Now that it’s official as far as the Big 10 football season is concerned, one has to wonder just how far this rush to judgement will go. When the Big 10 announced this week that it was scrapping the season because of COVID-19, it opened up a variety of options for those conferences who are ...
For an organization that has been under fire in many quarters over the past decade or so, the NCAA could well be another casualty of the current mess we find ourselves in today. The COVID-19 disaster has already closed the athletic schedules of some smaller leagues (the Michigan ...
Just the other day, I heard a voice boom out in my direction from across the street in Houghton. It was a familiar voice — but one I hadn’t heard for many years. The voice was that of a former softball opponent, going all the way back to the 1970s. “What we need right now is another ...
Somewhere in all the darkness that has been 2020, there has to be a glimmer of light. No, I’m not unrealistic enough to believe a vaccine will be miraculously discovered to combat COVID-19 in the next few weeks. But it would be nice to hope that sports — in some form — can be restored ...
In these troubled times we find ourselves in today, there’s a tendency to look in the past as far as sports goes. There’s no baseball to watch on television ... or even on the radio. And there’s no guarantee there will even be a shortened 60-game MLB season. Football would have been a ...
The kind of political posturing we’re seeing in this country when it comes to sports is uneven — and unnerving. The controversy over the nicknames of some sports teams is the one attracting the most attention around the country. Take the Washington Redskins, if you will. The Redskins ...
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 ...