April 29, 2020
I am a TV-sports addict, but I don’t miss the games. I can live without them—at least for now. Sports are an integral part of society’s fabric and serve many purposes, but they are not life or death (except maybe for a Vikings’ playoff game or a Lakers-Celtics’ championship series). The coronavirus, however, is life or death.
February 23, 2020
In
early afternoon, on Sunday, October 6, a bright, glorious autumn day, my
youngest daughter jogged down John Ireland Boulevard toward the State Capitol
in St. Paul, approaching the finish of her first marathon—about three hours
longer than Eliud Kipchoge would run six days later, but a special achievement
for her nonetheless.
December 4, 2018
Watching the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers in this fall’s World Series rekindled memories of my childhood as an avid baseball fan and my experience viewing the Minnesota Twins participate in the Series three times. The Fall Classic was also a good time for me to reevaluate my love for America’s pastime, a passion that I started and nurtured as a childhood fan of the Milwaukee Braves.
May 22, 2018
Last week, Jenny Cavnar became the first woman since 1993 to do televised play-by-play on a Major League Baseball telecast of the game between the Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres. Her usual role was pre-and postgame TV shows.
April 25, 2018
Last fall, viewing professional football games, I watched a commercial for Modelo Especial featuring Tony Gonzalez, one of the greatest receivers in the history of the National Football League. In the ad, Gonzalez, now a national TV analyst, celebrates 40 years of family dinners with his mother, who worked two jobs to raise and support the family.
February 26, 2018
Jim Petersen, TV analyst for the Minnesota Timberwolves, sometimes references the Minnesota Lynx during broadcasts. He refers to Lynx point guard Lindsay Whalen as “greatness.” Petersen should know because he was an assistant Lynx coach for nine years after his college and NBA careers. He states that Whalen is one of Minnesota’s all-time great athletes.
November 6, 2017
Monday, October 16, was a glorious fall day in the Twin Cities with temperatures in the high 60s. As I walked on the sidewalk parallel to Ramsey County Highway 96 in Vadnais Heights, I was in awe of the radiant colors—yellow, red, orange, green—highlighted by the late-afternoon sun. But I enjoyed more than fall beauty. I found four golf balls, pushing my season total to 62, possibly a record.
September 2, 2017
Twelve years ago, I posed the possibility to my son, Ian, that he try running as a fall sport as he started his high-school career at Mounds View High School. I brought him to Mounds View on an August day in 2005; we entered the school, not knowing where to go. A short, non-descript man came by and said, “Wrestling gym.” Even though my oldest daughter knew some of the athletes on his championship track teams, I didn’t have a clue about this man…little did I know.
August 10, 2017
With the start of August, the media are saturated with coverage of the Vikings training camp and the inaugural Gopher football season of Coach P.J. Fleck. Yet the biggest sports story that should not be ignored is the ongoing success of the Minnesota Lynx basketball team.
July 23, 2017
Who is Pernell McPhee?