In the spring of 1986, the three-sport star athlete Mark Collins of San Bernardino’s Pacific High School was one of the top prospects in the National Football League player draft. You could ask anyone. He was a leader as well as an elite athlete, and the NFL did not miss him, even if he was […]

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The dominoes are falling now. Nearly every day over the past two weeks has brought news of some other school or conference or league announcing reduced schedules, with the reductions going all the way down to not playing football this season. At all. Back in the spring, noted U.S. immunologist Anthony Fauci was asked about […]

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Been donkey’s years, as the Brits would say, since I did a list. It’s time. This one is going to be a little apples-and-oranges. My favorite road trips as a professional sports journalist. Some considerations: –What is more important? The travel? Or the event I was there to cover? –Or will we almost certainly get […]

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The Alabama-Clemson game coming up tonight marks the fourth consecutive season those schools have met in college football’s final game. And many of us are sick and bloody tired of watching those two decide who will be national champion. Some have suggested it is a good thing, this repetition. “Would you rather see Notre Dame […]

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Here are the kickoffs for the NFL’s conference championship games tomorrow. That is, if you live under the umbrella of Pacific Standard Time. New England at Jacksonville, 12:05 p.m. Philadelphia at Minnesota, 3:40 p.m. Convenient, as a viewer, no? Well, yes, and you should know it is not like that everywhere. If you have lived […]

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I was made aware today of this video, which is based on the Barcelona midfield standout Andres Iniesta showing “There is a first time for everything” by trying something new — American football. It is an advertisement for an online foreign-exchange trader known as UFX, and the notion of the elfin Iniesta (5-foot-7, maybe 130 […]

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Keith Jackson, too? We are losing the great sports broadcasters from the 20th century and I don’t like it. Yes, for my own selfish reasons. I know the legends are retired but I can be comforted by the idea that they could, in theory, come back for One More Game. One more chance to hear […]

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So, that’s why Nick Saban is such a big deal. A big enough deal to be getting paid more than $11 million by the University of Alabama in 2017. His Alabama team was down 13-0 to Georgia at halftime of the College Football Playoff championship game tonight, and instead of persevering with sophomore quarterback Jalen […]

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I am predisposed to dislike Nick Saban. Alabama’s football coach seems joyless and put-upon, as if he can’t catch a break and it’s somehow the fault of the rest of us — despite those four national championships. He is so concerned about security leaks that very little of Alabama’s practices is open to media. (Compare […]

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If it seems to y’all that the biggest games in college football involve a lot of coaches and players with drawls and odd names (lookin’ at you Dabo Swinney) … well, you are not just whistling Dixie. Victories by Alabama and Georgia tonight put two Southeastern Conference (SEC) teams in the College Football Playoff championship […]

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