I have written for SportsColumn.com since 2004 and was named a featured writer in 2006. I have been Co-Editor of the site since January 1, 2009. I also write for BleacherReport.com where I am a founding member of the Tennis Roundtable and one of the chief contributors to both the Tennis and Horse Racing sections.
I am "Stat Boy" for Sportscolumn.com's weekly podcast, Poor Man's PTI.
I am currently a Junior at Rice University majoring in History and Medieval Studies. My senior thesis will focus on the desegregation of football in Texas and its affect of racial relations.
Please direct all inquiries to [email protected].
Thanks,
Burton DeWitt
Co-Editor of Sportscolumn.com
As expected, Dennis Franchione stepped down Friday night after Texas A&M’s regular season finale, a 38-30 upset of the rival Texas Longhorns. But before he did, he made sure that anyone who had not been paying attention knew that he was still the biggest scumbag in collegiate athletics since Dave Bliss.
Franchione was approached by ABC camera crews right after the conclusion of the game and was asked a few questions. His response to the final question was anything but shocking.
If I’m to believe a recent survey, and I’m not, then 20 percent of sports fans believe that their actions influence their team’s performance. Do you know how silly that sounds? One-in-five think that they have an impact on the game?
Firstly, only one-in-five admits this; I know an additional one-in-five are too embarrassed about it and another one-in-five can’t mention it because speaking about it would jinx their team. And secondly, we don’t think that we alter the event; we know it.
Roger Goodell sent a message Thursday: if you get in trouble off the field, pray that the New York Post isn’t delivered to NFL offices; if you are caught cheating during a game, eh, no biggie.
Allegations arose Monday that the New England Patriots, winners of three of the last six Super Bowls, had been caught videotaping New York Jets’ defensive signals during the Patriots’ 38-14 win Sunday afternoon. After confiscating the tapes and issuing a private investigation, Goodell confirmed that the allegations were true.
Before you look to see “Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32” on this list, let me state that I predicted Michigan to win by 10 (41-31) in a game that I believed the Mountaineers to have a tremendous opportunity to win if Michigan came out flat. I didn’t think they would win, but I was by no means totally surprised. I was surprised, but not overwhelmed.
I saw weakness in the Michigan defense and I knew that Appalachian State had a D-1-caliber offense. The only thing that surprised me was how well the Appalachian State defense held up for most of the game.
That said, here are the 25 most surprising sporting occurrences of the last 25 years according to me.
Oh, by the way, I was wearing my Appalachian State shirt during the game at the official Ohio State alumni bar of Houston. A lot of people offered to buy me a drink after the game.
Steve Spurrier should have been fired. Immediately. Without pay. You would have been if it were you.
Yet Spurrier, who in his elevated god-like status in the SEC, is somehow above the law. Spurrier can come out and speak out in public against the policies of his school and threaten to leave if they’re not changed, and his boss changes the policies to placate him.
I have tried to hold back. God knows I’ve tried. But this has gone too far.
Earlier this year, the University of Florida announced that it would add women’s lacrosse to its array of varsity sports by the end of the decade. This came after a lengthy study by the University Athletic Association to determine what sport, if any, should be added.
It’s hard to remember a time when the World Series was important, when the World Series defined American life.
At one point, the World Series was an autumn standard, as routine as changing the clocks for daylight savings time.
Sunday’s Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix brought back memories that nobody in the sport would actually admit it brought back.
While Lewis Hamilton won the race to become the first black driver to ever win an F1 event, it was overshadowed by the horrific crash of Poland’s Robert Kubica on lap 27. Luckily, Kubica, who’s car came apart and rolled a half dozen times while he was still in it, was alright, suffering merely a broken foot.
He’s lucky because if Ayrton Senna, arguably the greatest driver of all time, hadn’t died 13 years ago, Kubica could have died too.
No professional athlete perhaps ever has dominated his or her sport as completely as Esther Vergeer has.
Vergeer, who is from the Netherlands and only got her first English-language Wikipedia page on Feb. 1, has not lost a match in wheelchair singles tennis since the end of January.
No, not the end of January, 2007, or even 2006, 2005, or 2004. Esther Vergeer has not lost a wheelchair singles match since January 2003. And she’s lost only one since the beginning of 2001.
For Coppin State’s baseball team, the NCAA tournament was never the goal.
After an offseason that featured its head coach resigning mid-summer to pursue a different career and all but three players quitting because of an alleged letter that Guy Robertson, the resigned coach, sent to convince the players to quit too, to an athletic budget that makes it a burden to purchase baseballs, the NCAA tournament was more than that clichéd dream from occurring. And no, they didn’t make the tournament, because you would have heard the story by now if they had.