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

‘Hands of Stone’ real story better than Hollywood’s

Former mobster Michael Franzese testified about how organized crime used inside information to manipulate boxers to benefit the interests of organized crime, and cited the Roberto Duran fight with Davey Moore as an example.

August 30, 2016

Colin Kaepernick has same right to sit during national anthem as one has to criticize

Kaepernick has every right not to stand for the National Anthem before NFL games, just like anyone who believes otherwise has every right to be critical of him.

August 28, 2016

Frank Howard, former Washington Senators slugger, was a gentle giant, but fearsome at the plate

It wasn't even the size of Howard -- 6-foot-8, 280 pounds -- that made Howard great. Howard's greatness has been his heart -- a heart bigger than his stature, statue or statistics.

August 25, 2016

Stephen Strasburg’s latest DL stint kicks up memories of his shutdown

Former MLB pitcher Jim Kaat was critical of the Nationals' decision to shut down Strasburg in 2012. He tells Thom Loverro that he sticks by those words, and Loverro reminds that any Strasburg injury will cause the shut down debate to resurface.

August 23, 2016

Preseason ritual makes Redskins fans foolishly believe in what we see

We remain at the mercy of the NFL's preseason folly -- a four-game schedule of delusion and illusion -- simply because it is the first football we see after the Super Bowl ends the season before.

August 21, 2016

Melissa Belote was D.C. area’s original Olympic super swimmer

Belote, born in the District and raised in Springfield, Va., was the 15-year-old local Olympic swimming star when she won three gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

August 18, 2016

Little-known Olympic boxer Chuck Walker’s feats unmatched 40 years later

Sugar Ray Leonard was the star of that 1976 Olympic boxing team, but he might have had to share the spotlight if Walker had won the gold medal. Walker's story was the most unique and his presence on the team the most unlikely of all those boxers.

August 16, 2016

Jonathan Papelbon was not an experiment of any kind

Thom Loverro says handcuffed general manager Mike Rizzo did the best he could in acquiring Papelbon, a well-liked teammate whose past strong playoff results presented a clear upgrade over Drew Storen.

August 14, 2016

Tim Tebow should pay attention to just how hard it is to reach major leagues

Recent Nationals call-up Brian Goodwin picked up his first MLB hit Wednesday after five years in the minor leagues. Thom Loverro wonders if Tebow understands how difficult it is to get that first hit.

August 11, 2016

Washington’s first preseason game will begin the Nate Sudfeld era

Thom Loverro says Thursday night's first preseason game will begin Sudfeld's journey as the QB in Washington because general manager Scot McCloughan wants to play his draft picks and pay multiple players, not just Kirk Cousins.

August 9, 2016

Alex Rodriguez, the Fraud of the Yankees, calls it quits

Thom Loverro didn't buy the redemption of Alex Rodriguez last year. He's sure not buying it now that Rodriguez is retiring to a cushy position with the organization until his enormous contract ends.

August 7, 2016

Baseball still trying to find firm ground at the Olympic Games

The sport has gone in and out of the Olympics for more than 100 years. Now coming back in 2020, Thom Loverro wonders how baseball can find a permanent home alongside other summer Olympic sports.

August 4, 2016

When some look at former Redskins GM Bobby Beathard, they see Scot McCloughan

Former players are drawing parallels between the architect of the Redskins' success in the 1980s and the approach of their current general manager, Thom Loverro says.

August 2, 2016

Once again, Nationals GM Mike Rizzo works an impressive trade

Acquiring Mark Melancon did not cost any of the Nationals' top prospects. Like the trade for Jonathan Papelbon a year ago, acquiring Melancon in this way was another shrewd move by Rizzo, Thom Loverro says.

July 31, 2016

Kirk Cousins enters camp as part of a different kind of QB controversy

The Redskins know who their starting quarterback will be, but that does not mean there aren't other issues around the position thanks to the lack of a long-term deal for Cousins.

July 28, 2016

NFL players’ union keeps on taking the hits in efforts to stand up to league

No players union has a tougher job fighting for its members than the NFL Players Association. Nobody is promised tomorrow on a football field. That is the leverage the league will always have over the union in any so-called labor war.

July 26, 2016

Ken Griffey Jr. not on a list of top 10 greatest baseball players is foolish

On the day that Ken Griffey Jr. was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, I thought it would be valid and appropriate to compile my personal top 10 list of all time -- especially since the kiddie corps at ESPN didn't think that Griffey was one of their top 10 of all time.

July 24, 2016