footballSorry, But Tom Brady Isn't The GOAT. Bill Russell IsBrady has a strong case as the greatest professional football player of all time. But when it comes to the best of Boston, writes Peter May, no one surpasses Bill...CognoscentiFeb 5, 2019The Patriots Vs. The WorldYes, the Patriots are the are the new Yankees. So be it, writes Jim Sullivan. CognoscentiFeb 5, 2019The NFL Is The Model Of Consistency — In The Worst Possible WayRoger Goodell has made it clear throughout his term as commissioner that his primary purpose is to “protect the shield.” And that's exactly what he's done, writes Bill Littlefield. CognoscentiDec 7, 2018Here's What Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Gets Wrong About ConcussionsIt’s great that the retired racecar driver is encouraging athletes to acknowledge their concussions. But Earnhardt is on shakier ground when he maintains that brain injuries can be “healed like...CognoscentiOct 25, 2018Corporations Used To Defer To The President. Now, Nike Sees Dollar Signs In Fighting TrumpNike's Colin Kaepernick ad is not a virtuous moral stand -- it is a clever and calculated business decision, writes Bill Littlefield. CognoscentiSep 6, 2018Flagging The NFL’s New Policy: What's Next? Loyalty Oaths To The Stars And Stripes?By allowing on the field only players who’ll do as they’re told, the NFL owners have collaborated in an attack on one of the most significant rights necessary to our...CognoscentiMay 24, 2018In Sports, Rivals Are Opponents. In Politics, They're Too Often EnemiesWouldn’t it be more productive if we could leave politics on the field, asks Dorian Fox, in the same way we shed our colorful jerseys after game day? CognoscentiJan 19, 2018Pay For Play: How To End The Exploitation Of College Athletes Once And For AllShould college athletes be paid? Bill Littlefield suggests a specific approach to answering that question.CognoscentiOct 24, 2017Here's What Happens When Female Reporters Just Try To Do Their JobsCam Newton’s sexist remark made news, but it’s nothing new to women who cover sports.CognoscentiOct 6, 2017After The Protests And The PSAs, Turning Racism Awareness Into ActionHow can sports use its many platforms to tackle social issues on a sustained rather than an incident-driven basis?CognoscentiOct 3, 2017I'm A Veteran, And I Stand Up For The Right To Take A KneeI served so that we all may be free to criticize and complain and protest when this nation and its leaders fail to live up to our ideals, writes Laura...CognoscentiSep 28, 2017How Much Risk Is Football Worth?Football doesn’t have a concussion problem, or even a violence problem. It has a physics and physiology problem, writes Steve Almond. The human brain wasn’t meant to absorb thousands of...CognoscentiJul 26, 2017To Trump, Life Is Like A Football Game: Winning At Any CostIt's tempting to see the FBI's investigation of Trump's Russia ties as his Spygate, writes Steve Almond. But that doesn't capture the enormity of what's at stake.CognoscentiMar 31, 2017A Playbook For Addressing College Football's Rape CultureA new book by Jessica Luther tackles the enduring connection between NCAA football and sexual assault. Bill Littlefield has this review. CognoscentiSep 9, 2016Parsing Patriotism: Colin Kaepernick, The NFL And America's TroopsVeteran Andrew Carleen argues that the NFL player's refusal to stand during the national anthem isn’t an insult to America's troops. Our country's shallow definition of what passes for patriotism...CognoscentiSep 2, 2016The NFL's Nonsensical Approach To PunishmentCommissioner Roger Goodell should focus less on minutiae and more on changing football's brute culture.CognoscentiMay 16, 2016The Meaning Of The Super BowlA dizzying but hi-def vision of what we’ve become as a nation and a people.CognoscentiFeb 6, 2016A Risk Worth Taking? In Spite Of 'Concussion,' Football Remains Vital As EverSome thought the new football drama, “Concussion,” might do real damage to the sport. That appears to be a very unlikely outcome. CognoscentiJan 7, 2016The Patriots Are Crushing It. So Why Is It So Hard To Get Excited About Them?New England's ho-hum undefeated record speaks both to the ongoing excellence of the Patriots and the unending shoddiness of both their division and the rest of the NFL.CognoscentiNov 9, 2015Sports Superfans, Deflategate Obsession And America's Collective I.Q.If people applied the same intelligent scrutiny and research to public policy questions as they did to sports, would Team USA be doing a whole lot better? CognoscentiSep 9, 2015Next Page
Sorry, But Tom Brady Isn't The GOAT. Bill Russell IsBrady has a strong case as the greatest professional football player of all time. But when it comes to the best of Boston, writes Peter May, no one surpasses Bill...CognoscentiFeb 5, 2019
The Patriots Vs. The WorldYes, the Patriots are the are the new Yankees. So be it, writes Jim Sullivan. CognoscentiFeb 5, 2019
The NFL Is The Model Of Consistency — In The Worst Possible WayRoger Goodell has made it clear throughout his term as commissioner that his primary purpose is to “protect the shield.” And that's exactly what he's done, writes Bill Littlefield. CognoscentiDec 7, 2018
Here's What Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Gets Wrong About ConcussionsIt’s great that the retired racecar driver is encouraging athletes to acknowledge their concussions. But Earnhardt is on shakier ground when he maintains that brain injuries can be “healed like...CognoscentiOct 25, 2018
Corporations Used To Defer To The President. Now, Nike Sees Dollar Signs In Fighting TrumpNike's Colin Kaepernick ad is not a virtuous moral stand -- it is a clever and calculated business decision, writes Bill Littlefield. CognoscentiSep 6, 2018
Flagging The NFL’s New Policy: What's Next? Loyalty Oaths To The Stars And Stripes?By allowing on the field only players who’ll do as they’re told, the NFL owners have collaborated in an attack on one of the most significant rights necessary to our...CognoscentiMay 24, 2018
In Sports, Rivals Are Opponents. In Politics, They're Too Often EnemiesWouldn’t it be more productive if we could leave politics on the field, asks Dorian Fox, in the same way we shed our colorful jerseys after game day? CognoscentiJan 19, 2018
Pay For Play: How To End The Exploitation Of College Athletes Once And For AllShould college athletes be paid? Bill Littlefield suggests a specific approach to answering that question.CognoscentiOct 24, 2017
Here's What Happens When Female Reporters Just Try To Do Their JobsCam Newton’s sexist remark made news, but it’s nothing new to women who cover sports.CognoscentiOct 6, 2017
After The Protests And The PSAs, Turning Racism Awareness Into ActionHow can sports use its many platforms to tackle social issues on a sustained rather than an incident-driven basis?CognoscentiOct 3, 2017
I'm A Veteran, And I Stand Up For The Right To Take A KneeI served so that we all may be free to criticize and complain and protest when this nation and its leaders fail to live up to our ideals, writes Laura...CognoscentiSep 28, 2017
How Much Risk Is Football Worth?Football doesn’t have a concussion problem, or even a violence problem. It has a physics and physiology problem, writes Steve Almond. The human brain wasn’t meant to absorb thousands of...CognoscentiJul 26, 2017
To Trump, Life Is Like A Football Game: Winning At Any CostIt's tempting to see the FBI's investigation of Trump's Russia ties as his Spygate, writes Steve Almond. But that doesn't capture the enormity of what's at stake.CognoscentiMar 31, 2017
A Playbook For Addressing College Football's Rape CultureA new book by Jessica Luther tackles the enduring connection between NCAA football and sexual assault. Bill Littlefield has this review. CognoscentiSep 9, 2016
Parsing Patriotism: Colin Kaepernick, The NFL And America's TroopsVeteran Andrew Carleen argues that the NFL player's refusal to stand during the national anthem isn’t an insult to America's troops. Our country's shallow definition of what passes for patriotism...CognoscentiSep 2, 2016
The NFL's Nonsensical Approach To PunishmentCommissioner Roger Goodell should focus less on minutiae and more on changing football's brute culture.CognoscentiMay 16, 2016
The Meaning Of The Super BowlA dizzying but hi-def vision of what we’ve become as a nation and a people.CognoscentiFeb 6, 2016
A Risk Worth Taking? In Spite Of 'Concussion,' Football Remains Vital As EverSome thought the new football drama, “Concussion,” might do real damage to the sport. That appears to be a very unlikely outcome. CognoscentiJan 7, 2016
The Patriots Are Crushing It. So Why Is It So Hard To Get Excited About Them?New England's ho-hum undefeated record speaks both to the ongoing excellence of the Patriots and the unending shoddiness of both their division and the rest of the NFL.CognoscentiNov 9, 2015
Sports Superfans, Deflategate Obsession And America's Collective I.Q.If people applied the same intelligent scrutiny and research to public policy questions as they did to sports, would Team USA be doing a whole lot better? CognoscentiSep 9, 2015
