No 'I' in Abby

July 18, 2008

Shortly after American soccer star Abby Wambach suffered an injury in a "friendly" game against Brazil on Wednesday that will likely end her Olympic career, the 28-year-old's public comments were less about her obvious disappointment and more a rallying cry for her distraught team. Wambach, the leading scorer for the U.S., broke the tibia and fibula in her left leg, and losing her is a blow to the team's chances to win another gold medal in Beijing next month.

Recent columns

• He's no Gump

  July 17, 2008

  After the UFC light-heavyweight championship fight between defending titleholder Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and challenger Forrest Griffin on July5, Griffin sent entreaties heavenward that the judges would see the fight his way. He had tried to keep Jackson, a slugger, off balance in their five-round mixed martial arts fight and dominated the second round, pounding Jackson relentlessly with fists and elbows while the two were on the mat.

• 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.

• '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.

• 'Slice' of life

  May 29, 2008

  From YouTube to network television.

• 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.

• 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.