In Defense of, Believe It or Not, TMZ
Regarding the Ray Rice saga, TMZ not only forced the NFL's hand, it put domestic violence back in the spotlight, where it should be.
Sports
Philadelphia Cartoonist Box Brown Explores the Man Who Lived the Myth of Andre the Giant
In telling his story in such an accessible and sympathetic way, Box Brown helps even non-wrestling fans understand what made Andre "the Giant" Roussimoff so unforgettable.
Dr. McMurtrie and the Gay Kiss
A homophobic doctor, writing in 1914, helped NFL player Michael Sam kiss his boyfriend on TV 100 years later.
(The Limits of) Football, Samba, and Commonality
The 2014 FIFA World Cup theme song highlights one of the worst trends in a global society: culture boiled down to a sort of triumphant universal human-ness.
In Defense of Totally Being Over the Winter Olympics
An institution once associated with athletic superiority and, of course, proud patriotism, has been deduced to yet another pawn in the ongoing game of international passive-aggression.
’30 for 30: The Price of Gold’: The Saga of Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan on Netflix
Both careful and compelling, Nan Burstein's film looks back on the rivalry between the golden girl Kerrigan and the hardscrabble Tony Harding as well as a number of related stories, not least being the TV coverage of every creepy or melodramatic moment.
In Defense of Openly Enjoying Professional Wrestling
All it took was a trip to the Royal Rumble to see how similar the warped reality of the WWE is to The Kardashians. Or The Real World. Or Duck Dynasty. Or Honey Boo Boo.
Super Blah: Super Bowl XLVIII
Despite high expectations, TV’s biggest event didn’t bowl us over.