Outside the Beltway

Mike Tanier of Football Outsiders explain why Aaron Rodgers’ ranking as the best quarterback in NFL history is absurd.

NYT public editor Arthur Brisbane explains how it came to pass that his paper reported as fact the erroneous news that Gabrielle Giffords had been killed.

President Obama was correct to commend the Eagles for giving Michael Vick a chance to redeem himself.

The National Football League’s decision to postpone last night’s Eagles-Vikings game due to weather is receiving a lot of criticism, but they made the right choice.

Two Ohio congressional districts are taking their talents to South Beach.

Geno Auriemma and his UConn Huskies should rightly be enormously proud of their accomplishments. But comparing them to John Wooden’s is embarrassing.

Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News is a must-read for NFL fans, always offering sharp insights into the game garnered over decades of experience. But, like anyone else, he can develop silly theories from anecdotal evidence.

Michael Wilbon departs the Washington Post after more than 30 years to work full time at ESPN. Here are his last — and first — columns.

While the University of Oregon’s athletic programs are flourishing in a seas of green, its academic programs are woefully underfunded.

The NFL’s “especially mercenary” push to extract new stadia from cities–even where the stadium’s practically brand-new.

Too many copyright owners are stupidly invoking their rights to keep short clips off of YouTube and other services, losing potential customers in the process.

Randy Barnett will be giving a lecture at Boise State on the 28th. If he were a real lawyer, he’d lecture instead at a school in the SEC, Big 12, PAC 10, or ACC. I mean, where’s the challenge in lecturing in the WAC?

The retired superstar linebacker drove off a 30 foot cliff at 70 mph and walked away with barely a scratch.

New Cleveland Cavaliers coach Byron Scott wore a swastika tie to media day. Given that there are good reasons to doubt Scott has Nazi sympathies or is a covert member of the Aryan Brotherhood, we’ll chalk this up to an honest mistake.

Dwayne Jarrett’s career with the Carolina Panthers: 1 touchdown, 2 DUIs.

Boston University and Northeastern have found that there is life after football. Shouldn’t most schools follow their lead?

Western athletes who’ve complained about the conditions at the Commonwealth Games are coming in for a firestorm of criticism.

Just because somebody pay you money don’t mean they’ll make you do whatever they want or whatever.

A renowned sports economist argues that black quarterbacks are treated differently than their white counterparts.

A shorter preseason and more meaningful games may come to fruition as soon as 2012.

Roger Clemens is probably regretting today the decision to testify before a Congressional committee about steroids back in 2008.

Under pressure from the Feds, the NCAA is cracking down on colleges who put women’s games ahead of men’s games, which some say relegates them to “warm-up act” status.

If you needed more proof that our tax system is far too complicated, consider the case of Alex Rodriguez’ 600th home run ball.

Alex Rodriguez has just joined the 600 home run club.

I don’t think Brett Favre’s actually retiring this year. But, by the looks of him, he’s earned it.

France’s Christophe Lemaitre became the first white man to run the 100 meters in under 10 seconds when he clocked 9.98 on Friday. Untold blacks have done it since 1968.

Did LeBron James pick Miami because of income taxes ? Probably not.

Thanks to JaMarcus Russell, I have learned a new term.

Africans are rallying around the Ghanaian World Cup team, putting aside stark differences. Should we be surprised?

The federation governing international soccer joins a long list of international institutions — NATO, the G-8, the UN Security Council, and the EU come readily to mind — that need to be brought into the 21st century.

The Dallas Cowboys may finally get rid of the green pants for 2010.