SportsFilter: Amateur's blog

Lance Armstrong to return to pro cycling

Amateur — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:19:32 -0400

Armstrong, who will turn 37 on September 18, cited 41-year-old US swimmer Dara Torres's Olympic comeback in Beijing as proof that age was no barrier to an elite sports career.

Everlasting Run

Amateur — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 03:50:52 -0500

What makes a man run 100,000 miles without ever missing a day?

Nate DiMeo's Plan to Save the NHL

Amateur — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 08:34:46 -0400

The NHL should be more like pro soccer. No, I'm not crazy. A nice fit with chico's column, too.

Russia to Host 2014 Winter Olympics

Amateur — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 22:22:29 -0400

Sochi, Russia was selected by IOC delegates on the second ballot. SportsFilter discussed the three finallists, and earlier the seven candidates.

Rogge unveils plan for Olympic programme

Amateur — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 21:36:28 -0400

At the 2005 IOC Congress, baseball and softball were voted off the Olympic island for 2012, leaving the summer Olympics with 26 sports. Yesterday Jacques Rogge announced his plan for the future: there will be 25 "largely untouchable" core sports, with the possibility of adding three more on a rotating basis for each edition of the Games.

Down in one

Amateur — Sat, 26 May 2007 13:31:30 -0400

fourteen times in four months. An amateur American golfer with thirteen aces so far this year drops another one in for the cameras.

Denial of Death

Amateur — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:38:13 -0400

"You're sure they'll do something before they stand for the national anthem. But with the fans on their feet the announcer reads from a script over the public address system: Twenty years ago today four players lost their lives please stand and honor these players with a moment of silence. " The players look down at their skates, the others at their boots. A hush falls over the arena, the only sound the wooden roof creaking. Finally, after 30 seconds, the announcer says: Thank you. Please remain standing for the playing of O Canada. "And that's it, a moment of silence and nothing more. If you'd never been in Western Canada's Swift Current before, if you didn't know the back story, you might mistake it for tasteful understatement. But if you put your ear to the door, you'd know this is the minimum interruption in a culture of denial in a town where the only thing tougher than looking through a scrapbook might be looking in a mirror."

What Athletes, Fans, and the Sports Media Don't Understand About Human Growth Hormone

Amateur — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 22:45:04 -0400

"The media haven't spent much time making a distinction between HGH and steroids. An AP story, titled After BALCO, Another Steroid Scandal, glosses over any differences between the two, drawing a straight line from the BALCO investigation to the busts in Florida. But Jerry Hairston isn't Barry Bonds. Sure, both of these guys probably took banned substances in an effort to boost their stats, and both were involved in major drug busts involving large numbers of Major League players. But it's just plain wrong to put growth hormone in the same category as anabolic steroids. In the sports version of the war on drugs, Bonds was shooting heroin while Hairston was smoking marijuana."

No Palace For These Cinderellas

Amateur — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 14:04:54 -0400

In the NCAA tournament, where you stand determines where you sleep at night: to the best teams go the best hotels. [via Slate]

Daughter of Olympian turns in skis for activism

Amateur — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 14:01:00 -0400

"Whenever former Olympian Jim Hunter gets a phone call to his Calgary home with the '604' or '250' area code in his caller display he worries his activist daughter is in trouble. 'I fear for my daughter every day,' said Hunter."

Good Sports Podcasts Wanted

Amateur — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 14:31:29 -0400

Thanks to my Christmas-gift iPod and my new nocturnal habits, I've discovered the glories of time shifting. A few weeks ago worldcup2002 posted this link to a podcast featuring Michael Lewis. I'm looking for more. Share your favourite sports podcasts inside.

Quite a Concept

Amateur — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 07:57:05 -0500

"You're sitting on a machine, rowing to exhaustion, going nowhere. Most people understand there's something deeply nonsensical about the whole enterprise." Luanne Mills, who will take home a hammer for lightweight women, says, "I've met so many wonderful people from all over the world. I like everything about erging except doing it." [Perhaps our own Ultimate Olympian will give this a try this cold and windy winter.]

Signs of Sanity from WADA?

Amateur — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 10:10:32 -0500

"WADA's code is currently undergoing the first major revision since its inception in 2003 The latest revision was the result of more than six months of comments solicited from a list of thousands of 'stakeholders' - governments, sporting organizations, anti-doping authorities and athletes alike the biggest changes relate to sanctions: they received many comments calling for the flexibility to impose bigger sanctions for more serious doping offenses and lighter sentences for less egregious ones."

Out With the Old ...

Amateur — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 21:00:28 -0500

Eventually, everyone's time on the Stanley Cup runs out. Before the start of this NHL season, thirteen past champions from the "Original Six" era had their names removed and archived in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

31 Voices on the State of the Game

Amateur — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:47:19 -0500

Biz of Baseball contacted 30 "notable individuals" who cover or work in the business of baseball and asked them for their comments on what's right and what's wrong with major league baseball today. The Biz of Baseball forum has included some intelligent discussion on the topic as well. [via King Kaufman]