Louis built his championship boxing career in Detroit, where they have honored him with a monument known as "The Fist" -- a 24-foot-long sculpture with a fisted hand suspended by a 24-foot-high pyramid framework. He died in 1981 at the age of 66, and he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. But it all began in the hills of rural Alabama. Published March 23, 2022
The two events introducing new stars to Washington fans were more than a thousand miles apart, but a common theme ran through both: The question of character, from the perspective of both strength and weakness. Published March 17, 2022
Gray, 24, doesn't presume he has a job in the rotation -- he called it a "potential spot." And there is nothing official yet. But it's likely Gray could be the third or fourth starter in the Nationals' rotation for 2022. If so, he will have the eyes of a city with a strong Black community fixed on him. Published March 16, 2022
Zimmerman may have never been the loudest noise that came out of the clubhouse but his quiet nature sometimes spoke volumes. Published March 15, 2022
It is challenging for Soto to stay grounded as he appears to be, given his rising star status as one of the game's elite players, sometimes compared to Ted Williams. Soto is 23, and there are young players in that clubhouse, some of whom are even older than him, who look at him like that -- a superstar. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said it Sunday -- this is Soto's team. Published March 14, 2022
You can start the countdown now for Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera. Start the clock the moment Carson Wentz puts on a Commanders jersey at a press conference and tells everyone how he is looking forward to playing for the coach. Tick, tick, baby -- the job countdown will commence. Published March 10, 2022
I didn't learn anything about the only active franchise player, from what I can determine, who has ever been criminally charged with involuntary manslaughter in the 80-year history of the team. I didn't learn why Everett, with Rivera's quest to change the culture, is still on the team. Published March 7, 2022
Phil Mickelson briefly became public enemy No. 1 -- he lost the top ranking when Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine -- for his comments about his support for the proposed Saudi-financed Super Golf League. But where was all that outrage a few weeks earlier, at the Winter Olympics? Published March 3, 2022
The bill has come due for Alex Ovechkin and "PutinTeam," the social media campaign that the hockey star started five years ago to support Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Published February 28, 2022
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has recruited another one of his cheerleaders to protect "The Shield" -- former federal prosecutor Mary Jo White -- to investigate the latest sexual misconduct allegations against Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder that emerged from the recent House Oversight Committee roundtable. Published February 22, 2022
Charley Taylor, who passed away Saturday, was a powerful dancer on the field. Published February 20, 2022
There was a time when the debate about the designated hitter in baseball was as passionate and bitter as the divide over COVID-19 vaccines. You picked your friends based on whether or not they thought the refusal to adopt the DH by the National League had been handed down from Mount Sinai, or if they looked upon the American League's embrace of the designated hitter as blasphemy. Published February 16, 2022
Washington fans have realized their pain is not on the field. It is at the top of the rotten food chain of the Commanders, where Dan Snyder has ruled, exile or not. Published February 14, 2022
Roger Goodell's time running the NFL has been a reign that reeks of hypocrisy -- particularly when Goodell is forced to address the sins of the league when it comes to the treatment of minorities and women. But the stench has been perfumed by the $15 billion in annual revenue and high ratings in the barren wasteland of network television. Published February 10, 2022
After the Dec. 23 car crash involving Washington Commanders safety Deshazor Everett that claimed the life of his passenger, 29-year-old Olivia Peters, on a Loudoun County road, coach Ron Rivera responded soberly when asked about the accident. If only he'd stopped there. Published February 9, 2022
Last week, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform held a roundtable with some former employees of the local NFL franchise, now known as the Washington Commanders, and before that, the Washington Football Team (and before that, the Washington Redskins). When the roundtable was over, the list of embarrassing allegations against owner Dan Snyder and his organization was longer than the line of Commanders fans looking to get new gear at Ghost Town Field. Published February 8, 2022
The Washington Football Team -- now the Washington Commanders -- certainly has no more use for its old Redskins Indian head helmet logo. So Donald Wetzel is asking the team to give the trademarked symbol -- a striking and dignified design that his Indian grandfather helped create -- back to the people it was intended to honor. Published February 2, 2022
No matter what the franchise's new alias, people want answers. Published January 31, 2022
The Cheated Generation finally got handed the check Tuesday. Their heroes, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, were passed over by baseball writers for the National Baseball Hall of Fame for the 10th and final time -- and it was like that moment when the mark realizes he's just been scammed: Pain. Anger. Lingering disbelief and delusion. Published January 26, 2022
Washington made a big splash last week doing international business, landing one of the prize young free agents and one of the top prospects in the pool -- Cuban outfielder Cristhian Vaquero, who came to the Dominican Republic in 2020. Published January 17, 2022
