RealClearSports - Articles http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/ en Copyright 2008 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:00:41 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Soccer Punch There are, believe it or not, more hated Yanks overseas than George W. Bush: the Americans who own European football teams When Barack Obama arrives in England in a few weeks on his celebrated European tour, he’ll probably disembark assuming that George W. Bush is the most despised American in Britain. If so, he’ll be wrong. Currently, sitting atop the most-hated Yank chart is Tom Hicks, co-owner of the Liverpool soccer club and a Texas businessman who ran with the same crowd as the incumbent president when Bush was governor of the Lone Star state.]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/soccer_punch.html http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/soccer_punch.html Steven Stark Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:00:41 -0600 March Madness Will Be Fun Again I can’t wait to watch the 2009 NCAA Tournament. I won't have to listen to the humorless and joyless Billy Packer ranting endlessly. I won’t have to put up with Packer's pompous declarations. I won't have to frantically search for the mute button when Packer begins to scold the refs, the players and the crowd – but rarely the coaches – for anything that goes wrong on the court. http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/march_madness_will_be_fun_agai_1.html http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/march_madness_will_be_fun_agai_1.html Samuel Chi billy_packer college_basketball Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:52:11 -0600 Sir, Step Away from the Headset This year's Home Run Derby reinforced a couple of previously held maxims about baseball. First, second-basemen, no matter how many home runs they hit, should not be considered power hitters. Second, things get much more interesting whenever someone is described as an "ex-heroin addict." And third, columnists should no longer be shoehorned into the broadcast booth. ESPN's failed experiment of turning writers into analysts, which began with the much-questioned addition of Tony Kornheiser to Monday Night Football, continued Tuesday night with Rick Reilly's guest spot during the derby. Thanks to a record-setting first-round run from Josh Hamilton, Reilly's performance will most likely be forgotten within the week. But after two hours of pithy one-liners, nonsensical flame-fanning, and enough awkward Karl Ravech sendbacks to last the Baseball Tonight host a lifetime, Reilly's time in the booth should serve as a lesson for TV executives for decades to come. http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/sir_step_away_from_the_headset_1.html http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/sir_step_away_from_the_headset_1.html Caleb Hannan Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:11:16 -0600 Is This Break Necessary? There are two and only two days on the calendar when no games are scheduled in big-league baseball, football, basketball or hockey: the day before and the day after baseball's All-Star Game. Maybe it ought to be three. The All-Star Game has become a tired spectacle, a corporate cash-grab, a massive irrelevance. Fewer American households watched the game last year than forty years ago, despite a 50% increase in U.S. population in that time. http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/is_this_break_necessary.html http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/is_this_break_necessary.html Jeff Neuman all-star_game baseball mlb Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:38:24 -0600 Where Have All The Heavyweights Gone? Serious boxing fans will no doubt remember Hasim Rahman and John Ruiz. The Baltimore-born “Rock” was a pretty good puncher who began his pro career in 1994 and struck pay dirt in 2001 when he flattened heavyweight champ Lenox Lewis with a right hand to the chin. (Lewis knocked him out in the return bout.) http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/where_have_all_the_heavyweight.html http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/where_have_all_the_heavyweight.html Mark Jurkowitz boxing Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:41:17 -0600 Lessons of Champions WASHINGTON -- If you read Monday morning's sports headlines, you learned that Rafael Nadal "dethroned" and "shocked" tennis champion Roger Federer at Wimbledon. He won, in other words. But barely, barely. If, on the other hand, you actually watched the Sunday match, you know that though one player prevailed, both men won. You also awoke Monday morning physically exhausted and emotionally spent. http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/lesson_of_champions.html http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/lesson_of_champions.html Kathleen Parker rafael_nadal roger_federer tennis wimbledon Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:21:10 -0600 Modern Pentathlon: A Sport For Warriors, Not Spectators The 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm are usually remembered for the remarkable accomplishments of Jim Thorpe. In those Games, Thorpe famously won gold medals in the track and field pentathlon as well as the first Olympic decathlon, an event designed to determine the perfect athlete. For his accomplishments, he earned newspaper headlines, ticker-tape parades and was anointed by the King of Sweden "the greatest athlete in the world," an honorary title that has since been bestowed upon every Olympic gold medal decathlete. http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/modern_pentathlon_a_sport_for.html http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/modern_pentathlon_a_sport_for.html Jeff Pyatt george_patton ioc modern_penathlon olympics Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:23:34 -0600 Wimbledon Lucky to be Predictable What, you were expecting a Safin-Schuettler final? Destiny has never been so delicious. A Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal final seemed so preordained, with the other 62 matches played as mere exhibitions. Inevitability didn't work for Hillary Clinton, but it's a gift from the tennis gods to Wimbledon. http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/wimbledon_lucky_to_be_predicta.html http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/wimbledon_lucky_to_be_predicta.html Samuel Chi rafael_nadal roger_federer tennis wimbledon Sat, 05 Jul 2008 05:48:07 -0600 O.J. Mayo Will Not Be A Star column on Tuesday, posted here at RealClearSports, Gregg Doyel made a rather bold prediction:
So I'm saying it right now. The best player to come out of the 2008 NBA Draft won't be Derrick Rose. Won't be Michael Beasley, either. It'll be O.J. Mayo, and frankly, it might not be close.
Doyel makes the claim that Mayo will be an absolute star in the NBA. In fact, he's so confident that he says Mayo "will mash rest of draft class into a pulp" - in the title of his article. This is when Doyel and I differ. Greatly. Not only will Mayo not be the best of the 2008 draft class, but he will be a complete bust.]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/oj_mayo_will_not_be_a_star_1.html http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/07/oj_mayo_will_not_be_a_star_1.html Jeff Briggs Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:45:38 -0600 In Baseball, "No" Doesn't Mean "No-No" Who are you gonna believe – me, or your lyin' eyes? That's the question Major League Baseball posed for the 55,000 fans who filled Dodger Stadium for Saturday night's Angels-Dodgers game. Jered Weaver allowed no hits in six innings for the Angels, then Jose Arredondo came on in relief and retired all six batters he faced. Weaver pitched beautifully but fielded imperfectly; his error on a corkscrew nubber led to the game's only run. The crowd saw something rare: just the sixth time in major-league history that a team lost despite throwing a no-hitter. Or did they? http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/06/in_baseball_no_doesnt_mean_non.html http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/06/in_baseball_no_doesnt_mean_non.html Jeff Neuman baseball mlb no_hittier Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:32:21 -0600 Why Euro Is Such a Big Deal PARIS, FRANCE -- To spend some time in Europe during the quadrennial Euro soccer championship is to understand that it many ways, this tournament is a bigger deal on the continent than the World Cup. Sure, winning the World Cup is said to be the biggest prize in the sport. But the same teams always dominate that tourney (Brazil, Italy, etc.), and there’s a lot more prestige in Europe to beating a traditional rival you’ve competed with for centuries, than eclipsing a nation like Ivory Coast or Mexico at the World Cup. Besides, in an era when Europe is supposed to be all unified and everything, where else but in soccer and the annual Eurovision song contest can you legitimately stir up all the old tribal antipathies, which may explain why this tournament unexpectedly produced so much attacking, exciting soccer. The championship will go to Germany or Spain, the pre-tourney favorites, but the real winners this time around have been Turkey and Russia, the losing semi-finalists. If soccer had all the political ramifications some of its adherents claim, Turkey’s gallant come-from-behind performances here against more talented foes to reach the last four would guarantee it the long-sought admission to the European Union it seeks. Alas, soccer isn’t life and while Turkey will continue to be allowed to match wits with the likes of the Germans and Portuguese on the pitch, it will be a long while yet, if ever, that it gets its place in Brussels. http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/06/why_euro_is_such_a_big_deal.html http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/06/why_euro_is_such_a_big_deal.html Steven Stark Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:16:19 -0600 A Mid Season Report Card on Joe Girardi As soon as Joba Chamberlain threw pitch No. 100 to the Padres on June 19, Joe Girardi marched to the mound. It made no difference that Chamberlain had struck out nine and was locked in a 1-1 game. The manager brought the hook for his ace of the future. At that point, Yankee fans may have had a flashback to the mound visit that didn’t happen. In the biggest moment of 2007—leading 1-0 in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Indians—Joe Torre failed to intervene while Chamberlain inhaled a sudden swarm of bugs. It looked like a Hitchcock movie. Two wild pitches later, the lead—and effectively, the Yanks’ season—was gone. http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/06/a_mid_season_report_card_on_jo.html http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/06/a_mid_season_report_card_on_jo.html Mark Jurkowitz baseball yankees Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:03:56 -0600 Heat Should Keep The Pick And Draft Beasley Where did this debate even come from? For months the debate had been Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley with many feeling Beasley is definitely more talented. Everyone seems to think the Bulls will draft Derrick Rose number one overall, leaving the Heat a chance to pick possibly the most talented player in the Draft and they’re looking to trade? I understand listening to offers and keeping your options open, but when it comes down to it, the Heat will regret it if they don’t pick Beasley. Are the Heat forgetting that Beasley was the most dominant player in college last season? Beasley was third in scoring (26.5 ppg) and first in rebounding (12.5 rpg). He had 28 double-doubles on the year, shot nearly 54% from the field and a shade under 40% from 3-point range. He has the complete game, but still has room to grow. http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/06/heat_should_keep_the_pick_and_1.html http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/06/heat_should_keep_the_pick_and_1.html Robbie Gillies Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:28:20 -0600 The Heat Must Develop Depth Of all the NBA teams, the Miami Heat, holders of the second overall pick, have the most interesting options in tonight's draft. They can select Michael Beasley, whom most consider to be the clear number two pick in the draft; they can opt not to pick Beasley and take another player like OJ Mayo; or they can trade down with any number of teams and stockpile picks and players to build around their core of Dwayne Wade and Shawn Marion. http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/06/of_all_the_teams_in.html http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/06/of_all_the_teams_in.html Jeff Briggs Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:28:14 -0600 Tuesday Top 10: NBA Draft Picks That Shaped A Franchise The Celtics just won their first Championship in 22 years, thanks in large part to their first round pick in the 1998 Draft, Paul Pierce. Pierce has been the face of the Celtics for a decade now, and while picking up Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen took the team over the top, it was Pierce that was the Finals MVP, and their primary threat all season long. But, despite what Paul Pierce has done for the Celtics, he didn't make our list for the Top 10 Draft picks that shaped a franchise. Teams like the Bulls and Heat are hoping the players they select this Thursday in the NBA Draft might one day be able to do a fraction of what these players did (have done) for the team that drafted them. http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/06/tuesday_top_10_nba_draft_picks_1.html http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2008/06/tuesday_top_10_nba_draft_picks_1.html Tuesday Top Ten nba Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:52:39 -0600