Skip to content
TRENDING:
Donald Trump
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

Capt. Elmer Gedeon, a former baseball, track and football star at the University of Michigan who played 5 games for the Washington Senators in 1939, was one of two players with Major League Baseball experience killed in World War II. His plane was shot down April 20, 1944 over France. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. (University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library)

LOVERRO: Memorial to baseball’s lost would be fitting tribute

Before Memorial Day became a celebration of barbecues, discount sales and ball games, it was a day when the men and women who died while serving in the United States armed forces would be remembered. Perhaps there should be a place at Nationals Park to commemorate the 139 pro ballplayers who died in World War II.

May 25, 2014
File-This September 1970 file photo of San Diego Chargers guard Walt Sweeney. Sweeney, a standout offensive lineman for the San Diego Chargers in the 1960s and 1970s, has died at 71. The Chargers website says Sweeney died of pancreatic cancer on Saturday Feb. 2,2013. (AP Photo,File)

LOVERRO: Fight against NFL’s pill-pushing culture has been waged before

A group of NFL players field a lawsuit Tuesday charging that NFL team doctors and trainers gave out narcotics and painkillers like "candy at Halloween" during their playing careers, leading to addiction and serious long-term health problems. This is the path that Walt Sweeney walked down nearly 20 years ago. It didn't end well for him.

May 22, 2014
Nationals General Manager, Mike Rizzo, speaks with reporters at the Gaylord Hotel, during NatsFest 2014, in National Harbor, MD., Saturday, January 25, 2014. (Andrew S Geraci/The Washington Times)

LOVERRO: Mike Rizzo will get credit or blame for how 2014 Nationals fare

When this happens — when the starting players who nearly everyone predicted for the second straight season to lead the Nationals to the NL East title and the postseason aren't starting — then the season falls on the spare parts used to carry the team until they get whole. The season falls on general manager Mike Rizzo.

May 20, 2014
Washington Wizards head coach Randy Wittman, right, and Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, left, as the Washington Wizards lose to the Indiana Pacers, 93-80, during game 6 of the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs at the Verizon Center, Washington, D.C., Thursday, May 15, 2014. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

LOVERRO: Wizards’ lack of accountability leads to Game 6 apathy

Those empty seats were created in 2010, when Leonsis bought the team and did nothing to show fans that the man in charge, whose personnel decisions and coddling atmosphere set the stage for the Gilbert Arenas debacle, would be leaving. Instead, Leonsis embraced general manager Ernie Grunfeld.

May 18, 2014
Washington Wizards forward Trevor Ariza (1) walks off the court after Game 4 of an opening-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Chicago Bulls in Washington, Sunday, April 27, 2014. The Wizards defeated the Bulls 98-89. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) ** FILE **

LOVERRO: Wizards are the real deal, but enjoy them while you can

They exceeded expectations basketball-wise and heart-wise by handling the experienced Chicago Bulls in five games, and it's reasonable to see this team beating Indiana and likely facing the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. Beyond this season, though ...

May 4, 2014
Dave DeBusschere (22) pours beer over Walt Frazier after the New York Knickers Bocker players beat the Milwaukee Ducks 132-96 in Madison Square Garden April 20,1970 putting them into the NBA Championship playoffs. Others are, Bill Bradley, center, and Cazzie Russel right. (AP Photo)

LOVERRO: Why celebrate ‘Bad Boys’ when ‘Eden’ awaits?

The Detroit Pistons teams that filled the void following the Magic and Bird era, and did so with elbows, fists, and bad basketball. There is nothing to celebrate about those championship teams. They should be buried, not praised. Look around, children of that time, for something better — something that was beautiful.

April 22, 2014