Column Archive

Let Caster Run!

Caster Semenya showed up to race in Stellenbosch, South Africa, this week and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) wouldn't let her run. Before we get into the specifics, let's take a moment to appreciate the courage involved in her simple desire to compete. Imagine walking in the woods during hunting season dressed as a deer. Now you can understand what Caster Semenya has chosen to risk. She was inviting fire. The 19-year-old world record-holding runner arrived at Stellenbosch to announce her return to competitive running even though she was on suicide watch last fall. Even though she was the subject of heartless attacks. Even though she was a bull's-eye for every bigot in and out of the sports world.

Brittney Griner: Your March Madness MVP

A 6’ 8” freshman is changing the way we understand hoops in the NCAA tournament and you’d never know it. Maybe it’s because she's not a fresh-MAN at all.

The Gilbert Arenas Judgment: "Privilege" Personified?

When Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas escaped jail time, many started to howl at the moon. They should save their outrage.

Arne Duncan and the Madness of March

What to do about men’s college basketball teams that don't graduate their players? Educations Secretary Arne Duncan says "ban them from the tournament! Maryland coach Gary Williams says, "As long as they make the pros, who cares?" They're both off their respective rockers.

Root for Ed O'Bannon to upset the NCAA

There is nothing quite like March Madness - not for the sports fan's pulse, and not for the NCAA's financial ledger. Of course, the so-called amateur players - without whose labor not one dime would be raised - don't see a penny above and beyond the scholarships they may be getting to attend school. Until now.

Reclaiming a Legacy: The Death of Fatima Meer and the World Cup

When I attended the funeral services of a legend of the South African anti-apartheid struggle, I learned that the most political issue in the country is memory.

The South Africa World Cup: Invictus in Reverse

On a normal week here in South Africa, it's the dispossessed and the self-possessed fighting for elbow room. But the 2010 World Cup, which starts in 90 days, has taken these contrasts and propelled them into conflict.

How Sports Attacks Public Education

On Thursday, I was proud to take part in a student walkout at the University of Maryland in defense of public education. It was just one link in a National Day of Action that saw protests in more than 32 states across the country. I am not a student, and haven't been since those innocent days when Monica Lewinsky mattered, but I was asked to come speak at a post walkout teach-in about the way sports is used to attack public education. It might sound like a bizarre topic, but it's the world that students see every day.

Note to ESPN’s Bill Simmons: Tiger Woods is not Muhammad Ali

Can ESPN please declare a company-wide moratorium on comparing current athletes to Muhammad Ali? I thought it was unfortunate when columnist Jemele Hill wrote that anti-choice icon Tim Tebow was "as courageous" as Ali. But that comparison is inspired compared to recent comments by "ESPN's The Sports Guy" Bill Simmons.

Sportsmanship: The Great Olympic Fraud

For athletes, the costs of training for the Olympics means that losing are not an option. As a result, we have petulance. We have spectacle. And we have death. We also have something that is no longer the Olympics but reality television, where as many titillations take place off the field of play as on.