Sports & Leisure

Make the grade or take the cut

For the mainstream devotee of the National Football League, the majority of their entire knowledge on the game and how the whole business side works comes from media outlets and opinions of writers who are still bitter about never making it as an athlete.

Sports & Leisure

The return of college football

A WILD OFF-SEASON HAS DONE LITTLE TO DAMPEN ENTHUSIASM FOR THE 2011 SEASON

By Matt Hooper

It was Karl Marx who coined the term “opiate of the people” back in 1843 as a slight against organized religion. But the father of socialism could have just as easily spun the term to describe college football in the modern day.

Sports & Leisure

Women’s soccer rules!

THE U.S. WOMEN’S SOCCER WORLD CUP FINAL LOSS BROUGHT A DIVIDED AMERICAN PEOPLE TOGETHER—AND REMINDED US HOW ESSENTIAL TITLE IX IS.

By Allen Barra

My father never watched a soccer game in his life, but all during Sunday’s women’s World Cup final I kept thinking of him. When I was a kid, he thrilled me with his accounts of what it was like to sit in front of a radio and listen to Joe Louis’ knockout of Max Schmeling in 1938.

Sports & Leisure

Strange Trip

THIS YEAR'S FINAL FOUR IS ANYTHING BUT PREDICTABLE

By John Easterling

To call this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship “madness” would be something of an understatement. I feel a strong desire to quote Jerry Garcia and say, “what a long, strange trip it’s been,” but rest assured I’ll resist the temptation.

Sports & Leisure

Three Outcomes of the NFL Contract Talks

WHY A WIN FOR THE PLAYERS IS A WIN FOR EVERYONE

By Allen Barra

Why a win for the players is a win for everyone So what just happened? For months, the sports media has been telling us that the National Football League Players Association was about to be crushed in their contract negotiations with the league owners.

Sports & Leisure

His bite was worse than its bark

AN ALLEGED TREE MUGGER POISONS MORE THAN HISTORIC OAKS

By Courtney Haden

Why is brominated vegetable oil in Mountain Dew? I can understand the high fructose corn syrup (number two on the ingredient list behind carbonated water) and the various chemicals to preserve flavor and freshness, but I’m not sure about oil.

Sports & Leisure

Avondale park’s priceless diamonds

SOUTHSIDE BALL ASSOCIATION PROVIDES KIDS FUN AND FUNDAMENTALS

By Keith Thomson

“One kid, six dads.” That’s Scott Walton’s enduring memory of his son’s first T-ball game. As the batter knocked the ball into play, the first base coach, third base coach, batting coach and three other fathers in the dugout got into their high-volume act. As Walton recalls it, “Here was this four-year-old kid with a crowd of guys five times his size yelling at him to do different things.”

Sports & Leisure

Remembering Superbowls past

THE BEST AND WORST OF THE BIG GAME

By Allen Barra

THE TOP FIVE WORST SUPER BOWLS IN REVERSE ORDER OF SUCKINESS

Sports & Leisure

2010 Iron Bowl preview

WE GROW ‘EM GOOD IN THE SOUTH

By John Easterling

It’s been really getting under my skin this season, the way people are down on the strength of the SEC. Folks all over the media and across the country are pointing to the fact that Florida, Tennessee and Georgia are all struggling this year as evidence of the SEC’s waning dominance.

Sports & Leisure

Questioning the king

WHY LEBRON SHOULD STOP APOLOGIZING AND WIN ONE ALREADY

By Allen Barra

“What should I do? What should I do?” asks a pensive LeBron James, the world’s greatest basketball player, in his new Nike ad. Don Draper would have called it “confessional advertising”—an ad designed to offset a client’s tarnished image.