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Sports Columns


Sports

When worlds collide

At 2:44 p.m. Monday, Deadspin tweeted out a headline to a story that read: “How an Achilles Tear Affects NBA Players (or why Kobe Bryant is screwed).”


Sports

An ode to sports

As yet another semester draws to a close, teachers naturally ramp up the workload in an attempt to make sure they cover all their material by the time finals roll around.


Sports

#FreeAthletes

I understand that it’s the job of compliance divisions at every college campus to monitor what we athletes do and make sure we aren’t getting into trouble. However, they should not revoke our freedom of speech just because we are student-athletes.


Sports

Varsity Blues

Commercial breaks between NCAA Tournament games often depict unrealistic scenes. AT&T squeezes Larry Bird, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson into preschool-sized chairs.


Sports

Something for everyone

Something I’ve noticed about sports coverage lately is just how fast it moves. The 24-hour news cycle and the widespread accessibility of information via the Internet and social media outlets have made sports news a constant, stream-of-consciousness flow.


Sports

Going through a coaching change

With the conclusion of the third round of March Madness this past weekend, the remaining teams get the next few days to concentrate on surviving the Sweet 16. The losing teams, however, will head back to the drawing board and spend the offseason formulating a plan to go deeper in next year’s tournament, part of which may include the firing of a head coach.


Sports

An apology to LeBron

Dear LeBron, Last year I wrote a ghost story about you loosely based on Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” and somehow passed it off as a column unimaginatively titled “A LeBron James Ghost Story.” I’m not going to recapitulate exactly what it entailed, but just know that the phantasmagoric world that I limned in that column did not present a very flattering image of you, to say the least.


Sports

Stranger than fiction

It is 5:30 p.m. Sunday. I’m somehow still exceedingly hungover , and for the last five hours I have been switching channels back and forth between Super Bowl pregame drivel, the Hoos falling apart against Georgia Tech and the Puppy Bowl.


Sports

Tune out the noise

It has begun. Sunday evening, the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers will take the field in New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII, looking to claim king-of-the-gridiron status until September. And with the Super Bowl, naturally, comes a veritable deluge of media coverage. I hail from New Orleans, and when I talked to my parents during the weekend, they told me about how the French Quarter, the city’s most iconic neighborhood, has been overrun not only by tourists and fans in town for the game, but also by the various media outlets covering the contest as well.


Sports

After long journey, Browman's time arrives

Virginia senior point guard Doug Browman stands apart from his teammates. He spoke to me from outside the Cavaliers’ swanky film room — in which Browman’s higher-profile teammates address the media — after Saturday’s 56-36 clobbering of Florida State.


Sports

Mastering the art of the humble brag

The word “humble” has been casually thrown around during recent NFL playoff press conferences, but because it rarely made sense in context, I compulsively re-checked the definition.


Sports

A momentous afternoon

Like astrology, Greek life recruitment or determining the quantity of licks needed to reach the center of a Tootsie Pop, assigning one “defining moment” to an entire game or season is an imprecise art.


Sports

Lying and living strong

Lance Armstrong has reportedly admitted in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his career, finally conceding the grand deception that much of the sporting world saw through long ago.


Sports

The trouble with tradition

The University of Virginia is a school with a rich tradition of traditions. Some, like Easters, have passed by, whereas others, such as the nomenclature — “Academical Village,” “first years,” “Grounds” — have persisted through the years.


Sports

Coach speak

One of the many taboos of “coach-speak” — the bland jargon coaches often employ to shield themselves from revealing too much or speaking too candidly and which Rex Ryan has never quite grasped — is to assume a victor’s disposition after defeat.


Sports

Blame game

Virginia football had a headline about it on the front page of ESPN.com this past weekend, right among the conference championship recaps and BCS bowl announcements.


Sports

At a crossroads

In the wake of Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher’s shocking murder-suicide Saturday, a score of reactions have emerged from different perspectives. Some mourn a friend and relative who was dealing with numerous demons and ended his own life too soon.


Latest Podcast

From her love of Taylor Swift to a late-night Yik Yak post, Olivia Beam describes how Swifties at U.Va. was born. In this week's episode, Olivia details the thin line Swifties at U.Va. successfully walk to share their love of Taylor Swift while also fostering an inclusive and welcoming community.