The Olympic Games are often defined by the feats achieved by the all-time greats. Whether it’s Jesse Owens in Berlin, Muhammed Ali in Rome, Mark Spitz in Munich, Mia Hamm in Athens, or Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt in Beijing — we remember each successive Games by the crowning achievements of history’s best.  However, we […]

Everyone has heard it: a mid-game buzzer that simultaneously causes cheering or disappointment, excitement or dread, depending on which team you’re rooting for.  A team hasn’t launched a shot in time, and now they must turn the ball over to the opposing team. Some consider the shot clock violation, with its sudden turnover, one of […]

Just say the word “Madden” and football comes to mind. John Madden is a cultural icon, whether it’s from his time as a Super Bowl-winning coach for the Oakland Raiders, his many years as America’s favorite NFL broadcaster or his incredibly popular video game franchise. Simply known as Madden, the video game bearing his name […]

Brett Favre’s place in football history had already been established in December 2003. By then, he had become an unexpected college football star and gone on to play in the NFL for over a decade.  He had a streak of consecutive starts for the Green Bay Packers stretching over 200 games, and had helped lead […]

For weeks, the rain had drenched the frigid battlefield. Weary young soldiers along the Western Front sat huddled in muddy trenches, hiding from bullets that tore through the cold air. The world they once knew was far away, now only a mirage of memories and packages from home. In this harsh new reality, it was […]

Nestled high in the mountains outside of Budapest, the Hungarian water polo team could only watch as plumes of smoke that rose in the distance marked the beginning of a revolution.  A battle for freedom raged on below as their countrymen clashed with communist forces that had invaded their country. As Russian tanks rode through […]

After the first year of the Korean War, most of the world lost hope for peace in the Korean Peninsula, let alone some form of unification.  During the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, the Unified Korean women’s ice hockey team provided a glimpse of peace that hadn’t been seen in over half a century. To fully comprehend […]

Football and Thanksgiving go together like, well, turkey and gravy.  The idea stretches all the way back to the very beginnings of football itself, and leads to an origin story about how Thanksgiving Day helped the NFL become an American institution.  But, to start with the most pressing question: Why does the NFL schedule games […]

In the summer of 2020 and during the Covid-19 pandemic, the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota catalyzed a wave of racial reckoning in the United States. Protesters took to the streets demanding change in the way the nation, citizens, and businesses treat people of different races and ethnicities.  From colorful caricatures to racist […]

Few other college basketball student sections are as iconic as the Cameron Crazies of Duke University.  Since the 1970s, the Duke men’s basketball experience owes much of its excitement and fervor to the heckling and hexing Duke fans located courtside at every Duke men’s basketball game. Just as Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s legacy will undoubtedly spring […]