Tuesday I’m experiencing déjà vu after seeing the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs. When I was a teenager and just becoming interested in football, my beloved Minnesota Vikings were always encountering the Los Angeles Rams in playoff games. Then the Rams became the St. Louis Rams, but now they’re the Los Angeles Rams again, […]
Tag Archives: Sports
The L. A. Rams and Chaucer’s Miller
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Football, Geoffrey Chaucer, Los Angeles Rams, Miller's Tale, Super Bowl Comments closed
One Equal Temper of Heroic Hearts
Federer and Nadal resumed their legendary rivalry in the Australian Open finals and played a match for the ages. They are both old in tennis terms and by all rights should have been surpassed by the next generation. Therefore Tennyson’s “Ulysses” seems the proper poem to acknowledge them.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alfred Lord Tennyson, Australian Open, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, tennis, Ulysses Comments closed
Marriage & Tennis, One and the Same
Maxine Kumin’s poem “Prothalamion” is at once a celebration of marriage and tennis. I share it today to honor Roger Federer, who continues to dazzle long past the expiration date for tennis players.
Marianne Moore and Muhammad Ali
The American poet Marianne Moore was drawn to Muhammad Ali, who died Friday. Moore wrote liner notes for an album of Ali’s spoken poetry in 1963. Her poem “The Octopus” shows why would have drawn her to the boxer.
Robinson Ran Against Walls, Never Broke
A Ken Burns documentary on Jackie Robinson gives me an excuse to run this short, powerful Lucille Clifton poem honoring the player who broke baseball’s color line.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Baseball, Jackie Robinson, Lucille Clifton, racism, segregation Comments closed
Peyton: Old Age Hath Yet His Honor
Two narratives clash on Super Bowl Sunday: the return of the king vs. the aging king that must be overthrown. Is Peyton Manning Odysseus and the Panthers the suitors? Or is he the dragon who must yield to the next generation?
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alfred Lord Tennyson, Football, Homer, Odyssey, Peyton Manning, Super Bowl, Ulysses Comments closed
The Real Victims of Deflategate
Two characters from “Hamlet” have been invoked in Tom Brady’s deflategate scandal. Can you guess which ones?
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged deflategate, Football, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Brady, Tom Stoppard, William Shakespeare Comments closed
The Miraculous Ride of Tom Brady
If they win the Super Bowl, Brady and Belichick will become as legendary in the sports world as that patriot of old, Paul Revere.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere", Football, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, New England Patriots, NFL, Seattle Seahawks Comments closed
