Column Archive

"Every Story Had a Purpose": an appreciation of the late Lester Rodney

The death of Lester Rodney is the death of a living link to a time when people felt they could change sports and change the world.  How did Lester do it? Common sense.

More than a Sportswriter: Lester “Red” Rodney: 1911-2009

It didn’t make SportsCenter, but one of history’s most influential sportswriters died this week at the age of 98. His name was Lester Rodney. Lester was one of the first people to write about a young Negro League prospect named Jackie Robinson. He was the last living journalist to cover the famous 1938 fight at Yankee Stadium between “The Brown Bomber” Joe Louis and Hitler favorite, Max Schmeling. He crusaded against baseball’s color line when almost every other journalist pretended it didn’t exist. He edited a political sports page that engaged his audience in how to fight for a more just sports world. His writing, which could describe the beauty of a well-turned double play in one sentence and blast injustice in the next, is still bracing and ahead of its time. He should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Instead he was largely erased from the books.

A Different Scandal: Tiger Woods Named Athlete of the Decade

It feels almost liberating to say the words “Tiger Woods” and “outrage” in the same sentence, without referencing any of the sleaze of the past month. This particular outrage involves the Associated Press and their naming of Mr. Woods as “athlete of the decade.”

Tiger Falls from Grace

The Teachable Moment from the Tiger Circus beneath the sleaze: If you front for the worst, don't expect anyone to have your back.

The People Speak: When Television Makes History

On December 13th, a date I’ve basically had tattooed on my arm like the guy from Memento, The People Speak finally makes its debut on the History Channel. This is more than just must-see-TV. It is nothing less than the life's work of "people’s historian” Howard Zinn brought to life by some of the most talented actors, musicians, and poets in the country.

Message to Obama: You Can't Have Muhammad Ali

On November 19th, Obama wrote about why Ali's photo hangs over his desk, praising "The Greatest" for "his unique ability to summon extraordinary strength and courage in the face of adversity, to navigate the storm and never lose his way." On Tuesday, Obama showed neither courage nor strength but the worst kind of imperial arrogance. He asserted America's right to go into a deeply impoverished country that - from Alexander the Great to the USSR to today - has made clear to the world's empires that it wants to be left the hell alone.

Tiger Woods Deserves Your Scrutiny

Today, Tiger Woods, the most famous, wealthy and most PR conscious athlete on earth, finally finds himself subject to scrutiny. But it has more to do with his personal life than issues of substance.

Amy Goodman and Canada's Olympic Paranoia

When it comes to independent, agitational journalism, the standard is Amy Goodman and her radio/television institution, Democracy Now!  Goodman and her staff often find themselves accosted by officials, foreign and domestic. This happened again on Thursday. But it didn't happen in East Timor or Burma. Goodman was detained by our neighbors to the north. And it was all about the Olympics.

The NFL’s Concussion Conundrum

On Sunday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made a startling concession to medical ethics, one resisted by all of his predecessors. What will possibly happen when independent neurologists come to the locker room?

Women Ski Jumpers and the Rule of Law

Here's a sentence I never thought I'd write: if you care about democracy and the rule of law, you need to care about women's ski jumping. This juxtaposition, straight out of a Hunter S. Thompson acid trip, relates to a court ruling in Canada that is both frightening in its scope and outrageous in its implications.