I Read The News…..
As a parent, after learning of today’s devastating news regarding the death of Tim Evans from complications from neurofibromatosis there are no adequate words.
Happy Birthday Bob
Dr. Johnson had his dutiful devoted Boswell, likewise Jazz was the magnetic force which drew out the erudite ramblings of Whitney Balliet, Nat Hentoff, and Ralph Gleason, while politics prompted the ink stained deadline driven submissions of David Brodner, Mike Royko, Jimmy Breslin, Scotty Reston, and Molly Ivins..all talents perfectly suited to the their beats as well as to the events, and personages they helped define with their informed incisive prose.
Rest In Peace Larry Eisenhauer
After learning of Larry Eisenhauer’s death today veteran sportswriter Leigh Montville nailed it when he observed, “Ike was Gronk before Gronk.”
Remembering George Kimball
Can it possibly be eight years since the big man departed for parts unknown? I remember a friend informing me that Kimball’s reaction to learning of his dire prognosis of the cancer that took him was to observe he could now eat as much bacon as he wanted.
The Cup
Is there any other sporting trophy even remotely as grand?
My Baker’s Dozen
Inspired by friend and hockey historian Stu Hackel’s recently posted gallery of hockey images, here are my bakers dozen. Not many players suffered more for their craft than goalie supreme Terry Sawchuk.
Bill Buckner. The Good. The Bad. The Happy. The Sad
As the accolades for Bill Buckner poured in as news of his death at age 69 marked a bittersweet Memorial Day for Bostonians I mused on his life and the fact he was both a dogged competitor as well as a Zelig-like character who showed up in the backdrop and foreground of several noteworthy sporting and cultural benchmarks.
Hondo
I’ll never forget the first photo I ever saw of John Havlicek out of uniform. It was taken while he attended the first game of the 1967 World Series at Fenway Park
Rest In Peace Nick Cafardo
On his last day Nick had to have heard the unmistakable music of his preferred workplace as baseballs thwacked into mitts and a sort of anvil chorus of bats striking balls rang from the sun soaked cages near the path he walked at the Red Sox training complex.
The Father of the Boit Daughters
The father of the Boit daughters (Edward Darley Boit) pictured in Sargent’s famous painting that hangs in the center of the MFA’s American Wing was a member of the famed Oneida football team, America’s first ever squad.
