Skip to content
TRENDING:
Donald Trump
Author profile
Thom Loverro

Thom Loverro

tloverro@washingtontimes.com

Thom Loverro has been a professional journalist since 1977, working for a number of newspapers, including eight years as a news editor and reporter for The Baltimore Sun, where he covered government, politics, and crime. He moved into sports writing when he joined The Washington Times in 1992. He moved to The Washington Examiner as a sports columnist in 2009 and returned to The Washington Times in 2013, where he is currently the lead sports columnist.

Columns by Thom Loverro

FILE - In this July 29, 2007 file photo, Tony Gwynn holds his National Baseball Hall of Fame plaque during induction ceremonies in Cooperstown, N.Y. Gwynn, the Hall of Famer with a sweet left-handed swing who spent his entire 20-year career with the Padres and was one of San Diego's most beloved athletes, died of cancer Monday, June 16, 2014. He was 54. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)

LOVERRO: Tony Gwynn was robbed, and so were we

He was robbed of every day he would have lived when he might have met someone for the first time, and made it a special moment for them, because that's what he did. He was an All-Star contributor to the human race.

June 17, 2014
San Francisco Giants' Michael Morse celebrates after making the game winning hit in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Saturday, June 7, 2014, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

LOVERRO: Nats much better off with Michael Morse gone

There are still Nationals fans that believe that Morse is the missing piece of Washington's championship puzzle — which is puzzling, considering his dismal performance last season. Morse should be celebrated by Nationals fans — for what he brought to Washington with his departure.

June 10, 2014
Jockey Edgar S. Prado, left, aboard Birdstone, reacts after winning the Belmont Stakes as jockey Stewart Elliott, right, aboard Smarty Jones looks on at Belmont Park, Saturday, June 5, 2004, in Elmont, N.Y. Smarty Jones finished second. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

LOVERRO: Triple Crown should have been Smarty Jones’ to wear

California Chrome may wind up being the Triple Crown winner, but he was not the horse who should have been the next winner of horse racing's highest trifecta. No, the horse who was right — and ripe — to be America's next Triple Crown winner won at Churchill Downs and Pimlico, but came up just short at Belmont Park 10 years ago.

June 5, 2014
Baltimore Orioles' Cal Ripken explains to his son Ryan the duties of bat boy before a spring training game against the Minnesota Twins in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Saturday, March 3, 2001. Ripken cracked his ribs before arriving at training camp and did not play in the game.(AP Photo/Roberto Borea)

LOVERRO: Ryan Ripken a rare recognizable name in MLB draft

Yes, time has passed by that quickly, and Cal Ripken's son — Ryan, the 2-year-old Cal lifted in his arms and held that historic night when he broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive game record at Camden Yards 19 years ago — is now a 20-year-old, 6-foot-6 junior college ballplayer.

June 3, 2014
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin watch the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

LOVERRO: Quest for 2024 Olympics a race D.C. is better off losing

Unfortunately, the powers that be in Washington are still committed to wasting more money and resources for a chance to host an event that, at the very least, will make nearly all of your lives miserable for an entire summer, or, at the very worst, send governments into economic tailspins and leave broken dreams in its wake.

June 1, 2014
Capt. Elmer Gedeon, a former baseball, track and football star at the University of Michigan who played 5 games for the Washington Senators in 1939, was one of two players with Major League Baseball experience killed in World War II. His plane was shot down April 20, 1944 over France. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. (University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library)

LOVERRO: Memorial to baseball’s lost would be fitting tribute

Before Memorial Day became a celebration of barbecues, discount sales and ball games, it was a day when the men and women who died while serving in the United States armed forces would be remembered. Perhaps there should be a place at Nationals Park to commemorate the 139 pro ballplayers who died in World War II.

May 25, 2014
File-This September 1970 file photo of San Diego Chargers guard Walt Sweeney. Sweeney, a standout offensive lineman for the San Diego Chargers in the 1960s and 1970s, has died at 71. The Chargers website says Sweeney died of pancreatic cancer on Saturday Feb. 2,2013. (AP Photo,File)

LOVERRO: Fight against NFL’s pill-pushing culture has been waged before

A group of NFL players field a lawsuit Tuesday charging that NFL team doctors and trainers gave out narcotics and painkillers like "candy at Halloween" during their playing careers, leading to addiction and serious long-term health problems. This is the path that Walt Sweeney walked down nearly 20 years ago. It didn't end well for him.

May 22, 2014
Nationals General Manager, Mike Rizzo, speaks with reporters at the Gaylord Hotel, during NatsFest 2014, in National Harbor, MD., Saturday, January 25, 2014. (Andrew S Geraci/The Washington Times)

LOVERRO: Mike Rizzo will get credit or blame for how 2014 Nationals fare

When this happens — when the starting players who nearly everyone predicted for the second straight season to lead the Nationals to the NL East title and the postseason aren't starting — then the season falls on the spare parts used to carry the team until they get whole. The season falls on general manager Mike Rizzo.

May 20, 2014
Washington Wizards head coach Randy Wittman, right, and Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, left, as the Washington Wizards lose to the Indiana Pacers, 93-80, during game 6 of the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs at the Verizon Center, Washington, D.C., Thursday, May 15, 2014. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

LOVERRO: Wizards’ lack of accountability leads to Game 6 apathy

Those empty seats were created in 2010, when Leonsis bought the team and did nothing to show fans that the man in charge, whose personnel decisions and coddling atmosphere set the stage for the Gilbert Arenas debacle, would be leaving. Instead, Leonsis embraced general manager Ernie Grunfeld.

May 18, 2014
Washington Nationals relief pitcher Rafael Soriano untucks his jersey after the final out of the Nationals' baseball game against the Houston Astros on Tuesday, April 29, 2014, in Houston. The Nationals won 4-3. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

LOVERRO: Rafael Soriano make you nervous? Don’t hate — appreciate

It's not that Nationals fans don't feel connected to their team's closer. Their connection is anxiety. But for now, take your hands away from your eyes and show a little love for the 34-year-old Dominican who untucks his jersey after every save. He's telling you to relax.

May 15, 2014
Washington Wizards forward Trevor Ariza (1) walks off the court after Game 4 of an opening-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Chicago Bulls in Washington, Sunday, April 27, 2014. The Wizards defeated the Bulls 98-89. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) ** FILE **

LOVERRO: Wizards are the real deal, but enjoy them while you can

They exceeded expectations basketball-wise and heart-wise by handling the experienced Chicago Bulls in five games, and it's reasonable to see this team beating Indiana and likely facing the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. Beyond this season, though ...

May 4, 2014