My career as a full-time journalist ended almost 22 years ago. I last wrote something for a newspaper about 7 years ago. My identity is no longer wrapped up in that profession. I haven’t felt that way for a long time. However, I am immensely grateful especially right now for one of the lessons I […]
I had a pretty good high school wrestling career. I set a bunch of school records. I sat high in the state rankings most of my last two seasons. I won a bunch of tournaments. However, I can’t say that I won a state championship. That’s not for lack of trying. I literally could not […]
Growing up a sports-obsessed teen in the early 1980s, I have distinct memories of the Dunbar basketball team. I never saw them play in person, but I read dozens of stories about them (Baltimore had three daily papers back then, and I read each sports section cover to cover) and watched them on the news. […]
I tried to resist, but I had want to weigh in with an alternate view on the kerfuffle about participation trophies for young athletes, sparked by NFL player James Harrison taking these kinds of trophies away from his 8 and 6-year-old sons because they didn’t “earn” them. So if you are predisposed to dislike the […]
Sixteen years ago, I remember going out on a ledge. At the time, I was working as a sportswriter for this very newspaper. In fact, I was only a few weeks from the end of my full-time employment at 135 Baltimore Street. That job change and the risk I took are not connected. I sat […]
I’m sure everyone has heard the news by now. Due to a knee injury, marketing plans for NBC’s coverage of the upcoming Winter Olympics are up in the air. This knee injury may prevent millions of Americans from watching the Games. Well, that’s the version I gleaned from my online interactions. In reality, American skiing […]
I approached my wife with a little trepidation. I don’t know why. I should have no worries asking her about the fun things I want to do. We understand that parts of our personality differ so we might each want to strike out on our own at times. This works out for me both ways. […]
I have had the good fortune to take some really cool trips in my life. When I think back over them, one stands out in particular. In 1984, I went to Los Angeles with two of my brothers to see the Olympics. Back then, a 16-year-old had a chance to get pretty good Olympic tickets […]
I knew the sound the moment I heard it. Unfortunately, I have experience in this area and started to think about the potential fallout. The problem was, this all happened while I was in the midst of officiating a youth wrestling event, and I really had no chance to react or even fully assess the […]
Since I follow international wrestling, some people have asked me about my thoughts on the Olympic competition. Men’s freestyle, which starts tomorrow, is the area where I pay the most attention so I thought I’d put together a little primer on our US team. The ceiling is the highest I think a guy can place. […]