Skip to content
Advertisement
Author profile
Thom Loverro

Thom Loverro

tloverro@washingtontimes.com

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

Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams talks withe the news media before a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Monday, July 28, 2014, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

LOVERRO: Matt Williams has earned hard look for Manager of Year honors

Washington was picked by many observers to be one of the NL playoff favorites going into the season. But the burdens put on Williams shoulders to get this Nationals team where it is now — with one of the best records in the NL, comfortably on top of the division — put him right there.

August 28, 2014
Washington Redskins' quarterback Robert Griffin III (left) and head coach Jay Gruden (right) on the sidelines during the third quarter against the Baltimore Ravens during their pre-season game at M&T Bank Stadium on August 23, 2014 in Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore won the game 23-17. (Pete Marovich Special to The Washington Times)

LOVERRO: Redskins’ take on ice bucket challenge can leave fans cold

When your team looks bad in the third game of the preseason — like the Redskins did against the Ravens Saturday night — you take the bucket of ice, pour it over your head, and remember, "It's preseason. It doesn't mean anything. This team went 4-0 last preseason and wound up going 3-13."

August 24, 2014
Washington Nationals' Anthony Rendon, right, douses teammate Denard Span after Span scored the winning run on a throwing error by Arizona Diamondback third baseman Jordan Pacheco during the ninth inning of a baseball game on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Washington. The Nationals defeated the Diamondbacks 1-0. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Washington Nationals’ walk-off run a true display of heart

While the Redskins pass time by playing out the NFL's pretend portion of the football schedule, the Nationals have captured Washington's attention by winning. Winning every game. Winning games that they seemed intent on losing, in the nightly drama that has played out at Nationals Park.

August 21, 2014
**FILE** Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, right, talks with Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, left, after the MLB owners meeting in Paradise Valley, Ariz., Thursday Jan. 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Aaron J. Latham

LOVERRO: As Bud Selig exits, D.C. should be thankful for his work

Baseball named a new commissioner Thursday to succeed Bud Selig, who can now at least continue his farewell tour knowing that his hand-picked successor, Rob Manfred, is in place. When he comes to Washington as part of that tour, the city should hold a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in his honor.

August 14, 2014
Nationals owners Ted and Mark Lerner take in the atmosphere after Washington clinched the National League East Division title at Nationals Park on Monday night. Ted Lerner became the managing principal owner of the franchise in May 2006. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times) ** FILE **

LOVERRO: Will Nats-Orioles MASN dispute keep All-Stars away?

The Washington Nationals have been pushing hard to host the 2017 Major League Baseball All-Star game. And as of the All-Star game in July in Minneapolis, it looked as if it was going to happen. Washington's competition for the 2017 games is one of the cities lobbying to host the 2016 All-Star game — Baltimore.

August 10, 2014
Washington Redskins wide receiver DeSean Jackson (1) catches a ball on the opening day of Washington Redskins Training Camp at Bon Secours Training Center, Richmond, Va., Thursday, July 24, 2014. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

LOVERRO: Redskins should be great before declaring greatness

The Washington Redskins seems to exist in two worlds. There is the world where they look at themselves in the mirror and say to everyone, "Damn, we're great. How can we lose? Then there is the world they have won 149 games and lost 212 since they last time they were great and couldn't lose.

July 29, 2014
Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder, left, and general manager Bruce Allen, center, make their way out to practice at Redskins Park, Ashburn, Va., Wednesday, August 21, 2013. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

LOVERRO: These are Bruce Allen’s Washington Redskins now

Allen has become the most powerful person owner Daniel Snyder has ever employed since he purchased the team in 1999. He arrived here in the final weeks of the 2009 debacle, the valet for soon-to-be-hired head coach and executive vice president Mike Shanahan, and now rules over everything Redskins.

July 24, 2014
FILE - This Oct. 3, 2010, file photo shows former New York Giants player and current CBS analyst Phil Simms gesturing during the Ring of Honor Ceremony during an NFL football game between the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants at New Meadowlands Stadium, in East Rutherford, N.J.  (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)

LOVERRO: CBS Sports leaves broadcasters hanging in Redskins name debate

This winter, CBS paid $250 million for the rights to broadcast eight Thursday night games. Upon announcing the deal, Sean McManus declared, "The NFL is the most powerful programming in television." Apparently, not as powerful as any broadcasters who, after announcing Redskins games throughout their career, may have suddenly decided they can't live with themselves anymore and will no longer use the name.

July 22, 2014
Washington Wizards basketball and Washington Capitals hockey teams owner Ted Leonsis gestures during an interview with The Associated Press in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013.  (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

LOVERRO: Who are the men behind D.C. 2024 curtain?

The local Olympics bid is likely going to be some form of Maryland, D.C., and Virginia effort. Local organizers are trying to do all they can to hide their bid and keep the public in the dark as long as possible, until, perhaps, through some sort of cursed miracle, all of a sudden you wake up one morning and find out the Olympics are coming to the Washington region in 2024.

July 20, 2014
Washington Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond signs autographs for fans before a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

LOVERRO: Ian Desmond could follow Jeter model in D.C.

Jeter hit the trifecta for a sports icon — money, love and respect. Desmond should have been paying close attention to Derek Jeter's All-Star evening. He, too, has that rare opportunity to win that triple crown.

July 17, 2014