Sports

Jack Newfield, a muck-raking journalist and author whose expose, The Shame of Boxing, was one of the best investigative sports pieces in years, has died of cancer at age 66. Newfield, who loved boxing writing so much he celebrated A.J. Liebling's 100th birth anniversary in October, had this take on the sweet science: At its infrequent best, boxing can be the art of hitting and not getting hit -- a ballet with blood, geometry with guile. At its frequent worst, it is fakery, burlesque, cruelty, ... (read more)

2004/12/21

Are You Ready for Some Race Mixing?

Samuel Francis, a newspaper columnist distributed by Creators Syndicate, believes the Terrell Owens/Nicolette Sheridan skit on Monday Night Football was an insidious effort to promote interracial sex: If only morals and taste had been the targets, the producers could easily have found white actresses who are less obviously Nordic than the golden-locked Sheridan, but Nordic is what the ad's producers no doubt wanted. For that matter, if you only wanted to take a swipe at morals and taste, you ... (read more)

2004/12/04

God Bless Ronan Tynan

The only thing I miss about the Yankees' absence from the playoffs is the performance of "God Bless America" by Ronan Tynan. Having him perform so often and so well at Yankee Stadium reminds me of the Philadelphia Flyers bringing out Kate Smith to sing it as a good-luck charm. The U.S. could significantly reduce noise pollution by making "God Bless America" the national anthem. I endure 500 excruciating renditions of the "Star-Spangled Banner" a year on streaming baseball games. Only in the ... (read more)

2004/10/25

After the Boston Red Sox defeated the Curse of the Bambino last night by a score of 10 to 3, Nike aired this Fenway Park 1919 commercial to celebrate the achievement. ... (read more)

2004/10/21

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden: "You might say this is the best 1-5 team in the league." ... (read more)

2004/10/20

Sportus interruptus

Sportus interruptus: Three miles from the finish, the leader in the men's marathon was knocked to the ground by a spectator and was subsequently passed by two runners. The attacker has attempted similar stunts at other events to promote his apocalyptic religious books. ... (read more)

2004/08/29

Famous anus

Famous anus:: In sports world medical news reminiscent of George Brett's hemorrhoidal issue during the 1980 World Series, an exhausted Jason Giambi is being tested for entamoeba histolytica, a parasite that embeds itself in the intestinal lining and can cause fatal illness. ... (read more)

2004/07/26

Blame Canada

Blame Canada: Calling the conflict in Iraq the "stupidest war ever," Toronto Blue Jays player Carlos Delgado has been avoiding "God Bless America" during games. ... (read more)

2004/07/22

Why bullfighting sucks

Why bullfighting sucks: "When I first came to Spain I had this idea that bull fighting was this sort of 'traditional' sport where once a year or so they would kill a bull or two and that it was okay," writes the American weblogger Russell Beattie. "But it's not like that at all." ... (read more)

2004/07/18

Federer high on grass

Federer high on grass: The Guardian offers a flowery recap of Sunday's men's final at Wimbledon. "If the real Roger Federer did not return in his full peacock colours, there was enough iridescence glinting off his racket to down [Andy] Roddick." ... (read more)

2004/07/05

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