Farewell to Isaac Bruce, one of the great ones

[picapp align=”right” wrap=”true” link=”term=Isaac+Bruce&iid=7452407″ src=”e/9/8/4/San_Francisco_49ers_b8d2.JPG?adImageId=8781688&imageId=7452407″ width=”234″ height=”324″ /] Isaac Bruce bid farewell to his outstanding NFL career today. He was on the field for one play for the 49ers, who went on to defeat the hapless St. Louis Rams. Bruce spent all but the last two years of his career with the Rams, dating back […]

A tip of the cap to 49ers broadcast analyst Gary Plummer

Fans who spend their lives rooting for one team in one town and listening only to the hometown announcers don’t have much of a basis for comparison of the men and women behind the microphones. As a kid in Cleveland, after the Indians’ games I’d catch a few innings when atmospheric conditions were right from […]

Don’t bother Tiger Woods, officer. He’s sleeping.

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=Tiger+Woods&iid=7029112″ src=”9/9/1/c/2009_Australian_Masters_8b90.jpg?adImageId=7920619&imageId=7029112″ width=”234″ height=”150″ /]Before the Tiger Woods story erupted this Thanksgiving weekend, I’d been ruminating on the differences between elite athletes and us mere men and women. Highly paid pro athletes like Woods in golf or Alex Rodriguez in baseball or LeBron James in basketball exist on a plane at which most of us mortals […]

Thanksgiving ritual: Lions and Cowboys games on TV

[picapp align=”right” wrap=”false” link=”term=raiders&iid=7114234″ src=”d/3/e/7/Cincinnati_Bengals_v_ef43.jpg?adImageId=7847928&imageId=7114234″ width=”234″ height=”314″ /] Thanksgiving Day in America means turkey, cranberries and football, not necessarily in that order. The Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys have been featured on national TV for as long as I can remember, and both teams will be in action this year. I’ll be paying more attention […]

Brett Favre exacts a measure of vengeance on the Packers

We doubted his word. We doubted his motives. But as the Minnesota Vikings have surged to a 4-0 record this season, no one doubts that Brett Favre has the drive and the talent to succeed for his new team. Favre shone again Monday night as the Vikes defeated his old team, the Green Bay Packers, […]

Woe unto thee, Raider Nation

It’s not easy being silver and black. The Oakland Raiders, one of the most intimidating and successful franchises in the history of professional football, are reeling. On so many Sundays the past few years, the Raiders have been outplayed and outclassed. Since 2002, when they last won an AFC title and appeared in the Super […]

The Super Bowl: Ode to consumerism

New iPhone in hand, I went to the grocery store with my family the other day to pick up a few provisions for dinner. Near the checkout aisle was row of Super Bowl caps done up in blue and orange in what is either homage to the Denver Broncos, a jab at them or mere […]

The Cleveland Browns and a brand new NFL season

The Thursday night game between the Redskins and Giants notwithstanding, today marks the real kickoff to the 2008 National Football League season. In celebration, I took my natty corduroy Cleveland Browns cap out into the warm California sun for a morning portrait. I call this a classic Browns cap because it dates not from the […]

Loose on the Palouse with a WSU ball cap

As my wife heads to Portland, Ore., my thoughts turn to: What am I going to eat for the next five days? Hey, I bought a ballcap near Portland a couple of years ago! Not just any ballcap. This was a genuine Washington State Cougars cap, an early 21st Century Nike model with stretch-to-fit elastic […]