Column Archive

Using Soccer to Kick Iran

Politics cannot be separated from the World Cup any more than it can be from the Olympics. Sometimes this is for the best: For example, Africans throughout the continent exulted in Senegal's shocking upset of its former colonizer, France, in the first game of the 2002 Cup. This year, however, German and US politicians have seized on the tournament to intensify the saber rattling aimed at Tehran.

Bonding With the Babe

The description of a mercurial, complicated, egomaniacal star whose personal behavior might skirt legality is one that matches not only Bonds but Ruth as well.

A Day Without Pujols or A Day Without Immigrants (Baseball Edition)

This year, in a delicious twist of fate, mass May Day protests will return to the United States led largely by people born beyond its borders. May Day 2006 is being called the Great American Boycott,

Privilege Meets Protest at Duke

On Bonds: You're Damn Right Race Matters

Is Barry Bonds the object of a racist witch-hunt? Over the last week I have had to publicly argue this issue against some of the finest minds of my generation (all right, John Rocker and Jose Canseco). In addition, I have duked it out on talk radio, sports radio, email chats, and various blogs. The dominant argument I hear repeatedly, whether from Mr. Rocker or Mr. Liberal Blogger, is that I am an idiot if I think that the Bonds steroid-mania is all about bigotry run amok. Unfortunately that is not my argument.

Big League Identity Crisis

The World Baseball Classic, March

Burying Barry: Bonds and The Chain of Command

Tillman's Parents Deserve the Truth

White Blindness: The Winter Olympics and Defending Bryant Gumbel

The right-wing media hordes, in a mad dash to deflect attention from Dick Cheney's shooting spree, may have found their target of mass distraction: Bryant Gumbel.

The Value of a Number

A new push is taking place to honor another legend in a similar way. An appeal has been made by Hispanics Across America (HAA) to retire the number 21of Pittsburgh Pirate Roberto Clemente. the effort to honor Clemente has met resistance from a surprising source: Jackie Robinson's daughter Sharon. In January, she said, "To my understanding, the purpose of retiring my father's number is that what he did changed all of baseball, not only for African-Americans but also for Latinos, so I think that purpose has been met. When you start retiring numbers across the board, for all different groups, you're kind of diluting the original purpose."