Sweaty lunkheads vie for glory.
When you ask people what they think was the greatest baseball movie ever made, you usually get one of three answers: the charming, effusive Kevin Costner vehicle Bull Durham; the treacly, sentimental Kevin Costner vehicle Field of Dreams; or the moronic but enjoyable Major League, which at least has the advantage of not …
I’ve been to a lot of major league ballparks in my day. I’ve seen games at fully half of the existing 30 MLB stadiums, and if you count ballyards that are now defunct or no longer used for baseball, that adds four more. While I haven’t had the chance to …
I’ve never been much of a fan of American football. As I detailed here and elsewhere, while I grew up an natural mark for practically every team sport that finds favor in the lower 48, football never took hold with me for a variety of reasons. Although the same set …
Every four years, something truly special happens in the world of sport: one group of Americans gathers together to make fun of another group of Americans on the internet for liking soccer. Yes, it’s World Cup time once again, and while even the laziest poseur can bring himself up to …
When I was a kid, growing up in Phoenix — then a fairly small town, long before the arrival of the Diamondbacks and without any notion it would soon grow into one of the ten largest cities in the country — there was some kind of rivalry going on with …
I sometimes think of it like he’s from a different planet. Every time he talks about how persecuted the rich are, or how feminism is turning our kids into homosexuals, or how my “people” wouldn’t understand this or that because we aren’t really part of the great Western tradition, I pretend …
It has been sportswriting law since 1992 that any article dealing with women in baseball must quote that line from A League of Their Own, and I have never been one to swim against the tide. (Though, of course, it was written by someone who’s clearly never spent any time inside …
I don’t know who Bomani Jones is, because he is involved in sports media, and generally speaking, I would rather bathe in hydrofluoric acid than listen to sports talk radio. However, he had some things to say about l’affaire du Donald Sterling that were so sensible and righteous that they should have …
Do You Have To File? Of course you have to file. What, do you think you’re special or something? With your fancy lawyers, or your inability to speak English? You think that means you don’t have to pay taxes? Well, surprise, surprise, Mr. I Think I’m Exempt From Government Regulations: …
“Coach Ryan, if you want to fight me on this, I’m absolutely prepared to go over your head.” “Jennifer, I can assure you, it’s…” “Remember, you’re just the athletic director. If you think I’m not willing to talk to the president of the university, you’re sadly mistaken.” “I just don’t …
Let me tell you a little something about myself. Today, I am a fat, out-of-shape, and devoutly unathletic middle-aged man. But once, in my youth, I was a fat, out-of-shape, but modestly athletic teenager; and during that time, I played football (as a nose tackle for my high school team) …
What may be the first truly crucial aesthetic argument of the 21st century – the proper place of video games in the pantheon of the arts – came to a head last week in a fairly spectacular fashion with the release of Grand Theft Auto V. The newest installment in …
MY N.F.L. PICKS FOR THE 2013-2014 SEASON (IN ASCENDING ORDER OF FINISH) 32. Cleveland Browns. Frankly, this is just confusing. Is it the color brown? If so, it’s too conceptual to win. Is it a person named Brown? If so, it all depends on if he’s closer to Jim than …
LARGEST FINANCIAL COMPENSATIONS I HAVE RECEIVED FOR WRITING THIS BLOG 1. $280,750 from Henry Kissinger: for keeping my mouth shut 2. $55,000 from Paragon Electrical Sex-Novelties of Daegu, South Korea: for dropping the lawsuit 3. $1,000 per week for the duration of the blog from Raymond “Benzino” Scott: for continuing …
“Who’s up?” “Dictionary Williams. Black as night, but if he hits, all my life isn’t black.” “I’m throwing.” “Throw it down.” “Six. God damn it!” “Don’t swear.” “Two men on and two outs. I should have put in a reliever. Fucking ties it up.” “The empty sky bears witness to …
