thank you, jason collins!
It has finally happened. A professional male athlete in one of the big US team sports has come out as gay. Someone had to be first, and that person is…
activism in sports
how can we condemn bigotry on the soccer field yet support racist israeli policies?
This week in The Nation, Dave Zirin reports on some disturbing – and disgusting – behaviour from Israeli soccer fans. Not even in the earliest days of Jackie Robinson’s 1947…
walmart workers, marvin miller, rob ford: important stuff that happened while i wasn’t blogging
As the title says, here are some things I thought about while I was taking a blogging break.● Marvin Miller died. Miller should be a hero of both the labour…
sam gordon, girls playing football, and the last bit of segregation we still tolerate
In case you haven't seen this yet, it's 9-year-old football sensation Sam Gordon, the only girl on her Utah football team. Dave Zirin raises the question: why do we assume…
olympics. not.
The 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics kick off today, with Opening Ceremonies that are supposed to be completely over-the-top. With a £27 million price tag ($42.5 million Canadian) for those…
penn state sanctions: justice for – and by – survivors
I spent some time last night reading reaction to the sanctions against Penn State University set out by the NCAA. (I should qualify that: I was reading the reactions of…
marxism 2011 program notes: how can we stop the right?
These are my notes from the 2011 Marxism conference in Toronto. The series starts here. * * * * How can we stop the right?Christine Beckermann, member of ISMay 29,…
"the greatest problem is we are afraid to offend our oppressors": john carlos, tommie smith, and a lesson about resistance
This is one of the most iconic photos in sports history: the Olympics, 1968, Mexico City. As the Star Spangled Banner begins to play, gold-medal winner Tommie Smith and bronze-medal…
what we talk about when we talk about jeremy lin
Even if you live in a sports-free universe, the name Jeremy Lin may have seeped in through osmosis. The 24-year-old Harvard grad and point guard for the New York Knicks…