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At its best, sports can teach any kid a kind of basic spiritual physics. It is an affirmation of the individual at the simplest level of existence. But first that kid needs a ball. Give one.

Why do we insistently mythologize bad leadership and poor decision-making? Why do we treat all coaches with the same mystical regard we treat the best coaches?

Maybe an "upset" isn't really a surprise at all. Maybe it's just the failure of a reasonable occurrence to conform to an unreasonable expectation.

If it wasn't the best sports day in history it was certainly one of the busiest. From tennis to soccer to baseball to tracks to hockey to basketball to boxing, June 9 had everything but football.

For the next few days people everywhere will get the story of the riot in Port Said wrong. Then we'll rush to forget, to put the worst of that night behind us.

It caught our fancy, without a doubt. And the who, what, why and how of our passion for the Women's World Cup final raises plenty of questions about winning, losing and sports.

The Gold Cup? Fail. Wimbledon? Fail. U.S. Open? Fail. How bad has it become for American sports on the international scene? Bad enough that we might need one of those IMF bailouts.

On the special occasion -- and that's really what it is -- of the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Stoke City in London, our man at Wembley catches the spring fever of the soccer fan.

He came and we saw, and his skills still conquer explanations. Lionel Messi played in New Jersey on Saturday, and left our writer fumbling for the words that will define his greatness.

They blow vuvuzelas in Qatar, just like in South Africa and the U.S. But you wouldn't know it from our media's arrogant, xenophobic takes on the 2018 and 2022 World Cup sites.

We're all done at the World Cup here in the U.S., and we still haven't answered the big question about the game they play with that funny ball. Here are the options: yes or no.

We'll watch. We'll analyze. Maybe we'll even play a little more. But as the World Cup begins, the question remains: Will Americans ever really "get" the game of soccer?

Worst-Selling Video Games, Summer 2012: 1. "World of Woodcraft III": In an ancient time of Warriors, Evil Wizards and Deep Magic, you're stuck in shop class. Shazam! Nice pencil box, human. 2. "Metal Gear Solid 19: Oh, Snap!": Can you sneak Michae...

Looking for some cool new sports-related apps for your phone? Here are some you definitely haven't heard of.

Jeff MacGregor wants to remind us that when it comes to tennis and freedom, try not to let hype get in the way of perspective.

Turns out President Obama isn't planning to overhaul just health care; he's planning to overhaul American sports as well.