Losing by a neck

June 27, 2008

If recently released Houston Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon's career is over, the Orioles will go down as the last entry on his pitching resume.

Recent columns

• 'Melo out

  June 25, 2008

  Carmelo Anthony - and his fans - have been here before.

• Team USA: big names, big questions

  June 24, 2008

  So the question is this: Can this Team USA beat Argentina? Or Puerto Rico? Or Lithuania?

• Minus Woods, golf will just putter along

  June 20, 2008

  There's a lot of justifiable hand-wringing going on among those associated with golf that without Tiger Woods, the profile index of the PGA Tour will slip to something approximating that of pro bowling or curling.

• Waste pitch

  June 18, 2008

  Not surprisingly, the first casualties of the major league season came from a couple of franchises that were underachieving, the Seattle Mariners and the New York Mets.

• Golfers hold nothing back in thriller

  June 17, 2008

  The comparisons between journeyman pro golfer Rocco Mediate and film myth Rocky Balboa are inescapable after yesterday's epic battle in the U.S. Open between the likable 45-year-old and Tiger Woods coming down to a sudden-death finish on the 91st hole.

• Called out

  June 12, 2008

  No matter how the Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals turn out, the forensic investigation by NBA observers will undoubtedly focus on officiating. Granted, it makes zero sense that anyone in a striped shirt would do anything but call an absolutely honest game at this point. But the public is still going to wonder and question.

• Doubled off

  June 11, 2008

  Two rare baseball phenomena are on course to happen so far this season, but, like asteroids that come hurtling into Earth's part of the galaxy, they are unlikely to hit the mark.

• Belmont bust

  June 10, 2008

  Unless something comes up in scientific testing to explain Big Brown's sluggish run in the Belmont Stakes, the reasons the colt, who was a favorite to end the 30-year Triple Crown drought, couldn't deliver are likely to remain a mystery.

• Grass greener?

  June 6, 2008

  My friends, today's homily is one of those life-lesson tales about frying pans and fires.

• Card tricks

  June 5, 2008

  The 39th World Series of Poker got going in earnest Friday, and perhaps the most common question pondered about the game is this:

• Big shots

  June 4, 2008

  As shots go, the ones provided by the Pittsburgh Penguins' Max Talbot and Petr Sykora on Monday night were shots in the arm for the NHL in general, even if they left the Detroit Red Wings smarting.

• Fight club

  June 3, 2008

  I was one of the 4 million or so folks who watched the mixed martial arts prime-time coming-out party on CBS on Saturday night. From a purely ratings point of view, the telecast was a mixed bag for the network and perhaps for the sport, in general.

• 'Slice' of life

  May 29, 2008

  From YouTube to network television.

• 'Slice' of life

  May 29, 2008

  A year ago, Slice was a virtual unknown in the world of professional athletics. On the most recent issue of ESPN the Magazine, he's on the cover.

• Dutrow making hay

  May 23, 2008

  Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. is certainly making the most of his Andy Warhol 15 minutes. Already courting notoriety with admissions that he uses stanozolol (a steroid) on his horses and with boasts that Japanese-trained Casino Drive - presumed to be Big Brown's most formidable challenger in the Belmont Stakes - is facing "Godzilla," Dutrow was laying it on thick this week.

• NFL's rookie pay scale out of whack

  May 22, 2008

  The ink hadn't quite dried yet on rookie quarterback Matt Ryan's record-setting contract with the Atlanta Falcons - six years, $72 million with nearly $35 million guaranteed - when a couple of NFL veterans chimed in with a familiar complaint: Why all this money for a guy who hasn't proved he can do squat in the league?

• Labor daze

  May 21, 2008

  NFL owners, meeting in Atlanta, voted unanimously yesterday to opt out of the collective bargaining agreement they signed with the players union in 2006. This would mean that the NFL would conduct its business with no changes for 2008 and 2009. There would be substantial changes in 2010.

• Media miscue

  May 17, 2008

  Over the past few years, sports journalism has become as ripe a topic for discussion as the games and sports personalities the journalists cover.

• Deal Barkley out

  May 16, 2008

  Charles Barkley is a Las Vegas kind of guy - something he's not shy about.

• Spy games

  May 15, 2008

  Now that Matt Walsh has finally told his story, I feel that the right thing to do is to come clean about something.

• Mild West

  May 13, 2008

  Granted, sports are supposed to represent the ultimate meritocracy - may the best team win and all - but if the NBA Western Conference finals wind up being the Utah Jazz against the New Orleans Hornets, the TV ratings will be so puny you'll be able to count viewers by a show of hands.

• Clothes call

  May 9, 2008

  Even folks who aren't much into hockey should try to watch some of ESPN's NHL playoff coverage over the next few weeks. And I'm not trying to pump up the ratings for the ever-expanding Evil Empire of sports news - the self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader - but rather the recommendation is offered because it will be an opportunity to catch Don Cherry, the colorful - literally - announcer and commentator who helps anchor Hockey Night in Canada.

• MVP award shows Bryant's true value to Lakers

  May 7, 2008

  The last time I saw Kobe Bryant play in person, he was still in high school. Lower Merion High in the Philadelphia suburbs.

• Pall of tragedy, worry looms over Preakness

  May 6, 2008

  Horse industry statistics tell us that the chances of a fatality for a racehorse breaking from a starting gate are less than 1 in 500.

• Hold pattern

  May 2, 2008

  Talk about your TV timeouts.

• 1983 draft class one to treasure -- except in Baltimore

  April 25, 2008

  Tomorrow's draft will mark the 25th anniversary of what, in my opinion, was the greatest NFL draft of all time - except in a few places, notably in Baltimore.

• Top first-round flops

  April 24, 2008

  In some cases, they were simply bad players. In others, they were bad people. And some of them just had bad, bad luck. But whatever the reason, here is a team-by-team rundown of each NFL franchise's all-time worst first-round draft pick.

• 'Green Room' drama often compelling TV

  April 23, 2008

  One of the terrifically dramatic subplots of the NFL draft is the now-famous "Green Room."

• Leading lady

  April 22, 2008

  In her 50th race, Danica Patrick, the speed world's golden girl, had a golden ride.

• McNair courageous, but Hall will be tough call

  April 18, 2008

  In discussing Steve McNair yesterday, cornerback Samari Rolle referred to the retiring quarterback as Hall of Fame timber.

• Kiper says Ravens should target QB

  April 17, 2008

  Mel Kiper Jr., who has been plumbing the mysteries of the NFL's annual rite of passage from boola-boola to the pros for more than 25 years, really wants the Ravens to pick a quarterback in the NFL draft.

• Germantown's Lee a competitive eating force at 105 pounds

  April 16, 2008

  In New Orleans over the weekend, people were flexing their gullets for the Acme World Oyster Eating championship where the winner was a young man from Chicago, Patrick Bertoletti.

• Ochoa dominating in Woods-like way

  April 15, 2008

  While Tiger Woods' quest for a Grand Slam was nipped in the bud by South African Trevor Immelman at the Masters, a much more quiet supremacy continued elsewhere in the golf world.

• Dying flame?

  April 11, 2008

  Yesterday, a reader of my blog, reacting to an item I wrote about the pea-and-shell game that San Francisco city officials played with the Olympic torch Wednesday, posed this question:

• Even bettor

  April 10, 2008

  There are many measures of Tiger Woods' domination of his sport but none more compelling or convincing as this: As a betting proposition, playing against nearly 90 of the best golfers in the world, Woods is just about an even-money wager to win the Masters beginning today.

• Kansas thriller rivals top wins of past

  April 9, 2008

  The three-point basket by Kansas' Mario Chalmers with two seconds left that forced overtime and paved the way for the Jayhawks' 75-68 win against Memphis for the national title Monday night is the latest example of why the NCAA men's basketball tournament has become an exhilarating spectacle.

• O's should emulate Caps' rebuilding effort

  April 8, 2008

  The fortunes of the Washington Capitals might mean little to many sports fans in Baltimore, other than NHL enthusiasts, but the lesson of their season should not be lost on anyone who follows this town's teams - especially the Orioles.

• Quick kickoff

  April 4, 2008

  For former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry, judgment came swiftly after he was charged with assault and criminal damaging after allegedly throwing a bottle and smashing the window of a car belonging to an 18-year-old college student and punching out the kid Monday night.

• Lewis could test Harbaugh's authority

  April 3, 2008

  In yesterday's Sun, Ravens beat writer Jamison Hensley had a that finally lays to rest some of the lingering questions about the end of the Brian Billick era in Baltimore and helps fans better understand what Bisciotti expects out of his team's leader, the coach.

• A real ace

  February 23, 2008

  Twenty years ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers' Orel Hershiser put together one of the greatest seasons by a pitcher. In 1988, Hershiser was 23-8 with eight shutouts and a 2.26 ERA in the regular season and, in six postseason games, he threw nearly 43 innings, going 3-0 with a save and an ERA of 1.05.

• All bets are off around the track

  May 24, 2007

  In the day when places like Pimlico, Hialeah and Santa Anita bustled with the sporting crowd, the racetrack was where gamblers opened their wallets to flirt with Lady Luck.