Trump’s Border Wall Sidelined by Major League Sports

The NBA and NFL Woo Mexico's Newly Affluent Fans, While FIFA Dreams of a Joint U.S.-Mexico World Cup Bid

Last week I asked Mexico’s Secretary of the Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo, whether he fears that a Trump presidency will revive the anti-Americanism that was once a staple of Mexican life but receded to negligible levels over the past two decades.

Surprisingly, his answer was all about a Monday Night Football game played less than two weeks after the election. Namely, the first-ever regular season Monday night game played outside the United States, in Mexico City’s iconic Estadio Azteca. The Oakland Raiders beat the Houston Texans before a sellout crowd of nearly …

By Andrés Martinez | December 8, 2016

Why India’s Women Olympians Remind Me of My Father

A Delhi School Principal Was Early to Champion Sports for Girls, a Commitment That's Still Bearing Fruit

By Moira Mayer Shourie | August 22, 2016

It’s been nearly 10 years since my father died, but watching Indian athletes at the Rio Olympics has brought his memory rushing back to me.

When I was a child, …

Will Environmental Crises Segregate Sports?

Snowless Mountains and Poisoned Beaches Will Drive a Wedge Between Athletes of Different Classes

By Andrew Dana Hudson | August 10, 2016

In Brazil, Olympic rowers and sailors will chase gold through dying rivers and poisoned lagoons. Even amid all the crises piling up on this year’s games—unfinished infrastructure, political drama, financial …

L.A.’s Forgotten Avenue of the Athletes

Thirty-Two Grimy Bronze Plaques Are All That Remain of a Grand Vision to Create a Walk of Fame for Sports

By David Davis | August 4, 2016

Walking along Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles the other day I stumbled across an old acquaintance. On a small bronze plaque embedded into the sidewalk was the name Jimmy …

Russia Goes for Gold in Hooliganism

The Future World Cup Host’s Latest International Sporting Event Antics Only Deepen the Kremlin’s Sense of Isolation

By Joshua Yaffa | June 30, 2016

In authoritarian political systems, sports take on outsized importance. After all, national greatness is part of the bargain. A measure of democratic freedom is traded for strength and victory, whether …

California Wants to Improve Its Golf Game

The Leisure Sport’s Subpar Performance Prompts the State to Rethink How It Uses Its Greens

By Joe Mathews | May 12, 2016

Your columnist is not an Olympic athlete. But last Friday I managed a serious athletic feat: playing 18 holes of golf in just 45 minutes, without using a cart or …

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