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May 28, 2007

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Michael Jordan was once asked to speak out against the reactionary senator from North Carolina, Jesse Helms, and provide an endorsement for Helms’ rival in the race, a civil rights leader named Harvey Gantt. He responded, “Republicans buy sneakers too.” That glib response was similar to his ostrich-head-in-the-sand response to Nike’s Asian sweatshop scandal. And he remained close-mouthed on the issue of gun control when his father was tragically shot. LeBron James, often seen as Jordan’s successor in terms of basketball skills and marketability, was put in a similar position recently when asked to sign an open letter to the...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 10:33 PM

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May 16, 2007

David Stern, Strict Constructionist

In what was probably the most highly anticipated and now definitely, closely watched playoff series in the NBA postseason, the Suns and the Spurs continued to try to settle the great basketball debate: Does Offense or Defense win playoff games? Now, while it’s acknowledged that teams that play tough defense are often unfairly accused of dirty play (see: NY Knicks during the Pat Riley years), the San Antonio Spurs have crossed a line. The fouls are no longer clean, hard fouls; they are unjustifiably vicious. Yet Bruce Bowen’s knee to Nash’s groin in Game 3 went practically unpunished. Bizarrely, that...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 11:12 PM

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May 9, 2007

Nash’s Nose, Brady’s Hair

Entirely too many words are given over to debating the superficial in sports (and subjects beyond), but in this eventful week for issues tangentially related to sports stars, Steve Nash’s nose and Brady Quinn’s haircut seemed to warrant at least a minor note. (For those looking for a reprieve from the infamous Yankee-cap seen atop a Patriot QB’s head, you’ll find it here – that is not the Brady referenced in this edition of this column.) Brady Quinn, former Notre Dame QB and a Cleveland Browns’ draft pick, was publicly chastised by fellow former ND QB Joe Theismann who was...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 11:22 PM

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January 29, 2007

Barbaro (April 29, 2003—January 29, 2007): Death of a Champion

Today, after a long and courageous fight following a broken leg sustained during the 2006 Preakness, Barbaro was euthanized. The Kentucky Derby champion, who, arguably, had showed the most promise of any horse since Secretariat and was widely expected to take the Triple Crown, had hung on for eight months, despite the pessimistic prognosis of his veterinarians. Dreams of being the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 were cut short when, a mere hundred yards into the race, Barbaro pulled up lame. While in the past this would have resulted in immediately putting the horse down, Barbaro’s owners...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 11:47 PM

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December 30, 2006

You? It Should’ve Been Me

"In the harsh climate of the 24/7 media, in which gossip and controversy are so much more newsworthy than real news, people forget." -UK Prime Minister Tony Blair TIME Magazine’s annual Person of the Year issue hit newsstands recently and readers were intrigued to discover that they’d each been named. At first blush, this felt akin to the competitions entered into by children – “you’re all winners today, there are no losers” a grown-up would happily, breathlessly declare so as to spare the kids from the traumatic experience of losing out in the grade school talent show. And then, there...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 1:04 PM

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December 27, 2006

A Champion without a Ring

Allen Iverson. The name, instantly recognizable amongst basketball fans the world over, strikes fear into the hearts of defenders. The man stands barely six feet tall –diminutive by NBA standards. Those who see him in “real life” are often stunned by his small stature. That someone of his height made it in the NBA is in itself remarkable. That he’s become one of the greatest players of all time, someone to be mentioned in the same breath as the contenders for “greatest NBA player of all time” – the Abdul-Jabbars, the Jordans, the Birds, and the like – is nothing...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 12:48 PM

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October 12, 2006

Cory Fulton Lidle 1972-2006

In a shocking and sad turn of events, eerily reminiscent of Thurman Munson in 1979, the Yankees lost one of their own to a plane crash. Cory Lidle died when the plane he was flying crashed into a building on Manhattan's Upper East Side. He will be fondly remembered by his teammates and fans....

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 9:21 PM

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September 8, 2006

From Dominant to Third Place

Sports are often allegorical events, reflecting the political climate of the day, acting as a proxy for our political angst. In the early 1980s, Britain and Argentina went to war over the Falkland Islands. In 1986, Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal amplified the bad blood between the nations. And in 1998, a second World Cup match introduced another level of ill-will. To this day, the English feel a certain amount of animosity towards the Argentineans, sports and war the cause in equal measure. Thomas Friedman asserts in his most recent book, “The World is Flat”, that other countries are beginning...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 6:41 PM

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May 21, 2006

A Sad Day in the Sporting World

It is possible that in years to come, May 20, 2006 will be remembered for two sporting tragedies. In the obvious tragedy, Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro fractured his right hind leg no more than 100 yards into the Preakness Stakes. For a horse that had, prior to the race, borne so much promise, it was heartbreaking to watch Barbaro obediently pulling up when commanded by his capable jockey, Edgar Prado, attempting to support his weight on only 3 legs. His hind leg clearly in serious pain he cautiously lifted and dropped his leg while waiting on the track for the...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 7:09 PM

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May 14, 2006

The Quality of Punditry

Having recently read Moneyball, the excellent book by Liar’s Poker author Michael Lewis, it struck me that the biggest theme that came to the fore and was then underscored in the afterword, was that those self-appointed baseball geniuses who feel most qualified to comment on the game were probably those who were in fact the least well-informed and the least likely to embrace the true reasons behind why the outcome of the game was as it was. A prime example of this was the portrayal of Joe Morgan, the longtime baseball commentarist, as a pundit who believed anything he said...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 5:38 PM

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March 12, 2006

Jerry Colangelo, Are You Watching This?

It was just another night in Philadelphia. Under the Friday night lights at the Wachovia Center, Allen Iverson dropped 47 points and a dozen assists on the Washington Wizards, helping boost his team to victory. In doing so he became the player with the fifth highest number of 40+ point games during his career. As Iverson turned himself into the human highlight reel – Dominique who? – he faked out defenders with moves so electrifying and clever they fell over and nearly broke their ankles in trying to predict his next step. His ball-handling skills were beyond compare, as he...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 6:23 PM

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February 19, 2006

All Apologies

It now emerges that Vice President Dick Cheney’s first words to shooting victim Harry Whittington were, “Harry, I had no idea you were there.” The Vice President, at long last, spoke publicly about last weekend’s hunting accident in an interview on FOX News. Despite the regrets he offered up, there was less a sense of mea culpa and more a sense of self-pity. Though the words he spoke professed sorrow and remorse over the incident, his contrite words lacked sincerity, and it was clear to the viewer that the interview was transparently orchestrated to conjure up an image of a...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 10:27 AM

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January 9, 2006

Younger Vick Fails to Strike a Conciliatory Note

In what marked an unceremonious end to a turbulent career at Virginia Tech, Marcus Vick, younger brother of NFL star Michael Vick, was dismissed from the Hokies program. Coach Frank Beamer delivered the news to Vick and his mother on Friday, following an incident at the Gator Bowl in which Vick appeared to stomp on the calf of an opposing player, Elvis Dumervil. The incident was merely the last in a series that marred Vick’s tenure at the university and included legal problems off the field (drug possession and license suspensions amongst these) and problems on the field (in a...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 11:20 PM

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December 20, 2005

In Pursuit of Perfection

If last season (2004-05) was the year of the quarterback, this season has been the year of one quarterback - Peyton Manning. Other quarterbacks who were stellar last season, failed to live up to the lofty standards they set: Daunte Culpepper's Vikings ran aground with their cruise, Donovan McNabb's Eagles struggled with the TO distraction and McNabb's injuries brought them hurtling to the ground, Michael Vick's Falcons failed to soar, Brett Favre's season has been stifled by major injuries to the Packers' roster and some bizarre bad luck (an interloper managed to run out onto the field and grab the...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 8:06 AM

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October 22, 2005

All That Glitters…

The debate regarding the forthcoming NBA dress code rages on, with David Stern expanding the new rules to include jewelry. As if the mandatory business suits hadn’t already drawn the ire of the players, the new restrictions regarding jewelry were bound to add to the controversy. Stephen Jackson (Indiana Pacers) was one of the first to speak up on the subject. Mr. Jackson’s view was an interesting one—he actually supported a dress code insofar as it applied to actual clothing; metallic accessories, he felt, were off limits. Mr. Jackson, in reference to the impending ban on bling, claimed it...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 5:39 PM

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October 15, 2005

Vox Stern, Vox Dei

The NBA (read: Commissioner David Stern) has decided that in order to counteract what appears to be a rapidly deteriorating image associated with the game, a dress code should be instituted both on and off the court. Naturally, this has sparked no small amount of controversy as players and pundits alike weigh in on both sides of the issue. The motivations behind the dress code and specifics of the new rules themselves, which are slated to take effect at the start of the regular season, are largely the stuff of speculation at the moment, and the rumors that are...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 10:32 PM

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October 11, 2005

The Packers and The Saints

After the immediate concerns resulting from Hurricane Katrina’s savage assault on New Orleans were dealt with—i.e. sheltering those who lost their homes, providing food to the hungry, and so forth—the secondary focus shifted to finding solutions for long term problems. One of many such issues was where the New Orleans Saints’ new home would be for the 2005-06 season. Millions watched on TV as the Louisiana Superdome, site of six Superbowls and home to those escaping theirs during the hurricane, was battered by the storm. New Orleans has hosted nine Superbowls, more than any other city, and the loss...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 5:41 PM

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October 7, 2005

Ending the Curse – Will this be the Year of the Championship Sox?

“It ain’t over till it’s over.” –Yogi Berra The Boston Red Sox certainly proved that last year, coming back from three games down in the ALCS to take the pennant from the New York Yankees. And the Yankees proved that this year, recovering from a disastrous start and many mediocre performances to end the regular season atop the AL East. The focus in the American League this year has been the Yankees and the Red Sox—partly thanks to the longstanding rivalry, partly thanks to last year’s theatrics, partly thanks to the hotly contested playoff berths in the AL. And this...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 10:53 PM

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September 30, 2005

So it wasn’t quite a home game…

OK, so it wasn’t ideal. By edict of NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue the New Orleans Saints played their first home game of the season at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey—admittedly, this was hardly their “home”. Everyone called it a Saints home game, but it clearly wasn’t. The Saints dressed in the visitors’ locker room and while there were some Saints fans in attendance, it’s nothing like having scores of thousands of your own fans. But nothing about that situation was ideal—the destruction and death and displacement wrought by Katrina brought difficulties that the NFL, least, of all...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 8:21 PM

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September 21, 2005

Hiding behind Horatio

The US Open entered its second week on Labor Day and in the midst of the American onslaught in the draw, a 25-year old tennis player named James Blake continued his incredible run. Blake’s story is a compelling one due to its classic “guy overcomes tragedy to succeed” storyline. By now you’ve doubtless heard the salient points of this gripping story – Blake was afflicted with scoliosis as a child which required him to spend the majority of the day strapped into a back brace; about a year and a half ago he ran into a net post and fractured...

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Posted by Sam Clemens at 7:27 PM

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