Sports
July 3, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Following Edmund Burke’s adage (which was actually first said by Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland, in a speech in the House of Commons on 1641, but it is thoroughly Burkean) that “If it is not necessary to change, it is necessary not to change,” we can draw a straight line from this week’s ridiculous decision for USC and UCLA to join the Big Ten to the ruinous decision to institute
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June 6, 2022 — Steven Hayward
As someone who grew up in LA when the Lakers reached their first pinnacle with the great Jerry West/Wilt Chamberlain team that won a record 33 games in a row in the 1971-72 season (by an average margin of 17 points a game), and then to be around for the rise of the “Showtime” Lakers with the arrival of Magic Johnson in 1980, I have been looking forward to the
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May 30, 2022 — Scott Johnson
The Brooklyn Nets came to town to play the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 23. We were in the middle of a below-zero cold snap that did not deter Nets assistant coach Amar’e Stoudemire from seeking out morning services at an Orthodox synagogue in St. Louis Park away from his downtown hotel. He obviously wasn’t just going through the motions. Catching sight of the tall guy at services, my teacher Rabbi
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May 13, 2022 — Steven Hayward
The time has come to introduce Power Line readers to our adjunct sports desk, available on YouTube as “Savage Brick Sports.” Don’t ask me where the adolescent in my household came up with that name, but maybe after he heads off to college at Clemson this fall he can explain it after taking in that professional league known as SEC college football. Click the link above if you want to
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March 13, 2022 — John Hinderaker
After a mere 40 days of retirement, Tom Brady has announced his return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: These past two months I’ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands. That time will come. But it’s not now. I love my teammates, and I love my supportive family. They make it all possible. I’m coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa. Unfinished business
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January 19, 2022 — John Hinderaker
In recent years, a remarkable amount of attention has been paid to sports teams’ mascots. God forbid that a team be called the Indians, the Redskins, the Redmen or the Fighting Sioux. You can’t be the Bullets, either. But through it all, I have been confident that my home football team’s name, the Vikings, can’t be challenged. Who could possibly complain? I underestimated the Left’s tireless search for micro aggressions.
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January 4, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Did any readers happen to catch the player introductions for Sunday night’s Packers-Vikings game? When Aaron Rodgers came on the screen to name his school, he said, “Butte Community College.” What’s this? Rodgers indeed played for Butte Community College for one year before going on to play for Berkeley, where the team had a winning record. And the rest is Packers history. Turns out he has done this before, but
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December 29, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Unless the Wuhan coronavirus prevents it (wouldn’t that be poetic justice?), the Winter Olympics will began on February 4, 2022 in Red China. Unless the virus prevents it, U.S. athletes will participate. Joe Biden decided not to call for a boycott of the Olympics by athletes. Instead, our politicians will boycott the games. That’s a rather pathetic response to Red Chinese atrocities, but maybe it’s better than nothing. I would
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December 21, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
It’s been clear for a while that, with the emergence of the omicron variant, pro sports in the U.S. would experience disruption. Last week, it became clear that, under existing protocols, the seasons of sports played in the winter were in serious jeopardy due to the virus. And yesterday, the National Hockey League put its season on hold. I didn’t expect the covid protocols to change, at least not right
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December 16, 2021 — Steven Hayward
Remember how the left not long ago went on and on and on about the supposed “war on women” from the right? The irony is that according to current leftist dogma, women no longer exist. After all, the Biden Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services is insisting in referring to mothers (once understood as a significant subset of beings known as “women”) as “birthing persons,” because current leftist dogma
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December 14, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
As if on cue, American sports leagues are starting to experience game postponements and other disruptions due to the Wuhan coronavirus. The Chicago Bulls have postponed their next two games due to ten players being in health and safety protocols. This is the first time NBA games have been postponed this season due to covid issues. It won’t be the last. Similarly, the National Hockey League has postponed the next
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December 13, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
I believe it’s a been a good while since we’ve seen important sports contests in America cancelled or postponed due to the Wuhan coronavirus. The Washington Nationals were unable to play the opening couple of games in April 2021 because a fair number of players were covid infected. Around the same time, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) was unable to participate in the NCCA men’s basketball tournament for the same reason.
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November 20, 2021 — John Hinderaker
We all know the sad story of how the National Basketball Association has kowtowed to the Chinese Communist Party. The league has suppressed just about all support for Hong Kong democracy or opposition to the Uighur genocide. Chief among the kneelers has been Lebron James, a quisling if there ever was one. Most recently, Enes Kanter, one of the few players who have expressed opposition to the Chinese regime’s genocide
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November 18, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
In a few months, Beijing will stage the 2022 Winter Olympics. U.S. athletes are set to participate. Nothing like the boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in the Soviet Union is likely to occur. Neither participation nor a boycott is an attractive option. Red China is an oppressive, totalitarian state. Participation by our athletes implies that the regime deserves the honor of hosting Olympic games, which it does not. Our
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September 26, 2021 — Scott Johnson
I’ve watched every documentary that has popped up on cable about Muhammad Ali over the years and enjoyed them all. None annoyed me, or annoyed me as much as Ken Burns’s documentary Muhammad Ali (written and co-directed by Sarah Burns, Burns’s oldest daughter, and her husband, David McMahon). Running nearly eight hours over four episodes, the documentary includes extensive footage of Ali that makes it worth viewing. Despite its length,
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September 9, 2021 — John Hinderaker
The NFL season starts tonight, as Paul noted a little while ago. So whoever sings the National Anthem at tonight’s game between the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys will have a wonderful stage. I don’t know who will sing the Anthem, but unfortunately it won’t be Victory Boyd. I had never heard of Miss Boyd until an hour or so ago, but she is a
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August 10, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Torri Huske is an 18 year-old swimmer from Arlington, Virginia. At this year’s Summer Olympic Games, she finished fourth in the 100-meter butterfly final, just one one-hundredth of a second behind Emma McKeon of Australia. Huske came back to win a silver medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay, along with Regan Smith, Lydia Jacoby, and Abbey Weitzeil. Huske graduated from high school this year and will soon be headed to
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