For about the past 10 years this space has been tireless, if also tiresome, in its complaints that Major League Baseball threatened to obliterate the blessed historical distinction between the Ame  

The multi-billion dollar spectator sports business in America owes its profits chiefly to a pair of ideas embedded in the hearts of every fan. The first holds that the outcome of the game matters.  

Only in the cardboard discourse of sports page morality would Ben Roethlisberger and Chris Henry be equated for committing the ethical sin of "irresponsibility." Meanwhile, a real case of irresp  

The 1990 World Cup took place in Italy at a time when the United States enjoyed high international prestige. The Soviet Union and its satellite nations came apart from the edges by summer, and Ame  

The pages of last week's sports news described three signature developments concerning this year's race in the National League Central division. An injury in St. Louis, a contract in Houston and the  

Playoff season isn't very full of surprises this spring, except for the surprises we usually expect. At this point in the proceedings, one still hopes the NBA playoffs elaborate the story of prof  

School is ending, and so the time is at hand when the Reds traditionally hope for a profitable bump in their home attendance. Years ago, the Reds expected that bump and the fans complied -- now t  

Sometime this week or next, Barry Bonds is likely to pass Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list, which means absolutely nothing except that it's brought the discussion back around to Ruth. Bas  

The legends of professional basketball are made in the NBA playoffs, the current presentation of which is already touted among the best for all its tight competition. But who will be this year's   

So the NFL draft didn't go exactly as the Bengals hoped. In an ideal society, per their official Web site, they might have picked up North Carolina State linebacker prospect Manny Lawson for easy  

The NFL draft is the hype machine that's really an anti-hype machine, dedicated to tearing down the statues and monuments erected by college football's hype machine. The young gods of last autu  

The sporting world's infatuation with wacky playoffs demands new criteria for an "upset." Cinderella has been getting so much action lately that they should change her name to Madonna. The big  

The Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig, called for an official investigation into steroid use last week, dredging up the usual dull choruses of indignation from experts who've covered the game f  

What would you say if you look up in June and find that the Reds' problem is their everyday lineup? Would you say you're surprised? Well, don't be. Many clubs have done it faster, but the Reds  

We wondered back in August if the University of Cincinnati basketball program could take it. And we didn't even know what it was going to take. Now we know, and we knew it all along. Can UC bask