Stray thoughts and observations while awaiting the Hot Stove League Season which -- east of the Berkshires and north of the Thames -- ought to be rather torrid for the young man stuck in the kitchen, Theo Epstein. Where does he begin? That is the... Read more
Clark Booth on Sports
On the surface, they rang in another NFL season on a joyous note with the familiar signs of prosperity flourishing quite as usual. All the parks were full and TV ratings sizzled while pundits raved and enthusiasm approached gale force as, true to form... Read more
Consider the wonderful irony of it. A season flushed with achievement -- all those no-hitters and perfect games just for openers -- may best be remembered for one entire team’s incomparable incompetence. Only in Baseball might it even be thinkable.... Read more
It’s the eve of another college football season. Sis Boom Bah!
All the usual suspects appear to be present, accounted for, and in mid-season form.
Sports Illustrated has just come out with its annual preview. Of the academic groves they... Read more
Maybe it is only what we should expect as we slog through the dog days of August, so named by the Romans because their hounds invariably got louder, more combative, and generally obnoxious during the steamiest month of the year.
Or maybe it’s... Read more
It’s a bit of a joke, however in poor taste. Or it may be a stunning illustration of the cynicism that’s frequently invaded the issue. Or maybe even an honest effort to reform a process that has too long been allowed to bump along decade after decade... Read more
It is contrived, to be sure, like so many other new wrinkles in the grand old game, including expanded playoffs, wildcards, and meaningless all-star exhibitions that are allowed to determine the highly meaningful home-field advantage in the World... Read more
Here’s a handful of items beginning with the thought that in the Tom Brady contract hassle – now fast blossoming as pre-season camp arrives – we could have one of the mothers of the dubious art form in the offing. Not that we’ve been deprived of our... Read more
Much -- doubtless too much -- has been written and said about George Steinbrenner since the mighty fellow finally ran out of rage and bombast after an extraordinary 80-year run full of sound and fury signifying much.
Like him or loathe him, as... Read more
You steal away for a fortnight or so in the middle of what used to be the lazy, hazy end of June and beginning of July and it’s as if you’ve taken a snooze worthy of Rip Van Winkle. The contemporary sporting agenda rolls over us in ever mightier waves... Read more
Baseball literature is in a class by itself. The volume of hard-bound tomes pumped out annually is downright staggering. Give your pet journeyman slugger a couple of 20 home run seasons sandwiched by a career long enough to earn a pension and you have... Read more
A long time ago John Bertos, an elegant gentleman who devoted much of his time and fortune to the hopeless task of promoting the game of soccer to an indifferent America, tried with the passion only very good soccer men can summon to explain to me... Read more
You have to keep in mind that it was the immortal Charlie Robertson of the White Sox who spun the first perfectly pitched game of the modern era back in 1922. Doubtless Charlie was a virtuous chap. He even managed to labor a few innings for the... Read more
To paraphrase Mark Twain, there are mistakes, dumb mistakes, and boneheaded blunders. High among the miscues in the last of these dubious classifications is the incomparable foolishness of burying the Boston Celtics before they have been officially... Read more
Joe DiMaggio, who didn’t talk much but invariably made much sense when he did, nailed it when he once famously mused, “I‘d rather be lucky than good.” Modesty forbade him from making the logical leap to the further conclusion that nothing beats being... Read more
