Thom Loverro
Columns by Thom Loverro
City-bankrupting Olympics will drown Tokyo in debt
We were supposed to be right in the middle of the Olympics right now, coming to you taped for TV and live on the web, from Tokyo. Now the 2020 Games supposedly, will take place in 2021 -- wishful thinking. Published August 4, 2020
Half-baked MLB restart built on broken promises
Even if you actually believe MLB's 113-page fairy tale could protect players, even if you could get players to adhere to the safety rules, the entire house of cards is built on the premise that the government would have had a handle on this crisis by now. Published July 28, 2020
LOVERRO: Ratings, rewards and risks — lots of risks
Baseball is back, along with a new 113-page manual to guard against coronavirus -- no spitting, masks in the dugout, mandated six-feet distance away from the playing field, and confined to the hotel they are staying in on the road, among many other little and large rules for life. That's what they are -- rules for life. No matter what the virus numbers say, the fear for players and their families is real, and with cause. Published July 22, 2020
Attorney’s job is to protect Snyder, not investigate him
Beth Wilkinson helped prosecute Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, which should have been good preparation for her investigation into the Washington football team. Published July 19, 2020
LOVERRO: No one can be surprised at latest dysfunction
The aura of self-destruction that has engulfed this franchise since Dan Snyder purchased the team more than 20 years ago has never been stronger. Like the Blob running through a small Pennsylvania town, it is consuming everything in its path. Published July 16, 2020
This isn’t good-bye, team you love left long ago
This team hasn't been the "Redskins" for quite some time, not the team you fell in love with. It's like seeing a version of the Temptations live without one single living member on stage who originally sang "Ball of Confusion." But you still love the songs. You still love hearing "Cloud Nine" and "My Girl," though. Published July 13, 2020
Redskins rename won’t be enough for Snyder to get new stadium
There are no plans among the partners to try to force Snyder to sell the Washington Redskins, nor does he have any plans to sell the franchise, according to sources. Published July 7, 2020
George Preston Marshall and the dustbin of history
The Redskins founder deserves the scorn. He earned it. But his story is also the complicated, convoluted history of the city's most beloved sports franchise. Published June 30, 2020
LOVERRO: Keeping name or changing it costs Redskins
Calls for a Redskins name change have the momentum of the moment -- but that kind of break with the team's history comes with a big price tag. Published June 23, 2020
Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa saving baseball pure myth
It's disturbing that with the passage of time we seem to have learned nothing from the history of one of the biggest frauds perpetuated on the American sports public. Not only are we still seemingly ignorant of the truth, but blissfully so. Published June 16, 2020
Stephen Strasburg: Clear skies after decade in storm
Everyone who saw Stephen Strasburg's major league debut would come away with a story, including the 14 Pittsburgh Pirates struck out over the seven innings pitched by the celebrated 21-year-old rookie. For Strasburg himself, the game was the beginning of a decade-long storm of lofty expectations. Published June 9, 2020
Wes Unseld intensity, heart, grit commanded respect
Wes Unseld dominated the place where basketball, when it was a sport for men, used to be played -- in the paint. Published June 2, 2020
Nationals fans get extra gift with World Series ring unveiling
There was a championship moment Sunday night for the Washington Nationals and their fans, a reminder of the gift of the franchise's 2019 World Series championship, the gift that keeps on giving. Published May 26, 2020
Jack Kent Cooke legacy in two opposites
Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has closed on his deal to buy the fabulous Forum from Madison Square Garden for $400 million, with the intent of using it for concerts and other events while building an arena for his Clippers basketball team, who now share the Staples Center with the Lakers. Published May 19, 2020
UFC blueprint for sports’ reopening only raises more questions
UFC and Dana White leading the way in the age of coronavirus for the return of professional sports to the American landscape is like Hell's Angels kicking off a Fourth of July parade. Published May 12, 2020
Don Shula, Baltimore Colts what might have been
If Shula hadn't left Baltimore, who knows what the Colts might have accomplished? Published May 5, 2020
Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason run table in ‘Hustler’
"The Hustler" is one of Thom Loverro's favorite films and, for his money, the greatest sports film ever made. Published April 27, 2020
Drafts more fantasy than reality under Snyder
It's 2020, and time again for the Redskins' 10-year fantasy draft -- the fantasy that created hopes and dreams for a new day at Redskins Park in 2010 and the fantasy that created hopes and dreams for a new day at Redskins Park in 2000. Published April 22, 2020
Baltimore Orioles, other franchises face brutal test
Nobody really knows what the world will look like when we believe it is safe to live without fear of the deadly coronavirus. We can reasonably conclude that not everything will simply pick up where it left off before we hid in our homes. Published April 14, 2020
Bobby Mitchell hero Redskins didn’t always deserve
Bobby Mitchell was, in every way, Washington's Jackie Robinson. Published April 6, 2020