Oh, Canada: Slippery Slope to the Sports Moral High Ground
I spent part of Tuesday afternoon chatting with Toronto Star colleague Cathal Kelly about a column he was writing examining commercialized NCAA athletics, and the way those sports prod fans, administrators and regular folks into irrational decisions. Like kicking paying customers off a Delta Airlines flight so the University of Florida men’s basketball team could … Continue reading
Aquille Carr, Overseas Pros and Major League Basketball
If you’re surprised Aquille Carr is skipping college to play pro basketball overseas, you shouldn’t be. Reports that an Italian club had offered him $750,000 first surfaced in 2011, not long after the 5-foot-6 dynamo used a dazzling array of crossovers, stutter-steps, blind passes and dunks (yes, dunks!) to become a viral video sensation and … Continue reading
Nate Thayer and The Shame of Page View Journalism
Take a second and click on the link below, which details award-winning writer Nate Thayer’s dealings with The Atlantic, which was looking to re-publish a story he had written about basketball diplomacy, and Dennis Rodman’s highly publicized trip to North Korea. Read it all. A Day in the Life of a Freelance Journalist—2013. Two quick … Continue reading
NCAA, Pay-for-play and the search for sympathetic victims
Monday night the Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team vanquished the Kansas Jayhawks to win their first national championship in 14 years and tie together several compelling subplots. There’s the one about high-profile coach John Calipari delivering an NCAA crown to long-suffering fans who expect Sweet 16 appearances like the rest of us expect taxes. And … Continue reading
ABDB Ep 23: The Loneliness of Dominance
The ABDB crew does it again in Episode 23 and to hear it CLICK HERE. ABDB finally has a sponsor and a special guest! Both named Snickers Pie!… Episode 23 don’t need a roll call… Happy Birthday to Michael Jackson and Perdita Felicien, tuning in from Korea… Shouts out to Northwestern…. Big big BIG shout … Continue reading
ABDB Ep. 22: What if Tom Brady… were BLACK!!
He’d look like this. And the All Balls Don’t Bounce Podcast would sound like this. If you ever need support knowin who’s on the court, you call — All Balls Don’t Bounce… Pimpers Paradise even more pimped out than ever…Shouts out to ABDB’s ever-expanding circle of friends… Annika Sorenstam still beefing with Michelle Wie, says … Continue reading
Pissed over Pryor but we can’t quit the NFL
By now we should all know that the NFL’s ruling on Terrelle Pryor — that the former Ohio State quarterback can enter the supplemental draft but must serve a five-game suspension — makes no sense. To justify the move the NFL explained that by receiving cash and hiring an agent while still on football scholarship … Continue reading
ABDB Ep. 7: Immigration, Agitation and Aquille Carr Nation
Where sports and social issues intersect, that’s where you’ll find ABDB. This week we tackle immigration policy via Atlanta Hawks foward Etan Thomas, gay marriage via NHL pest Sean Avery, and child labour via high school basketball star Aquille Carr. Along the way we break down Manny Pacquiao’s whitewash over Shane Mosley, Gus Johnson’s exit … Continue reading
ABDB Ep. 5: Pimper’s Paradise.
Two days before UFC 129, the All Balls Don’t Bounce crew descends upon Duane “Sweets” Watson’s luxurious downtown condo to preview the event. Along the way cast a critical lens on the NFL’s attempt to extend their lockout, examine the creative accounting NCAA schools employ to appear to comply with title IX, and conclude that … Continue reading
Morgan Campbell: A Writer on Sports and More 