Sports

My Soccer Fandom Is Out of Shape

A lifelong fan took in yesterday’s Manchester City–Arsenal game, and struggled to connect with his onetime obsession.

• James Parker
• June 18, 2020

Athletes During the Pandemic Are Learning What Fans Have Always Known

As players return to empty arenas, they are discovering a basic truth: Live sports is an act of social imagination.

• Danny Chau
• May 20, 2020

Baseball’s Strange and Poignant Return to TV

The first live sports games to air in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic provide a hopeful, yet harrowing, look at the future.

• Robert O'Connell
• May 12, 2020

Why the Super Bowl Was a Game Changer for the NFL

Sunday’s showing offered a blueprint for a potentially dynamic chapter in professional football.

• Michael Weinreb
• February 4, 2020

The NFL’s Most Valued Cause Is Itself

A social-justice-focused ad that aired during last night’s Super Bowl affirmed a disturbing and all too familiar truth about the league.

• Hannah Giorgis
• February 3, 2020

The Serious Message in Shakira and J. Lo’s Halftime Show

With an overwhelming spectacle, the two stars acknowledged that Latin identity is bigger than any one performance.

• Spencer Kornhaber
• February 3, 2020

Maternity Leave—Not Higher Pay—Is the WNBA’s Real Win

A new policy could transform the way professional female athletes experience pregnancy in their respective sports.

• Maggie Mertens
• February 1, 2020

Kobe Bryant’s Unfinished Business

It’s tragic that a superstar known for his thoughtfulness and willingness to learn never fully reckoned with his life’s darkest off-court episode.

• Ross Andersen
• January 27, 2020

The LSU Championship Game Further Exposed the NCAA’s Hypocrisy

With the recent victory, the association has shown signs that it cannot defend its amateurism model for much longer.

• Stephen A. Miller
• January 22, 2020

The Astros’ Cheating Scandal Rewrites a Decade of Baseball History

Houston’s dominance once looked like the sport’s biggest success story. Now their whole legacy is in doubt.

• Jeremy Venook
• January 19, 2020

The Case Against Stripping the Astros of Their World Series Title

The MLB has handed harsh penalties to Houston for sign stealing, but revoking the team’s ill-gained 2017 championship is implausible.

• Robert O'Connell
• January 15, 2020

The Two Players Who Are Breaking the ‘No-Fun League’

As the 2019 season enters its final stretch, an entertaining MVP race showcases a less restrictive brand of football.

• Robert O'Connell
• December 12, 2019

Carmelo Anthony’s Melancholy NBA Return

After a season away, the future Hall of Famer comes back to a league that no longer has much use for him.

• Robert O'Connell
• November 22, 2019

The Washington Nationals’ Against-All-Odds Championship

In a bizarre World Series in which the home team never won, the underdogs upset the juggernaut Houston Astros for the franchise’s first title.

• Robert O'Connell
• October 31, 2019

Unpredictability Returns to the NBA

For the first time in years, nobody really knows what to expect.

• Robert O'Connell
• October 22, 2019

The Washington Nationals’ Persistence Paid Off

Breaking a pattern of first-round heartbreak, the decade’s most downtrodden playoff team finds itself in the World Series.

• Robert O'Connell
• October 17, 2019

Joe Maddon Was Doomed by His Own Success

The Chicago Cubs say goodbye to the manager who led them to their first World Series victory in 108 years.

• David Baumgarten
• October 10, 2019

The Year of the Home Run Reaches October

After a record-setting regular season, the MLB playoffs figure to host offensive fireworks and long-ball fatigue.

• Robert O'Connell
• October 1, 2019

Lamar Jackson and the NFL’s Quarterback Double Standard

As the league looks to the future, the way many analysts talk about black players such as the Baltimore Ravens passer still belongs to an ugly past.

• Robert O'Connell
• September 20, 2019

Rafael Nadal Takes Another Step Toward Tennis History

After a grueling and dramatic final against tournament antihero Daniil Medvedev, the Spaniard inched closer to the men’s grand-slam record.

• Kevin Craft
• September 9, 2019