I realized I was slightly — or maybe a little more than that — in error when I said last week that the one remaining home-field advantage in the NFL of 2020 was Denver’s mile-high altitude. I discovered my error when commentators, talking about Seattle’s contest at Atlanta in the ...
My pre-Super Bowl column each year often deals with the various odds surrounding the NFL’s premier game. I found some odds to start this year, maybe a good way to kick off a season when we’re still dealing with this unique coronavirus pandemic. While I don’t want to get too caught up ...
They’ve always been an outlier, a major college hockey program in the Deep South. As with most pioneers, they’ve teetered on the brink of failure, shouldered through plenty of skepticism and ridicule. That only made it more imperative to save the Chargers of the University of Alabama in ...
My Great Grandma Carolyn’s favorite earthly possession was a sun-faded baseball that sat on top of her dresser for years. This most treasured of gifts came courtesy of a family friend named John J. Cortese, who had a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Columnist Bob ...
Twenty years ago, Tom Brady was drafted by the New England Patriots and began a long and successful run that included nine appearances and six wins in the ultimate NFL game, the Super Bowl. On St. Patrick’s Day, a day used to celebrate Irish heritage, or for most people, just an excuse to ...
People all over the country are stepping up. Whether it’s to the plate, the faceoff circle, center court or whatever venue they choose, citizens all over the country are doing whatever they can to help each other through a very difficult time in this world. They’re checking in on ...
What would our country be like without sports? It’s a question I’ve pondered before and I’ve written about, but until this week, I honestly didn’t think it would be possible. Sure, there have been some incidents that affected the sporting world. I remember after the terrorist ...
Baseball season has arrived, but it sure doesn’t feel like it. It did a few days ago when I wore a T-shirt outside for the first time in months and I actually felt motivated to spend the entire day outdoors. That hasn’t been the case this week, though, as on Thursday I brushed a good ...
There aren’t many times where hockey takes center stage in this country. After all, it’s considered Canada’s game by many and unless it’s the Winter Olympics, or occasionally the Stanley Cup Final depending on who is playing, hockey gets shoved behind other sports. Sometimes it’s ...
The start of spring training in the past week should be marked as a fun occasion. Major League Baseball teams descend on Florida and Arizona looking to start fresh with potential new players, while fans get to appreciate the fact that the warm comfort of spring is on the horizon and we might ...
Friday was Valentine’s Day, an occasion where people express their love or appreciation for significant others, friends or just special people in their lives. Last weekend, Indiana University attempted to do that with its notorious former men’s basketball coach, Bob Knight. It had been 20 ...
Last weekend a day before the Super Bowl, I made my prediction and talked about how this year’s contest was all about anniversaries. Now that the game is over, it’s turned into a talk about legacies, whether it be for the coaches or just the teams themselves. When it comes to the teams ...
How do you pick the winner of this year’s Super Bowl? Of course, if you’re a fan of the San Francisco 49ers or the Kansas City Chiefs, it’s easy — just go with your heart. But for the rest of us — at least for me — I’m really having a hard time figuring out which of the ...
Anniversaries are the story of the day when it comes to Super Bowl LIV — that’s 54 to those of us who don’t live in Rome. For the first time in a decade, the big game is back in Miami (technically, near Miami), which is tied for its largest gap in time between Super Bowls. That’s a ...
“You’ll like him. He’s a cool guy.” That’s what I heard after I first arrived in the Upper Peninsula when I asked about Gwinn football coach Dion Brown. Brown died on Wednesday evening at Gwinn High School from what police described as a “natural medical event.” I’d come ...
This week’s Packers-49ers playoff rivalry goes back quite a ways, as I’m sure most of you with a least one or two gray hairs can attest. In fact, I found several websites showing these teams have met seven previous times in the playoffs — in 1996, ’97, ’98, ’99, 2002, ’13 and ...
Cheating is wrong. We’re told this from a very young age. From the time we’re able to walk and talk, our elders emphasize that you shouldn’t cheat. Whether it be at board games, tests at school or the sports you play. Yet for some people, those types of morals go out the window when ...
Two years ago, I wrote a column about how I missed out on watching one of the greatest moments in Minnesota sports history. Last Sunday, I almost did it again. Back in 2018, the Minnesota Vikings were in the NFC divisional round of the playoffs and were hosting the New Orleans Saints. Not ...
Here we are just a few days into the 2020s. Geesh, as a kid I didn’t think this would EVER happen. Growing up as a little kid in the 1960s, even the idea of the year 2000 was nearly unfathomable. For some reason, I then remember thinking ahead to 2020, with all the crooked numbers in the ...
Going home never seemed like an adventure to me. When I went home to Minneapolis in college my freshman year, it was cool the first time because I was living away from home and I was attempting to be an adult. The jury is still out if I’ve actually become one. Over the years though, it ...