Author Archives: Noah Cohan

Here’s what the people defending the Manning family don’t understand: Eli Manning’s refusal to play for the Chargers could cost the people of San Diego their NFL franchise. No joke. When superstar-caliber athletes refuse to play for the struggling teams that draft them, they can do much more than merely insult a city and its »

Like hundreds of other college football standouts hoping to throw their helmets into the professional ring, tight end Nate Lawrie ’04 spent the weekend glued to ESPN’s coverage of the 2004 NFL Draft, anxiously waiting for his phone to ring. After five-and-a-half rounds of selection, spanning all of Saturday afternoon and evening and extending well »

Nowadays people forget that New Haven was the birthplace of American football. That Walter Camp devised the line of scrimmage and the system of downs while studying on the campus of one of America’s elite universities. That in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Yale football was the team to beat, a perennial national »

Nate Lawrie ’04 knows the average football fan has never heard of him. But that fan had also never heard of Northern Iowa’s Kurt Warner before he took the pro ranks by storm. Nor did he know anything about Delaware’s Rich Gannon. Missouri Southern’s Rod Smith flew under the NFL radar while in college, so »

There are more than a few fuddy-duddy sports columnists out there that will spend the next week complaining about the over-hyping of the NFL draft. They’ll begin by moaning about the fact that ESPN gives the draft complete, 14+ hour coverage, when, in fact, no feats of athleticism actually take place. Next they’ll point out »

Waddup Seniors! Alas, this is not an e-mail from Josh Secrest. But it is almost as much of a waste of time. Why? I’ve got senioritis. Bad. At this point, I’m far more interested in wasting time than using it productively. So in order to further waste your time, as well as mine, I’ve created: »

Dear Bill, Make it happen. You know you want to. He wants you to. Seattle wants you to. It might not realize it yet, but America wants you to do it, too. Hell, even Cincinnati wants you to do it. Bring back the kid. Bring Ken Griffey Jr. back to Seattle. Bring back his brilliant »

You’ve seen the ads. Lance Armstrong taking center stage, resplendent in yellow garb, only he’s wearing boxing shorts, not his usual racing shirt. Andre Agassi connecting on a fast one, only it comes straight from a pitcher’s arm, not an opponent’s racket. Marion Jones hurdling through the air looking for style points, rather than distance. »

Georgie Porgie, Yankees’ big guy, Signed A-Rod and made the Red Sox cry. When the other teams came out to play, Georgie Porgie made them run away. Think the Yankees’ acquisition of Alex Rodriguez was a big deal? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. I, Noahstradamus, have seen the future of Steinbrenner and the Yankees. May »

February is the cruellest month, breeding Pro Bowls out of the dead league, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull sports with freezing rain. Football kept us warm, covering Earth in blissful playoffs, feeding A little life with upset thrillers. Fall surprised us, coming over the mid-season mark With an undefeated team; they stopped in Cincinnati, »

For 59 minutes and 51 seconds of football, it looked as though Adam Vinatieri, also known as “Choke-a-tieri” by my roommate Jonathan, was going to live up to that disparaging nickname in Super Bowl XXXVIII. But instead of becoming a Super Goat for his two missed field goals, Adam Viniatieri arguably became a New England »

The first Super Bowl I can remember watching was Super Bowl XXIV. It was January 28, 1990 — my sister’s fifth birthday. I was seven-years-old. I can’t recall much of the game, but I do remember the post-game celebration. I watched in awe as offensive tackle Bubba Paris lifted his young son onto his shoulders, »