Political scientist Barry Rubin has an interesting column criticizing the modern tendency to teach kids that playing to win is bad: My son is playing on a local soccer team which has lost every one of its games, often by humiliating scores. The coach is a nice guy, but seems an archetype of contemporary thinking: […]
Archive | Sports and Games
Jefferson’s Moose and . . . Cricket?
Though faithful readers of the VC will realize that my fondest wishes will come true only when someone explains how my book (on Thomas Jefferson and the Internet) really explains the world of soccer, I’m pretty happy with the connections Samir Chopra draws, over at ESPN, with the world of cricket . . .
A Billionaire Corporate Welfare Cheat?
Sportswriter Jeff Passan describes evidence indicating that billionaire Miami Marlins owner Jeff Loria may have lied about the team’s finances in order to secure massive public subsidies for the construction of the Marlins’ new stadium [HT: VC reader Eric Robinson]: A look at the leak of the Marlins’ financial information to Deadspin confirmed the long-held […]
My Only World Cup Post – Stolen from Chris Borgen at Opinio Juris …
… and dedicated to Tod Lindberg and his daughter Abbey. Tod is editor of Hoover’s Policy Review and a foreign affairs guru and both Lindbergs are soccer fanatics. I, on the other hand, can only say – further to the very interesting discussion from Ilya, et al. – that I know as little about soccer […]
Debating the Advantages of US Professional Sports Over International Soccer
In a recent post, I wrote that US pro sports have an important unappreciated advantage over international soccer. Unlike the latter, they are not organized in ways that fuel ethnic violence and provide prestige for oppressive regimes. Co-blogger David Post seems to concede my central point, but defends soccer anyway: I think Ilya’s on to […]
An Underappreciated Advantage of American Professional Sports Over International Soccer
This month, as two years ago, we have an interesting coincidence of a Celtics-Lakers NBA finals and a major international soccer tournament. In 2008, I wrote a post on the subject that I think is still relevant today: The conjunction of the Celtics-Lakers NBA Finals and the European Soccer Championship [this year, the World Cup] […]
Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks
Tonight the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. An overtime goal against the Philadelphia Flyers captured game 6 and sealed the series win. In doing so, they ended the longest Stanley Cup drought in the NHL and capped a marvelous season. The young, explosive, and versatile team earned their victory. While I am a die-hard […]
How Baseball Gets It Wrong, and Hockey Gets It Right
The sports world is atwitter over Major League umpire Jim Joyce’s blown call in the ninth inning that cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a well-deserved perfect game. The play at first base was made to end the game. It would have been the 27th out on the 27th batter, but Joyce called the runner […]
“Temporary” Tax to Pay for DC Baseball Stadium Becomes a Permanent Cash Cow for City Government
I have often criticized government subsidization of sports stadium construction, including the biggest such boondoggle: the record expenditure of over a billion dollars in government money on the new Yankee Stadium (see here for my most recent post on the subject and links to earlier ones). As I pointed out in my very first post […]
A Stanley Cup Final for the History Books
Tonight the Philadelphia Flyers face off against the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL Stanley Cup Finals. Whichever team prevails, this will be one for the history books. The Chicago Blackhawks have gone longer than any other NHL team since their last championship — 49 years — as they last took home the Cup in 1961. […]
Where Spike Lee and I Agree
There aren’t many events in the world of sports that could make both me and inveterate Boston-hater Spike Lee happy. Tonight’s great Celtics series win over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers was one of them. It’s not quite equal in importance to my areas of agreement with Dennis Kucinich, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama. […]
A Great Law School Dean Doesn’t Have to be a Great Scholar
By Ilya Somin on May 7, 2010 3:55 pm in Academia, Baseball, Judicial Nominations, Sports and Games, Supreme Court
Conservative blogger Paul Mirengoff and liberal law professor Paul Campos argue that Elena Kagan is poorly qualified for the Supreme Court because of what they argue is a weak record of scholarship. Mirengoff expresses incredulity that “you could publish so little and still become the dean of a major law school.” I have a much […]
Dubious Grousing over the Percentage of African-American Players in Major League Baseball
USA Today recently published an article lamenting the supposedly low percentage of African-American players in major league baseball: Major League Baseball is celebrating Jackie Robinson Day today. But 63 years after he broke the game’s color barrier, the number of African-American players continues to suffer, with 9.5% of them making opening-day rosters, according to USA […]
Scrambling Scrabble
Mattel, the maker of Scrabble, is changing the rules to permit the use of proper nouns for a new edition of the game. For traditionalists, Mattel will also continue to sell games with the old rules.
Against the NCAA Cartel
Most sports fans are currently watching the NCAA basketball championship game. Since my own basketball interests are usually confined to the NBA, I am instead going to take this opportunity to denounce the NCAA’s cartel-like effort to use the power of government to keep its members from paying student athletes for their labor. Economist David […]