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Give These Jersey Girls a Break
Bit by bit, I’m becoming a fan of the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights women’s basketball team and Don Imus has nothing to do with it. Blame the NCAA. Every year when they pick their field of 64 for the women’s basketball championship, the selection committee figures out a way to slight Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights…
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I Don't Do Brackets, and Here's Why.
One of the few joys of approaching the ripe age of 48 is that curmudgeonliness comes much more naturally than it used to, and I get a good strong dose of it every time the NCAA basketball tournament nears. You see, I’m a big basketball fan but I don’t do brackets. I feel my hackles…
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A Happy Ending for Barry Bonds?
Iʼm really not a happy-endings kinda guy. It could just be my crabby nature, but I figure it owes to growing up in the early ʽ70s loving American new wave cinema; movies like Dog Day Afternoon and Network gave me my passion for real-life conclusions. And I really, really donʼt like happy endings in sports.…
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New Balls: The NBA Ups Its Game
Well, no one can call the NBA the No Balls Association anymore. For years, NBA teams have been among the most risk averse in all of sports. Few players of any significance changed teams during the offseason, and the trade deadline usually meant a big swirl of rumors followed by a few peripheral players moving…
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Maybe They Cheated. So What?
Here’s what I’m rooting for after the Congressional hearings into whether Roger Clemens or Brian McNamee lied to the Mitchell Committee. I hope Congress figures out a better way to spend its time and my tax dollars. I don’t need Sen. Arlen Specter convening a committee into why New England Patriots coach illegally taped opponent’s…
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Is the NBA Losing Its Street Cred?
This weekend, when the NBA All Stars play in New Orleans, expect lots of slam dunks and other flamboyant plays that have become typical of black basketball. It’s not an ugly stereotype; it’s history. Pre-NBA, most black basketball teams played in ballrooms and were part of an evening of entertainment that often included a big…