Rex, Rex … what are we going to do with you?

CHICAGO, IL -- The economy? We can fix that. The war in Iraq? Yeah, we’ll figure that out. Rex Grossman’s inability to hit receivers? Not even Barack Obama is up to tackling that challenge. But how did this happen? How does a man go from being a first round draft pick and a Super Bowl quarterback [read more...]

How do you spell d-y-n-a-s-t-y?

When the Scripps National Spelling Bee comes to ESPN/ABC at the end of the month, I expect to feel numb -- almost stung. It's been over 22 years since I heard that cacophonous bell during the St. Theresa school spelling bee. I felt paralyzed. I ruined my shot at the three-peat, which would have culminated with four [read more...]

Giant Deer in Headlights

If you've ever driven through Wisconsin late at night, you know all too well to watch out for the single greatest danger to drivers on twisting, turning, single-lane roads. No, it's not drunken Cheeseheads bombed out of their sausage-lined skulls on Jaegermeister and Leinenkugel - though that is a real danger. Rather, it is the innocent deer that wanders into [read more...]

Open Letter to Seattle: Responding to the NFL Referee Issue

Milton Friedman, who is essentially the father of modern economics, is - naturally - a proponent of free markets. And in this modern age of government reliance, he often finds himself straddling a line between supporting a pure free market approach, or ceding some to the populace, and acknowledging that an ounce of governmental oversight might be helpful. So what does [read more...]

Seattle Should Play Poker, and Forget a Bad Beat

If you own a television set, and inhabit the United States, it's likely you've seen Greg Raymer about as much as you've seen Oprah. I certainly have, as I find that watching long hours of poker on TV is remarkably beneficial for my social life. Not only is the time I spend useful in separating me from society during worthless social [read more...]

Super Bowl Refs Steal Seahawks Show

For those who wish to believe the outcry regarding the complete trashing the referees handed Seattle yesterday is overdone - already crying foul are Michael Wilbon, Skip Bayless, Jason Whitlock, Michael Smith, and many others (check out Slate.com) - consider the immensity of the response had this happened to Pittsburgh. Well, you don't have to. We already saw it. And that's [read more...]

Hart Surgery: The Law of Diminishing Returns

How long ago was it when Boston fans were supposed to be some of the longest suffering on the planet? Seems like forever. Whatever bad karma they were suffering from the Babe is long gone. With their most recent Super Bowl win, Boston has now joined the city of Pittsburgh as the only two cities in the past 25 years [read more...]

Hart Surgery: You Da Man(ning)

Sports fans love labels. Golf fans love to figure out which guy is the Best Player Never To Win A Major. Boxing fans argue who is the best Pound-For-Pound Fighter in The World. Badminton fans talk about…actually badminton fans don't have time to label anything, they are too busy trying to keep people from laughing at them for playing a sport featuring the term [read more...]

Hart Surgery: Seventh Heaven

Well, I suppose I should have kept my mouth shut about these NBA playoffs. A week after declaring this year's version the worst I'd ever seen, we saw two of the best games in playoff history. First the Lakers amazing win over the Spurs in Game 5 out West. I know I talked about it last week, but I cannot stress enough how big [read more...]

ENOUGH!

The "Bartman Baseball" was blown up Thursday. The Today Show was in town to feature the event, which was televised around the nation. The promoters even brought an in "Oscar-winning special effects man" to perform the deed. Major League Baseball players are universally puzzled by the widespread fascination over this horsehide albatross. Meanwhile, entertainment promoters everywhere are wondering whether Babe Ruth's [read more...]

Better Than Bringing a Gun to School

I have a feeling that someday I will be retiring to Europe or Canada, someplace where America's hypocritical attitudes won't bother me as much. The latest needless uproar concerns a 12-year-old kid who apparently has been suspended for bringing a copy of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition to his school in Belpre, West Virginia. Sixth-grader Justin Reyes was suspended for three days [read more...]

Setting Examples

If there is one thing that makes me sick about America is our hypocrisy. On the one hand, this country has an obsession in overprotecting our kids, wringing our hands over what children are watching (like the Janet Jackson breast on Super Bowl Sunday) while refusing to take any responsibility for paying attention to what the children are watching ourselves or, [read more...]

Hart Surgery: The Politics of Football

There are two giant events taking place this week, the Super Bowl and the New Hampshire Primary. In terms of media coverage, the two events strike me as exceedingly similar. Both consist of media types scrambling desperately to spin straw into gold, hoping something remotely abnormal will happen to report on but usually coming up empty. Generally, both usually fail to provide much in [read more...]

CSR View: One Long Week

There were no doubt millions of people who, at around 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 25, wondered what to do. Instead of seeing Cats and Pats in the world's most anticipated sporting event, the nation, and the world, was forced to wait a whole extra week for the Super Bowl. The two-week delay between the conference title games and Super [read more...]

Hart Surgery: On Martha and the Masters

Last week I wrote a column about the state of women in sports. In it, I refused to touch the subject of Martha Burk and the Masters. I was chicken. A frightened little boy. I have seen the liht though, and today I am prepared to comment.I was dead wrong about Martha Burk. Boy was I wrong. "Mr. Deeds looks [read more...]

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