RealClearSports: America Slipping in Schools and Sports

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

On a quintessential American holiday, Thomas Friedman of the New York Times wrote of a now quintessential American problem, our decline in global competition.

The emphasis was academics. How half of the winners of Rhodes Scholarships, America's top grads, either were from other countries or the offspring of recent immigrants, students with last names such as Kang, Tauqeer, Alekeyeva and Nadathur.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

SF Examiner: Niners need to start over

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

The advice has become cliché: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. What if it is broken? What if it’s a football team? What if it’s the 49ers, who need a very large repair job?

What if it’s a franchise without direction or people who could locate that direction?

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Heat's On LeBron, Miami

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

"We're not having fun right now.'' The speaker was LeBron James. The same LeBron James who turned the end of his free agency into a parody and it was believed would turn the Miami Heat into the greatest team in the history of basketball. Or at least in the history of overhyped basketball players.

Nothing against Mr. James and the Heat, but some of us are having a great deal of fun.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

RealClearSports: Stanford's Luck 'Best Player in Country'

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

BERKELEY, Calif. -- It's always been a quarterback school. Way back, there was Frankie Albert, and later John Brodie. Along came Jim Plunkett to win a Heisman. Then John Elway on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Now Stanford has Andrew Luck.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

RealClearSports: Tiger Begins Attempt to Redefine Himself

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

The problem for Tiger Woods, as the process of image restoration begins its merry run, is not so much what he did -- his sins are all too public. It is what he failed to do -- connect with so many members of the media.

So now, as he visits early-morning radio or appears in Newsweek telling how his value system has changed, explaining that giving his son a bath is as rewarding as winning a tournament used to be, the skepticism is natural.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010