Deron Snyder

SNYDER: Clothes call - Terps go with variety

While the sports world ponders whether the Carolina Panthers owner stepped out of bounds by requesting that Cam Newton stay free of tattoos and piercings, I'm puzzled by another matter regarding athletes, aesthetics and appearance.

August 25, 2011

SNYDER: On this night, game trumped business

For the roughly 1,600 folks who crammed into Trinity University's gym Saturday night, it didn't matter that the NBA lockout is nearly two months old. This night was reserved for the game of basketball — not the business.

August 22, 2011

SNYDER: Decline in black players should concern all who love baseball

The Washington Nationals open a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, also the team's second annual "Black Heritage Night," a celebration of black Americans' contributions to baseball.

August 18, 2011

SNYDER: Scandals put NCAA on path toward destruction

Tick ... tick ... tick ... The countdown in major college sports continues, with the explosion growing closer with each passing scandal. If the latest round of alleged wrongdoing doesn't trigger the blast, don't worry. There'll be another major case before too long.

August 17, 2011

SNYDER: Rationale sacked if talk turns to Tebow

There is no such thing as proportion when the topic is Tim Tebow. Discussions are neither reasonable, rational nor relative. Whether one believes in him or denigrates him, the arguments are always outsized, out-of-scope and over-the-top.

August 15, 2011

SNYDER: Marshall’s biggest victories come off the field

Miami Dolphins wideout Brandon Marshall set the NFL record for most receptions in a game when he snared 21 balls with the Denver Broncos in 2009. He's among the game's top receivers, but this year he's on a mission involving more than catching footballs.

August 14, 2011

SNYDER: Despite drops, Redskins’ Leonard Hankerson is catching on

As the Miami Dolphins' all-time leader in receiving yardage, No. 2 in receptions and No. 3 in receiving touchdowns, Mark Duper knows about playing the position. So when some of Leonard Hankerson's uncles learned that their employer was a close friend of Duper's, they asked if the three-time Pro Bowler would tutor the young wideout, a rising junior at Miami.

August 11, 2011

SNYDER: Slugger’s season is totally un-Dunn

Baseball fate hasn't been kind this season to former Nationals slugger Adam Dunn, who's struggling through a horrific campaign of unprecedented ugliness.

August 7, 2011

SNYDER: New season, old story for Redskins

Allowed to practice for the first time during this training camp, new and old faces were sprinkled among every group Thursday afternoon at Redskins Park.

August 4, 2011

SNYDER: Happy days for Nationals will be here again

Remember how Stephen Strasburg sent shock waves through baseball and became a huge gate attraction last year, making his team a national story in the process?

August 3, 2011

SNYDER: Glamour aside, NFL players have job to do

Strip away the romanticism and realize that playing football isn't noble or heroic, or a metaphor for unity, commitment and sacrifice through shared blood, sweat and tears.

August 1, 2011

SNYDER: Decisions made to keep Nationals’ cornerstones in place

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the playoff-aspirations portion of our flight. Hope you enjoyed the ride and please come back next year.

July 31, 2011

SNYDER: Shanahan gets credit for curing headaches

Mike Shanahan hasn't done much that deserves applause during his brief tenure as head honcho, inheriting one headache and creating another, then exacerbating the situations by gross mismanaging. But give him a hand for swiftly addressing the dueling dramas that overshadowed everything else at Redskins Park.

July 28, 2011

SNYDER: Bryce Harper: ‘Just another game’; not hardly

Bryce Harper was nonchalant in the visitors' dugout at Prince George's Stadium, less than an hour before his first pro game in the D.C. metro area. He answered questions politely and dispassionately, with a cool detachment that seemed practiced or forced or both — but didn't jibe with the announced crowd of 6,375.

July 26, 2011

SNYDER: In NFL, the table is set for a smorgasbord of signings

After all of the angst and frustration, after nearly 20 weeks of lockout limbo, after watching the two sides bicker, posture and spin, a resolution has been reached and this is what NFL fans lost in the process: the Hall of Fame Game, a meaningless-but-glorified scrimmage.

July 25, 2011

SNYDER: Out of a job, but Steve Williams can cry all the way to the bank

Once again, it's time to check off some items on my "TIDU List" - Things I Don't Understand:

July 21, 2011

SNYDER: Soccer events may be enthralling, but soccer isn’t

Soccer lovers in the U.S. have a chip on their shoulders and with good reason, miffed that their sport isn't as beloved here as it is worldwide. But they aren't the only fans frustrated by America's particular taste.

July 18, 2011

SNYDER: Nats fans can look at glass as half-full

Fans who began following the Nationals last year, when Stephen Strasburg swept through baseball like Halley's Comet, have a rosier outlook than fans who began following in 2005 when the team relocated to Washington, where it has never produced a winning record but twice managed 100-loss seasons.

July 14, 2011

SNYDER: Flood case set stage for free agency

'Can I ask you a question about Curt Flood?" Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth, who hasn't been talking much lately, was leaving the clubhouse and en route to wherever he'll spend the All-Star break. But he stopped and looked upward like folks do, as if hard-to-recall facts are written on ceilings.

July 11, 2011

SNYDER: Clemens’ errors rooted in his Texas-sized ego

In deciding to voluntarily testify before Congress in 2008, Roger Clemens displayed little intelligence and insulted our own. Now everyone has to pay as baseball, yet again, is dragged through its Steroid Era.

July 7, 2011