Dramatis Personae
Terry O’Neill, President of NOW
Rahm Emanuel, White House Chief of Staff
O’NEILL: Hello. We in the pro-choice community feel — in light of Pam and Tim Tebow’s horrific and offensive Super Bowl ad, where they ignorantly glorify the choice of life — that we must respond, by encouraging all pregnant women in crisis to make the one and only correct choice. [Read more →]
The NFL Pro Bowl is a waste of time. This is not a revolutionary statement, by the way. Most All-Star games are less than thrilling events, but the Pro Bowl is the worst of the lot. The rules are different, there is very little real hitting, and the game is at the end of the season, when no one really cares anymore. Even the players don’t seem to care, judging by the number of players that beg out of the game every year. Still, being selected to the game is an honor, and it is fair to expect the players to show at least a little bit of interest in the festivities. That message does not seem to have made it to Bryant McKinnie of the Minnesota Vikings, who was dismissed from the Pro Bowl on Saturday. [Read more →]
Saturday mornings this time of year find me working the floor of the gymnasium at our church in Midland, offering halftime devotionals during Upward Basketball games. I was inspired to prepare this week’s devotional by headlines in the sporting news about a young man, a minor league baseball player who was doing so well, that most figured it would be just a matter of time till he was called-up to play in the majors. Well, he answered a call, alright … but it was not the call that many expected. [Read more →]
Wow, did I enjoy Sunday night’s NFC championship game. It was a back and forth game that went to overtime, with the New Orleans Saints outlasting the Minnesota Vikings, 31-28. The best part of it for me was late in the 4th quarter, with the game tied and Minnesota driving for what would have been a game-winning field goal. Less than 30 seconds remained, and the Vikings were at the New Orleans 38-yard line after a bad penalty for 12 men in the huddle. Favre rolled to his right after being flushed from the pocket. He could have run, improving the Vikings’ field position. Hell, he could have just fallen down. Instead, he remembered he was Brett Favre. [Read more →]
The gods and fates have thus determined that Brett Favre’s last play WILL be an interception.
It is said. It is written. It is law.
There are many things I love about sports. I started watching at a very young age, and have been hooked ever since. Of course, with anything you spend a whole lot of time observing or experiencing, there are always things that you don’t like as well. Cheating is one of those things. This week, Mark McGwire openly acknowledged for the first time that he used steroids throughout a large portion of his baseball career. This came as a shock to virtually no one, I have to imagine, as most people have long been convinced that McGwire was dirty. [Read more →]
Saturday mornings this time of year find me working the floor of the gymnasium at our church in Midland, offering halftime devotionals during Upward Basketball games. I was inspired to prepare this week’s devotional by looking into the eyes of a Heisman Trophy-winning, All American college football quarterback, Tim Tebow. [Read more →]
The Eagles have everything a team needs to make a serious run at the Super Bowl. And, in my humble opinion, this is the first time they’ve gotten all the pieces to the puzzle in the box. We have plenty of receivers who can catch the ball. We have three running backs that can and do contribute. We have a defense (when it’s healthy) that plays like an offense. Great! But in sports as in art the whole must be greater than the sum of its parts. And on any given Sunday a Philly fan is lucky if the Eagles can even equal the sum.
In 2003, the NFL instituted a policy called the Rooney Rule, that would require teams to interview minority candidates before hiring a new coach or senior front office person. On the face of it, this would seem like a good rule, at least in its intent. The percentage of minority head coaches in the NFL has increased in the years since 2003. This weekend, though, I started to question not the rule itself, but the interpretation of the rule by some teams. [Read more →]
Back in June, reason.com ran a story about a woman in Pennsylvania who wanted to begin a pole dancing class for exercise. The town, Mars, was fighting her attempt in an effort to keep their streets clear of the hordes of hookers and prostitutes that were bound to descend upon them like a plague of locusts.
I am going to start this week’s column by saying that I am going to hold off on writing about the Mike Leach/Texas Tech story. First, the amount of coverage of this story is way over the top at this point. Also, I am still unsure where I stand on the whole thing. I will wait for more actual details on both sides before weighing in. [Read more →]
I spent most of this week with my wife’s family in Nashville, Tennessee. More so than ever before, I was witness to a very odd phenomenon that goes against the very fiber of my being as a football fan. If you read this column regularly, you know I am a Philadelphia Eagles fan. In the last 7 years, I have also become a fan of the Tennessee Titans, due to the fact that my wife is from Nashville and was a Titans fan when I met her (and still is, although she also roots for the Eagles). Allegiance to a team is a personal thing. Some people are true fans, living and dying with their team, while others are casual fans. Titans fans, at least the ones I know, are a different breed entirely, and it’s all about Peyton Manning. [Read more →]
I can’t say I have ever been a fan of women’s sports. Aside from watching my daughters play basketball or run track, I usually stay away from that side of the sports world. Recently, though, as I have mentioned in other columns, I have found myself paying attention to the women’s volleyball team from Penn State. [Read more →]
As you may already know, Chris Henry, a 26-year old wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals, passed away this morning at 6:36 AM. Yesterday, Henry was involved in what North Carolina police termed a “domestic situation.” Following his fiancée’s departure from a home in North Carolina, Chris Henry jumped into the bed of the pickup truck she was driving and then — somehow — fell from the bed of the truck.
There is no arguing the fact that sports are big business in this country. Whether we’re talking about professional or college, the thought that it’s all just fun and games is naive. I love college football. I like to think that the mentality of the people involved in the coaching and management end of college football involves a desire to teach young men and women, beyond what happens on the field. Too often, though, things happen that remind me that I am being a bit too idealistic in my belief. [Read more →]
Tiger Woods collects a particular type of lady, specifically “my wife after she’s been pumped full of collagen and locked in a tanning booth for a weekend.” I’ve wondered, Is this the sort of woman Tiger genuinely desires, or as a married celebrity seeking no-strings sex is this simply the kind of gal you deal with? (Much like if you seek to hang with basketball players, you better tolerate tall folk.) Disturbingly, we’ve learned it’s by choice, as a report suggests Tiger employed at least two whore wranglers. [Read more →]
I will preface this column by saying this is going to be a Tiger-free zone. I wrote about Tiger Woods earlier in the week, and the rest of the world is doing a fine job of covering the ubiquitous story. No more assistance needed from me.
On to some bad sports. Charlie Weis, former head coach of Notre Dame (I love writing that), decided to mouth off this week, talking smack about Pete Carroll of USC, stating that Carroll was having an affair with a graduate student. Mouthing off is nothing new for Weis, of course. [Read more →]
Waiting until next Monday’s Bad sports, good sports column to write about Tiger Woods seems like a missed opportunity. Despite the fact that I am not someone who enjoys gossip, I feel like something needs to be said. [Read more →]
This weekend Tiger Woods had a car crash that was definitely embarrassing and definitely not serious (he was the only one hurt, and those injuries were minor enough he got out of the hospital within hours). Frankly, it’s no one’s business. By refusing to discuss it, however, Woods has ensured it is everyone‘s business and will remain so indefinitely. For better or worse, the best way for a celebrity to handle a problem is to acknowledge it as quickly as possible. Look no further than the New York Yankees for proof. [Read more →]
