Author: James Winston

Are professional athletes heroes? To some, they simply throw, run, or catch a ball and are paid unfathomable amounts of money to do so. Many would argue that the money should go elsewhere and that athletes should not be celebrated nor relentlessly compensated for their efforts. I disagree. Why Athletes Are Heroes I believe that athletes are heroes, but within various contexts. There are global icons, like LeBron James and the late Kobe Bryant, whose reach in China rivals that of their omnipresence in Los Angeles. There are local heroes, who give young members of impoverished communities the hope that they too, one day,…

Clayton Kershaw’s devastating arsenal of pitches have confounded opposing hitters throughout his storied career as the face of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Father time catches up with all of us, even the seemingly immortal, and it seems to have caught up with the great Clayton. His fastball has regressed into a near changeup, and he is giving up homeruns at a record pace. That said, his ERA consistently hovers around 3.00 because he is, above all things, smart. Most of the homeruns are solo-shots, and when it comes to pressure situations, he applies the right mix of pitches to get…