“Blasts from the Past” is the idea. On days when I feel like writing but don’t feel like doing much research, I am going to revisit topics from my 40 years in journalism. This will be one of those. It is my take, from January of 2008, on Kobe Bryant’s chances of winning his first […]

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When the San Francisco 49ers secured a place in Super Bowl 54, to be played tomorrow in Miami, my brain banged out several memories of my two visits to Joe Robbie Stadium. The most recent was to see USC and Oklahoma in the college football national championship game in 2007. (USC 55, Oklahoma 10; later […]

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February 3, 2008. Super Bowl 42. New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14. That would be the 12-point underdog Giants taking down the 18-0 Patriots, who were out to become the first 19-0 champs in NFL history. And I was there. How lucky was I? I covered what still is the most dramatic and […]

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A clever headline tells a story … with a twist. I prefer to think everyone likes a clever headline, but I fear only people in the publishing business really appreciate a good “hed”. Like this one, from the Los Angeles Times 40 years ago. “Arrivederci Aroma: Rams Stink Up the Coliseum”

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Joe Namath has a new biography out, and in it the former New York Jets hero and leader of the great upset victory in Super Bowl III relates his spending Christmas alone, in December of 1979. The episode is outlined in this excerpt from “All the Way: My Life in Four Quarters.” And nearly any […]

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It may be time to change the name of this blog. To … Back in the Day. Maybe it’s just 60 years of Christmas Memories banging around in my head that puts me in mind of days gone by. But … I saw a lot of stuff. Not so much lately, in retirement, but while […]

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Signatures are important. They attach a person to a document. They can seal important transactions. They can be legally binding. They also can be seen as a collector’s item. I tend to take note of a person’s signature. I make evaluations on signatures. Or their less formal friends, autographs. How people sign their names: Doesn’t […]

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Let’s get this straight right off: There is no future for competitive eating. It is tacky, gross, wasteful and Just Plain Dangerous, with links not only to chronic medical conditions but also to fatalities. You perhaps have viewed, via television, one of the episodes of professional gluttony. Hot dogs are the preferred edible but other […]

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The moon landing of July 1969 somehow has always seemed fresh, in my mind. Even when we view it in black and white. (It was 1969, after all.) That sense of recall seems a blessing for the aged of the world, given that no one under the age of 55 can hope to recall much […]

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And which World Cup is that? Why, the Cricket World Cup, of course. The Fifa Women’s World Cup, a global soccer event, surely is attracting viewers from more countries, but when it comes to “eyeballs on TV screens”, I am pretty confident the Cricket World Cup is ahead. By millions.

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