I’ve made mistakes before and while I’m not usually the first to admit it, I’m not the last. I thought Tom Brady might be a fluke after the Patriots’ first Super Bowl win. I thought Ken Griffey Jr. would persevere over his various (even limitless) injuries. I thought Tanya Harding couldn’t have played a role in clubbing Nancy Kerrigan. And maybe worst of all, I thought Ryan Leaf would make a good professional quarterback.
Author: Twin Cities
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Gladly pitying the poor Yankees
On the 18th of June, 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte’s great army fell victim to the combined forces of the Allied Armies at the Battle of Waterloo. In 1876, Lieutenant Colonel Custer lost his life at the hands of more than 10,000 Native Americans at the Battle of Little Big Horn. And a Greek force hidden in a large wooden horse once besieged the Trojan Army.
When I was no more than 7, I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar.
From my tiptoes, I reached up my pudgy mitts and drew the jar from the cupboard. Just as I sank my teeth into the first bite, my mother came bounding into the kitchen, hearing the glass ping as I clumsily juggled the jar and the chocolate chip cookie.
I still remember the look on her face. Through the eyes of a 7-year-old, it reflected the great crime I’d committed, filled with shock and disappointment.
When I was a child, above all dreams, I fantasized about being a dump truck. Unaware of the impossibility of this aspiration, I would wait eagerly, day after day, until the great truck would grace my driveway, promising a grand future.
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Hall-worthy: remembering a great day
Me, Raffy and Greg, all the way to the Hall.
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Saying Goodbye to America’s Child
Can US Basketball Recover?
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What will Ricky be when he grows up?
A few questions for Ricky.
Athletic greatness is molded around a limited range of buzzwords. From passion and dedication to work ethic and perseverance, athletes are heralded for overcoming human shortfall and weakness, even if just momentarily.
As Ricky Williams packs up his locker in Miami and says goodbye to the world of football in favor of foreign soil and exploration, he’s openly defied the expectation.
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Tantrum University
From the masters to the mimics
Please don’t go Randy.
One of the profound speculations in sport has always been, to me, if athletic prowess were sold at Wal-Mart, in what section would it be found?
Would it be packaged among the frozen pizza in the grocery section? Would it hang beside the Wrangler jeans in the clothing isle? Could it reside amongst the candy bars and gum in the checkout lane?
Never before has this question earned more relevance than in recent weeks. As a 25-year-old accused rapist dismantles the NBA’s flagship franchise and the Yankees try to dangle a talentless farm system and a bag of money in the face of the Arizona Diamondbacks in order to lure the Big Unit to the Big Apple, talent is something to be bought, sold or swapped, not cultivated or cherished.
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A legacy with unexpected bite
Tyson takes a bite out of crime or maybe just sanity.
From Lance Armstrong’s triumph over cancer to Cal Ripken’s streak, the landscape of sports is carved with moments of purity. Whether it’s Ripken taking laps around Camden Yards, shaking every hand in his path, or it’s the U.S. Army carrying Pat Tillman’s coffin to his grave, sports figures can sometimes, momentarily, ascend above their athletic exploits and become culturally relevant.