In this country, people actually paid attention to women’s soccer as a result of the run by the U.S. team. In a record-shattering World Cup final, the U.S. Women’s soccer team beat Japan 5-2 last Sunday, and even I, soccer ignoramus, watched the first 15 minutes in which the U.S. women blitzkrieg’d Japan with four […]

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The tight end position has evolved over my lifetime. When I first started watching football, the tight end was mostly a blocker whose very presence formed the “strong side” of the offense. The 1960s tight end caught passes occasionally, usually as a safety valve as the rush started getting to the quarterback. Jump cut to […]

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Two weeks ago, the Chicago Blackhawks won their third Stanley Cup in six seasons. There was another parade with 2 million people watching fro the streets and in Soldier Field. But, once again, the demon hard salary cap was not going to allow the champions to remain intact. Patrick Sharp and Bryan Bickell were on […]

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One of my favorite overlooked movies is a Roy Scheider, John Badham directed thriller called “Blue Thunder.” The film was about a plot to bring military style helicopters to Los Angeles (sounds eerily prescient, doesn’t it). Anyway, the part of the tired, put upon sergeant was played by the great Warren Oates in his final […]

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There are places in sports where, if you play there, you are the number one attraction, the biggest star of stars. With that fame and usually fortune, there are gargantuan expectations. You are expected to be the superstar; the face of the franchise; THE MAN. Some players thrive in the attention (Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, […]

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Of course, I pay very little attention to golf – I have never had any interest in it. But I am often interested in its personalities: Tiger, Rory McIllroy, and Phil Mickelson. The big left hander who always looks to me like Hugh Grant having a bad day has not won a major tournament in […]

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According to medieval theologians, poets and artists, the “Limbo of the Patriarchs” or “Limbo of the Fathers” is seen as the temporary state of those who, despite the sins they may have committed, died in the friendship of God but could not enter Heaven until redemption by Jesus Christ made it possible (Wikipedia). Since then […]

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