Thom Loverro
Columns by Thom Loverro
LOVERRO: Nationals have talent in pipeline. Now they need an owner willing to spend
The Nationals didn't get this year's version of Stephen Strasburg, as LSU pitching star Paul Skenes went No. 1 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. But they did get this generation's version of Bryce Harper by selecting his teammate in stud center fielder Dylan Crews with the second pick. Published July 11, 2023
LOVERRO: Martinez, Rizzo deserve to see Nationals’ rebuild through to the end
In case the message has gotten lost among the owners, Dave Martinez wants to make it clear -- he wants to be here to help lead the new Nationals' top pick and the rest of the promising young players in their system to another World Series championship. Published July 6, 2023
LOVERRO: Adding Cruz at third put the ‘83 Orioles on track for a title
Friday would have been a good day to have a celebration of a key moment in the Orioles' last World Series season. It was on June 30, 1983, that the Orioles purchased the contract of troubled infielder Todd Cruz from the Seattle Mariners. Published June 29, 2023
LOVERRO: Washington’s whiff on Games looks like a win in wake of new corruption probe in Paris
The District, despite the best efforts of Mayor Muriel Bowser and Washington 2024's bid leader Ted Leonsis, was spared the pain that so many other Olympic-winning cities have suffered after being plundered by IOC gangsters. Published June 28, 2023
LOVERRO: Failed Washington Olympics bid looks like blessing now, with Paris probing corruption
The District, despite the best efforts of Mayor Muriel Bowser and Washington 2024's bid leader Ted Leonsis, was spared the pain that so many other Olympic-winning cities have suffered after being plundered by IOC gangsters. Published June 28, 2023
LOVERRO: MASN deal puts focus back on Leonsis’ play for the Nationals
Transparent Ted Leonisis may be one step closer to being the Washington Nationals owner. Hey, is this thing on? Hello? Hello? Testing? Published June 22, 2023
LOVERRO: The Leonsis playbook on business, life offers no insight on this Beal deal
In the owner's own book -- a book that promises to reveal "6 Secrets to Extraordinary Success in Work and Life" -- I could find nothing to explain how a star who signed a $251 million contract extension a year ago is now suddenly expendable. Published June 19, 2023
LOVERRO: Lightning strikes twice against Martinez, Nationals
These razor-thin losses take a lot out of a team that, quite honestly, needs every win within its grasp as it fights to keep from falling into the abyss. Published June 15, 2023
LOVERRO: A road trip mapped in the hearts of three lifelong friends
Our first stop was Progressive Field for the Cleveland Guardians game against the Boston Red Sox. It's a stadium that I've been to dozens of times as a sportswriter. I covered many of the glory days of the then-Indians squad of the 1990s, including the 1995 and 1997 World Series. Published June 13, 2023
LOVERRO: Leonsis shopping for better future for Wizards, Capitals
In the past, the Wizards and Capitals owner has shown a propensity for picking up the wrong item when he goes to the market. Published June 1, 2023
LOVERRO: Commanders’ mess of ‘rebrand’ forever linked to Snyder
The Commanders are the Exxon Valdez of the NFL. Here comes someone willing to clean up the mess and owners don't like the skimmers they use. Josh Harris should say, "Fine. Keep Joseph Hazelwood. We're done." Published May 31, 2023
LOVERRO: Ted Williams, the Senators and a father-son summer to remember
Spencer Hoopes spent the summer of 1969 watching Ted Williams and the Senators and helping his father, veteran Washington journalist Roy Hoopes, write "What a Baseball Manager Does." Published May 25, 2023
Jim Brown, on and off the field, personified pure power
The power Brown exhibited carrying the ball -- the raw, imposing physical presence -- carried over to the rest of his life. But after dominating on the field, he turned to flexing his muscles in other fields, including film, business and politics. Published May 23, 2023
LOVERRO: The Commanders’ need for a good housecleaning goes well beyond just Snyder
There is no shortage of blunders that have taken place under Jason Wright's watch -- and responsibility -- from the multiple Sean Taylor debacles to bouncing checks to the logo mistakes, wrong player information in ceremonies and a list of others that the person at the top of the organization has to carry the weight for. Published May 18, 2023
LOVERRO: The Snyder story, reality vs. the media-guide version
The Redskins told us, year after year, that billionaire Dan Snyder fell in love with the team as a boy. What the annual media guide profiles didn't say, though, was that his ownership as an adult was driving rank-and-file fans away. Published May 17, 2023
LOVERRO: Mafioso tells author in new book that crime boss leaned on Unitas, Ali
A new book includes an allegation that crime boss Russell Bufalino knew Johnny Unitas and Muhammad Ali well enough to ask the iconic sports figures for favors -- requests that neither man, apparently, could refuse. Published May 10, 2023
LOVERRO: Boxing’s roots in Washington blossom at Congress Heights arena
The Entertainment and Sports Arena in Congress Heights in southeast Washington will host the fourth boxing card Saturday night in a series of shows sponsored by a trio of promoters called "Beltway Battles." The first show was held in October 2021, followed by two cards in 2022. Published May 4, 2023
LOVERRO: For good or bad, new owner saddled with Rivera’s picks
If the anticipated approval of the $6 billion sale, expected by the league owner's meetings May 22, had been a few weeks earlier, Harris might have had a say in the future of his future team. But last week, Dan Snyder was still the boss. Published May 2, 2023
LOVERRO: Young learns that in the NFL, ‘commitment’ can cut both ways
Young will be a contestant in the Play to Pay Show this fall. Simple rules -- you play, you get paid. And by play, we know it means play worthy of your place when you entered the league as a celebrated rookie -- not the disappointing follow-up season. Published April 27, 2023
LOVERRO: Zero tolerance in the modern sports landscape for abuse, toxicity
Attitudes about work have changed dramatically in the three years since the first reports emerged of former Washington Commanders employees accusing the team of mistreatment and abuse. Published April 26, 2023