Would the GOP have deported Yogi Berra? Item 1: Yogi died last week. He was an American icon of the first order and a legendary practitioner of the national pastime. Wikipedia sums his career up nicely. An 18-time All-Star and 10-time World Series champion as a player, Berra had a career batting average of .285, while compiling 358 home runs and
Read more
I love Shaquille O’Neal. Seriously. He was a great player and is a smart, very funny guy off the court. But damn, is the man delusional. Shaq got involved in a little Twitter dustup this week with another hoops luminary, former Michael Jordan sidekick Scottie Pippen. Long story short, Shaq thinks the all-time greatest Lakers five would thump the all-time
Read moreAs a performer and storyteller, Virgil Runnels became a working class hero because he was a man of the people. My best friend Jesse and his family were huge pro wrestling fans. I was pretty young at the time – no more than 10, probably – and I remember the Saturday, sitting in the living room at Jesse’s watching Mid-Atlantic Championship
Read moreFilm at 11.
Read moreToday’s arrests are just the beginning. Is it the end of FIFA as we know it? I read the news today. Oh boy. FIFA officials arrested, face U.S. extradition Criminal case opened on World Cup bids It’s early and I’m still processing the stories, trying to a) understand the scope of the actions against the congenitally corrupt leadership of football’s
Read moreWelcome to the Fall of Rome. 1: Mayweather won a unanimous decision. Just like everyone who has been paying at least a little attention knew he would. Yawn. 2: I keep hearing people calling this the “fight of the century.” And by people, I mean beefwitted sports talk assclowns. Listen, douchenozzles, nothing involving two guys ten years past their primes who
Read moreMasters coverage: Of networks, pundits, kneepads and chapstick. I watched final round coverage of the Masters today and in case you didn’t hear yet, Jordan Spieth was transcendent. There was a problem, though. The network obviously focused camera time on the Spieth/Dustin Rose pairing, which is where all the drama was (not that there was much actual drama once they
Read moreReferee Roger East fucked it in today’s Manchester United/Sunderland match, clearly sending off the wrong player after a foul in the box on United Striker Radamel Falcao. Fine. It’s a fast game and mistakes get made, even by the best of officials. But no, that’s not good enough. Two hours after the match, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL)
Read more
Rose will never be the same, but even healthy he’s never going to win an NBA title. My friend Otherwise is a Chicago Bulls fan. I’m a Denver Nuggets fan. So we commiserate sometimes. Back in 2009, Bulls point guard Derrick Rose won the Rookie of the Year award. The next year he was an all-star. And in 2011 he
Read morePick a football site, any football site. Right now the raging topic of discussion is the abominably racist behavior of some Chelsea fans on a Paris subway platform in advance of the club’s Champions League Round of 16 match vs. Paris St. Germaine yesterday. What the heck, try The Guardian. Many of you know that I’m a Chelsea supporter. And if you
Read moreI know, the James Dolan story is so last week. But I’ve been busy working on sermons for revival season and haven’t had a chance to get to it yet. I don’t have anything deeply penetrating to add. Still, I just wanted to highlight a point. To summarize: A New York Knick fan who’s had enough – which describes most Knicks
Read moreLet’s play two. I have one core rule: respect the game. Not only did Ernie Banks respect the game, in every moment of his illustrious career, in every second of his life, he played with more verve and sheer joy than perhaps any player in history. Already this morning I see people on my sports lists debating whether Ernie was
Read moreI’ve spent the past couple of days listening to pundits, casual fans and Patriot-backers emphasize, in the strongest terms possible, that it didn’t change the outcome. Some go a tad further, suggesting that it doesn’t matter if Belichick tried to cheat, so long as the outcome wasn’t unaffected. This line of “reasoning” is at once mind-boggling and completely predictable here in post-sportsmanship
Read more
I love this game, but have never written about it. So here goes. They’ve decided to erect a Mt. Rushmore for pro football coaches. What four legendary figures are on it? The way I see it, three men are automatics. George “Papa Bear” Halas more or less invented the NFL, coached nearly 50 years and won six titles. Vince Lombardi:
Read more
Nixon was so crooked that he needed servants to help him screw his pants on every morning. – Hunter S. Thompson Every time the New England Patriots win, I kind of assume they’re cheating. Even if they aren’t. Part of me wonders what they’re up to and how they’re getting away with it. My Patriot friends call me a hater,
Read more
lullaby pit 