There will be a novel sight on the Texas A&M sideline next season. Not only is Kevin Sumlin the first African American head coach in Aggie history, he is just the third Black man to run an SEC football program and one of about 10 Black head coaches in the entire FBS (formerly Division 1) […]

Last season the Chicago Blackhawks were defending Stanley Cup Champions in name only. The hard salary cap in the NHL forced the team to dispose of many of the players responsible for the championship, including goaltender Anti Niemi. The Hawks sank to eighth in the Western Conference last spring and were eliminated in the first […]

Perhaps since Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers, no individual has been as deeply associated with a professional football team as Al Davis with the Oakland Raiders. It could be said that Davis was the personification of Raiders football until his passing on Oct. 8. Indeed, the Raiders could do a lot worse than […]

Darren Oliver of the Texas Rangers and Arthur Rhodes of the St. Louis Cardinals are relief pitchers in this year’s World Series with a lot in common. Each has more than 16 years of major league service. Each is 41 years old. Each has made one appearance on a big league All Star team. Each […]

The World Series is over, football is mainly played on weekends, and college basketball just is not enough. Any other year our hearts and minds would drift to the NBA, but those folks are not getting along. Want an alternative? Try hockey. The National Hockey League is going full tilt with a regular season that […]

Is David Stern a racist? And is high-level racism in basketball an element of the continuing NBA lockout? On the one hand, the NBA is led by a man born in 1942 during a time when the U.S. military was still segregated, when Jim Crow laws were in full effect, when major league sports were […]

As usual, the Yankees are loaded with big name players in their starting lineup. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are headed for the Hall of Fame, Mark Teixeira has been an All Star several times, Robinson Cano is the reigning Homerun Derby champion, and Jorge Posada has been a fixture in the Bronx since 1995. […]

The Detroit Tigers cannot afford to spend with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, yet must compete with them for playoff positioning in the American League. With big money already committed to pitching ace Justin Verlander, a key element for the Tigers is finding young and relatively inexpensive players to hold down other […]

The 2010 season ended for Ryan Howard and the Phillies when the big slugger took a ninth-inning called third strike from San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson with two on and two out in Game Six of the NLCS. Suddenly, the Phillies’ two year reign as National League Champions was over, and the team anointed […]

The Milwaukee Brewers won 96 games and the National League Central title with a diverse team of homegrown and imported players. Prince Fielder, perhaps their most accomplished homegrown player, has reached the last year of his contract and is eligible for free agency after the World Series. Fielder’s agent, Scott Boras, is known for aggressively […]