Sports World

If nothing else, Patrick Brown will leave the Olympics with a taste for rice and kimchi. And some Korean vocabulary too. He knows the words for "left" and "right," "up" and "down." "Enough to do my job," he says. Such is the life of an itinerant bobsled coach. After guiding teams from Jamaica and Greece through past Winter Games, Brown now wears the red and blue of South Korea, whose four-man crew he has trained for several years. "I guess it doesn't matter what the nation is," the Utah man said.

It merited only a few paragraphs inside newspaper sports sections. Crystal Cox, a member of the gold-medal-winning U.S. women's 1,600-meter relay team in the 2004 Athens Olympics, had admitted to using a performance-enhancing drug. Cox would lose her medal and be banned from competition for four years. On the surface, the announcement last month seemed just another episode of sports doping and its sad consequences. But to many sports scientists, the news was evidence of a broader trend.

It dominated this year's sports scene like a black-tasseled whip. Athletes were embarrassed by it, executives were crushed under it, and at least one former Notre Dame football coach tripped over it and fell on his big fat face. FOR THE RECORD: Athletes' transgressions: A column by Bill Plaschke in the Dec. 9 Sports section about media coverage of the many transgressions of sports figures this year said we were treated to reports about allegations made in court that basketball star Dwyane Wade had given his wife a sexually transmitted disease.

With its unique horseshoe pier and large 14-acre marina, Redondo Beach is a vibrant South Bay hub for seaside activities. Travel beyond the beach and this tight-knit community offers an array of distinctive dining and eclectic shopping options. On the water There's no shortage of ways to get out on the water here, including romantic gondolas, glass-bottom boats and a high- speed racing boat. Kayak or paddle boat out to visit King Harbor's resident colony of sea lions (rental information at www.rbmarina.

On a Saturday night in New York, the sports world vilifies Serena Williams for raining threats upon a line judge. Yet a day later across the river, the same sports world celebrates a team whose nickname is considered a threat to an entire ethnic group. Redskins. A pro football season begins with two noted players banished to the sidelines for "conduct detrimental to the integrity of, and confidence in, the National Football League." Yet that same league supports a team whose entire identity is forged through a symbol of detrimental conduct known as racism.

And off they go, eight of the 11 mascots of this plush toy of a baseball team, a mid-inning race across the outfield, a menagerie of madness. "Outta the way!" the ice cream cup shouts. "Somebody's going down!" the lobster shouts. The banana takes the lead, the lobster runs a close second, then here comes the gorilla, waving his arms and bulldozing his buddies. Down goes the sunglasses-wearing rabbit. Down goes the giant green dog. Down goes the gangling blue sea creature.

I have no time or patience for sentiment. But it occurs to me that there's a little 6-year-old in all sports fans -- or at least there should be. Six-year-olds don't worry about drug tests or collective-bargaining agreements. They don't care about Scott Boras' counteroffer, or what the presiding officer has to say about blood-alcohol levels. Six-year-olds just want to win, baby. Here, according to a 6-year-old boy I know, is how various sports would differ if you turned them over to the kids.

When Shaquille O'Neal wanted to set up a Twitter account after someone had impersonated him on the social media network, it was Kathleen Hessert who guided him. The media strategist warned of one other thing. "Twitter is immediate and without filters," Hessert said. "There will be an athlete or coach who posts immediately in anger or in haste and gets himself in trouble. That will happen." Kevin Love, meet Kathleen Hessert.