Thom Loverro
Columns by Thom Loverro
LOVERRO: ‘Better’ isn’t too much to expect — for the new owner or for Commanders fans
Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris has let everyone know what he expects of his new hires - general manager Adam Peters and coach Dan Quinn - this season. Published September 5, 2024
LOVERRO: Honoring the legacy of a hometown coach and the lives he changed
I went home last week. Not a typical visit home. I've done that before. This was a return to pay tribute to the long-time football coach at my high school -- even though I didn't play football and had not seen Ed Christian since the day I graduated from East Stroudsburg High School in 1971. Published September 3, 2024
LOVERRO: Josh Harris finding out it’s not easy being Burgundy and Gold
Josh Harris held a "welcome to my life" press conference before the Washington Commanders' last preseason game -- and it wasn't all roses and sunshine. Published August 28, 2024
LOVERRO: Soto homecoming is a nice daydream with little chance of becoming reality
The public address announcer bellowed, "The future is now" at Nationals Park as Dylan Crews and his teammates took the field Monday night. I think Nationals fans would prefer if the future was yesterday, when Juan Soto would run to the outfield to say hello in a Washington uniform, not a New York Yankees jersey. Published August 27, 2024
LOVERRO: It’s Daniels, of course, but Quinn’s timing is right approach to promoting young QB
Dan Quinn surprised no one this week when he named rookie Jayden Daniels as the Washington Commanders' starting quarterback. Published August 21, 2024
LOVERRO: Negro Leagues’ Leonard, Gibson delivered titles to District as the Grays’ dynamic duo
On those championship Homestead Grays Negro League squads of the 1930s and 1940s, Walter "Buck" Leonard was much more than just another teammate playing in the shadow of Josh Gibson -- the legendary slugger who took over first place on the career batting average list when Major League Baseball finally incorporated Negro League records earlier this year. Published August 15, 2024
LOVERRO: Are Commanders on a country road to training camp in West Virginia?
The Washington Commanders may be looking for greener pastures for their future training camps. Published August 8, 2024
LOVERRO: Open practices show fans’ hunger for football the Commanders don’t feed enough
There is some work to be done to repair this Commanders fan base, and more open practices would seem to be a smart gesture. Published August 1, 2024
LOVERRO: Washington dodged disaster by losing the Olympic Games
The plan was for you to watch the opening ceremonies of the 2024 Olympics on the National Mall with the Lincoln Memorial as the backdrop. Published July 30, 2024
LOVERRO: If it looks like a rebuild, walks like a rebuild and quacks like a rebuild …
Nearly half of the players who finished last year's 4-13 Ron Rivera "send me my Super Bowl ring" season are gone. Wiping out half the football team isn't an adjustment. It's a teardown. Published July 21, 2024
LOVERRO: Maryland can, and likely will, kill the dream of Commanders’ return to RFK
If Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen is determined to kill the proposed deal between the federal government and the District that would bring the Washington Commanders back to the old RFK Stadium site, he likely won't be fighting alone. Published July 18, 2024
LOVERRO: Rizzo wheels and deals another winning draft for Nationals
After the New York Mets selected catcher Hobie Landrith with their first pick in the National League expansion draft, Manager Casey Stengel was asked why they made that choice. "You have to have a catcher because if you don't, you're likely to have a lot of passed balls," he said. Published July 16, 2024
LOVERRO: Gibson takes his rightful place among the all-time greats
Josh Gibson was a celebrated young athlete in Pittsburgh, where his family moved from Buena Vista, Va., when he was 12 years old. He was a catcher for a Black amateur team called Gimbels A.C. He later played for a semi-pro team called the Crawford Colored Giants. But the local team he wanted to play for, the high-profile Homestead Grays, had no place for him. They had a catcher, Buck Ewing. Published July 9, 2024
LOVERRO: Ingredients in Dr. Rizzo’s miracle cure include talent, youth and a Padres phone call
Losing a generational ballplayer like Juan Soto can be gut-wrenching, something that likely left a lot of Washington Nationals fans feeling ill. Published July 2, 2024
LOVERRO: When you’re as low as the Wizards, it all looks like upside
The Wizards selected a French player with the second pick overall in the NBA draft Wednesday night, one of three French players to go in the top 10 in the first round. All the cool kids are doing it. Published June 27, 2024
LOVERRO: Daniels may be an ace, but Commanders don’t have a full house yet
These are some pretty impressive quotes from NFL veterans about a rookie Washington quarterback who has yet to play one down in an NFL game. Published June 25, 2024
LOVERRO: Willie Mays, last of a generation that towered above baseball
Willie Mays was the last of the finest, and perhaps the greatest, of the quartet of players who made up the royal court of baseball for more than 50 years. Published June 19, 2024
LOVERRO: Celtics’ success with Horford, Porzingis points up how Wizards fell short
The story of Al Horford and the Washington Wizards has been told before. But since this franchise continued to make one mistake after another following this failure, it's important to tell it again and again, until the local NBA team finally does something right -- you know, like the Boston Celtics have done 18 times to build championship rosters. Published June 18, 2024
LOVERRO: Bethesda native Sternburg rightfully among boxing’s greats
I was there for the early days of the brilliance of Fred Sternburg, when he was publicizing club fights in places like the Pikesville Armory, where he searched far and wide for a phone line for me to send my column about the fight he had convinced me to cover. He found one in the guard shack outside. Published June 5, 2024
LOVERRO: Landover surprisingly back in running for Commanders stadium, thanks to politicking
A U.S. senator has emerged as the major roadblock to the District's efforts to gain control of the federal land that RFK Stadium sits on for a new home for the Washington Commanders, but not the one that has gotten all the attention. Published June 2, 2024