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A New Identity for the Chicago Sky
Just hours into the first day of free agency, it was announced that Angel Reese was traded from the Chicago Sky to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for the Dream’s 2027 and 2028 first-round picks (WNBA, 2026). Reese had expressed frustrations with the Sky franchise in an interview with the Chicago Tribune near the end…
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No Girls Allowed
Yesterday, the Taliban’s head of the cultural commission, Ahmadullah Wasiq, reportedly said women would not play cricket, or any other sport, under the new regime in Afghanistan. While it was not a surprising announcement, it is still heartbreaking. The tragedy that will be unfolding in Afghanistan will be this: Women will be marginalized, isolated, beaten,…
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It Is Cheating and You Got Caught
A few months ago, I wrote an article about Bill Cowher, a former coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers, saying that “It’s only cheating if you get caught” and discussed taking competitive advantages into the grey area, or worse into illegal territory. It was recently revealed that the Denver Broncos cheated and got caught…and it gets…
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Against All Odds
Imagine being out of a sport for almost three years due to an injury. Now imagine returning to the same sport after the injury. And now imagine getting the opportunity to compete again. McKenzie Milton lived the horror and heartbreak, through the injury, and then the inspiring journey of his return to a sport that…
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What Started as a Small Lie
No, I am not talking about players flopping on the field here. There was a World Cup qualifying match between Argentina and Brazil on Sunday. The match lasted a little more than seven minutes. The officials called the match and FIFA later stated that the match is suspended until further notice. The match was not…
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Too Long Away, Much To Say About the Power of Sports
I didn’t realize I’d been away for a month, at least from writing here, in my favorite space at Culture in Sports. Having predicted the return of sports since the beginning of this Summer, it appears despite Covid-related concerns in many states, sports are returning in full force. In fact, so much has been happening…
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Thumbs Up or Down?
August was a bad month for the New York Mets. They started the month on a high note. They were the first-place team in the NL East and had made a blockbuster deal with the Cubs to acquire star shortstop Javier Baez. Injured pitchers Jacob DeGrom and Noah Syndergaard were nearing their returns. Oddsmakers made…
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Delegating Tasks
By the title of this article, you may just want to skip to something else, but please take the time to read how there are plenty of coaches, general managers, athletic directors, and front office staff out there that are holding onto tasks for far too long, which normally results in opportunities missed, games or…
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An Abusive Coach Caught on Camera
Last week a video surfaced of a high school coach screaming and shoving one of his players on the sideline during the game. It was a horrible coaching moment that luckily did not get worse as the kid kept on trying to walk away. This coach made multiple terrible decisions: singling out the athlete, putting…
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Jessica Long: The Athlete Any Coach Would Love to Have on Their Team
As the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games continue, an amazing feat happened: Jessica Long, a Team USA swimmer and most decorated active Paralympian, won her 25th Paralympic Games medal. Long has competed in the Paralympic Games since 2004, when she was 12 years old. And she has won gold in the same event for the last…
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Paralympic Games
The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games have officially started. This is a very exciting time during the summer Olympic season where over 4,400 athletes, in six different disability groups, compete in 22 sports. These athletes have been training for many years and must perform at their peak levels to compete for a medal. For many athletes,…
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Old School vs. New School
Major League Baseball did something pretty cool earlier this month. They held a regular-season game between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees in Dyersville, Iowa, at the site of the movie set of Field of Dreams. The game seemed like a stunt to draw interest to an otherwise meaningless August contest and…
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Fans Behaving Badly
A recent football match in France was stopped midgame due to fans throwing objects at athletes, storming the field, fighting with athletes, and because of their overall behavior. It was extremely sad to watch and unfortunately poor fan behavior has become a frequent occurrence. Is this behavior going to continue to get worse and put…
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Coach With an Expectation That You Will Not Receive Anything in Return
Coaching is not easy at any level. When someone is coaching a recreational youth team, there are athletes who are dependent on your role, their parents who want the best for their child, others who need administrative support for the league or team, and the outside requirements of family, paying job, and other personal needs. …
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Why Have Several High-Level Personnel Left the Las Vegas Raiders’ Front Office?
I can only imagine that running a professional sports team is not easy, especially one with historic success, at times, and tumultuous periods. During the good times, everyone wants to be involved, but during the tough times, most people want to keep their distance from the organization. The ebb and flow of professional sports organizations…
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Who is Accountable?
After five years of investigating, the NCAA levied sanctions against Baylor University for mishandling multiple sexual violence cases this week. However, the penalties were not severe. Several key players in the scandal escaped punishment. Why not? Between 2010 and 2015, there were several instances of sexual assault emerged. A pattern emerged. Two football players received…
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What Happens When Coaches Are Reckless
The last few weeks have been extremely interesting in the sports world: The Olympic Games recently wrapped up with the Paralympic Games kicking off in a few weeks, Simone Biles brought athlete mental and emotional health back to the forefront, Olympian and Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya was fearful to return to her country and was…
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“Only” 11th Place?
With the 2021 Olympics finally at an end, taking a look at some of the results and outcomes of these events seems rather pertinent when it comes to the frame of mind of the athletes, and particularly the spectators. As we all are aware, this year’s events were originally scheduled to be held in 2020,…
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Olympic Season Isn’t Over Yet
After a year of delay, the 2020 Olympics Games have wrapped up and have shown us great examples of true athleticism, courage, and bravery. If you’re still in the Olympic spirit and want to watch more high-caliber athletes from around the world compete on the largest stage, then you’re in luck. The 2020 Paralympic Games…
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Why Women Can Save Baseball
While the Tokyo Olympic Games consisted of many exciting moments and thrilling athletic accomplishments, its legacy is problematic because Covid-19 protocols created a made for media only spectacle. In laying bare how money rules the sports industry, Tokyo also highlights one of the most insidious, systemic sexist practices in sport: the bifurcation of baseball and…
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Time for a New Season
The past two weeks have not been as I expected. Two events I have waited for with anticipation, along with some trepidation, happened on July 23rd, the opening of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and the beginning of the second season of Ted Lasso. Surprisingly, the storyline for both has involved dealing with our insecurities.…
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The Trees of Munich & The Tear in the Fabric of Sport
The 1972 Munich Olympic Games are the first Olympic Games I can remember. I was 8 years old on that late August Saturday when they began. Old enough to know that I loved sports and for those Games to be a spark in my lifelong love affair with sports. I was also young enough to…
