Author profile

Follow author updates

Thom Loverro

Thom Loverro has been a professional journalist since 1977, working for a number of newspapers, including eight years as a news editor and reporter for The Baltimore Sun, where he covered government, politics, and crime. He moved into sports writing when he joined The Washington Times in 1992. He moved to The Washington Examiner as a sports columnist in 2009 and returned to The Washington Times in 2013, where he is currently the lead sports columnist.

Columns by Thom Loverro

LOVERRO: Among those who faced him on the court, Bird’s legacy undeniable

In a 1997 interview with sportscaster Ahmad Rashad, when asked to select the greatest players they had ever seen other than themselves, Wilt Chamberlain picked Bird. Russell selected Bird third after Magic and Jordan -- not Oscar Robertson, who he played against, but Bird.

December 12, 2022

LOVERRO: House probe may be done, but still many shoes remain to fall

The House Oversight Committee's probe of Dan Snyder may be done, but there are still four - count them - four different ongoing investigations being conducted by highly-ranked criminal justice officials.

December 8, 2022

LOVERRO: There’s no going back to Wentz, the legend of Heinicke is now the story of this team

The Commanders (7-5-1) may have a good defense and two studs up the middle in Jon Allen and Daron Payne. They may have a great running attack, rushing for 165 yards Sunday. But perhaps no one represents this season's success to date more than Taylor Heinicke

December 5, 2022

LOVERRO: What was once bemusement at Qatar’s antics should be replaced these days by disgust

Qatar is having a pretty good time watching the world come to its manufactured doorstep and pay tribute to the tiny country. That's what you're doing if you are in Qatar, paying thousands of dollars to watch the World Cup in person or TV, which would lead you to believe it is taking place in Disney World.

December 1, 2022

LOVERRO: Rivera may be the bright spot franchise has been searching for in the dark

I still don't know how good of a coach Ron Rivera is. But as a leader -- really, the part that counts the most for a head coach -- he ranks among the best we've seen here in Washington, maybe since the glory days of Joe Gibbs.

November 27, 2022

LOVERRO: Commanders said they wanted their day in court. Then they settled instead with Maryland AG

Doesn't the Commanders' settlement with the Maryland attorney general validate Jason Friedman's committee testimony, first reported in the Washington Post and outlined in a letter from the committee to the Federal Trade Commission? After all, there is no Maryland investigation without his testimony.

November 24, 2022

LOVERRO: Rivera’s coaching shakeup now looks like the right move

Given the dominant performance of this defensive line, my money for the Commanders' turnaround is on the day Ron Rivera announced he was firing his longtime coaching colleague Sam Mills III and replaced him with assistant defensive line coach and 17-year NFL veteran Jeff Zgonina.

November 21, 2022

Zero was no hero: Honoring Gilbert Arenas is a franchise low mark

The franchise whose name was changed by the late owner Abe Pollin in 1997 because "the name 'Bullets" is no longer appropriate for a sports team is now honoring a player who celebrated guns and bullets so much he brought them into Pollin's building.

November 17, 2022

LOVERRO: Anything can happen now that Racine has stepped up to the plate

Everyone expects Attorney General Karl Racine to strike out in his lawsuit against the Commanders, Dan Snyder and the league. But a lot can happen now that someone has picked up a bat.

November 13, 2022

LOVERRO: Alabama country boy Dave Butz became a hero in the nation’s capital

When legendary Washington Redskins defensive tackle Dave Butz and I last spoke in March, we talked about his birthplace -- a small Alabama town called Lafayette -- where coincidentally another great champion, heavyweight Joe Louis, was also born.

November 10, 2022

LOVERRO: Heinicke’s got some magic, Cousins has the whole bag of tricks

Taylor Heinicke, last year's starter who began this season as the backup, threw a six-yard touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter -- and suddenly the crowd was mesmerized by Heinicke magic. Then Kirk Cousins showed the stadium who the real sorcerer was.

November 6, 2022

LOVERRO: The overreach for Wentz fits Snyder’s M.O. for quarterback mistakes

Washington Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke had some answers Sunday for those "analytics" that his coach, Ron Rivera, was bellowing about two weeks ago when questions were raised about Rivera's previously professed love for Carson Wentz.

October 31, 2022

LOVERRO: NFL is waiting for a smoking gun that’s sitting in plain sight

In all the talk about what it would take to perform the public service of ridding Skipper Dan the Sailing Man from the lives of battered Washington Commanders fans, the speculation has always been about needing a smoking gun.

October 27, 2022

LOVERRO: Win over the Packers won’t free a fan base imprisoned by ineptitude

It's hard to find peace in the team's cursed home, even on a day that the Commanders (3-4) pull out a 23-21 win over the Green Bay Packers for the lowliest two-game win streak (12-7 win over Chicago two weeks ago) you might ever see.

October 23, 2022

LOVERRO: Dragging down the NFL’s bottom line? That’s one Snyder sin the owners will not forgive

If the NFL is a "mafia," as Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder reportedly referred to it, then Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay's declaration that kicking Skipper Dan out deserves "serious consideration" was a Corleone family kiss on the lips.

October 19, 2022

LOVERRO: Food for thought, goals for the soul and Ovechkin’s blue-plate special

Alex Ovechkin is the constant that calms the acid reflux in the stomachs of Washington sports fans. As long as he remains on the ice in Washington, there is a level of respect and competitiveness that makes the world all right -- even if the real world itself is a nightmare.

October 17, 2022

LOVERRO: Damning new report puts focus on Skipper Dan’s naughty list

"The NFL," Snyder reportedly told an associate, "is a mafia." No, Skipper Dan. The NFL is not a "mafia." If it were a mafia, the Washington Commanders owner would be in a hole in the Nevada desert by now. Or a New Jersey landfill.

October 13, 2022

LOVERRO: Eventually Rivera will have to look in the mirror for answers to team’s failures

What was funny about the latest predicament that Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera found himself embroiled in -- and, let's face it, this franchise is a Don Rickles stand-up routine 24/7 -- was that it didn't happen as a result of one of his wordy, drawn-out answers to a press conference question. It happened because he gave a one-word answer: "Quarterback."

October 11, 2022

LOVERRO: Snyder’s offseason promises look emptier with every loss. Is anyone surprised?

Instead of the regular column, a postgame email from Thom Loverro to John Mooney, managing director of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, after the Washington Commanders' loss to the Tennessee Titans.

October 9, 2022

LOVERRO: Nice clubhouse chemistry, but Nationals sorely lacking talent

It turned out their chemistry was fine. By 107 team loss standards, it was a good clubhouse. What they were missing was, as the former Nationals manager Davey Johnson used to say, players "expressing their talents." There wasn't much expression. The reality is almost nothing went right this past season.

October 6, 2022

Sponsored

Special Section: Gateways to Health

Get today’s top stories in under five minutes Listen to the Front Page Podcast

LISTEN: ‘Defiant Ones’ episode 5 Sybil Ludington: And the fires burn and burn

WATCH: Trump’s ‘Donroe Doctrine’ echoes Monroe-era push for hemisphere dominance