A poster for a Rafael Nadal-Novak Djokovic exhibition match in Saudi Arabia that never happened. What role if any did the murder of dissident Saudi Arabian Jamal Khashoggi, which took place two months before the scheduled match, play in its cancella… — A poster for a Rafael Nadal-Novak Djokovic exhibition match in Saudi Arabia that never happened. What role if any did the murder of dissident Saudi Arabian Jamal Khashoggi, which took place two months before the scheduled match, play in its cancellation?

Why we just can't 'stick to sports'

November 15, 2019

As someone who has been a cultural writer for almost 40 years and writes this sports/culture blog, I was not surprised to hear that the acting editor in chief of Deadspin, Barry Petchesky, was fired by the sports website’s new management for not “sticking to sports” in the site’s content. (The rest of the staff resigned.)

True to NFL life

April 26, 2016

Whenever I wonder just how true my upcoming novel “The Penalty for Holding” is about the NFL, I encounter a story that reestablishes my equilibrium.

Such a story is contained in John Branch’s “In Manziel, a Draft Machine’s Human Cost.” It’s a by-now-familiar tale – the rise and fall of a big-time college football star. Johnny Manziel, aka “Johnny Football” – who won the Heisman Trophy as the best college player when he was a freshman quarterback at Texas A&M – was the main event in the 2014 NFL Draft, the 2016 version of which gets underway Thursday, April 28. ...

The second coming of Tim Tebow

April 20, 2015

Lightning-rod former quarterback-turned-commentator Tim Tebow is back in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles. Let the snark commence.

“Why the Hell is (Eagles’ head coach) Chip Kelly signing Tim Tebow?” Drew Magary opined on Deadspin.

He went on to list some “working theories” – all of them unkind, some of them funny as Hades, although calling Tebow a “Jesus loon” is beyond the pale. Why drag Jesus into it?

Perhaps because where Tebow is concerned, fans don’t know where sports leave off and religion begins. He – and we – are all of a piece, the product of our entire experience. Tebow happens to be a devout Christian who wears his devotion on his football sleeve. He has also been a highly successful if unorthodox quarterback. Those two things rub many fans the wrong way and blind them to the idea that some people succeed seemingly in spite of themselves, because they bring intangibles to the game, like character and great leadership.

But his unorthodoxy as a running quarterback with a peculiar throwing motion and his Christian fervor are precisely what many love about Tebow. Still, they in turn may also be blinded – to the notion that the response to Tebow, particularly by the media, is disproportionate to his NFL accomplishments.

I say that’s not Tebow’s fault. I say that the guy took the Denver Broncos all the way to the playoffs despite bosses who had no faith in him. (That means you, John Elway.) I say he was never given a chance with the New York Jets by then-head coach Rex Ryan. (How funny is it that Tebow will be reunited on the Eagles with ex-Jet QB Mark Sanchez.)

I say the gridiron, like the Lord, works in mysterious ways and that not everyone can be Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. (Should it surprise anyone that the snark for Tebow was immediately followed by dumping on Colin Kaepernick? Why must everyone come out of a cookie cutter? Why can’t these guys be themselves?) ...

The NFL’s new conduct policy: You’ll need a scorecard

December 11, 2014

The NFL has announced its new conduct policy, and frankly, I’d rather study nuclear physics or the tax code.

The penalties will be tougher for violations, of course, including domestic violence. But they won’t be implemented by commish Roger Goodell, even though the NFL will rely more on policing itself. No, there will be a special counsel to implement the conduct code, which goes into effect immediately even though the special counsel has yet to be appointed.

And there’s a new conduct committee as well, made up of owners, among others. I guess the committee will help implement the policy, which the players’ union didn’t see before the announcement. The union was a little miffed about that, as unions are wont to be.

Does anyone else’s head ache? What a load of hooey: The NFL is taking on more policing of its own organization, which it should’ve done in the first place, but Goodell – who is in effect the NFL’s CEO, as in chief executive officer, as in the person who chiefly executes – can’t implement the policy. You need three more layers of bureaucracy. Geez Louise, this makes Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner who immediately canned the bigoted misanthrope Donald Sterling, look like Eliot Ness. ...