The 2008 Beijing Olympics are still four months away, but they've already started with a bang. Activists who oppose China's occupation of Tibet have been holding huge protests as the Olympic torch makes its customary pre-games lap around the globe. In the past week, the torch toured Paris and London with an entourage of local policemen and Chinese security personnel. In spite of all the guards, protesters forced the torch to be extinguished for the first time in modern Olympic history. If you want to get in on all of the "Free Tibet" fun, the Olympic torch will be stopping in fourteen more cities between tomorrow and April 29th. The good people at Google have made a map showing all of the remaining cities along the torch's route. The tour includes such exciting destinations as San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and the hometown of everyone's favorite despot -- Pyongyang!
There's still plenty of time to plan a trip to go protest the torch in any one of these great urban oases. Protesters get to meet other cute politically involved types and rub elbows with the world-class athletes who carry the torch, all while enjoying the fun of screaming and flinging yourself at angry law enforcement personnel. So why not fly around the world following the Olympic torch and going apeshit? It's all for a good cause. It's kind of like the civil rights movement, with sightseeing instead of big dogs and high-powered hoses.
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If you're coming to Honolulu for the Pro Bowl this weekend, well, you're probably not an NFL all-star; many players who made the squad are skipping the game. But you probably are staying in Waikiki, as the Hawaiians do an excellent job of sequestering the tourists to that small part of Oahu. Waikiki is one long chain restaurant that starts with a Hard Rock Cafe, ends with a Cheesecake Factory, and has a Planet Hollywood nestled in between. But why suffer at those Pacific outposts of American soullessness when there are local gems worth checking out? And by local gems, I mean dive bars that no tourist staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village would be caught dead in. If you are residing at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, maybe a trip to one of these spots will redeem your poor, depraved psyche. If only redemption were so easy for my New England Patriots.
That's "Super Bowl Sunday" for you monolingual types. Some 93 million viewers will be sitting on their asses watching the New England Patriots and the New York Giants face off for Super Bowl 2008 -- even in France. Le Super Bowl Américain is even more marginal here than soccer's World Cup is in America, but it has a growing fanbase nonetheless. This is good news for die-hard tourists and expat football fans, who may find themselves staying up into the wee hours in Paris on a Sunday night when the face-off starts around midnight, local time. For the third year, those in the vicinity of a TV can watch the game on public television, broadcast live on 
Tom Brady may frequently 
As you very well know, the Super Bowl is less than a week away, and since the New York Giants are involved, there's even more interest than usual this year in the city. If you don't want to pack in to a crowded and expensive sports bar and would rather throw a party of your own, you'll need some serious snacks and beverages. Hit the supermarket and cook up the classic Super Bowl dishes, or call up one of the following places, put in your order, and let someone else do the work for you.
In the seven years that I've lived in the DC area, I've only missed watching a few New England Patriots games on TV. Saturday, however -- when the Pats attempt to finish the NFL's regular season undefeated -- I won't be watching. I've had longstanding plans to go to Miami. No biggie, there are TVs there. Only ... a friend is going to be in Miami then too, we'd discussed dining together, and Saturday is the only night that worked for him. OK, restaurants have TVs.
Sure, the PGA season is officially over, and Tiger Woods is off buying another Bahaman island to make sure baby Sam has plenty of room to become the best damn infant golfer ever. But just because Le Tigre is taking a break doesn't mean you have to cool off your drive -- how else are you going to learn to crack it 350 yards off the tee? Whether or not you adhere to the John Daly training method and drink a beer before each swing is totally up to you. Sometimes you don't have the time or inclination for a 
Unlike the folks running the Colorado Rockies stadium (who experienced a
Growing up in the so-called Steel City of Pittsburgh, I was practically born and baptized a football fan -- the priest at weekly Mass gives an impassioned "Let's pray for the Steelers," and services are hurried on Football Sunday. When I irreverently moved to Jets and Giants territory, I immediately sought out where I could wave my Terrible Towel and have cheap beer spilled on my shirt by loud, raucous men who will probably try to hit on me because I am a blond chick with a penchant for liquor-infused sports watching. Hence NFL Sunday Ticket and the bars that buy this service for us out-of-towners, or those locals who prefer the big screen and a bloody mary over a six pack and their couch. The where and why after the jump, along with our handy-dandy map to illustrate the stumbling distance from your apartment or nearest subway. More suggestions welcome in the comments or via the 
Los Angeles may be the second largest sports market in the country, but we don't have our own professional football team. And really, so many people here are from other parts of the country that a lot of us would be rooting for the other team anyway. People may joke about our apathy, but being a football fan provides some unique challenges, such as waking up at 9:30 AM Sunday and telling yourself it's OK to be drunk before 10 because it's a really good game. And even if you have the motivation, it's no fun cheering on your team and drinking alone. The answer, of course, is a sports bar. Therefore, we offer you a partial list of the best places to ease your NFL cravings come game day. Feel 
You don't have to live for a long time in Los Angeles before you start gloating about all of the activities you can enjoy year-round while other parts of the country battle the elements. One of those activities is golf, and there are plenty of courses featuring picturesque backdrops, rolling fairways, and greens trimmed so smoothly they are almost NSFW. But who the hell cares? All of that also makes golf boring. You likely aren't trying out for the (L)PGA, so a better choice would be a public golf course. They may be a whole lot less scenic, and a whole lot more crowded, but they also do a lot less damage to the wallet. So the next time you're looking to release your inner Happy Gilmore, let our guide get you started.
This David Beckham idol has adorned the Wat Pariwas shrine in Bangkok since 2000, but kindly blog 
Boxing was already well established in New York when John L. Sullivan defeated Joe Collins in Madison Square Garden in 1882, so you can safely say the city has a rich boxing tradition. And while the sport has come a long way since those days, it's hard not to feel a throwback to an earlier era when you go to a boxing match or visit a boxing gym in the city today. Gazing at the stark, white boxing ring - or better yet, climbing into it - it's easy to imagine a time where trainers wore hats, smoked cigars, and cursed, and fighters wrapped their hands, loosened their shoulders, and slugged away for meager reward. Although mixed martial arts and UFC-style matches, which are banned in New York, have taken much of the spotlight from boxing in recent years, the city remains a major capital of pugilism. Here are several great places to experience New York boxing at its best, and maybe go a few rounds yourself. Go on, you can beat him. He's a bum.
When did tischtennis (ping pong) grow cool? Its roots in Berlin go back to 1899, when the first ping pong verein (club) was established. Members were of the "upper crust" and may have been cool. But the current ping-pong furor seems to be riding on the coattails (or legwarmers) of the 1980s fashion craze (or the upcoming 
The 
Of all the things that separate us from the rest of the world -- our insane consumption, our refusal to ratify treaties, the war thing -- none is more severe and dramatic than Americans' inability to appreciate The Beautiful Game. For soccer games of sufficient gravity, the world comes to a stop. The resources of post-industrial Europe are marshaled into gigantic public festivals. Decades-old border wars in Africa are suspended immediately and by unanimous consent. South Americans stay awake in the afternoons. And Americans? We blink at the TV in confusion, drool on ourselves a little bit, and whine, "but there's not enough scoring." And that's why we can't have nice things. But all that's about to change. On July 21, David Beckham -- a man literally worshiped as a demigod in some of the more enlightened parts of Asia -- will don #23 for the Los Angeles Galaxy. And when your grandchildren ask you "where were you when David Beckham awakened America and brought peace to the world," you'll be able to say "drunk at a soccer bar I found on Gridskipper."
New York is a sports town, but that's easy to forget, because New York is an everything town. Still, we've got multiple football, basketball, baseball, and hockey teams, along with stadiums, arenas, and racetracks for every endeavor. And despite a recent championship drought for area teams, sports fans in the five boroughs are as passionate as any in the country, bringing athletes from zero to hero status and back again in the span of one week's tabloid drama. One of the best things about having so many pro sports venues in town is that there are plenty of (relatively) cheap seats available for regular season games, and you can always take public transportation home if you've had too many watery beers and gooey nachos. Several major new stadium projects are planned for the next couple of years, notably the Barclay's Center, possible future home of the Brooklyn Nets, as well as new stadiums for the Yankees and Mets. Since roundups wait for no man, however, here's an overview of the current temples to sport in New York.
