Should Have Listened to Willie: Heroes Should Always Be Cowboys
Gaining hero status involves more than just being a good guy. Few athletes reach the status of hero—this goes well beyond the ability to dunk a basket, sink a shot, hit game-winning home runs, or ride a bicycle beyond normal limits of human endurance. Hero status requires overcoming the odds, making a difference in the lives of others, performing great deeds off the field. For many, Lance Armstrong achieved that status. Everyone knows the story—beating cancer when the odds were stacked against him, then coming back to win the most grueling sporting event, not once, but seven consecutive times; funding a foundation whose mission equates survivorship with a cancer diagnosis; raising hundreds of millions of dollars for that cause while giving hope to millions...
Read MoreBetween a Puck and a Hard Race
Day 74 of the NHL Lockout. “Negotiations” going about as well as the “Fiscal Cliff” debate—in other words, nowhere. Posturing, PR campaigns, Twitter, and media interviews comprise the “weapons” of choice in the courting of public opinion. If two sides don’t talk directly—or if one or both sides refuse to consider compromise—the standoff will continue until the NHL throws itself over a Fiscal Cliff of its own choosing. Actually heard the novel idea of bringing in Replacement Players in an effort to force the NHLPA to break ranks. That was worth a good chuckle, thinking back to the ill-fated Replacement Players who were to play the 2005 MLB season. That worked about as well as those NFL Replacement Refs that began...
Read MoreNHL Hockey Self-Destructs; But, We’ll Always Have Dale Jr. and the NASCAR Chase
With one sentence, the NHL effectively sealed the fate of the 2012-13 hockey season. The league’s marquée event, The Bridgestone Winter Classic will not propel hockey into the spotlight New Year’s Day. No game in “The Big House,” no Original Six cross-border rivalry, No Season. Last winter NHL commissioner Gary Bettman crowed that the NHL “owned” New Year’s Day TV. Do hate to be the one to break the news to him, but the lock-out, canceled games, and no Winter Classic will cost the League its “ownership” of New Year’s Day. Sure don’t get it. This is the same Commissioner who bragged at the Stanley Cup championship about the soaring profits, the unprecedented TV coverage in the United States,...
Read MoreSay It Ain’t So, Lance… or About That Crack on Those Rose-Colored Glasses
It’s absolutely no secret that Lance Armstrong ranks super high on my All Time Heroes List. Been a fan, an admirer, a supporter since he beat the odds, defeated the cancer he was given little chance of surviving, then conquered the most arduous sporting event in existence—not once, but seven straight times. When he retired in 2005, we remained cycling fans—though, it just was not the same. Enjoyed the Spring Classics, followed former teammates such as George Hincapie, and discovered new young talent that kept “Le Tour” a must-see each July. When Lance announced his comeback in the Fall of 2008, cycling suddenly grew more exciting, the anticipation building. Could he come back after three years and treat us once again to a Tour to...
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Robyn M. Ryan's new sports romance, Because Another Wept.
To an observer, they had it all. A golden couple basking in the glow of their love and the high-profile lifestyle of a professional athlete. Nothing could keep them apart… Read More