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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

FILE - In this March 21, 2001, file photo, Red Klotz, 80, owner of full-time Globetrotters' opponent the New York Nationals, smiles inside his office at his home in Margate, N.J. The basketball barnstormer who owned the Washington Generals and other teams that lost thousands of games to the Harlem Globetrotters died Monday, July 14, 2014. Louis "Red" Klotz was 93. (AP Photo/Chris Polk, File)

LOVERRO: Red Klotz an unquestioned winner despite 14,000 losses

Klotz, who died Saturday at 93, was best known for being the coach of the biggest losers the game of basketball has ever seen — the Washington Generals, the patsy for the Harlem Globetrotters — from 1953 to 1995. He lost and lost and lost. And people loved him for it.

July 15, 2014
FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2010, file photo, Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James waits for play to resume in an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Hornets in Cleveland. Four years after he left for Miami, a widely criticized departure that damaged his image and crushed a long-suffering city's championship hopes, James is coming back to play for the Cavaliers to try and end Cleveland's half-century title drought. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)

LOVERRO: As King James returns home, all is forgiven

James was the best player on the Miami Heat, leading them to four straight Eastern Conference titles and two NBA championships. But he was never the most beloved player on that team — the man. Now James returns to the Cavaliers, more empowered than ever, ruling over a basketball franchise that will surely respond to his every whim, however petty, to keep the King happy.

July 13, 2014
Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter speaks during a media availability in the dugout before an interleague baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Monday, July 7, 2014, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

LOVERRO: Suck-up Buck Showalter needs history lesson

Buck, the reason for the very existence of the franchise you work for now is because the owner of the Washington Senators was kind enough to let them have a team in Baltimore. And the reason you have this wonderful ballpark to play in is because of Washington and its baseball fans.

July 10, 2014
Washington Nationals starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann pauses in the dugout during a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs at Nationals Park, Sunday, July 6, 2014, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

LOVERRO: Jordan Zimmermann validates wisdom of Nats’ Strasburg shutdown plan

I'm not going to argue the merits of the Strasburg shutdown yet again. But often overlooked in all the debate about Strasburg was the fact that this was the recovery plan the organization came up with for the pitcher who preceded Strasburg in the surgery and recovery path — and has made two All-Star teams since returning.

July 8, 2014
Pouring it on for Lou Gehrig and others. (AP Photo/Murray Becker)

LOVERRO: ‘Luckiest man’ Lou Gehrig gave us gift of perspective 75 years ago

On Friday, July 4th, America will rediscover its connection with Lou Gehrig by the reminder of the courage of the Iron Horse's words on July 4th, 1939 — 75 years ago, when a courageous man dying of an incurable disease stood on the field at Yankee Stadium and told everyone he was the "luckiest man on the face of this earth."

July 3, 2014
Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams (9) looks at the lineup in the dugout before a spring exhibition baseball game against the New York Mets, Wednesday, March 5, 2014, in Viera, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

LOVERRO: Nationals Park’s new reality series: ‘The Lineup’

Lineup cards are a baseball manager's game plan, except it is tacked up there for all the world to see, typically 3½ hours before the game is even played. It's the twin document, along with the box score, of the daily tradition of baseball, year in and year out. Opposing managers might want to be careful handling the Nationals lineup cards — they could be bloody.

July 1, 2014
Fans celebrate as the United States scores a goal against Portugal while watching a World Cup soccer match, Sunday, June 22, 2014, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

LOVERRO: American soccer hysteria just hipster hype

Soccer will grow in America. And someday, it will have a significant place at the sports consumer table in this country. But it won't be because of the hipsters who are watching now, who will go back to their "True Blood" and "Top Chef" viewing parties when the World Cup is over.

June 24, 2014
Tiger Woods struggling this week at Congressional in his return from back surgery might finally get the general public to feel sorry for the man who used to be the greatest golfer in the world. (associated press)

LOVERRO: Tiger Woods a sympathetic figure after surgery?

Maybe opening up his back — and age (he's 38) — will finally make Tiger Woods human. First, maybe Tiger needs to recognize he is human. He is making a superhuman recovery, coming back to play just four months after they cut into his back.

June 22, 2014
** FILE ** In this Sept. 23, 2012, file photo, Washington Redskins punter Sav Rocca carries a football in his helmet before an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Landover, Md. The U.S. Patent Office ruled Wednesday, June 18, 2014, that the Washington Redskins nickname is "disparaging of Native Americans" and that the team's federal trademarks for the name must be canceled. The ruling comes after a campaign to change the name has gained momentum over the past year. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

LOVERRO: Hypocrites will get their way on Redskins’ name

That's the offensive part in the Washington Redskins name debate — the hypocrisy of people perfuming their righteous vanities who couldn't have cared less about the plight of Native Americans before they were told they should be offended by this name, and who will go back to caring even less if and when the name is changed.

June 19, 2014
FILE - In this July 29, 2007 file photo, Tony Gwynn holds his National Baseball Hall of Fame plaque during induction ceremonies in Cooperstown, N.Y. Gwynn, the Hall of Famer with a sweet left-handed swing who spent his entire 20-year career with the Padres and was one of San Diego's most beloved athletes, died of cancer Monday, June 16, 2014. He was 54. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)

LOVERRO: Tony Gwynn was robbed, and so were we

He was robbed of every day he would have lived when he might have met someone for the first time, and made it a special moment for them, because that's what he did. He was an All-Star contributor to the human race.

June 17, 2014
San Francisco Giants' Michael Morse celebrates after making the game winning hit in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Saturday, June 7, 2014, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

LOVERRO: Nats much better off with Michael Morse gone

There are still Nationals fans that believe that Morse is the missing piece of Washington's championship puzzle — which is puzzling, considering his dismal performance last season. Morse should be celebrated by Nationals fans — for what he brought to Washington with his departure.

June 10, 2014
Jockey Edgar S. Prado, left, aboard Birdstone, reacts after winning the Belmont Stakes as jockey Stewart Elliott, right, aboard Smarty Jones looks on at Belmont Park, Saturday, June 5, 2004, in Elmont, N.Y. Smarty Jones finished second. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

LOVERRO: Triple Crown should have been Smarty Jones’ to wear

California Chrome may wind up being the Triple Crown winner, but he was not the horse who should have been the next winner of horse racing's highest trifecta. No, the horse who was right — and ripe — to be America's next Triple Crown winner won at Churchill Downs and Pimlico, but came up just short at Belmont Park 10 years ago.

June 5, 2014
Baltimore Orioles' Cal Ripken explains to his son Ryan the duties of bat boy before a spring training game against the Minnesota Twins in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Saturday, March 3, 2001. Ripken cracked his ribs before arriving at training camp and did not play in the game.(AP Photo/Roberto Borea)

LOVERRO: Ryan Ripken a rare recognizable name in MLB draft

Yes, time has passed by that quickly, and Cal Ripken's son — Ryan, the 2-year-old Cal lifted in his arms and held that historic night when he broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive game record at Camden Yards 19 years ago — is now a 20-year-old, 6-foot-6 junior college ballplayer.

June 3, 2014
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin watch the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

LOVERRO: Quest for 2024 Olympics a race D.C. is better off losing

Unfortunately, the powers that be in Washington are still committed to wasting more money and resources for a chance to host an event that, at the very least, will make nearly all of your lives miserable for an entire summer, or, at the very worst, send governments into economic tailspins and leave broken dreams in its wake.

June 1, 2014