Head injury no excuse for murder/suicide
We shouldn’t speculate that a brain injury drove NFL player Jovan Belcher’s decision to kill himself and his girlfriend, says Amanda Marcotte in Slate. Domestic violence is a complex problem, she says,...
View ArticleReal men don’t get sidelined by injuries
“So long as there is pro football, there will also be players jeopardizing their health as coaches stand by and let them,” says Josh Levin in Slate. Allowing Robert Griffin III to play despite his...
View ArticleDon’t jinx team by naming it ‘Senators’
It’s “an awfully melancholy commentary on the current state of our public attitudes” that for a professional sports team to have a chance at being “loveable,” it shouldn’t be named the Senators, says...
View ArticleWhat Congress can learn from basketball coaches
At the close of an exciting basketball season, Warren Roberts wonders on his TU blog what Congress can learn about teamwork from watching the San Antonio Spurs.
View ArticleThe NFL’s billion-dollar welfare scam
“Of all the major sports, stadiums in the NFL have received the largest percentage of taxpayer funding at 68 percent,” says Sean Conboy in Pittsburgh Magazine. Although sports stadiums do little to...
View ArticlePaycheck kills love for game
“Baseball is visceral, tragic and absurd, with only fleeting moments of happiness; it may be the best representation of life,” says Adrian Cardenas in The New Yorker. But he quit the sport because the...
View ArticleNFL’s gangster image
The Miami Dolphins’ suspension of Richie Incognito “isn’t about the wussifcation of football,” says Sally Jenkins in The Washington Post. It’s about the NFL’s attempt to change an image “that Incognito...
View ArticleMore attention to sports concussions
Our opinion: Increased awareness about sports concussions is encouraging; the concern needs to extend to community and recreational venues. Since New York state enacted the Concussion Management and...
View ArticleSports have long been first in championing minorities
Before minorities were integrated into schools and everyday life, they were playing on competitive sports teams, says Timothy Egan in The New York Times. And the NBA’s decision to permanently ban a...
View ArticleModerate exercise, extreme nutrition
“Unless you’re in danger of overdosing on exercise, don’t eat like it,” writes Jill Richardson for Other Words. While many high-intensity athletes turn to products marketed especially for them, such as...
View ArticleCompetition unbecoming
It’s natural in sports to take sides. But just whose side is the New York State Public High School Athletic Association on? Under the guise of fair play, NYSPHSAA plans to no longer allow certain...
View ArticlePut sports funds toward schools
I am offended by the tactic of putting a million-dollar sports complex as the top priority for Albany’s public schools. This was portrayed as tax free. It’s not. Taxes are going up yet again, and there...
View ArticleA fantasy in sports land
Let’s call the fantasy sports phenomenon for what it is: gambling. And right now, that gambling is unregulated. You may love your imaginary team and may even have made some money at this burgeoning...
View ArticleClean Power Plan helps winter sports in state
As the executive director of Protect Our Winters and a representative of the winter sports and tourism industry, I was deeply disappointed by Rep. Chris Gibson’s vote to dismantle the Clean Power Plan....
View ArticleDo we really need more gambling?
Thanks to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for recognizing the tradition daily fantasy sports companies endeavor to uphold: Manufacturing confusion about the law in order to operate beyond it. In...
View ArticleVeteran of locker rooms finds words ‘deplorable’
I coached 23 seasons of high school sports and participated in sports until I was well into my 40s, and I never heard what has been called “locker room” banter in any locker room. The only word I can...
View ArticleSports section a refuge from ugliness of politics
I enjoy reading a newspaper the old-fashioned way, with a real newspaper in hand. But more and more this election season, I found much of the joy overshadowed by the downward spiral I would experience...
View ArticleSports promise remains
After hosting minor league hockey for the past 24 years, Albany is losing its franchise. But fans of live sports still have a lot to enjoy here, and there’s much in the works to attract plenty of new,...
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