…and no, Michael Phelps does not make the list. Yes, he’s been everyone’s athlete of the year. Yes, he won more gold medals than France. And yes, he seems like a pretty nice guy, despite that terrible eating disorder. But let’s face it, we’re land animals and swimming is only interesting every four years. If swimming were an every year thing, 2007’s Athlete of the Year would have been someone named Martin Strel. That guy swam the entire 3274 miles…
Is this typical of these guys or what? For the first time in a long time, the PGA Tour had a tougher than usual decision to make when it came to naming the player of the year for 2008. And they blew it. From the tour that just introduced its third version of its playoff system that is only two years old, and that is reeling from a cascade failure of corporate sponsorship comes the choice of Padraig Harrington as…
I use computers every single day – and almost invariably there comes a time while perched over the keyboard that I find myself glancing around for something heavy to smack the thing, or myself, with. It is the nature of their complexity. They make our lives infinitely easier – yet on regular occasions also drive us – either through a fault of their own or ours – to apoplectic rages. Take Sunday for example. Had I been in the NCAA’s…
New York, New York is all up in arms about Plaxico Burress shooting himself in the leg, but they should realize, when it comes to athletes injuring themselves, that’s just not going to make the grade. Uber-lame as it was – aided and abetted by his protracted lying about how he managed to nearly pop his own kneecap – his doesn’t make it near the top of the list of athletes who have taken themselves off the playing field when…
Sports – they’re ruined for me now. I’ll never be able to look at my TV the same way again. It’s all about the World Anti-Doping Agency’s new campaign against the drug, sildenafil citrate, what the world knows as Viagra. It seems that the WADA believes the diamond-shaped blue pills are being used by athletes around the world to create an unfair “competitive advantage.” Viagra, if you didn’t know, causes the dilation of blood vessels and subsequently increases the body’s…
Back in the 90’s my sister laughed when I told her I’d been hired to be a sports writer – and not just because of that nasty “can’t spell to save my life” thing. No, it was because she couldn’t stand sports and the thought anyone earning a living off such silliness was simply hilarious. Then she joined an NFL pool at her work. Suddenly I became “cool.” Such is the impact of wagering on the NFL. Forget the great…
The most famous person in the world right now is the new American President, Barack Obama, but just a few days before Election Day, it was another young man of mixed ethnicity, Tiger Woods. A co-inky-dink you think? Not really as it was athletes like Tiger who helped pave the way for America to get over itself and elect a visible minority to the White House. It really started just over 70 years ago when Jesse Owens demonstrated to Her…
Before we start – a confession… Former NHL player, coach and general manager Mike Milbury once had my sports network banned from access to the New York Islanders players and coaches because of something I wrote about him. (I compared the size of his brain to “a BB in a boxcar.”) His team locking us out got me in some serious hot water, so when it comes to Milbury, I may be a wee bit biased. Now back to our…
Taking in the 16 days that compromise the Olympics takes a lot of effort, because between the incredible highs, there are many almost unbearable lows – and numerous, “what the hell am I watching?” moments… I love the Olympics because I know someone on the national field hockey team meaning I had to stay up until three to watch the game. I hate the Olympics because he never got into the game, they lost – and I am sleepy. I…
For the sixteen days of the Olympics I was immersed in all things China, and from the opening ceremonies to the close on Sunday the overall impression that was left with me was, “Man, that was a wee bit creepy!” Sports Minister Liu Peng started the strangeness off when he sad, “To achieve Olympic glory for the motherland is the sacred mission assigned by the Communist Party central.” Say what? So far removed was I from the “red menace” since…