070

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has chosen to publicly back Arizona’s odious, anti-constitutional, anti-immigrant Senate Bill 1070. He also backs the idea of people coming to the park with protest signs to express how they feel. We should take him up on that...