There is a fascinating baseball season unfolding. The NHL playoffs, which offer some of the best post-season drama in sport, are in full-force. Ditto the Lebron-less playoffs of the NBA. The finals of one of tennis’s Grand Slams is this weekend, and the U.S Open golf tournament starts this week. Photo by Juan Salamanca on … Continue reading Get off my lawn with this 12-team college football playoff business

This was, what, maybe 30 minor league opening days for me, counting all those times I was traveling with teams and saw two openers a year. So, for those for asked, and even for those who didn’t ask, here’s what I thought of the milestone evening of May 11, 2021, when professional baseball returned to … Continue reading Worth the wait: Trash Pandas finally make their home debut

In 1978, Dale Earnhardt and I came to a Talladega race for the first time. Dale finished 12th. I finished a 12-pack. Earnhardt raced 44 times at Talladega, winning 10 times. (To show the capriciousness of this place, he had 11 DNFs.) This is somewhere in the high 60s or low 70s for me, either … Continue reading Dale Earnhardt was an unknown — and unnoticed — when he first came to Talladega

It was the flashes that always stuck with me. The ball levitates from a referee’s hand at halfcourt, two tall guys jump toward the outskirts of heaven and the perpetual motion machine comes alive. And the flashes. Early days, it was thousands of Instamatic camera. Later, it was the built-in flash from thousands of cell … Continue reading Flashbacks to Final Fours: The event I revered more than any

Hearing the news of Howard Schnellenberger’s death took me back to one of the biggest bowl upsets I ever covered. And looking back at the surroundings of that bowl game, it was a reminder of how much politics veers into sports – and how change sometimes feels imperceptible at best. Schnellenberger, who died at age … Continue reading On Howard Schenellenberger, a bowl upset and a tiresome blueprint

Funny the odd things that stick out, looking back at something you covered more than 18 years ago. I remember the incongruity of a heavyweight boxing contender on stage at a press event, playing a game of chess against a seventh-grader named Carlos Harbert. This, when his opponent had most recently been in the news … Continue reading Mike Tyson, the persistent fighter who just won’t go away

To watch the replays even now, the crash doesn’t seem so destructive. We’ve seen dozens and dozens that look more frightening. When it happened, it didn’t even really grab my attention from my press box seat at Daytona International Speedway. I was more focused on the sprint to the start-finish line, my stomach more in … Continue reading What I’ll never forget from covering that fateful 2001 Daytona 500

There’s the expression about how much you didn’t know you missed something until it was gone. Having sat through more live sporting events than most anybody you know, I suggest we’ll soon be able to take that one step further:. I didn’t know how much I had missed until it was gone – and then … Continue reading Live! In-person! Venturing out to watch a UAH basketball game

Willard Scott, naked people, Paul McCartney, The Weather Channel, an obscure long-snapper, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and all-night typing. You have your Super Bowl memories. I have mine. I went to six Super Bowls, enough to have nice memories and to remind me that the circus can get old. These VI days, I’ll recall each of … Continue reading My Super Bowl memories: Paul McCartney, as seen from row HH

Willard Scott, naked people, Paul McCartney, The Weather Channel, an obscure long-snapper, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and all-night typing. You have your Super Bowl memories. I have mine. I went to six Super Bowls, enough to have nice memories and to remind me that the circus can get old. These VI days, I’ll recall each of … Continue reading My Super Bowl memories: The solemn 9/11 tribute and the introduction to Tom Brady