In case you haven’t been following the New Orleans Saints bounty program story, here’s a quick summary: The team, under the direction of key members of the coaching staff, operated a bounty program that rewarded players for hits that injured opponents. In some cases, specific players were targeted, such as then-Viking QB Brett Favre in the January 2010 NFC Championship
Read moreIf you recall, Bocephus is out at MNF, thanks to a joke that ESPN deemed over the line. But somebody has to sing an annoying, poorly customized intro before each game, right? Who, though? I have an idea. Lately Mitt Romney, Man of the People® has been touring the country, connecting with the Common Man. He’s connected with Northern auto workers,
Read moreI can’t tell you how many times this week, in listening to radio, watching TV or reading print “analyses” on the upcoming Super Bowl, I have heard “Bill Belichick” and “Hall of Fame” used in sequence. It’s been a lot. The working assumption is that the Patriots’ head coach, who has been to four Super Bowls and won three of
Read moreI’d like to offer up a theory. Tell me what you think. I’ve written some lately about the NBA, which despite all its flaws is still my favorite North American professional sports league. (My favorite pro league anywhere, of course, is the English Premiership, the greatest soccer league in the world.) In particular, I’ve pondered The League’s structural issues vis
Read moreSome time back I called Tim Tebow a “faith-based” quarterback. In that article I took on a prominent sports commentator who had lost all perspective and tried to address the ways in which the questions of religion and quarterbacking ability were getting all twisted up around the second-year Denver Broncos QB. Since that post, some things have changed and others
Read moreSome people think I hate Christians. My occasional comments on Tim Tebow probably have something to do with that perception, although you have to aggressively project a hater stereotype on me to make that work. Which a lot of Christians are happy to do, make no mistake. I won’t lie, though. I’m very much not a Christian myself and I’ve
Read moreThe Tim Tebow experiment has begun, with the Denver Broncos posting an 18-15 come-from-behind overtime victory over the winless Miami Dolphins on Sunday afternoon. I’ve been critical of Tebow and his frequently irrational fan base, but none of that matters now. All that matters at this point is whether he’s a viable quarterback for a team that hasn’t accomplished much
Read moreThis just in: CBS Sports game analyst Randy Cross believes Tebow haters are bashing him for his outspoken Christian opinions. “People, especially the media, root against him because of what he stands for,” said Cross. The 3-time Super Bowl champ added: “My personal belief is there are people in the media, people in the stands, who are predisposed to see
Read moreAmerica’s democratic ideal doesn’t work perfectly. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all, and in these cases it feeds our cynicism to the point where we’re tempted to conclude that the very possibility of true freedom is a sham. I know whereof I speak, because there are few people out there more soaked in bile than I am. Still, this whole
Read moreUPDATE: We’ve revised this post to replace disputed Rush comments with confirmed-by-video ones. After all, we want to be fair. And balanced. ________________ Rush Limbaugh wants to be an NFL owner. Or does he? Jason Whitlock says it’s a publicity stunt, and he may be right. Glenn Beck has been getting a lot of run lately and Rash needs to
Read moreNFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has conditionally reinstated former Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick, who was convicted of running a dogfighting ring in 2007. Vick served 23 months in federal prison, followed by two months of house arrest. Last Thursday the Philadelphia Eagles answered the question as to which team would sign a convicted dog-killer (there were 32 possible answers to the
Read moreWe watch sports for a variety of reasons. To revel in the thrill of head-to-head competition. To marvel at the athleticism. To root for the home team, in which we have somehow invested a piece of our own identities. To mark our place in the timeless ritual. To learn, even. With the NBA, there’s one more reason: to see which
Read moreIn case you were watching a What Not to Wear marathon on A&E and missed it, yesterday was one more weird-ass day in the NFL. Fun, but weird. For the first time since 2002 there was a tie. The Bungles and Eagles slugged slogged it out for 75 minutes, and in the end neither team could quite outsuck the other.
Read moreI really have mixed feelings about the outcome of yesterday’s Super Bowl. It was a fantastic game, no matter who you were rooting for, and that’s always nice. Historically a lot of Super Bowls have been yawners. I wasn’t really pulling for the Giants so much as I was against the Patriots, and that was tough for me, too. See,
Read moreHi, and welcome to day four of our 2007 review. Today’s topic – the year in sports. And what a year it was – great competition, exciting on-field action, outstanding team accomplishments, and all of it trumped by off-field drama. Barry B*nds: The real homerun king is Hank Aaron, and don’t you forget it. It wasn’t a pretty summer in
Read more
lullaby pit 