STOCKTON SAYS COLUMN - Dick Stockton

The Business Of Football

16 Oct 2024

How many of our readers have run a business? Can your business flourish if poor decisions and poor management are the rule? You know the answer, of course. Well, it’s no different for a team in the National Football League. It all starts at the top. Yes, winning teams need a first-rate front office to build that team, a head coach who can manage what they do on the field, offensive and defensive coordinators who can run their units effectively, and, naturally, a quarterback who engineers how the team executes against an opponent. But the success of NFL franchises are reflected in their ownership. Few teams contend for championships or win all the time. Some have done it more than others. If you follow the NFL you know who they are. Recently, the New York Jets fired their head coach, Robert Saleh, five games into the season. Saleh did not...

Not Upset About Upsets

08 Oct 2024

There is nothing in sports more exhilarating than upsets. They get your attention, they have you shaking your head, they get you talking. Upsets get you to ask the question, “how did this happen?” Unless your team is on the wrong side of an upset, or you lost money on a bet, you are, in a way, delighted at the result of an upset. Some are shocking, like top-ranked Alabama losing to so-so Vanderbilt last weekend in a college football weekend loaded with surprises. The Vandy crowd tearing down the goalposts says it all. Four top-11 ranked teams lost to unranked opponents. Arkansas staged a fourth-quarter comeback to knock off No. 4 Tennessee. Washington, losers to Michigan in the national title game last season, beat the No. 10 Wolverines. No. 11 USC fell to Minnesota. In all, six undefeated teams lost. It was an unusual weekend because in college football,...

Brady, Belichick, and Broadcasting

01 Oct 2024

The New England Patriots are no longer the super power of the NFL, but the two chief components of their recent dynasty are now flourishing in the media world. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are now media darlings. Who would have thunk it? Most people figured Brady, the quarterback who engineered six Super Bowl championships in New England, and Belichick, the head coach for the two decades of Patriots dominance, would be the last two you would guess would wind up in the communications universe. But here they are. Brady, the ultra-celebrity, would never be tied down to studying two teams and then traveling to the cities he visited before as a player, spending virtually half a year doing this. Talking about the game he played, starred, and became the best ever at his position, the most important on the field. But he has, and he loves it. Belichick, who...

Early Season Roundup

24 Sep 2024

I’m still amazed how NFL fans, media and observers react after a mere three weeks into a season. What it is, is overreacting to just about everything. Other than key injuries which may prove to be a factor, it’s just a matter of teams settling in. They see what they have, what they don’t have, and go from there. No Super Bowl has ever been decided early. And that includes perhaps as much as the first half of the year. I understand why there is a rush to judgment. It makes for fun speculating by fans and the media. It fills air time on the various shows, and it makes for interesting talk. But the reality of it all, is that it’s irrelevant. Let me explain. The Steelers are 3-0 and are doing it with backup quarterback Justin Fields. Fields has never looked as good. Could he sustain it? Possibly....

Sports and the Printed Word

17 Sep 2024

Growing up I couldn’t read enough about sports. I’ve told the story many times how my father would bring home eight newspapers every day and we would check out the various ways writers would cover the same game. Queens, is one of the five boroughs of New York City. It is about a half hour from Manhattan, so there were so many papers to read. I remember them all. The New York Times, The Herald-Tribune, The Daily News, The Daily Mirror. Those were the morning papers. The afternoon editions would give a second-day treatment to the games. More features. They were the Journal-American, The World-Telegram and Sun, The Post, and our local news paper, The Long Island Press. Some of the papers had morning and afternoon editions. There were writers who covered the local New York teams, and there were the columnists, who would be opinionated, or wrote about a...

The First of Oodles

10 Sep 2024

So how did Tom Brady do in his debut as Fox Sports lead NFL commentator? Week one is history. Sixteen teams won, 16 lost. There are oodles of games left, but there was only one first time ever that piqued the curiosity of viewers. That was the transformation of Tom Brady, the great seven-time Super Bowl champion from quarterback to broadcaster. The reviews were mixed. Some understood that this was his first foray into a new field, realizing he would get better as he did more games. Others skewered him, expecting him to knock it out of the park in his very first go at it. As someone who actually did this job for a half-century, I feel I have a good idea what it takes to be successful, what it’s like to do it the very first time, what constitutes a solid first outing, and what is needed moving...

“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?”

03 Sep 2024

Fantasy football is big. It’s so big it’s the thing fans may be interested in more than anything else when the NFL season begins. I realize that fans do indeed root for their favorite teams, especially when they play in their home city. But you could be surprised where the true loyalty rests. Many years ago. Jerry Richardson, then the owner of the Carolina Panthers told me a fan he talked with at a tailgating party prior to a game said he hoped the Panthers kicker, John Kasay, would have a bad outing. Richardson couldn’t understand why a Panthers fan would wish ill will on one of their players? The fan was in a Fantasy league and drafted a kicker from another team. To those who play, they follow games each week to see how the players they drafted for their Fantasy team are doing. I was never interested in...

Thought Potpourri

28 Aug 2024

Let’s touch some bases shall we? We start with the college football season underway this week. To say the sport has undergone a minor earthquake would be an understatement. It is nothing like it used to be. Remember the term student-athletes? Forget that. How about the good old traditional conferences like the Big Ten, which were actually made up of 10 schools. Or these conferences: the Southwest, Pac- 8 or 10 or 12, the Big Eight. We could go on. Now the Big Ten has 18 schools. The Pac-12 is down to the Pac-2. We could go on, but you get the idea. Rivalry games based on geography. We still have them, such as Michigan-Ohio State, Stanford-Cal etc. But major college football has turned into the Power 5. It doesn’t matter where you’re from. You’re playing teams nowhere near where you live. Stanford, out of Palo Alto, CA is in...

Tom Brady’s Next Act

21 Aug 2024

It’s several weeks away but my focus is on the start of the NFL season. Is it because the Chiefs are seeking a third straight Super Bowl triumph? Is it a curiosity to see how all the rookie quarterbacks pan out? Is it to see which of last year’s near misses finally get over the hump and reach the pinnacle of a championship? Or which of the 2023 strong contenders slip down and fall by the wayside? All of these scenarios will play out and all those questions will be answered. What I’m looking forward to the most is the arrival of Tom Brady as an NFL television expert-analyst and how he performs in his first year on the lead broadcast team on Fox. Brady will open with the Cowboys-Browns clash in Cleveland on the first Sunday and wind up his rookie season in the booth for the Super Bowl...

The Art of Sports

13 Aug 2024

One morning after working out I was approached by a gentleman who suggested I write more about art and culture. I told him those were two subjects I knew very little, or nothing about. He then reeled off ideas including the classical music influence on political events throughout history. It was so far over my head I couldn’t comprehend was he was talking about. I said I wasn’t qualified and he walked away, seemingly disgusted. A week later, the same man, Rollin Hansen, who I believe is an artist, teacher, architect, historian, and maybe all four, noticed the logos of professional leagues I used to support one of my columns. He mentioned that those were the works of graphic artists that was to be admired. It immediately struck a chord since I had always been obsessed with uniforms, colors and logos of all the teams since the day I started...

Fitness and Guidance

06 Aug 2024

I have to admit that when I was younger I didn’t think much of all the things that have happened to me that made me so grateful. No, it’s not about aging or anything about that, although the longer you go the more they become more apparent. They’ve really added up and the more recent ones loom large. There are many things that have kept me going strong and that’s where my thoughts land today. I never worked out in my youth. I mean never, into my 40’s, 50s and 60’s. That’s a lot of years where only time on a treadmill, occasional running, and that kind of stuff, valuable as it is, was all I did. Jamie introduced me to supervised workouts by a trainer to improve my muscle tone in my shoulder, back, arms, legs, and core, agility etc, and it’s become my most important to-do item on...

The 2024 Olympics

30 Jul 2024

Even before the opening ceremonies of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, I intended to discuss why it has come to be that there has been a barrage of gimmicks to change time-honored events. I wondered why we need them? Are people that bored with the way things have been done that there is what looks to be the constant clatter to just change them? Some will say it’s simply a matter of progress, but I simply call them gimmicks. Why for so many decades did tradition rule? Why were there not more calls for “progress” or doing things differently, sometimes dramatically, until recently? Then came the opening ceremonies of the current Olympics which blew the top off the entire subject of gimmicks. There is still more talk of the disrespectful mocking of The Last Supper by “drag queens” than there is of the actual games themselves. Those are my descriptions...

Xander Schauffele

24 Jul 2024

Unless you’re a devoted follower of golf, you probably have no idea about the identity of Xander Schauffele. You’re probably having difficulty pronouncing his name. Phonetically, it’s Zander Shoff-lee. Xander Schauffele, an American golf pro from San Diego has been one of the more quiet, but classy tour professionals. He is 30. His mother was born in Taiwan and grew up in Japan. His father is German. The two met in San Diego and that’s where they got married. Xander Schauffele was a double champion last week in my opinion. The obvious one was the way he came up big, shooting a remarkable 31 on the back nine at legendary Royal Toronto in Scotland to capture the 2024 British Open. We call it the British Open, but in the world of golf it’s simply known as The Open. It was the fourth and final major of the season and Schauffele...

Post-Wimbledon Thoughts

16 Jul 2024

Tennis reminds me of what boxing used to be- except for the punches. It’s Mano a Mano. You can’t hide Your mannerisms, tics, and habits reveal so much. Think about it. What other sport is like that? As the great sportswriter Sally Jenkins penned, “there are no sweating throngs of teammates to hide among, not even a caddie to blame”. It continues to be a sport featuring shot-making at lightning speed, deft touches that change pace of speed and spin, and powerful serves that can either connect as aces, or miss outside the lines or slam into the bottom of the net. Only now it seems more dazzling because of the increased, speed, talent, and resilience of those who play at the highest level. Wimbledon was the third of four major tennis championships held last week. It is the only one played on a grass surface, and it is the...

Wimbledon

09 Jul 2024

You don’t have to be a fan of golf to be aware of the Masters at Augusta. And you don’t have to be a fan of tennis to know what Wimbledon is. They are events held annually that are special and have a tradition and history that rises above the rest in their respective sports. They are notable stops in their yearly Grand Slam competition- the games that are the most meaningful. This is about Wimbledon, held in early July for two weeks. In Great Britain they call it a fortnight. We were there for Day 3 of the championship last week. I had been there previously, but Jamie, a dyed-in-the-wool tennis buff and player in her own right, had never experienced its uniqueness. When you see it on television you see the courts and the surrounding scene mostly from above. But being there is unlike anything of its kind....

Not All Playoffs Are Alike

02 Jul 2024

I have always felt the Stanley Cup hockey playoffs were the most compelling series of all sports. The NFL playoffs and Super Bowl are about winning one game. So are the college football championships, and of course, the one-and-done aspect of the NCAA basketball tournament. But when it comes to a series when two teams battle to see who gets to four victories first, nothing, and that includes the NBA which played a major role in my career, is quite like post-season hockey. My feeling has always been that home court, or home ice advantage goes only so far, that the team that plays better in each game will survive regardless of the venue. It is particularly evident in hockey in my view. I am constantly impressed with the outright hustle and determination I see during the Stanley Cup playoffs. This year’s, Cup Final was one for the books. To...

Remembering Willie Mays

25 Jun 2024

He was the symbol of my youth. With the passing of Willie Mays it is not a reach to say much of my youth went with him. He was everything to me. As a youngster what I cared about the most was the New York Giants. Yes, I was also a huge fan of the football Giants, but in those days baseball was king, and the Giants were alone at the top. I lived for baseball and the Giants from 1951 until they moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season. That’s not a long time, to be sure, to love your favorite team as a kid. But I had Willie Mays, and that was enough. Willie passed away last week at 93. It’s been said he never really grew up. A kid for life. The Say Hey kid. He came into my life in May of 1951. I had...

The Changing Faces of Tennis and More

11 Jun 2024

We were reluctant to declare a changing of the guard in men’s tennis a year ago. But maybe the time has finally come. Carlos Alcaraz, the worthy successor to Rafael Nadal as Spain’s king of the sport, looked the part and more in capturing the Wimbledon crown in 2023, but slipped a bit while Novak Djokovic, the old man of the great trio including Nadal and Roger Federer, flourished. It was at Wimbledon where the then 20-year old Alcaraz outlasted Djokovic, who at 36, came up short in a five-set thriller only to see the Serb turn it on at the U.S. Open. Displaying a remarkable ability to defy age and injury. Still, after his brilliant Wimbledon triumph it seemed the young Spaniard was on his way. But as talented as he is, Alcaraz’ ascent leveled off with unanticipated losses and his own injury problems. At the same time, the...

Bill Walton (November 5, 1952 – May 27, 2024)

04 Jun 2024

I didn’t get to know Bill Walton until the tail end of his brilliant basketball career. He passed away at the age of 71 last week and everything said about him, all the tributes, all the comments about the man were on the money. He was more than one of the greatest to play the sport. It all started at UCLA during the coaching tenure of John Wooden who guided the Bruins to the most dominant period in the history of college hoops. You can check out what the 6-foot-11 center accomplished at UCLA as well as in his 15-year NBA career. Wooden was the perfect first head coach Walton had. He had the right words at the right time for the big red-head. He was the ideal father figure and the two remained tight as a drum until Wooden’s death in 2010. The coach had a rule, no facial...

Preaching to the Choir

28 May 2024

Let me get this straight. The placekicker for the Kansas City Chiefs gives a commencement talk at a Catholic college and speaks to his Catholic beliefs including his deep respect for his wife’s life as a mother and homemaker and gets ripped for it. Are you kidding? Years ago he would be celebrated for such an impassioned talk on what matters to him. The audience was made up of students who made the choice to attend Benedictine College in Kansas. To use a well-worn cliche, he was speaking to the choir. But he was met with an outcry of protests, many of them cruel and obscene. Harrison Butker is the Chiefs outstanding kicker who commands the unwavering respect and support of his head coach and teammates. They are with him for most of the year and they know who he is and what he is all about. They say they...

PGYAY!

21 May 2024

Last weekend’s PGA Golf Championship, the second of the four major tournaments was fun to watch from start to finish. You had to feel good after viewing this one, but on the morning of the second day it looked like it would go down as a harrowing weekend unlike any in history. If you tuned in early Friday morningyou saw in the semi-darkness someone in handcuffs being guided into a police car. On the rainy streets of Louisville amid police cars and ambulances with flashing lights, Scottie Scheffler, the world’s number one golfer, on his way to jail. Tragically, a man had been struck by a vehicle and killed. Scheffler was taken in after his drove past a police officer demanding he stop, and was charged with dragging the officer until he finally stopped. What an eerie moment. Scheffler was booked, mug shot taken and spent about an hour behind...

It’s Potpourri Time

14 May 2024

It’s potpourri time. For those few who are not familiar with this French word, it means a mixture of things, especially a musical or literary medley. We’ll skip the musical side and go right to the literary. The NHL and NBA playoffs have been underway and they are not short and to the point. They take a long time to play out and they should. To crown a champion in hockey and basketball those who earn a post-season berth deserve their shot. Teams involved all have their peaks and valleys. Even the very best. So much is put on home ice or home court advantage that I feel can be overrated. For example, in the one rare instance I was tuned to one of those talk shows that spend agonizing amounts of time dealing with issues surrounding a particular series, the question was, who had the most pressure, the Knicks...

The Retired Club

10 May 2024

This is about two sports broadcasters who have retired within weeks. They join me as a pair of play-by-play men who have done it for a long time and are now moving into the next phase of their lives. My feeling is that most of you have never heard of either one. That’s okay. It’s more about how the two stayed consistent in their styles, their longevity, and their acceptance by their audiences. If you’re familiar with sports in Boston or New York, who not only know them, you probably spent years, even decades listening to their delivery of the doings of two of your favorite teams. They are, in fact, the lifeblood of what you relied on, depended on, and looked forward to their many broadcasts. Local voices, it’s what sports on the air is really all about. I know, because it represents what mattered to me growing up....

The NFL Draft

01 May 2024

What’s atop the sports leaderboard this week? No games, no tournaments, no on-field competition. The NFL Draft. This league is truly year-round. It really never stops. There is no question people can’t get enough of it. The draft was held in Detroit. It used to be a New York thing every year. How many attended the latest in the Motor City? 700,000. That’s the most ever. How many watched the million TV shows talking about the draft? Record numbers as well. If you need a “franchise” quarterback to have a chance, there are six teams who went for one in the first 12 picks. Some will be successful, many some will be hugely successful. Perhaps some won’t pan out. Mitch Trubisky, who the Bears traded up to get a few years ago is one who didn’t make it. The Bears picked USC’s Caleb Williams number one. No surprise there, and...

All Bets Are Off

23 Apr 2024

All bets are off. Or should be. It’ll never happen. The cat’s out of the bag. It’s a part of our culture. It always was. But not to the extent it is now. Danger is lurking. We’ve seen some of it already. The danger is about scandal, and perhaps even worse, addiction. Scandal in sports betting is a part of its history. The Black Sox scandal, Pete Rose, college basketball point-shaving in the 50’s and 60’s, an NBA referee. Those are the events we know about. There are probably many others. Once upon a time, the integrity of the game in all sports was paramount. Commissioners and the respective leagues used that call as the foundation for why we watched, why we rooted, why we were obsessed with sports. There would be no question when we viewed games, that teams were out to win, and players were out to win,...

The Master of the Masters

15 Apr 2024

Followers of all sports appreciate dominance. The reason they do is that they know they are watching the high standard being set for others to topple, and relish seeing great performances above and beyond the norm. We saw it at the Masters this past week when Scottie Scheffler emerged as golf’s dominant figure with a brilliant, unbreakable showing, to capture his second Masters in three years and continue his amazing run as the sports’ #1 ranked performer for 80 weeks and still going. In the season’s first major, where only eight players finished under-par, Scheffler trailed by one shot after the opening round and took charge the rest of the way. He has not been over-par in what seems like forever, and refused to crack ever so slightly in the final round where his challengers ultimately fell apart. Scheffler is the best out there since Tiger Woods. It’s a tremendous...

April Madness

03 Apr 2024

Can anyone beat UConn in the Final Four? The national semi-finals are set for this coming Saturday and the national championship game for Monday in Arizona in the always-exciting NCAA basketball tournament. That’s the big question. Connecticut has looked so unbeatable in its first four games it is hard to believe one of the other three teams can knock them off.’ I mean, they’ve demolished everyone, leading by as much as 30 points in each game they’ve played. In the East regional final they broke open their matchup with Illinois with a 30-0 run. The Huskies need two more wins to become the first school since Florida in 2006-07 to capture back-to-back championships. They’ve got four future NBA players, and a head coach that knows how to keep them hungry and go for the jugular. His name is Dan Hurley and he comes from an impressive coaching family. His father,...

March Madness

26 Mar 2024

March Madness has taken over the sports scene. It never fails to deliver. One and done. Upsets galore. It’s when you fill out your brackets having no idea, as well all know, who is likely to advance. Who picked Oakland to beat Kentucky in the first round? Nobody, except for the students and alumni of that Detroit school. But it’s fun. It was always fun to see how far Syracuse would go in the NCAA tournament. Under now-retired coach Jim Boeheim they played in 35 tournament games, reached the Final Four on five occasions, and won one national championship. Boeheim is one of only two coaches who won over 1000 games (Coach K). He was great for the schoool, and great for the region. Here’s something few people know. Nobody in the history of college basketball or football, for that matter, has ever been connected with one University as long...

You, the Weather, and You

19 Mar 2024

What’s the one thing everybody notices every day of their lives? Give up? It’s the WEATHER. Do you really think I’m going to write about the weather? You bet I am. You can call it small talk, but the fact is that the weather is what we see and feel immediately each day that it’s mentioned so often. And why not?“Isn’t this a beautiful day?” When it is said, it is said with the utmost sincerity and appreciation. What’s better than that? It makes people’s mood better. It inspires them. It makes them smile. It makes them happy. Oh, there may be things that are not so good that occur on a beautiful day, but at least it started well. You can’t have everything.Of course, not every day is a beautiful day, in case you didn’t know. What then? Well, you have two choices. You can be glum and unhappy...

The Latest Rage In Sports

04 Mar 2024

Caitlin Clark is the latest rage in sports. She has done what no one else has ever done. She has scored more points than anyone in major college basketball history. Not only is she the NCAA Division I women’s record-holder, but she has scored more points than Pete Maravich, who held the Division I men’s record. And that’s where the controversy begins. Of course, there has to be a controversy of some kind. No longer can we accept an extraordinary career, tip our hats, bow down with respect, and cheer great performances. No, there has to be some fly in the ointment that is supposed to make us find some kind of negativity. You know who finds all this? The media. Last Sunday Caitlin Clark scored 35 points against Ohio State in her final game at home playing for Iowa. It was the last time Hawkeye fans would see her...

Why I don’t watch the NBA All-Star Game…

28 Feb 2024

Why I don’t watch the NBA All-Star Game and why All-Star Games are a thing of the past. While my long broadcasting career involved countless sports, including the NFL, MLB, and college basketball, the NBA was actually my lead franchise. Working the NBA Finals for nine years from the early 80’s through the 1990 season, represented the one time I was the lead announcer. That was at CBS. We aired the game of the week, the top playoff games, and of course, the Finals, the best-of-7 series for the world championship. We also broadcast the annual All-Star Game, which was truly a major event. To earn a starting spot in the game, and to be elected to either the East or West roster, was a feather in the cap of every player. Then, to compete, and try to be a member of the winning team, was the icing on the...

The Dust Has Cleared

20 Feb 2024

The dust has cleared from the NFL season and the Super Bowl and now it’s time to put a post-script on some of the stories that are still being talked about. Are the Kansas City Chiefs a dynasty? In today’s world of sports it seems there has to be a rating on everything that happens. Is this game the best of all-time? Was that play the best that’s ever been? That had to be the worst play in history. This player is the greatest of all time. You’ve seen it and you get it. What difference does it make? Why can’t we accept the events for what they are? As we all know, time determines how great a player or team really is. So now, the Chiefs have won three Super Bowls in the past five years. I say they have established themselves as the current dominant team in the...

It Was Super All The Way

12 Feb 2024

It was super all the way. I don’t know exactly why, but in my view the Super Bowl left nothing to be desired. I’m not just talking about the game. It was everything. From the glitzy setting of Las Vegas, the matchup of the two teams, the buzz that surrounded it all week, maybe even the tight end’s girl friend getting there all the way from Tokyo, you name it, this Super Bowl had a special feeling that delivered. Then, there’s the game itself. Could there be a more pulsating, riveting turn of events in the actual contest between the Chiefs and the 49ers? Maybe you can pinpoint other games and other dramatic moments and finishes, but when you put together the whole package, I doubt it. In a coin-flip of a battle going in, this one went into overtime, and it was won on a familiar theme that has...

The Super Bowl

05 Feb 2024

This is about the Super Bowl which will be played this Sunday. So the reviews will be in, on the game and what I feel, before I sit down and write again. I kind of like that. No place to hide, if I have to hide at all. So let’s get down to business and consider what I regard as a multi-faceted battle that should leave nothing on the table. The defending champs, the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers have met before. Quite recently as a matter of fact. Three years ago the Chiefs rallied from a 20-10 deficit with three fourth quarter touchdowns to win 31-20. It was a crushing turnaround for the Chiefs who gave Andy Reid his first Super Bowl title. Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers head coach is still looking to break through. These opponents know each other pretty much. But don’t pin your hopes...

Money Talks – the Reason Why Most NFL Players Change Teams

03 Aug 2022

Money talks. That’s the reason why most NFL players change teams. Even if it means going from a contender to a team with little chance. There are countless examples of players who were content to join mediocre clubs for the money. And we’ve seen how their performance reflected the fact they were now comfortable. That’s the reason why many golfers have ditched the PGA Tour for the Saudi-backed LIV Tour. Huge guaranteed money eliminates the intense desire to practice and prepare to compete to win. The payout is there, win or lose. That’s the reason why west coast schools like UCLA and USC will play in the Big Ten, mostly made up of colleges in the Midwest. The teams from those two conferences used to play in the Rose Bowl. A one-a-year matchup of champions from those two conferences who rarely opposed each other during the...

It was Easy to be a Yankee Fan While Growing Up

07 Jul 2022

When I was growing up if you ran into someone who said he was a Yankee fan you kind of knew he didn’t love baseball for what it was, he just wanted to root for the team that won all the time. It was easy to be a Yankee fan. They pummeled everyone in the American League, and when the World Series rolled around they were tested a lot more, mostly by the Brooklyn Dodgers, but you knew they ultimately would be popping the corks at the end of the Fall Classic. Why wouldn’t you cheer for the men who wore the pinstripes? Long before my love affair with baseball began in 1951, the Yankees were the team of Ruth, Gehrig, Lazzeri, Dickey, Ruffing, Gomez, and I could go on and on. When I started following the game, the Yankees were in the midst of winning five consecutive...

Remembering Tony Siragusa

07 Jul 2022

Tony Siragusa, a defensive tackle who played on one of the finest defensive units of all-time passed away recently. His death hit me hard since I worked with him for several years on my Fox NFL broadcasts. Tony was only 55 years old, which was tragic in itself, and my thoughts of my experience dealing with him week-in-and-week out came to the forefront. If you’re a football fan, you know who he was. If you’re not, let me fill you in. Siragusa played for 12 years. First, for the Indianapolis Colts, and later for the Baltimore Ravens where in his six seasons, played a major role in the Ravens first Super Bowl championship in 2000. Tony played alongside Sam Adams, and with a combined 700 pounds clogging the middle, the Ravens set records in stuffing the run. The star of the defense was middle linebacker Ray Lewis, another great run...

Cutting to the Chase with the Pro Golf Circus

14 Jun 2022

Let’s cut to the chase with this pro golf circus. It’s take the money and run. In case you haven’t followed the battle of the professional golf tours, the established PGA Tour is being challenged by one called the LIV Series. Maybe you don’t care because if you’re a fan of the sport you only want to watch the competition and don’t want to be bothered by all the other stuff. If that’s the way you feel it’s totally understandable. But the fact is, it threatens to change what golf viewers have come to regard as business as usual each weekend. You’ll only get the broad strokes here because it’s mighty complicated and I don’t want you, the reader, to lose interest. At least not yet. But I will offer my opinion on where this will all end up. The LIV Tour is offering the kind of money that...

Time Out. We’re Taking a Break from Everything, Except for What’s Been on the Mind of Everyone for Over a Week.

04 Jun 2022

Time Out. We’re taking a break from everything, except for what’s been on the mind of everyone for over a week. The horrible tragedy that saw the lives of children and adults taken by an 18-year old killer in Uvalde,Texas. You’ve seen so much, heard so much, and read so much. You won’t read more of the same here. We’re going deeper. This is not about re-hashing and speculation. It’s about facts, and looking forward. I have no idea whether the passing of gun laws will eliminate mass shootings. If a would-be gunman really is intent on obtaining a weapon, maybe he can. I have no idea whether we can prevent an evil person from going on a murderous rampage. I talked to someone who deals in mental health, and he has doubts whether that’s actually possible. But I do feel that the security of schools, churches, and any public...

Captivating Final Stages of the PGA Championship

28 May 2022

The captivating final stages of the PGA Championship served as a reminder to us all that the game’s the thing. No matter what may be going on behind the scenes, for the players who play and the viewers who watch, nothing overshadows the competition on the field of play. Who will survive, who will make the plays, who won’t? That’s really what counts. When Justin Thomas completed a three-hole playoff victory over Will Zalatoris at Southern Hills in Tulsa, no one was thinking of what has become a rancorous battle involving the PGA Tour and the LIV Golf Invitational Series. The finish to the second major of the season was a thriller, with a bushel-load of story lines. The main contenders entering the final round were hardly household names who had never won on this kind of stage before. Leading the way was 27-year old, Mito Pereira from Chile,...

I Never Thought There Would Be Another Column About Tom Brady … At Least Not So Soon.

22 May 2022

I never thought there would be another column about Tom Brady. At least not so soon. He seems to command attention whether it’s in the thick of the NFL season, or months after. But here we are, not long after the great one ended his all-too-brief retirement to play at least another season. He will be 45 before they 2022 campaign begins. I was thinking how the NFL, as popular a sport as it is, never seems to take a breath. I am aware fans can’t get enough. The season ends, and the combine isn’t far away. Free Agency. Then the NFL draft, then the revealing of the schedule. The NFL networks shows entire games from the past season. Overkill anyone? I wonder what would happen if the pro football calendar included a quiet time. Say, a couple of months of down time, so when the various practices begin again...

Sunday at the Masters with Two of the Biggest Stories Unfolding at the Same Time

13 Apr 2022

It was Sunday at the Masters and the two biggest stories were unfolding at the same time at opposite ends of the spectrum. On the second hole, the two hottest golfers on the tour were just at the beginning of their duel for the right to wear the Green Jacket at the end of the day. On the final hole, the man who has been the symbol of the sport, one who had five of those Green Jackets, was completing a grueling and courageous effort that few people ever thought would be possible. Tiger Woods was walking up to the 18th green amid cheers and applause from those behind the ropes and others sitting in the stands. A loud salute of appreciation for the truly brave four days of golf and strenuous walking up and down the hills of the Augusta National terrain. Meanwhile, the battle for the 2022...

March Madness is Here and Tom Brady is Back

19 Mar 2022

March Madness is here. Tom Brady is in the news again. What a surprise! Oh, March Madness is about the NCAA Basketball Championship. That’s right. I almost forgot. For a second I thought it was about the daily doings of the Greatest of All-Time. I once wrote that I would never use the term GOAT. But I’m breaking that rule. Is the GOAT in? Or is the GOAT out? What is the GOAT thinking? How is the GOAT leaning? Now we know. The GOAT is coming back. His 23rd season. And returning to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team is elated. Brady is elated. His family is elated. The world is elated. This may be looked upon as heresy, but frankly, I’ve had it up to here with what #12 is thinking and deciding. It’s actually a good decision. He’s not ready to retire. He thinks he can win another...

The Experience of Knowing That One Person Who Wouldn’t Give Up On You

09 Mar 2022

No matter how successful you become, there is always a time you remember someone who believed in you and saved you during a period of adversity. Success doesn’t always mean reaching the very top of what you do. It can be a stepping stone, or anything that represents something you wanted to achieve. Often we forget about that special person who bailed you out by giving you a second chance, or even a first chance. I’ve been reading a book, just released by Ian O’Connor, a sportswriter with the New York Post, on the life and career of Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. Krzyzewski, or Coach K, as he is called (fortunately for us), is retiring, at age 75, at the end of this season after, perhaps, the greatest college coaching career in history. The early days He has won more games (1,149) than any coach, won fives national...

The Broadcasting Carousel of Top Network TV Announcers

05 Mar 2022

In considering topics to discuss this week, I could have delved into the complicated saga of Phil Mickelson, who has lost most of his sponsors, and has been excoriated by critics of his attempt to break away from the PGA Tour in favor of a super-league promoted by Saudi Arabian interests. I could have jumped into the labor dispute that has delayed, if not ruined the Major League Baseball season. A lockout by the owners which is so ill-timed when you think of what sports followers went through with the pandemic a short two years ago. Baseball needs the fans more than the fans need baseball. But I’ve elected to focus on the crazy goings-on involving my business: The broadcasting carousel of the top network TV announcers. Frankly, it all started when CBS paid Tony Romo $17 million when he jumped into the lead booth with Jim Nantz three...

NFL Season Wound Up with an Incredible Run

16 Feb 2022

The NFL season wound up with an incredible run. The last six games of the playoffs were all decided by 3 points, capped by a Super Bowl filled with thrilling moments, and captivating emotion. The Los Angeles Rams are the new champs. Not really a surprise when you looked at the contenders at the start of the year. But considering their highs and lows, the moves they made during the season to reach the top, and the tense final moments of the final game, it was more of a time to exhale, than acknowledging a foregone conclusion. Now, the team the Rams defeated, well, that’s another matter. For the Cincinnati Bengals, winners of a total of only six games in 2019, and 2020, their Super Bowl appearance was unthinkable back in September. But they came within a whisker of pulling an upset for their first Super Bowl title. The...

It’s Super Bowl Time — But for NFL, Unsettling Developments Make it Much More

08 Feb 2022

For the NFL, this is the week of The Game. It’s Super Bowl time. But for the NFL, unfortunately, it is much more. Unsettling developments have arisen, ranging from the never-ending challenge of hiring minority head coaches, to the alarming accusation of an owner offering to pay a head coach to lose games in order to gain the top pick in the draft. Brian Flores, the deposed head coach of the Miami Dolphins brought suits against the Dolphins, the New York Giants and the Denver Broncos alleging a pattern of racist hiring by the league and racial discrimination during the interview process in Denver and New York, as well as during his time with the Dolphins. Brian Flores Flores was fired following a season in which his team started the year 1-7, then won 8 of its last 9 games. He accomplished a winning record in 2020...

NFL Conference Championship Weekend Recap

05 Feb 2022

Frankly I didn’t think the NFL’s conference championship weekend was going to approach the resounding excitement of the four games played the previous week. But it actually did. If you looked at the two contests, nearing halftime of one and at the end of the third quarter in the other, you might have thought the AFC and NFC Championship battles to determine this year’s Super Bowl matchup, were both letdowns. And why not? The Kansas City Chiefs appeared headed to their third consecutive Super Bowl appearance, scoring touchdowns the first three times they had the ball, leading the surprising Bengals 21-3, with less than two minutes remaining in the half. Cincinnati finally scored a TD with 1:15 left, and the Chiefs, passing up a field goal, failed to get a quick-answer touchdown of their own on fourth and goal at the one. So, it was still 21-10 KC. Who knew the...

Football Playoff Recap

28 Jan 2022

Have you ever seen a better weekend of playoff football from this past weekend? I haven’t. Every game was better than the previous one. It didn’t seem that would be possible. But it was. And that last one. Wow, that last one. I can say this. I’ve been watching the NFL for over 70 years, and I’ve never seen one like the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills staged into the night at Arrowhead Stadium. Never. There have been dramatic finishes, amazing comebacks, improbable winning touchdowns and shocking upsets, but nothing like those two heavyweights displayed last Sunday evening. It was a classic back-and-forth shootout that reached a crescendo with 25 points scored within the last two minutes of regulation thanks to the remarkable brilliance of the two quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs, and the Bills’ Josh Allen. Mahomes moves on Josh can only watch But...

NFL Playoff Battle, the Search for New Head Coaches, and Wild-Card Weekend Recap

22 Jan 2022

There are two classes of NFL teams right now. The ones battling in the playoffs, and the ones searching for new head coaches, General Managers, or both. There are eight teams still alive in the drive to the Super Bowl, and eight clubs in the process of finding new decision-makers. Wild-Card weekend was hardly wild. Several of the contests were one-sided, and won in decisive fashion. Bills quarterback Josh Allen was nothing short of brilliant in leading Buffalo’s rout of the Patriots, setting up another duel of top of-the-line QB’s with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. Kansas City crushed Pittsburgh in what is likely the last career game for the great Ben Roethlisberger. Bills-Chiefs is the top game coming up. The Great Josh Allen The defending champion Bucs outclassed the Eagles in the NFC starting their run at a second straight Super Bowl crown. Two other games had...

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR BLOG

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

An email was just sent to confirm your subscription. Please check your email and click confirm to activate your subscription.