Category: Sports

  • The Black Mamba Finally Gets His Moment

    Well, now we know the reason behind Kobe Bryant’s curiously fitful and misguided play during the first seven games of the Olympic tournament: An absence of pressure. Nearly universally (and accurately) regarded as the best clutch shooter in the game today, Kobe’s commanding crunchtime aplomb was a superfluous virtue as the USA men ran roughshod…

  • 40 Minutes from Gold

    Perhaps it’s because I’m so NBA-centric and the Olympic team from Argentina has so many quality NBA pros on its roster (Gibobili, Scola, Nocioni, Oberto), but I always thought today’s semifinal would be USA’s toughest game of the tournament. And it probably was. After racing out to a huge lead that was 30-9 with six…

  • American Conquistadors

    People averse to redundancy will cite the USA men’s basketball team’s sudden accuracy from the three-point line (12-25, after shooting 29% in the previous three games) and free-throw stripe (19-24, after going 69% before) as noteworthy factors in its 37-point rout of defending World Champion Spain, 119-82, on Saturday morning. But if accuracy is what…

  • Hazing The Greeks

    Yeah, I could watch this team 365 days a year. Take the world’s greatest athletes (anyone wanna debate that?) motivate them with patriotism and professional pride, give at least two of the most talented–"LeBronze" and the prematurely discounted Dwyane Wade–an extra nudge toward the need for retribution, and then settle in with your fingers on…

  • US Olympians Bury China in Hoops Opener

    The opening game for the USA Olympic basketball team was close early–tied even, at 29-29, nearly halfway through the second quarter–almost exclusively because the US were missing their three-pointes while their Chinese opponents were knocking them down. But nobody seriously thought this would be a ballgame, and the 101-70 tally seemed an appropriate gauge of…

  • The Return of the Twins Roundtable

    Those of you familiar with this site may remember the series of roundtables I held last year between myself, steadfast Twins fan, along with Rake and ex-City Pages baseball columnist Brad Zellar, and former Twin Cities Reader sports columnist (and current Minnpost media columnist) David Brauer. Zellar and Brauer are my kind of conversationalists: They’re…