Ballin’ Mayoral Candidates

Two former NBAers are vying for the mayoralties of two of America’s largest cities. In Detroit, former Piston Dave Bing just picked up the endorsement of the Free Press, and in Seattle former Sonic and Washington State Cougar James Donaldson announced his candidacy.
Obviously, it’s Bing who, if victorious, has the toughest, most impossible job ahead:
Detroit’s [...]

Politics Invades Euro Hoops

What happens when you spice the European basketball championships with some Baltic hostilities?
First the Lithuanians threatened to walk off the court for good with two minutes to play because of suspicions about the refereeing, then the third-place Croats did walk off the medal stand and out of the arena just before their former countrymen, the [...]

Demise of the Activist-Athlete

A thought-provoking quote from Celtics guard Ray Allen on LeBron James:
“Mike (Michael Jordan) paved the way for all of us to open up the endorsement door. But the one thing that Mike never was is political. I think in today’s era, the NBA player has an even greater podium if he chooses to use it. [...]

More Presidential Predictions

He’s now forecasting the NBA Finals: it’ll be Cavs-Lakers.
Obama’s NCAA bracket revealed his risk-aversion when it comes to making hoops predictions, so it’s not surprising that he’s going with the one seeds.

The Plight of the College Athlete

Irvin Muchnick in BeyondChron provides a necessary reminder of the business of NCAA scholarships:
Most fans mistakenly believe athletic “scholarships” – the very word is an Orwellian perversion – have four-year terms. Not so, Huma points out: “The NCAA only allows year-to-year scholarships. At the end of a scholarship year, a coach can take the scholarship [...]

Will Bailout Mean No Hoops in Brooklyn?

For the past few years, developer and New Jersey Nets owner Bruce Ratner has been angling to move his team to Brooklyn. With each passing day, though, it’s looking less and less likely. First, the slumping economy complicated Ratner’s plans for the Atlantic Yards development, of which the Nets’ proposed new arena is part, and [...]

Wrongheaded Defiance in South Carolina

Ron Morris has penned a fairly brave column in the State. In it, he takes on his fellow South Carolinians’ dogged insistence upon flying the Confederate flag in the public square. Here’s what that has to do with sports:
For yet another year, Columbia was left off the national basketball map, despite having an 18,000-seat arena [...]

Misplaced Populism and the Final Four

Here’s a great piece from Daniel Howes of the Detroit News on how the post-bailout national mood is making things difficult for event sponsors–especially those sponsoring the Final Four in Detroit. Nut graph:
Are the dollars that Comerica Inc. or GM — both TARP recipients — committed and paid more than a year ago to support [...]

The Loyal Opposition

Turned off by all the hype surrounding President Obama’s NCAA Tournament bracket? Then be advised that former Speaker Newt Gingrich has set up a Facebook group devoted to “friendly March Madness competition.”

The Basketball President

With everyone’s brackets in full bloom, it’s time to pay heed to the Basketball President.
It would be exaggeration to say basketball was in any way central to Barack Obama’s successful campaign for the White House, but in other ways his affection for the urban American game made him seem all that much younger and more [...]