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  • The Fall of the Mighty Celtics

    Except when Shaquille O’Neal is involved, good things happen in threes when it comes to NBA title runs. In the ’90s, the Chicago Bulls won six titles with a combination of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and a stellar rebounding forward (Horace Grant from ’91-’93 and Dennis Rodman from ’96 -’98). In the last five years,…

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  • Jazz: On the Cusp of a New Golden Age

    Jazz fans are world class in many regards, but especially when it comes to fretting. That’s not an insult; jazz lovers have good reason for concern. Despite the rise of programs like Jazz at Lincoln Center and organizations like SF Jazz and the Thelonious Monk Institute, jazz is starved for institutional support. Sales of jazz…

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  • Oakland A's Envy

    I root for both Chicago baseball teams, but I have Oakland A’s envy. I’ll bet a lot of other baseball fans suffer from the same syndrome, especially now that the A’s are one of the biggest surprises in baseball this season. It isn’t that the A’s win more than any other team. They don’t. It’s…

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  • Some Marquee Names Showing Their Age in the NBA Playoffs

    I first saw pro basketball at the end of the Bill Russell era. Every year it seemed that some team, usually the Knicks, Lakers or 76ers, were better over the course of the regular season; but the Celtics would pull it all together and have just enough mettle and savvy to eek by everyone else…

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  • NFL Draft: The Big Lie

    The NFL draft, which will dominate ESPN and ESPN2 this weekend, is one of the biggest lies in all of American sport. But it’s too much fun not to follow the results. The big lie is that the draft is the first step toward bad teams getting better. The reality is much more complex than…

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  • When The NBA Playoffs Are Hot

    Two years ago the NBA engaged in one of the best postseasons ever. One night around 2 a.m. in New York, I was still in the giddy throes of the seven hours of playoff hoops, I sent an e-mail to a dozen or so hardcore basketball fans that said something to the effect of: “isn’t…

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  • NBA Playoffs: Stop the Madness

    As we head down the final stretch of the NBA season, a time honored ritual will begin, calls to fix the playoff system. Not fix as in Tim Donaghy the crooked referee, but correct so that what is likely to happen this year won’t happen again. Everyone who follows the sport closely—and at this point…

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  • Baseball: 'The System' Says Watchout For Texas

    My friend John is one of the smartest people I know. He has degrees from two elite schools and has held high-ranking positions in both the public and private sector. Yet, when we get together to talk about baseball, he counts on his fingers. His team is good this year because on the index finger,…

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  • King: The Soundtrack

    If you liked music, then the Johnson home was the place to be in the late ’60s. My brother Phillip always had the latest Motown or Stax singles. My sister Phyllis (yes, they’re twins) played the Beatles, and the Stones, and of course Sly and the Family Stone. When he was home from college, my…

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  • The King James Version of Basketball

    LeBron James is the best player in the NBA this year and his performance towers over almost every other player by such a margin that there shouldn’t be a debate about Most Valuable Player; there should just be a coronation for the player sometimes referred to as King James. Yet there isn’t. Players like Kobe…

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