There is no question the present conditions we’re operating under in this country are going to have long-term effects. The effects to the professional sports world could be even more long-lasting. The tenuous situation in major league baseball is one of the more visible ones. MLB owners ...
Just the other day, I was listening to the radio (Sirius variety) when a song came on that put me on time passages of the mind. The song, “Monday, Monday” by the Mamas and Papas, was popular in the winter of 1966. Now, 1966 was a time when you could actually understand the words. ...
They may be a pandemic going on in this country. And record unemployment and racial strife rages on. But still the game goes on. That game — and there aren’t many going nowadays — is the 50 and Over Softball League. Now, the league may be the only operating one of any kind locally at ...
In this — whacky and never seen before — world we’re living in, there are going to be things you are not going to see in 2020. It’s bad enough that that high school and college tournament seasons in hockey and basketball were washed away. I especially feel for all the seniors who ...
The game of baseball has unique sounds of its own. There is the solid crack of a fastball hitting the bat right in the sweet spot. That sound is known to anyone who has ever played the game and it is usually an indication that a batter will soon be circling the bases. And there’s the ...
In the long-running and just concluded “The Last Dance,” the exploits of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 1990s were well-documented by ESPN. Yes, Jordan is the finest basketball player ever produced by the National Basketball Association. His skills and game preparation ...
The National Football League is rolling the dice on its planned return to play. COVID-19 has changed the way we live in every respect. And how the sports world is going to proceed is very much in question. The NFL does have an advantage in that it can see how major league baseball, hockey ...
It was a typically nice spring day at the Neureut Kaserne fifty years ago. The weather in that southern Germany hamlet was pretty much like it is in southern Michigan, warm with flowers just blooming. But May 4, 1970 wasn’t just another day. Since it was my birthday, I had the day off ...
One of the things the current pandemic has done is to ignite an interest in the past. With practically nothing going on in the sports world, we’ve all gotten used to watching feats of years gone past. There’s been plenty of hockey, basketball and baseball games of yesteryear shown on ...
There was a time not long ago when the National Football League college draft commanded a lot of attention. But that was on a faraway planet ... and a long time ago. In the past couple of months, the NFL and just about every sport, has faded into the background. When the matter of live ...
No one really has an idea what effects that COVID-19 will bring to us. But the one thing that appears certain is that sports—and sports fans—must adapt to a new norm. Will that new norm result in teams playing in near empty venues? Playing in shortened seasons ….or not at ...
One of the few things any Detroit Tigers fan will seldom argue about is the legacy of Al Kaline. The former All-Star rightfielder was more than a star—he was an icon in the Motor City. I had the chance to see him play many times and also the opportunity to interview him once for a story. ...
In these sportless days now upon us, the television networks have taken to running sports events of the past, in some cases, the distant past. We have seen countless reruns of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. The great rivalries of the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, and the ...
In the troubled times we find ourselves in today, perhaps a few sports quotes will give us something to think or even chuckle about. It’s been said that laughter is the best medicine, so let’s give it a shot. Yogi Berra, perhaps the most quotable sports figure ever, was once asked what ...
I believe it was late Marquette University basketball coach Al McGuire who once observed that “sports is the coffee break of life.” And just like that, the coffee break was suspended last week. With the spread of Coronavirus, just about every major sport in this country has postponed ...
It was one of those early March afternoons that used to be more common than not. The snowbanks from a long, tough winter were finally melting in the mid-30’s degrees. Rivulets of water slowly ran along the path to Sherman Gym. It was March Madness in all its glory and it was the final day ...
The Finlandia University women’s basketball team is enjoying one of its better seasons in quite awhile. With a nine-game winning streak — and overall 14-11 record this winter — coach Mariah Dunham’s team goes into the AACA tournament this weekend as the number two seed. You have to ...
The Dollar Bay-Tamarack City High School boys basketball program has been one of the most successful in the state of Michigan the past three years. The Blue Bolts, a Class D state semifinalist the last two seasons, has lost only a handful of games in that period of time. Three of those ...
The 1970 basketball game between Houghton and Jeffers could only be described as a one-of-a-kind happening. Even though I wasn’t there to witness it, I’ve probably heard more about it than most other local athletic events since then. The score of the game — a 134-62 victory by ...
It’s been said that advancing age is merely a state of mind. But don’t tell that Bruce Coppo of Calumet or Harold Filpus of Tapiola that. The two senior citizens have shown clearly that age is just a matter of mind for some people. In Coppo’s case, he went out on the ice recently ...