The last few years, I’ve been attending quite a few of Washington University’s basketball games. My dad’s a fan and has gone to almost every game for years; my brother goes to most. The coach is a member of their our church. And for the last three years, the son of my good friends...
The Ugliest Touchdown
(Click here to see an NFL Films presentation about the Giants’ final drive in the Super Bowl, which culminated in the touchdown discussed below. This space was originally occupied by a YouTube video of the touchdown, but the NFL’s lawyers blitzed whoever’s YouTube account it was and sacked them, so I’m going straight to...
List: Top Five Fixes For Major League Baseball
OK, let’s be clear: we all love baseball. We’re Americans; it’s our sport. But we all know that baseball has problems. Here are my suggestions for ways to make it better. Will any of these be implemented in our lifetimes? Not a chance, particularly the further down the list you go. 5) Dump The...
Playoff Season
It’s nearing mid-June and the temperature is well up into the mid-90s, which means it’s about time to wrap up the seasons for our “winter” sports. This year, I think I’ve heard more talk about the NBA playoffs than ever before. I faithfully listen to “Mike and Mike” on my way to work, and...
Open-Wheeled On Memorial Day
For years, when the second weekend of May would roll around, I would go with my dad to Indianapolis for the first day of qualifying for the Indy 500. In those days, there were four days of qualifying over two weekends. The cars would go out one at a time and do four laps,...
The Great Escape
So often, it turns out so badly for these guys: You see them running on the field, and you know they’re about to be swarmed by several oversized security guys, slammed to the ground, and paraded off the field for the entertainment of the jeering crowd. This guy, though, had some different ideas....
College Football Champs
Yesterday was January 1, and we now have a new NCAA Division I football champion. Congratulations to the ________ of ________ University, who persevered through a grueling playoff run against top teams in each round, and then dominated _________ in the final game to win the well-deserved championship trophy. Oh wait, that’s not the...
Bracket For The NCAA Football Championship
(Note: This is the Who, What, Where and When. The Why can be found here) Honestly, this is so easy those NCAA guys could do it in their sleep. Take the top 12 teams, rank ’em, and pit ’em against each other, giving the top four a first-week bye. The second week, No. 1...
Boycott The Bowls!
NCAA Division 1 Football is only sports league that holds its meaningless exhibition games at the end of the season, rather than the beginning of the season. Check ’em out: there are 34 college bowl games, beginning with the “New Mexico Bowl” on December 18, right on through the “Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl” on...
It Doesn’t Get Any Better The Second Time
Twenty-five years ago tonight, Kansas City, Mo., game six of the 1985 World Series between the Cardinals and the Royals. I was at home watching on television with my friends Kurt and Sue — my parents were out of town at the Lake of the Ozarks. It was looking good for the Cards, leading...