Pity the poor baseball writers! To read their words, the very fate of our republic has been resting in their trembling hands.

Anyone seen David Stern recently? Is there proof that the man they call "Money" isn't growing out his fingernails, freezing his urine, and trading in his wingtips for tissue boxes?

I never felt it was my place to question Negro League players. To me their parks are to be viewed as temples, undefiled by incompetence and me-ism. Hard-core athletes whose only performance enhancement was their love of the game, good times, and their own camaraderie.

It started out like your typical pro football player. But then, tucked away drowsily in the last paragraph, Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman Adalius Thomas, emerged with something to say.

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson began life in the condemned projects of Brooklyn, and condemned he has remained. His American journey has included stops in homeless shelters, reform schools, bankruptcy courts, and prison. Along the way, he earned and lost more than $100 million.

Scholarship, teaching, service and governance were seen as part of the same university mission, and the only football game that mattered to anyone was the Rutgers-Princeton game. Indeed, a match between Rutgers and Princeton in the early post Civil War period is generally regarded as the beginning of American football.

This column is usually dedicated to those in the Sportsworld who believe in the power of protest – and back their words with deeds. But today, in recognition of this Tuesday’s election-lunacy, we give space to those who back their political ideas with cold, hard, filthy, cash.

Almost four decades later, the image can still make hairs rise on unsuspecting necks. It's 1968, and 200 meter gold medalist Tommie Smith stands next to bronze winner John Carlos, their raised black gloved fists smashing the sky on the medal stand in Mexico City.

Charles Barkley, Hall of Fame NBA player, television sports commentator, and author, recently declared his interest in running for the governorship of his home state of Alabama.

You're a good man, Larry Brown. You were born in Brooklyn damn near 66 years ago and in that time you've traveled more than LeBron in the playoffs. You played for the Akron Wingfoots of the old NABL

Imagine Michael Jordan in his last game, with the score tied in overtime, knocking out his defender with a punch to the throat. Imagine Derek Jeter in game seven of the World Series, at bat with the bases loaded, thrashing the opposing team's catcher over the head with his bat.

“The France legend, playing in his final match before retirement, was dismissed in extra-time for chestbutting Italy's Marco Materazzi” the Guardian reported.

The story of the 2006 World Cup has been the resurrection of France. After a lackluster performance in its first two games, the French team shocked the football watching world - otherwise known as "theworld" - by upsetting Spain and then dethroning Brazil.

Watching the Mets / Red Sox series this week I noticed they replayed clips of Dwight Gooden in his golden years as a star pitcher. I could not help think about how is life has now turned towards tragedy when he was sentenced to jail this April.

Adam Morrison from Gonzaga, the NCAA's leading scorer in 2006, was picked third by the Charlotte Bobcats... He is also someone who has said that his heroes, in addition to Rage, are "Malcolm X, Karl Marx, and Che Guevara."

The most watched tournament in the universe, the World Cup, opens today amid fears that an open and violent racism could upstage the games, humiliate its German hosts, and provide an international platform for Neo-Nazi swill.

Hating Barry Bonds has become a national passion--or so the very sportswriters who have whipped up this hate tell us. What they don't tell us is that this passion is prevalent almost exclusively among a few white men.

Barry Bonds is currently two home runs away from passing Babe Ruth on the lifetime home run list and he is under investigation.

Countless office pools, hundreds of millions in on-line betting, and multi-billion dollar TV contracts. Welcome to amateur athletics in 2006.

Cuba, against all odds, is the first team to qualify for the finals of the World Baseball Classic.