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Thom Loverro

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

LOVERRO: Brian Orakpo is the Redskins’ franchise player? Poor guy

Not sure how much of an honor it is to be the franchise player of this franchise. After all, the last player to get such an honor in Washington was Fred Davis, and we know how that went. Davis went on to become the Fairfax County Police Department's franchise player as well.

March 4, 2014

LOVERRO: For Matt Williams, it’s 99 percent inspiration, 1 percent conversation

There are all different kinds of quotes, and uses for them. The previous Washington Nationals manager, Davey Johnson, was quotable. His successor, Matt Williams, likes quotes. These are not the same thing.

March 2, 2014

LOVERRO: Time for Nats to give Frank Robinson his due

Everyone is applauding Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter for making an Orioles minor leaguer who didn't know who Frank Robinson was write a report about the Hall of Famer. I think it's a great idea — so I am assigning the same lesson to the Lerner family.

February 27, 2014

LOVERRO: FBI files add to mystery of Sonny Liston, but Ali’s legacy untarnished

What if Ali couldn't have beaten Liston? Most of the sports world believed the challenger had little chance. But maybe, given his speed and unique boxing skills, Ali could have beaten Liston, fixed fight or not. The questions surrounding the outcome, though, are greater because of these FBI documents.

February 25, 2014

FBI suspected iconic 1964 Ali-Liston fight was rigged by mob

Fifty years ago today, Muhammad Ali "shocked the world" and beat one of the most fearsome fighters ever to put on a pair of boxing gloves, heavyweight champion Sonny Liston. But what if that storied fight was not what it seemed?

February 24, 2014

LOVERRO: Ernie Grunfeld a master of cleaning up messes of his own making

Ernie Grunfeld did it again. The Wizards general manager used his shovel and broom to clean up his own mess.

February 23, 2014

LOVERRO: Flirting with MLB will only bring Montreal heartbreak

I come not to bury Montreal. It's a city I fell in love with when I would go up there every September for about five years to write about the death of the Expos. But don't do this.

February 20, 2014

LOVERRO: Independent sports investigations are latest cottage industry

It's a strange industry, a byproduct of the need for public trust and credibility in this fast-moving age of scandal, where information and evidence is disseminated so quickly, the cover up has been replaced by the clean up – the independent investigation.

February 18, 2014

LOVERRO: The Nationals have gone from circus to a baseball team in a decade

It took a lot of faith to be a Nationals fans in those early days of spring training at Space Coast Stadium in the 321 area code – which, if you haven't figured it out yet, is final countdown for a rocket launch.

February 16, 2014

LOVERRO: Pride of the Yankees? It very well could be Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter, who announced this would be his last season, represented the pride of the storied baseball franchise as well as any player ever did who wore the pinstripes.

February 13, 2014

LOVERRO: Bud Selig’s parting gift should be convincing Jameis Winston to stick with baseball

This is what baseball commissioner Bud Selig needs to – go to Tallahassee, sit down with Jameis Winston, and explain to him the wisdom of choosing Major League Baseball as a career over the National Football League.

February 11, 2014

LOVERRO: Alex Ovechkin vs. Team USA creates a rooting quandary for local fans

If you were a Washington hockey fan growing up as a kid in the 1980s, you, like many hockey kids around the country, may have had a poster of Jim Craig with the American flag draped around him hanging on your wall. Now kids here likely have an Ovechkin poster. They wear an Ovechkin jersey.

February 9, 2014

LOVERRO: In many ways, Sochi is the perfect Olympics host city

The Winter Olympics open Thursday in Sochi, Russia, amidst tales of construction nightmares, toxic sludge, and stray dogs hiding in fear for their lives in the wake of the city's campaign to seek and exterminate the animals.

February 6, 2014

LOVERRO: He’s no relic, but Jim Fassel sits at home while Jay Gruden gets his shot

You remember Fassel, don't you? He had one foot in the door to coach the Redskins not once, but twice. He won two UFL championships, beating not only Gruden but Jim Haslett the year before. Yet here is Jay Gruden, the guy who lost to Jim Fassel, with a five-year, $20 million NFL head coaching contract.

February 4, 2014

LOVERRO: A Super Bowl ring stands out for quarterbacks when career evaluations are made

Being the quarterback of a Super Bowl champion is a crown like no other in sports. It can define their entire career, and elevate their status in the history of football for generations to come.

February 2, 2014

LOVERRO: In midst of Super Bowl spectacle, the wreckage of human lives

Imagine if at the Phillip Morris annual stockholders meeting, they paraded around cancer victims who told their stories of facing death? Welcome to Super Bowl week, which has become a parade of former players with their tales of destruction, depression and dysfunction resulting from the very game the entire event exists to celebrate.

January 30, 2014

Threat Status

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