Descent into March Madness
Robert Lipsyte:
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Robert Lipsyte takes a shot at the corruption, exploitation and hypocrisy of the NCAA championships.
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China's Olympic Delusion
Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom:Cracking down once again in Tibet, China seeks to control the script on its flawed human rights record, yet still be regarded as a suitable host for the Olympics. Dream on.
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Can the Golden State Warriors Save Oakland?
Dave Zirin:The Warriors will miss this year's NBA playoffs, but they can still be winners by reaching out to at-risk youth in Oakland.
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Seam Stress
Andrew Rice : Non-Fiction
Two new books explore the states of wonder and mortification evoked by baseball.
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Beyond Beijing: China's Toughest Competition
Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom & Kate Merkel-Hess : China
How will the Olympics play in the Chinese equivalent of Peoria, among a populace skeptical of the government's intent and eager to tout their own economic clout?
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Ali G Takes on the Olympics
Funny or Die
Big up yourselves! In this clip, Ali G keeps it real with John Naber, US Olympians President. Respect!
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Why He Fears the Fist: A Response to Jonah Goldberg
Dave Zirin
You can tell right away that Goldberg didn't read a book, an article, even a fortune cookie, about the 1968 Olympics before whipping out his laptop.
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Olympic Trials
Dave Zirin : Human Rights
If China's leaders believe they've released enough steam for a smooth Olympics, they could be in for a surprise.
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Hall of Fame Shut-Out
Peter Dreier & Kelly Candaele
A conspiracy of management cronies is blocking 91-year-old union pioneer Marvin Miller from the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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Hold China Accountable on Darfur
Ruth Messinger & Jerry Fowler : Darfur
Don't let Olympic fever obscure the role China plays in the Sudanese government's reign of terror, rape and killing.
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Can NASCAR Be Saved From Itself?
Dave Zirin
Mauricia Grant, the first black, female inspection official in NASCAR history, is suing her former employer for sexual and racial misconduct. It may be the best thing that's ever happened to the sport.
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Grand Theft Hoops: The Stealing of the Sonics
Dave Zirin
Two Oklahoma corporate raiders have stolen one of Seattle's most beloved sports franchises with an unlikely accomplice, the NBA's commissioner, David Stern.
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Nader Tackles Sports
Dave Zirin : Ralph Nader
It's a little known fact, but Ralph Nader is seriously interested in sports, which is why he believes there should be a Bill of Rights just for the fans.
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Well, There You Go. Imus the Bigot Is Back
Dave Zirin : Race, Ethnicity & Religion
Is Don Imus irredeemably stupid or just a run-of-the-mill racist?
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The Last Angry Man
Jeff Kisseloff : Books
Eliot Asinof, blacklisted author of Eight Men Out, created a lifetime of work celebrating rebels and victims of injustice.
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Did You Know The Nation Has a Sports Writer?
Habiba Alcindor
Sports make a great framework for examining politics.
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A Conversation With NBA Union Man Billy Hunter
Dave Zirin : Unions
Billy Hunter has a progressive spine and a background that has taken him from working with Huey Newton to sitting across the table from the most formidable commissioner in sports, David Stern.
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Can Soccer Stop the Violence?
Dave Zirin : South Africa
In South Africa ethnic violence against foreigners is beginning to spread and the growing voice of opposition comes from an unlikely source--soccer stars.
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'Like He Died Twice': Mary Tillman's Lonely Quest
Dave Zirin : Iraq War
The mother of Pat Tillman reflects on how the Pentagon has distorted the truth about his death and the NFL has exploited the tragedy.
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Why Do We Care About the NFL Draft?
Dave Zirin
For fans, the pigskin meat market is mindless fun, but for young players, football is no fantasy.
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Can the Golden State Warriors Save Oakland?
Dave Zirin : Jails & Prisons
The Warriors will miss this year's NBA playoffs, but they can still be winners by reaching out to at-risk youth in Oakland.
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Olympic Flame Out
The Editors : China
Boycotts of the Beijing Olympics are easy. What's harder is moving China towards meaningful progress on human rights.
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Sportswriters Swoon Over DC Ballpark
Dave Zirin
A ballpark for rich folks displaces the poor. But the Washington Post fails to utter a discouraging word.
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Who's Got Game?
Robert Lipsyte : Feminism & Women
A new book advocates equality for men and women on the playing field. But is that still a field of dreams?
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Carrying a Torch for Tibet
Dave Zirin
Protest is as much a part of the Olympic tradition as lighting the torch.
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China's Olympic Delusion
Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom : China
Cracking down once again in Tibet, China seeks to control the script on its flawed human rights record, yet still be regarded as a suitable host for the Olympics. Dream on.
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Lame Duck Pitcher
Robert Lipsyte
Roger Clemens has done his damage, to himself and to baseball--and we will see him go down.
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Steroid Circus on Capital Hill
Dave Zirin
Roger Clemens's face-off with lawmakers moved the guardians of our democracy far beyond the absurd.
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We Might Be Giants
Dave Zirin
A Patriots Super Bowl win was written in the stars. But every once in a while, the double-digit underdog can win.
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White Noise on the Golf Channel
Dave Zirin
After days of dithering, the Golf Channel finally suspends a commentator who joked about lynching Tiger Woods. What took them so long?
2007
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The Mitchell Report Is a Fraud
George Mitchell's long-awaited report on steroids in baseball slanders players, gives owners a pass and never acknowledges its author's conflicts of interest.
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Sports 2007: It Was a Very Bad Year
Michael Vick's sentencing to twenty-three months in prison caps a depressing and scandalous year for professional sports.
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The Rockies Get Off Their Knees
As baseball's most sanctimonious team heads to the World Series, the Colorado Rockies are playing down their holier-than-thou image.
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The Fall of Marion Jones, Inc.
The sports establishment is shocked, shocked at her steroid-fueled Olympic wins. But didn't they also play a role?
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Getting Real About China
Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom : China
From product safety to piracy, human rights and the Olympic Games, isn't it time we started being realistic about the way we treat China?
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Season of Scandals
Sportswriters hyperventilate over scandals big and small. But when a football hero and Bush critic is shot three times at close range in Afghanistan, by friendly fire, why does no one bat an eye?
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Bonehead U
Nicholas von Hoffman : Higher Education
Forget about raising money for actual teaching or research. Institutions of higher learning would rather troll for money for their sports teams.
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The Sick Knicks
Exposed in court as sex harassers, the coach and owner of a storied basketball team have turned Madison Square Garden into a toxic workplace.
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Those Cheating Patriots
In an era of technology-driven sports, the question of what is and isn't cheating can get pretty murky. But Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots were caught red-handed.
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Cleaning Up After the Orioles
Thanks to some major-league grassroots organizing, workers who keep Baltimore's Camden Yards pristine are close to winning the right to a living wage.
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Give Bonds His Due
It's official: He's the new home run king. Will the media ever get over it?
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Soccer Lions of Mesopotamia
Simon Maxwell Apter : Iraq War
Don't buy the argument that Iraq's triumph in the Asian Cup is a miracle moment brought to you by Uncle Sam.
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NBA: When Fans Blow the Whistle
Smelling blood in the unfolding Tim Donaghy scandal, some sports fans have embarked their own rabid brand of investigative journalism on--where else?--YouTube.
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Olympic Dreams and Nightmares
In the best of all possible worlds, 8-8-08 will be the luckiest of dates for China, as the Olympic Games put the country on display. Or it could become a real nightmare.
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Who Let the Dogs Out on Michael Vick?
With the indictment of the Atlanta Falcons quarterback on federal conspiracy charges for running an alleged dogfighting operation, the media went into attack mode.
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Reclaiming Sports
Political struggle and its relation to sports is a question not of the past but of the future.
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High Impact: What Football Owes Its Players
Congressional hearings about head injuries in the NFL raise questions about the consequences for old-timers and present-day players.
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Sheffield Strikes Out on Latino Players
Slugger Gary Sheffield's intemperate remarks about the black/Latino divide have rattled batting cages and plunged baseball into the immigration debate.
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SI Cooks the Books
Jonathan Cohen : Racism & Discrimination
Sports Illustrated's "all time" team is unfairly skewed to honor major league players from the segregation era at the expense of equally deserving players from the Negro League.
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Jason Giambi, Truthteller
Jason Giambi finally got around to telling the truth about baseball and steroids. So naturally, Major League Baseball is out to smear him.
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The Home-Run Wars
Robert Lipsyte : US Foreign Policy
Babe Ruth's big bang changed baseball forever, giving America a thrilling symbol of power and an itch for the quick fix at the ballpark and in the world. Why can't we just ban the bomb?
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Football and Nikki Giovanni at Virginia Tech
Tragedy uncovers the diverse world of a school that had been known only for football.
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Nappy-headed Hos of the World Unite!
Barbara Ehrenreich : Feminism & Women
What aroused Imus's twisted admiration and antagonism was the reality of strong, determined, aggressive women.
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Rutgers Team Is an Instrument for Change
Carol Jenkins : Feminism & Women
The fact that the media is astonished that the Rutgers athletes are articulate and smart is a tragedy.
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Don Imus and the State of Women's Sports
It's been thirty-five years since Title IX was passed, and women athletes are still battling the kind of sexism Imus espouses.
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John Amaechi's Timeout
Dave Zirin : Gay & Lesbian Issues & Activism
The openly gay former NBA star speaks eloquently against homophobia, the war in Iraq and racism.
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Descent into March Madness
Robert Lipsyte takes a shot at the corruption, exploitation and hypocrisy of the NCAA championships.
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Out of the Closet and Onto the Court
Dave Zirin : Gay & Lesbian Issues & Activism
Former NBA player John Amaechi's admission that he is gay exposed the league's compassion and bigotry.
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The Church of Football
Robert Lipsyte : Cultural Criticism & Analysis
If the holiest day on the American calendar is Super Bowl Sunday, Vince Lombardi and Joe Namath were its early saints. So what does that make Pat Tillman?
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A Tale of Two Coaches
Kudos to Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy for being the first two black coaches to lead teams to the Superbowl. But hold the applause for the NFL.
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The High Cost of the Home Team
Nicholas von Hoffman : Higher Education
Big-money athletics cannot help but sabotage what our colleges and universities are for: instruction and research.
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Muhammad Ali: The Brand and the Man
The day The Champ turned 65 was marked by the release of a line of snack foods bearing his image. Lost in the hype was Muhammad Ali's proud history as a war resister.
2006
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Brawl in the Garden
Carmelo Anthony pays the price for the melee between the Nuggets and the Knicks, but it's NBA commissioner David Stern who should be benched.
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Nascar Values
Robert Lipsyte : Electoral Politics
The Democrats won the House and the Senate because the Republicans lost the garage. How Nascar fans helped turn the tide of the election.
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Michigan-Ohio State Fever
As the two top-ranked college teams clash on Saturday, the world stops, vote-counting is halted in a tight Congressional race and cities brace for violence.
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NBA: The Political Season
Take time out to acknowledge the return of the NBA--and the beginning of a political season of sorts for NBA players with a social conscience.
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Baseball in the Ashes
The last time the Detroit Tigers faced the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, the Motor City was literally aflame. What's evident this time is that the city never rose from the ashes.
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Saints and the Superdome
The hype-masters of sports would have us believe that the return of the New Orleans Saints to the Superdome is a sign of a city on the verge of resurrection. It's not.
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Screamin' at the Machine
Dave Zirin : Journalists & Journalism
We should be cheering at sports events and screaming at politicians. But these days, it's vice versa. Now that ESPN's Screamin' Stephen A. Smith is acting like a pundit, things could change.
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Sneakers for Social Justice?
New York Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury is getting props with a $14.98 sneaker designed to appeal to low-income kids. But the criticism he's endured over sweatshop labor shows it's hard to do good.
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Troops and Hoops
There's something unnerving about USA Basketball's motivational tactics for the 2006 world championship--encouraging players to spend time with wounded Iraq veterans, in hopes of enhancing teamwork and patriotism.
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You Can Keep the Faith
Dave Zirin : Radical Religious Right
Major League Baseball's new "Faith Days" campaign is about more than family-friendly Christian entertainment with a twist of commerce.
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Baseball Begins to Listen to Sweatshop Foes
Dave Zirin & Derek Tyner : Labor Organizing & Activism
After pressure from the local newspaper and the City Council questioning the use of sweatshop labor to create Pittsburgh Pirates regalia, Major League Baseball seems willing to listen to activists' complaints.
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World Cup: Party On
If there is any message to be gleaned from the World Cup, it is that soccer has finally shed its freight of machismo and anguish, attracting a global audience of fans who simply want to have fun.
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Hey Guys, It's Just a Game
Soccer's not for wimps, but Team America and its fans have brought a decidedly militarist mindset to the World Cup.
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The Rockies Pitch Religion
The Colorado Rockies recruit Christian players and claim God is at work on their game. Major League Baseball woos evangelicals with special "Faith Days at the Park." Something's going on here, but it has nothing to do with God.
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Ricky Williams Dreams of Canada
Former Heisman trophy winner and ganja-smoking peacenik Ricky Williams is contemplating the sweet life in the Canadian Football League. Here's hoping he finds it.
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Using Soccer to Kick Iran
Dave Zirin & John Cox : Iran
To World Cup aficionados, soccer is a beautiful game, but to ideologues in the United States and Europe, it's a convenient political weapon against Iran's nuclear ambitions. Talk about spoilsports.
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This Bud's Not for the World Cup
Nicholas von Hoffman : Corporations
Soccer fans in Germany struck a blow against US corporate blandness by turning up their noses at the notion that Budweiser is the official beer of the games.
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Bonding With the Babe
Bashing Barry Bonds has become a national sport, as the flawed slugger nears matching Babe Ruth's record. But hasn't anyone considered the faults of the Babe?
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Sacrifice Play
By selecting George Mitchell to head a steroids inquiry, Major League Baseball keeps the focus strictly on players, not on the owners who silently encourage abuse.
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The Odd Couple
Gene Seymour : Cultural Criticism & Analysis
In Sound and Fury, sportswriter Dave Kindred examines the intersecting lives of Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell.
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A Whole New Ball Game
Major League Baseball owners may gripe, but the World Baseball Classic provides a glimpse of an alternative future for our national pastime.
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Olympic Swagger
William Greider : US Foreign Policy
Swagger was America's chosen posture at the Winter Olympics. Once again, sport imitated life: boasting got us nowhere at the Turin games or in the world.
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The Olympics We Missed
The Winter Olympics are to NBC what icebergs were to the Titanic. Jingoistic, condescending coverage missed the real drama.
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The Value of a Number
Racial tensions between black and Latino players have been exposed in the ongoing controversy over how to honor Roberto Clemente.
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The Slave Side of Sunday
On the eve of the Super Bowl, former cornerback Anthony Prior raises hot-button allegations of racism in the National Football League.
2005
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A History of Violence
Munich is a first-rate spy thriller featuring an assassin who reveals his soul. Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain gives two extraordinary actors time and space to develop a rare emotional interplay. Match Point puzzles with a dirty-minded energy. And Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong is true to the Depression-era original.
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The Silencing of Carlos Delgado
The New York Mets' squelching of first baseman Carlos Delgado's longstanding protest of the war in Iraq during the seventh-inning stretch speaks volumes about how the rules of the game have changed on political dissent.
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The Fight to Save Stanley Tookie Williams
As the clock ticks down to former gang leader Stanley Tookie Williiams's scheduled execution on December 13, football great Jim Brown is helping lead the fight to convince Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to grant clemency.
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The Champ Meets the Chump
When George W. Bush met Muhammad Ali at the White House last week, the Champ had one last rope-a-dope up his sleeve. You don't have to guess who won this match.
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The Ring Cycle
When Joe Louis defeated Nazi sympathizer Max Schmeling in 1938, it was the boxing match that reverberated across the world. Three new books chronicle the match and all the racial and political turmoil of which it was an emblem.
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The Soccer Star and the President
Who is Diego Maradona, and how did a former Argentinian soccer star become the nemesis of an American President?
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Sheryl Swoopes: Out of the Closet--and Ignored
Dave Zirin : Gay & Lesbian Issues & Activism
WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes has just come out of the closet. But why didn't anyone care?
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Say It Ain't So, Big Leagues
Dave Zirin : Corporate Responsibility & Accountability
Strip-mining the Dominican Republic for talent, Major League Baseball periodically plucks one lucky boy from his home and family and gives him a dream for a better life. But what happens the other 99 left behind in "baseball factories," still hoping?
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Pat Tillman, Our Hero
War hero and former NFL star Pat Tillman was not the GI Joe icon created by Pentagon spinmeisters. He was a fiercely independent thinker convinced that the war in Iraq was illegal. Bereaved military families, also angered at Pentagon exploitation of their loved ones, are joining the critical chorus.
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Etan Thomas Rises to the Occasion
Washington Wizards power forward Etan Thomas is using his swoosh-adorned status as a sports star to speak out on the gross negligence of the Bush Administration.
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What's My Name, Fool?
The history of how social struggles have exploded onto playing fields is vibrant, thrilling and very real.
2004
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Letter From Athens
Pre-Olympics, anxious bravado prevails.Pre-Olympics, anxious bravado prevails.
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Where Are the Jocks for Justice?
Kelly Candaele & Peter Dreier : Dissent After 9/11
Cultural changes and lucrative endorsements may explain a drop in activism.
2003
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Tim Robbins vs. the Baseball Hall of Fame
Tim Robbins : Dissent After 9/11
"I had been unaware that baseball was a Republican sport."
2001
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The Shame of Boxing
Jack Newfield : Working Conditions
The fighters are powerless workers in need of rights and justice.
This week: The Nation's reporter in Georgia talks for the first time about being assaulted by Ossetian paramilitaries. Plus: Dave Zirin recaps the olympic highs and lows, Barbara Crossette considers the future for Pakistan and John Nichols and historian Adele Oltman preview the Democratic Convention in the context of Dr. Martin Luther King's dream. (13mb mp3)
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