Chipper Jones’ season-long flirtation with the most hallowed of numbers in a sport full of them — that would be a batting average of .400, a figure rounder and more solid than even the ball itself — should make a nice side note as the Marlins cream the visiting Braves…
You have to hand it to the National Physique Committee, the sanctioning organization of American beefcake and of the 2008 NPC Southern States Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships. By making people’s physique not only the tool, but the very field of competition, it transmogrified narcissism into a sport. Why, that…
It would be fair to call Tampa Bay and Florida the surprise teams of the American and National League, respectively, and for once it’s not because they returned after off-season. No, as they both edge further away from rumored demise at the hands of Commissioner Bud “Contraction” Selig, they’re flowering…
The Phillies are either the team you most want to see as a Marlins fan, or the most feared. The Marlins made their surprise run to first place in the National League East on the backs of their batters, but it’s their pitching that remains suspect. The Phillies are likewise…
Boxing remains a mere shadow of its former self — looking as though the sweet science could use a few more lab credits, perhaps — so the rise of mixed martial arts to a respectable athletic art form has been a real boon for men and women who still yearn…
It’s no exaggeration to say Broward County owns the nicest cricket facility in the United States. That may not seem much of a distinction, given that, in most of this country, cricket’s rank among pastimes is somewhere between ’shroom-fueled lawn darts and watching the spin cycle at the Laundromat. Broward,…
After winning the World Series in 2001, then wandering the desert for a few years, the Arizona Diamondbacks have gradually rebuilt themselves into perhaps the best team in baseball by following a formula that the Marlins tried, and abandoned. Specifically, the Diamondbacks will throw a nigh-unbeatable pitcher at you in…
Woe unto the Marlins fan! A recent issue of ESPN The Magazine determined, in its periodic wisdom, that among the 122 major sports teams in the United States and Canada, the worst “stadium experience” belongs to none other than the Marlins. Now, setting aside that the Marlins are one of…
Here’s why April rules: Because the Marlins can sit in first place for a few moments, even as they surrender 50 percent more runs than they score. (That’s what some walk-off dingers in the first couple of weeks will do for a team that figures to lose more than it…
Finally, the Panthers have shown some pluck! After losing eight of 10, Florida won everything they played in the first half of this month, setting a franchise record for consecutive victories along the way. A couple of the scalps they collected belonged to the Rangers and the Bruins – teams…
On Sunday, you, dear University of Miami fan, watched the Hurricanes nearly claw their way past the favored Texas Longhorns into the Sweet 16. And as you did, you probably thought the same thing as everyone else in South Florida: Since when do butchers dress in black-and-white vertical stripes? You’ll…
Why would you bother to mix your martial arts when Muay Thai alone is so much fun? It is to traditional American boxing what Hanukkah is to Christmas: Instead of one way of punching, you get eight crazy body parts. Fists? Check. Elbows? Hell, yes. Knees and shins? Absorb a…
The grotesque irony of spring in Florida is unique in baseball. At the end of March, 16 of the 18 teams that hold Spring Training in the Sunshine State return to their home cities with World Series dreams, while the remaining two – the Devil Rays and the Marlins –…
Watching the waning seconds of the Super Bowl this year, a fan was left with a hollow feeling: This was the last televised football game until August. (Unless you count the odious Pro Bowl, and if that’s the case, for shame.) Fortunately, we have heroes such as Michael Irvin, the…
You know things have gone to bad when the Heat has the worst record in the Eastern Conference. You know they’ve gone to worse when they have about half as many wins as the second-worst team. And they’ve bottomed out when that team is the New York Knicks. Are the…
You know what was awesome about Shaquille O’Neal? When the Heat rode him to the title. You know what else? When they FedExed him to Phoenix in exchange for Shawn Marion. In his first three games as a member of the Heat, Marion (nicknamed “the Matrix” for abiding by a…
You know your week hasn’t gone as it should when your name appears in a headline like the one Panthers forward Richard Zednik generated in the Miami Herald: “Panthers’ Zednik lucky to be alive.” Earlier this month, Zednik made possibly the biggest news in the National Hockey League by catching…
If you want to qualify for the Boston Marathon and you’re not above manipulating your own biochemistry to do so, there’s a fine chance you’ve been squirreling yourself away in the mountains of … anywhere that actually has mountains, i.e., not South Florida. Anyway, once a year, around now, with…
Trucks grow big. Big trucks run. Run at Monster Jam! Trucks run loud! Vroom, vroom, boom! Kids scream loud. Dad joins in! Mom covers ears. Waits in car. Fireworks hiss colors. U! S! A! Loud trucks run. Run over van. Run over bus. Run over Cadillac! Mash, boing, blam! Bounce…
Three words for the Miami Heat: David Freakin’ Robinson. The Admiral, you’ll recall, was the future Hall of Fame center (and man with the most chiseled arms ever) who anchored the San Antonio Spurs for most of the ´90s, until he tweaked his back and later broke his foot (against…
After the Heat’s Jan. 8 loss to NBA-worst Minnesota, Pat Riley said that he might quit as coach to focus on his other job as team president. He felt compelled to add: “But that’s after this season. That’s not now.” The natural follow-up question from the press gallery could have…
Woody Harrelson’s greatest challenge as an actor is to overpower, through force of performance, that little voice in your head that says, “Hey, it’s Woody Harrelson!” every time he appears. But say this for him: Lately he’s been enmeshing himself in great ensembles, in the likes of A Prairie Home…
