Pick-Up basketball, where there is room for everyone

“I’ve got next.”  It doesn’t matter who says it, everyone at the court must respect the code and let whoever is waiting play in the next game.  While there are hundreds of implied rules in pick-up basketball, which change depending on where you are playing, this one is universal: if your team loses you get kicked off the court and whoever is waiting gets their turn.

RG3 Practices Fully, the Entire District Gives a Collective Sigh of Relief

Looks like the Redskins' main man Robert Griffin III practiced fully today, and plans on starting Sunday. While (Captain) Kirk Cousins did a great job in relief last week, it's great knowing that RG3 will be back behind center for this critical 2-game stretch. It's playoffs or bust for the Redskins...an unbelievable thing to say after starting 3-6, but nevertheless here they are, and the entire District of Columbia is ecstatic.


Check out this link from NFL.com for more information

Anecdotes from They Call Me Coach

In typical sports autobiographies anecdotes are used to shock or make the reader laugh.  John Wooden is not a typical sports figure.  Throughout his autobiography They Call Me Coach, written with Jack Tobin, Wooden emphasizes his belief that character is more important than basketball and that basketball’s best tool is the ability to develop players off the court.  For this reason, the three anecdotes that resonate the most with me from They Call Me Coach deal with the character of John Wooden’s two most famous players and Wooden himself.

Emotion in Sports

Sports fans constantly look to connect emotionally.  The most common form of emotional ties is shown in the communal way fans watch games.  But even more than the benefits of belonging to a sports community, fans appreciate when sports embody something larger and are more than ‘just a game’.  Examples of this appear consistently from the American resilience post 9/11 to the determination of a once-injured athlete. 

National Access

As Alex French and Howie Kahn write in their oral history of The National Sports Dailyfor Grantland, “The paper is emblematic of the parts of culture and media that were not yet ready to converge.  Typewriters and satellites.”  That was in the early 1990’s.  Now, a decade into the 21^st century, that is no longer true, and readers regularly consume sports through technology more advanced than typewriters and satellites.  And while sports fans have measureless access to sports journalism now, the lack of access to The National was what ultimately ruined the paper.

What to do with game stories

            Game stories, a long practiced custom in the sports world, have lost significance as generations and technologies age and grow.  There is no reason for a sports fan to read about a specific game altering play when he or she can go on their computer and watch the same play.  Highlight packages are more exciting than droning recaps and also use the same sensory system we use when we are watching the actual games.

Oh Danny Boy...

I’m baaaaaaaaaaaack (for a short post, but back is back). In my long awaited return to the blogosphere and Love Boat Sports I am here to breakdown all the crazy happenings in Big Brother 14 including why I think Dan’s move was overrated and why Shane has put himself in the best position to win the game.

Swimming Olympic Trials Preview

Starting tonight and running a week, swimming returns to the national spotlight for the Olympic Trials.  For those unfamiliar with the process, the top two swimmers from each event make the Olympic team.  Get third by a hundredth of a second and you’re waiting four years for another shot.  While the Trials are just a precursor to the games themselves, they should be action packed and full of drama nonetheless, as the Olympic team is formed.  Here are some storylines to watch throughout the week:

A match made in heaven: The U.S. Open and Father's Day

Trying to thank fathers (and mothers) for everything they do is supremely silly and impossible, especially in one day.  The only way to repay them is to try to make grandkids for them that aren’t really annoying.  But just because you can’t fully repay them with a handwritten card or a burned cd (or nicer, more legitimate presents), doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy a day together.  This Father’s Day, my dad and I ate at a soon-to-be closing restaurant that we used to visit weekly.  The Armands’ pizza buffet was delicious as usual, but the fuzzy memories of eating with my dad aren’t as temporary and I will enjoy them long after Armands closes and I forget what their deep-dish pies taste like.

That's a clown question bro

When Bryce Harper was asked if he was going to celebrate the Nationals' victory and his monster dong of a home run with a Canadian beer he gave the soundbyte of the year.

Is #thatsaclownquestionbro trending on twitter now?   C'mon, that's a clown question bro.