Thom Loverro
Columns by Thom Loverro
LOVERRO: Nationals Park’s new reality series: ‘The Lineup’
Lineup cards are a baseball manager's game plan, except it is tacked up there for all the world to see, typically 3½ hours before the game is even played. It's the twin document, along with the box score, of the daily tradition of baseball, year in and year out. Opposing managers might want to be careful handling the Nationals lineup cards — they could be bloody. Published July 1, 2014
LOVERRO: As Bryce Harper returns, Nats have new golden boy in Anthony Rendon
Rendon has become the new darling among Nationals fans, winning them over with his slick third base glove, his clutch game-winning bat, and his generally happy demeanor — seemingly taking life as it comes. Published June 29, 2014
LOVERRO: Ryan Zimmerman’s example could lead Nats to big things
Zimmerman's willingness to pick up a glove and play wherever the Nationals need him is his defining moment as a leader on this team — and perhaps the rallying cry for Washington this summer. Published June 26, 2014
LOVERRO: American soccer hysteria just hipster hype
Soccer will grow in America. And someday, it will have a significant place at the sports consumer table in this country. But it won't be because of the hipsters who are watching now, who will go back to their "True Blood" and "Top Chef" viewing parties when the World Cup is over. Published June 24, 2014
LOVERRO: Tiger Woods a sympathetic figure after surgery?
Maybe opening up his back — and age (he's 38) — will finally make Tiger Woods human. First, maybe Tiger needs to recognize he is human. He is making a superhuman recovery, coming back to play just four months after they cut into his back. Published June 22, 2014
LOVERRO: Hypocrites will get their way on Redskins’ name
That's the offensive part in the Washington Redskins name debate — the hypocrisy of people perfuming their righteous vanities who couldn't have cared less about the plight of Native Americans before they were told they should be offended by this name, and who will go back to caring even less if and when the name is changed. Published June 19, 2014
LOVERRO: Tony Gwynn was robbed, and so were we
He was robbed of every day he would have lived when he might have met someone for the first time, and made it a special moment for them, because that's what he did. He was an All-Star contributor to the human race. Published June 17, 2014
LOVERRO: Don’t underestimate importance of Nationals’ community connections
You can't quantify the emotional value to a community to have an institution like the Washington Nationals, from April through September and during the winter, reach out — connections that didn't exist before baseball came to Washington in 2005. Published June 15, 2014
LOVERRO: As Baseball Hall celebrates 75th anniversary, people will come
The predictions of the demise of the Baseball Hall of Fame because of the absence of some of the biggest stars of the steroid era have been greatly exaggerated. That's about the change dramatically next month, and for years to come. Published June 12, 2014
LOVERRO: Nats much better off with Michael Morse gone
There are still Nationals fans that believe that Morse is the missing piece of Washington's championship puzzle — which is puzzling, considering his dismal performance last season. Morse should be celebrated by Nationals fans — for what he brought to Washington with his departure. Published June 10, 2014
LOVERRO: @RGIII and the @Redskins, influencing people one #hashtag at a time
Robert Griffin III is connecting with and building an army of loyal, devoted followers who he reaches out to daily through social media. They do love SuperBob, because they believe he loves them. He cares about them. It's a beautiful thing. It's also brilliant. Published June 8, 2014
LOVERRO: Triple Crown should have been Smarty Jones’ to wear
California Chrome may wind up being the Triple Crown winner, but he was not the horse who should have been the next winner of horse racing's highest trifecta. No, the horse who was right — and ripe — to be America's next Triple Crown winner won at Churchill Downs and Pimlico, but came up just short at Belmont Park 10 years ago. Published June 5, 2014
LOVERRO: Ryan Ripken a rare recognizable name in MLB draft
Yes, time has passed by that quickly, and Cal Ripken's son — Ryan, the 2-year-old Cal lifted in his arms and held that historic night when he broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive game record at Camden Yards 19 years ago — is now a 20-year-old, 6-foot-6 junior college ballplayer. Published June 3, 2014
LOVERRO: Quest for 2024 Olympics a race D.C. is better off losing
Unfortunately, the powers that be in Washington are still committed to wasting more money and resources for a chance to host an event that, at the very least, will make nearly all of your lives miserable for an entire summer, or, at the very worst, send governments into economic tailspins and leave broken dreams in its wake. Published June 1, 2014
LOVERRO: Will Redskins rue Morocco Brown as another one who got away?
The general manager of the Super Bowl champion Seahawks, John Schneider, was once in the Redskins' front office — as were others on his Super Bowl-winning staff. Did the Redskins repeat the same mistake when they let Morocco Brown leave for Cleveland? Published May 29, 2014
LOVERRO: Ted Leonsis takes easy way with Caps hires, but success will boil down to Alex Ovechkin
Talk about a safe choice for GM. I'm surprised Ted Leonsis didn't just hire George McPhee back and ask him to change his name and wear a disguise. At least he didn't just give the job to Ernie Grunfeld. Published May 27, 2014
LOVERRO: Memorial to baseball’s lost would be fitting tribute
Before Memorial Day became a celebration of barbecues, discount sales and ball games, it was a day when the men and women who died while serving in the United States armed forces would be remembered. Perhaps there should be a place at Nationals Park to commemorate the 139 pro ballplayers who died in World War II. Published May 25, 2014
LOVERRO: Fight against NFL’s pill-pushing culture has been waged before
A group of NFL players field a lawsuit Tuesday charging that NFL team doctors and trainers gave out narcotics and painkillers like "candy at Halloween" during their playing careers, leading to addiction and serious long-term health problems. This is the path that Walt Sweeney walked down nearly 20 years ago. It didn't end well for him. Published May 22, 2014
LOVERRO: Mike Rizzo will get credit or blame for how 2014 Nationals fare
When this happens — when the starting players who nearly everyone predicted for the second straight season to lead the Nationals to the NL East title and the postseason aren't starting — then the season falls on the spare parts used to carry the team until they get whole. The season falls on general manager Mike Rizzo. Published May 20, 2014
LOVERRO: Wizards’ lack of accountability leads to Game 6 apathy
Those empty seats were created in 2010, when Leonsis bought the team and did nothing to show fans that the man in charge, whose personnel decisions and coddling atmosphere set the stage for the Gilbert Arenas debacle, would be leaving. Instead, Leonsis embraced general manager Ernie Grunfeld. Published May 18, 2014
