Former longtime Japan resident Dave Wiggins, who was a sports columnist and television analyst in Tokyo, is now a sports writer based in Vero Beach, Florida. He contributes a bi-monthly column on the North American sports scene to The Japan Times. Wiggins, who was a TV sportscaster in Hawaii for several years prior to his time in Japan, is known for his keen observations and acerbic wit. In 2006 he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan.
For Dave Wiggins's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
A pedestrian pitching parade. That pretty much describes this winter's crop of free-agent MLB starting hurlers. There were no power arms of the Max Scherzer variety on the market this offseason, just a bunch of so-so, back-end-of-rotation guys. (Who can still play baseball way better than ...
Oh boy, here we go again. Looks like LeBron James is once more getting too big for his britches. He is no longer content to merely be a renowned NBA superstar, it seems. Now, James wants to play Cleveland Cavaliers general manager and owner as well. And, ...
Despite Odell Beckham Jr.'s recent misadventures, MAS believes the New York Giants receiver is in the process of ditching his diva persona. "Are you losing your mind, MAS?" you say, with some incredulity. "The guy just pulled a Tony Romo-Cabo number. And then followed that ...
"Go big or go home" has been a recurring theme for the NBA's Orlando Magic. Any deep postseason runs the Magic have enjoyed since their inception in 1989 can be directly tied to the presence of a humongous Orlando center who was a low-post scoring ...
Some New Year's Sports Resolutions MAS would love to see made for 2017 — and, more importantly, KEPT. We'll cut to the chase: ■ The NBA and NHL agree to shorten each's joke of a six-month regular season that merely serves to determine postseason seedings for ...
Now, more than ever, it's time for the U.S. College Football Playoff field to expand to six, possibly even eight teams. Up from its present four. The mess that was this year's CFP selection process demands it. For the uninitiated, here's how the loopy thing works. A 12-person ...
Like Howard Beale, the Peter Finch character in the classic film "Network," MAS is mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore. The horrible blocking and tackling in football nowadays, that is. In "Network," you'll recall viewers were persuaded by Beale to chuck ...
The 2015-16 season was one from hell for the Phoenix Suns. A team-record losing streak, a near-last place Western Conference finish for a once-proud franchise (only the woeful LaLaLand Lakers finished below them), injuries to key players, embarrassing on-court tantrums, locker room hissy-fits by malcontents, ...
San Diego may lose its NFL Chargers. And because MAS considers himself an honorary San Diegan, he is despondent over that possibility. Why? Well, it's a long but — MAS hopes — interesting story. So, here goes. Just one look, that's all it took. Anyone who ...
Sob . . . sob . . . Sniffle, sniffle. Those would be the sounds emanating from "long-suffering" Chicago Cubs fans (while looking around to see if they are eliciting a much-desired "Awww, poor babies . . ." from anyone close by). And all their boo-hooing is ...
