Kids like to win; Adults need to win

  Whether you’re a sports fan or not, you have to acknowledge the powerful cultural influence that sports have on our culture. The values of millions of participants and spectators are shaped by the values conveyed in sports, including our views of what is permissible and proper in the competitive pursuit of personal goals.

The essence of sportsmanship

  In the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, six-time medalist Eugenio Monti from Italy was favored to win the gold medal in the bobsledding pair event. After his team’s last run, it looked like they were going to make it.

  The British team, led by Tony Nash Jr., still had a chance, but before their final run, Nash discovered a critical axle bolt had broken on their sled. They were done.

Sports remain hostile territory for LGBTQ Americans

  For all of the gains LGBTQ people have made over the past few decades, sports remain a highly visible reminder that homophobia and transphobia persist.

  In recent years, more professional athletes, from U.S. women’s soccer team player Tierna Davidson to Olympic gymnast Danell Leyva, have come out of the closet. However, locker rooms remain less inclusive of LGBTQ people than places like schools or workplaces. And though many sports teams and figures have publicly campaigned against homophobia and transphobia, half of LGBTQ respondents in our recent study said that they’d experienced discrimination, insults, bullying, or abuse while playing, watching, or talking about sports.

Hank Sanders: Sketches #1704 - They said it could not be done, but we did it

  It was March 19, 1966. I and others huddled around the television screen. We were anxious. We were excited. We were scared. We were proud. The moment meant so much to us. The moment was pregnant with the overriding issue of race. They said it couldn’t be done, but we did it.

Kirk Nawrotzky: Good Sport

View photos from this interview - Capital City Free Press on Facebook

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." –Jackie Robinson

  I truly believed a Sunday afternoon would offer a more relaxed environment to profile Kirk Nawrotzky. The studios of the Alabama News Network seemed relatively quiet. The tower stood watch over the operation, and I was set for a laid back conversation. Supposedly all the cool kids work on the weekend.

  But upon entering the sports bunker, I soon realized Kirk was in full multi-tasking, sports-dishing, TV-conjuring mode. The sports world never stops turning, and the same apparently applies to this 25-year-old native of northern Virginia – near the D.C. metro area - who seems to function solely on the fumes of his passion for athletics. Those fumes can come in handy as he notes a 10-11 hour work day isn’t too rare depending on what sports are in season. The former college baseball player and “small town” guy is already a television weekend sports anchor, just a few years removed from college.