Not least among the awesome accomplishments of cancer survivor-cyclist extraordinaire Lance Armstrong is this: He leaves his sport the way few champions of any sport have ever departed. He leaves at the absolute pinnacle. Think of Hank Aaron not hitting his weight in his last year with the Milwaukee Brewers. Think of Willie Mays staggering [...]
Channel-surfing yielded up “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart the other day. His guest was former network newsman and conservative author Bernard Goldberg, who was promoting his new book “100 People Who Are Screwing Up America.” For the record, the list ranges from Paris Hilton’s parents and Jerry Springer to Eminem and Howard Stern. I [...]
This much seems evident amid the maelstrom still swirling around the art museum scenarios: *The process has been frustrating, controversial, costly and so, well, un-Iorionic . Granted, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio inherited the polarizing “Mother of All Carports.” And paying to build – and operate — an endowment-challenged new museum was never going to be [...]
Suppose someone of no — or negative — consequence threw a self-serving photo-op, media availability and no one showed? The (refreshing) result: The uncovered, non-news event would remain non news – not unlike the cat that did not get stuck in the tree, the train that did not derail, the Democrat who did not get [...]
One final thought on the Kenny Rogers issue. Conflict between the media and pro athletes is not the only prominent example of discord in the sports-entertainment arena. There’s also that ongoing, intramural contretemps between print media and its electronic counterpart. The former have notebooks, and their words are the next day’s newspaper stories and columns. [...]
Former Buc, long-time Oakland Raider and future Hall of Fame receiver Tim Brown retired last season. Last week he made it official.
The immediate aftermath of the London terrorist bombings resulted in two rather predictable upshots. The Brits made good on their reputation for indomitable spirit. That was a given. Muslims of real influence and impact weren’t heard from. That was a shame. To be sure, there were Muslim expressions of outrage, both in Britain and around [...]
News that baseball and softball were being dropped from the Summer Olympics – as of 2012 — was not well received in this country. It may be hardball politics as usual, since half of the International Olympic Committee delegation is from Europe, a continent notably indifferent to the two indigenous American sports. Baseball was tossed [...]
It’s no secret that WFLA, Channel 8 has been squeezing sports the past couple of years. The post-Chris Thomas era has not been a particularly distinguished one. Friday night’s segment at 6 p.m. with Dave Reynolds was exhibit A for skewed priorities. The station wanted to plug its pre-season deal with the Buccaneers in which [...]
It’s no secret that WFLA, Channel 8 has been squeezing sports the past couple of years. The post-Chris Thomas era has not been a particularly distinguished one. Friday night’s segment at 6 p.m. with Dave Reynolds was exhibit A for skewed priorities. The station wanted to plug its pre-season deal with the Buccaneers in which [...]
