Topic: Politics

Cash-strapped communities routinely pay through the nose to keep a pro-sports franchise in town. The justification has always been that a pro team brings other business and economic development. Studies have shown that this argument is false. Places like Newark want a professional sports team because it offers them a source of civic pride.  But can Newark afford sports?

The horror of Trayvon Martin's murder in Sanford, Florida is a lot to take, for a lot of very good reasons. But for all the horror and ugliness that the case revealed and has continued to reveal, the response to this injustice has also contained a fragile sort of hope. That the NBA Players Association, the Miami Heat, and LeBron James (of all people) have been a part of that is surprising, and inspiring in its own right.

Former Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger, like many people who played golf often, is very concerned about how much free stuff poor people...pardon, "non-working Americans" receive. What makes him a champion is getting on Twitter and making a difference.

There will be no return trip to the Super Bowl; this frozen football mecca should be licking its wounds and sobbing. But the city this team made famous has other problems on its mind.