The Sporting Life category archive
You Can Bet on It 0
Sportswriter extraordinaire Bob Molinaro:
Afterthought:
I don’t know about you, but I spell “gamble” L-O-S-E.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Actions have consequences. Here’s the lede from the news report at my old Philly NPR station:
Aside:
I became a member of the NAACP when George W. Bush was elected president. (One does not have to be a “colored person” to support the NAACP.) Somehow, I sensed that the Republican Party was headed in the wrong direction. I must say, though, I did not realize just how wrong a direction it was.
I am not sanguine.
The Bullies’ Pulpit 0
One more time, “social” media isn’t.
Playing by the Bookie 0
At my local rag, sportswriter extraordinaire Bob Molinaro looks at the gamboling gamblers in the game (emphasis in the original):
A look back: Evidence of how times have changed is that it wasn’t that long ago when Las Vegas was barred from even running TV ads during the Super Bowl.
Also: As if gambling isn’t prevalent enough, the Commanders are opening a sports book inside their stadium. When did buying a ticket to watch a game stop being enough?
Aside:
I suspect I’m not the only person sick of sports stars shilling for shysters commercials for online sports betting.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
No Mulligans To Give 0
The writer of a letter to the editor of the Las Vegas Sun is teed off.
The Umpire Strikes Back 0
My brother has umpired baseball for years, mostly high school games. He has regularly attended course and workshops on how to umpire, because he loves the game. (So do I, for that matter, but he was good at it.)
According to him, the behavior of parents and other fans has taken a serious turn for the worse over the past decade, so much so that leagues are having trouble keeping and recruiting umpires.
In Deptford Township, New Jersey, a local Little League has come up with a novel strategy for fighting back.
Echoes of the Fall 0
Sportswriter extraordinaire Bob Molinaro:
The Brady Punch 0
Stephanie Hayes looks at the who-shot-john over football player Tom Brady’s age and has a momentary seizure of sauce for goose, sauce for the gander.
“What It Was, Was Football”* 0
In aftermath of Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest on the field (happily he seems to be recovering), Randall Balmer wonders what Americans find so enticing about so dangerous a sport. A snippet:
Which brings us back to the question about whether there is something about American society that draws us – myself included, by the way – to the carnage of football.
Aside:
I used to be a football fan. I looked forward to watching all the bowl games on New Year’s Day and a number that were not on New Year’s Day; I rooted for several NFL teams over the years. Now, though, I’ve lost all interest in football. The games have gotten far too long, the NFL owners are a mostly a bunch of jerks, and the NCAA is only in it for the money. (Indeed, the only sporting organization of which I have a lower opinion than of the NCAA is FIFA.)
My weekends are much more peaceful, relaxing, and productive now.
________________________
*With apologies to Andy Griffith.
Game Changed 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, sociology professor Thomas Henricks explores why football has for all practical purposes supplanted baseball as America’s “national pastime.” It’s interesting and, in some ways, rather depressing read.
Me, I’ve pretty much lost interest in both: football because of the moral bankruptcy of the NCAA ruling body and and the odious behavior of too many of the NFL owners; baseball because the games have gotten just too darned long to be worth my time.
(But I still read Bob Molinaro’s column every week, because he is fine writer with a wicked sense of humor.)
A Bridge Too Favre 0
The Los Angeles Times’s LZ Granderson, who has ties to Mississippi, digs into Brett Farve’s role in–er–misappropriating public funds intended to help the less-well-off to serve his own private ends. A snippet:
Once is a mistake.*
He came back for seconds.
______________________
*Yeah. Right.
Illegal Procedure 0
At AL.com, Roy S. Johnson takes takes a long look at Brett Farve’s role in misappropriating public funds intended to help the needy. Johnson points out that
Follow the link for the play-by-play.
The Maddening Maddened Crowd
0
Yet another (particularly vile) example that “social” media isn’t.
The Shills 0
SFGate’s Drew Magary marvels as ESPN’s relentless promoting of sports betting.
Danny Dodges the Man 0
Joe Patrice says, “Bon voyage, Dan Snyder.“