Author Bio & Stories

David Roth

David Roth is an editor at The Classical, co-writes The Daily Fix blog-column at the Wall Street Journal, and writes "The Mercy Rule" column at Vice.com and a column that doesn't have its own name for Sports On Earth. He tweets, primarily about things he hates, @david_j_roth and almost never updates his blog.

  • July 3, 2012
    What It Was, Was: Andy Griffith and Talking and Sports — The Clog

    Andy Griffith's breakout as an entertainer came via a monologue about a country preacher at a football game. It feels about 200 years old today, but for Griffith—who died today at 86—seeming of-the-moment was never a big part of the game.

  • July 3, 2012
    The Great Shaquille O'Neal Haiku Contest — The Clog

    A photograph of Shaquille O'Neal in a stupid wig on the set of an Adam Sandler sequel, and the poetry it inspired.

  • June 29, 2012
    Dockumentary Filmmaking: Catching Up With That Dock Ellis Doc

    "No No: A Dockumentary," is a documentary project about Dock Ellis. You know, probably, that Dock pitched a no-hitter while frying on LSD. But, as producer Chris Cortez explains in this interview, "No No" is dedicated to telling the rest of Dock's story. As usual, the forgotten, human-scale stuff around the legend is the best part.

  • June 27, 2012
    Fans In The Dark: Talking To Greg Lalas About Soccer, Film, and Soccer Film Festival "Kicking...

    Greg Lalas played soccer in the MLS, and has covered it as a reporter and editor for a variety of venues. In his role as founder of Kicking and Screening, a film festival dedicated to soccer films from around the world, Lalas is still finding new ways to see the beautiful game.

  • June 27, 2012
    John Rocker's Notes From Underground

    John Rocker was once, if briefly, a very effective Major League pitcher. A decade or so later, he has reinvented himself as a part-time right-wing polemicist and full-time human example of the paralyzing, toxic effects of dumb fame.

  • June 23, 2012
    Getting To Yes, Eventually, With The Miami Heat

    There's no denying LeBron James, if there ever was. So why the incredibly powerful urge to do so? It's not the players, as it turns out. It's the game.

  • June 21, 2012
    Yakkin' About Baseball: Fake To Third, Fake To First

    On managerial middle-schoolisms, declining sluggers, terrifying bobbleheads and the origins of the popular baseball slang term "Poop Towel." Complicated... but quite simple.

  • June 18, 2012
    Four-Base Error: The Bad and Less-Bad Things About the Worst Baseball Article Ever — The Clog

    Mark Judge's paean to Bryce Harper, 19-year-old baseball prodigy and "conservative hero," has been kicked around the internet since it made its falling-down-the-stairs-and-then-catching-on-fire debut on the Daily Caller last Friday. It's absolutely as bad as you've heard, but not necessarily for the reason you might expect.

  • June 14, 2012
    Yakkin' About Baseball: The Chuck LaMar Perfection Academy

    Matt Cain's perfection, R.A. Dickey's inspiring imperfection, a tasteful collection of erotica edited by Joaquin Arias, and a kitchen device called The Bixler that needs to be recalled, and quickly, before someone gets hurt.

  • June 6, 2012
    Playing Hardball With Ed Hochuli — The Clog

    The NFL seems determined to start and win another labor-related staring contest, this time with the NFL Referees Association. The rich tough guys may win this negotiation, but that doesn't mean any of it makes sense.