Anyone who watched the national championship football game between Clemson and Alabama saw a classic. But only true fans stayed up until the end of the four-plus hour game. One reason the games are so long is to allow an official to review whether a player was in or out of bounds, or whether the ball was caught. My agent, […]

Can you name the five coaches who make the most money in college football? Honestly, if you follow college football closely, it shouldn’t be too hard compiling the list, although getting them in the correct order may be a challenge. Former Texas coach Charlie Strong wasn’t on the list, although he was close behind at No. 6 with a salary […]

As 2016 nears the finish line, it’s time to recap some fall sports happenings. • The presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump demonstrated that political prognosticators aren’t any better at making predictions than weather forecasters and sports columnists. • Maybe the best line I heard on the morning of Election Day came from Mike Golic on ESPN Radio. […]

Officiating is an avocation rather than a vocation for most basketball officials. Yes, if you make it to the NCAA Division I level, the money is significant, but at the small college, high school and nonvarsity level, you officiate mostly for the love of the game. During my 40-year officiating career at the grade school, high school and college varsity […]

Unless you live in a cave or you ignored all media coverage and the debates, you may have noticed the recent presidential campaign featured two candidates and vociferous supporters who set aside professional decorum and civility. Not surprisingly, sports fans often do the same. During the recent baseball playoffs, the Toronto Blue Jays apologized to the Baltimore Orioles and Major […]

Cliches are a way of life. They’re unavoidable. Listen to any sports broad­cast or interviews with coaches and athletes, read any sports stories or columns, and you’ll hear or read the inevitable cliche. I tend to empathize with those in the profession, because there are only so many words in our vocabulary. In this day of 24/7 sports, why shouldn’t […]

Cliches are a way of life. They’re unavoidable. Listen to any sports broad­cast or interviews with coaches and athletes, read any sports stories or columns, and you’ll hear or read the inevitable cliche. I tend to empathize with those in the profession, because there are only so many words in our vocabulary. In this day of 24/7 sports, why shouldn’t […]

You may think sports is at its best when your team wins it all, whatever “all” is. Or, you may think sports is at its best when an underdog rises up and slays the giant in a huge upset. Or, you may think sports is at its best when two teams battle it out on the field or the court […]

It’s the exception and not the rule when high-profile athletes take a stand against a perceived wrong in society. Beginning in the 2004 baseball season, Toronto first baseman Carlos Delgado decided not to stand for “God Bless America” during the seventh-inning stretch of Major League Baseball games. Instead, he would stand silently in protest in the dugout. Delgado felt the […]

Many changes have occurred in secondary education during my lifetime, but perhaps none greater than the number of teachers who have added coaching to their resume. It’s not incompatible or inconceivable for teachers to coach and coaches to teach. After all, a good coach is usually good at teaching the aspects of a particular sport to student-athletes. However, it’s not […]