Football

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10 songs to get you, and the Pats, fired up

Super selections
While most Patriots fans this past weekend watched with glee as Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was denied a return trip to the Super Bowl, I couldn't help remember the time 11 years ago when I didn't completely detest the guy.
By SAM PFEIFLE | January 25, 2012

By | January 01, 0001

Bad as me

The Law of Low Expectations
I'm an economist in much the same sense that I'm commissioner of the National Football League.
By AL DIAMON | January 04, 2012

The year ahead in sports

Looking forward to more scoring and less scandal
It seemed for every hail Mary, walk-off homer, and buzzer beater in 2011, the sports pages had a story on work stoppages, performance-enhancing drugs, or mind-boggling college-conference realignments.
By SEAN KERRIGAN | December 28, 2011

Small potatoes

Balls, pucks and monster trucks
There are too many ridiculous college football bowl games to really care about unless your alma mater plays in one.
By RICK WORMWOOD | December 28, 2011

Shopping, simplified

Balls, pucks, and monster trucks
With the holidays, and their attendant sturm und drang , upon us again, I was thinking about sports news in the context of Thanksgiving.
By RICK WORMWOOD | November 30, 2011

SF’s no Boston

Balls, pucks and monster trucks
While escaping New England for a few days on the west coast, in the Bay Area, just ahead of all that unexpected October wind and snow, I decided to catch a 49ers game.
By RICK WORMWOOD | November 02, 2011

Review: All's Faire In Love

Scott Marshall's Renn Faire stinker
It seems that before actually performing in a Renaissance Faire, actors first have to appear in a movie about one.
By PETER KEOUGH | October 25, 2011

Political football

Balls, pucks and monster trucks
Sadly, the only upcoming event with the capacity to truly inspire hope for millions of Americans, the start of the 2011 NFL season, will be twice marred by our current political culture and media.
By RICK WORMWOOD | September 07, 2011

Let's compromise

Letters to the Portland Phoenix Editor, July 22, 2011
I am writing in response to the article that ran in the paper on July 1 entitled " Democrats Celebrate Victory in the Face of Defeat " (by Lance Tapley).
By PORTLAND PHOENIX LETTERS | July 20, 2011

The cruelest month

Balls, pucks and monster trucks
When T.S. Eliot wrote "April is the cruelest month," was he talking about how the last few weeks unfolded for New England's major sports teams?
By RICK WORMWOOD | April 20, 2011

Blackboard jungle

Taking charge; bitchin' 'bout the Steelers; campaign notes
Look who's swinging in on a vine with a long and loud Tarzan yell to take over as chairman of the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education: it's our old pal "George of the Jungle" Caruolo.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | February 09, 2011

A stellar Super Bowl spread matters when no one cares who wins

Bring your best game
While Patriots fans may not have much enthusiasm for this year's Super Bowl, that's hardly an excuse not to bring your A game to the party.
By LEISCHEN STELTER | February 01, 2011

Beer and cheese unite!

A super pairing for the big game
As disappointed Patriots fans, we're definitely going to need some quality beer and snacks to get through the Super Bowl this year. While chicken wings, pizza, or chips and dip will be served at most houses come kickoff, I'm opting for what I consider to be the ultimate Super Bowl snack: beer and cheese.
By JOSH SMITH | February 02, 2011

Packers, Steelers — wine?!

Super Bowl beverages
The Super Bowl is an event that was expressly created to test exactly how many plates of guacamole and nachos a person could consume in a nine-hour period. This occurs while observing an equally large number of commercials praising the same.
By LAYNE WITHERELL | February 02, 2011

Beer bottle football

Hoopleville
It's a sad, sad day for beer bottle football ...
By DAVID KISH | February 02, 2011

Three-point stance

Balls, pucks, and monster trucks
With Green Bay and Pittsburgh squaring off on Super Bowl Sunday, three things about the current state of pro football keep occurring to me that I'd like to share with you, gentle reader.
By RICK WORMWOOD | January 26, 2011

Why the NFL sucks

Tales of the No Fun League; judging the judges; parsing the Pamphlet of Record
Oh, we meant to say "Why the NFL sucks . . . except for the Patriots." Sorry. And prepare yourself for a sporting screed.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | January 05, 2011

Post-primary punditry; war games; holy howlers; words worth reading

Fallen chips
OK, boys and girls, the primaries are over. Let’s see what hit the floor when the chips fell on Tuesday.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | September 16, 2010

Tom Brady's contract renegotiation could change the team — and the NFL — forever

The good soldier
For the first time since he became Tom Brady, the Patriots quarterback is going into a football season in the last year of his contract.
By PAUL FLANNERY | September 08, 2010

Sports Blotter: Down, lineman

An arrest for the ages in Oregon. Plus, Jay Mariotti needs a timeout.
Brace yourselves, because this week we have, hands-down, the best sports-crime story of the year. Are you ready?
By MATT TAIBBI | September 01, 2010

40 years of heroes + villains

Balls, pucks and monster trucks
Turning 40 this week spurred me to compile the greatest sports moments witnessed with my own eyes during (what I hope is) the first half of my life.
By RICK WORMWOOD | August 11, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Shack attacked

Overzealous cops are at it again. Plus, is UGA going for Oregon's crown?
Before Shaq, there was Shack.
By MATT TAIBBI | July 28, 2010

Sports Blotter: ESPN kiddie rap

It ain't easy being Green. Plus, UGA cops play the name game, and D-West gets weird.
Man, has any sports scandal ever gotten less coverage?
By MATT TAIBBI | July 21, 2010

The obituary mambo

Passings near and far; Huzzah for Harley; Farewell, World Cup
As some of you may know, on a biweekly basis your superior correspondents chat with former mayor and current local talk radio titan, Vincent A. "The Bud-I" Cianci.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | July 14, 2010

Escape from Soccer City

Outside the World Cup, seeing South Africa in black and white
The FIFA complex here is a swishy maze of a mall, all upscale shops and unrelenting fluorescent lights, attaching the hotels to each other before spilling out into Nelson Mandela Square, which is right now dominated by a Sony tent — a 3D World Cup viewing pavilion — and circled by tourist restaurants.
By NINA MACLAUGHLIN | July 15, 2010