Frank Deford

Commentator Frank Deford compares FIFA, the organization that puts on soccer's World Cup, with the International Olympic Committee — and finds both lacking.

The city is investing big in its kids, and other cities and states are taking notes.

Many in the horse racing industry are looking to Triple Crown hopeful California Chrome to revive interest in the sport. He wants to believe it, but commentator Frank Deford says that's a fantasy.

In professional sports, it's the players who get all the attention. But commentator Frank Deford says referees, who so often go unnoticed, bring their own style and artistry to their craft.

Many of sports history's greatest athletes never led their teams to a championship victory. So why should it be a requirement for basketball stars today?

World's Fairs still exist, but just two cities bid to host the 2017 Expo. In contrast, seven U.S. cities are vying for the 2024 Olympics, and the games just signed a $7.75 billion deal with NBC.

Commentator Frank Deford discusses what he considers the fifth major sports season — the two-month period when pro football, basketball, baseball and hockey all hold their drafts.

As the Donald Sterling controversy unfolds, commentator Frank Deford recalls scandals surrounding other team owners, and penalties they did or didn't pay.

Commentator Frank Deford considers a few athletic and cultural standards that have changed over the years.

Tiger Woods hasn't won a major in six years, and at 38, says commentator Frank Deford, he's past even a golfer's prime years. Still, no one can touch the reigning king of golf.

A baseball odd couple ends their careers this year: Commissioner Bud Selig and Yankees' shortstop Derek Jeter.

The sports commentator renders his verdict on the recent National Labor Relations Board ruling that Northwestern University's football players are employees and have the right to unionize.

In light of legendary coach Phil Jackson's recent move to the New York Knicks as the organization's president, commentator Frank Deford looks at how the office has evolved (or hasn't).

As March Madness gets underway, commentator Frank Deford wonders if Americans just have too many teams to root for.

Outside of sport, the word "hustle" has a negative connotation: A hustle is a scam; a hustler a flimflam man. But in the world of sports, says commentator Frank Deford, you can never hustle too much.

It's not just his long career that sets apart tennis coach Nick Bollettieri, just accepted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It's how he transformed the way we raise our athletic children.

Commentator Frank Deford has a modest proposal to make baseball more interesting: cut an inch and a half off each side of home plate. It'd lead to a better game to both play and watch, he says.

The Sunday pregame shows feature interchangeable ex-players and ex-coaches saying the same banal things, one after another.

"They've got to cut down on turnovers."

"They've got to convert more third-down situations."

And so on. There's no human interaction, just mirthless recitations. But on female-centered shows like The View and The ...

Does a citizen of any country, not just the good ole U.S. of A., have an obligation to support its national teams? For goodness sake, it's just a game, not Horatius at the Bridge standing between us and national defeat.

The fact is, too, that because the U.S. is so ...

As the NASCAR season climaxes, America's prime motor sport continues to see its popularity in decline. For several years now, revenues and sponsorship have plummeted, leaving an audience that increasingly resembles the stereotype NASCAR so desperately thought it could grow beyond: older white Dixie working class.

Both ESPN and the ...