Search

An interview is presented with U.S. politician Barney Frank, author Ron Suskind, and biographer David Maraniss, who discuss ways that U.S. President Barack Obama may have changed during his first term. Obama's 2012 debates against candidate Mitt Romney, his policies regarding the U.S. securities industry, and his liberal opinions are discussed, as well as Obama's opinion of former President Bill Clinton and his tendency to compromise.

This article discusses the historical development of the Olympic games from the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Italy until 2008. When Avery Brundage, a business man from Chicago, Illinois, facilitated the Olympic movement he envisioned the games as free from politics, commercialism, and professionalism. However, in 2008, the athletic accomplishments are overshadowed by questions about China's human rights policies, doping among athletes, and commercial sponsorships.

The article focuses on Jim Thorpe was a celebrity, a global sensation after winning two gold medals at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. It mentions Speechwriters for President William Howard Taft were already drafting a letter of praise on behalf of the nation, asserting the fond hope that Jim Thorpe's Olympic victories in the pentathlon and decathlon. It also mentions focus was more on forced acculturation than on education.

The article focuses on the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, Italy. Particular attention is given to several African American athletes who won gold medals in those Games, decathloner Rafer Johnson, woman sprinter Wilma Rudolph and boxer Muhammed Ali, then known as Cassius Clay. The Games are placed in the context of the U.S. civil rights movement and the Cold War.

The article reflects on the life and professional baseball career of Roberto Clemente. Clemente played 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team, won two World Series championships, had 3,000 hits, and received a most valuable player award and 12 Gold Gloves. The article also discusses Clemente's political activism, his frequent visits of sick children in hospitals, his reaction to the earthquake on December 23, 1972 in Managua, Nicaragua, and the plane crash that caused his death.

Presents an excerpt from the book "They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967," by David Maraniss.

Focuses on whether Vince Lombardi's legacy of football coaching can prevail in today's world. Condition of Lombardi when he was near to death due to cancer; Reasons why it was not death that haunted Lombardi so much as life; Lombardi as the greatest professional football coach; Significant change in football from Lombardi's era; Lombardi's football leadership and training style.

The article discusses the batting helmet of Pittsburgh Pirates baseball player Roberto Clemente, which is held by the U.S. National Museum of American History and will appear in the exhibition "American Stories," opening April 5, 2012. It comments on Clemente's humanitarian efforts and his death in an airplane crash off the coast of San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1972. The author notes that Clemente ruined several helmets during a slump in his rookie season in 1955. Clemente's importance as a Latino baseball player is also noted.