Baseball is in the air at Princeton

Baseball in the Northeast is always dicey early in the year, as winter often lingers well into spring. So it was an extra special treat today to watch the players on the Princeton baseball team scrimmage one another outside, on their home turf. After a stretch of several days without rain and with the temperature poking […]

On becoming a fan of women’s college basketball

In less enlightened decades in my life, I ignored women’s college basketball. I won’t reprise the dopey tropes that played through my head those many years that kept me from paying any attention to the women’s games. Older and wiser, I’ve become a fan, and it wasn’t Caitlin Clark of the University of Iowa who […]

On a winter’s day, a warm well of baseball history

As snow blanketed New Jersey and much of the Northeast on Friday, I headed to the Princeton University campus for a wonderful treat: a special class showcasing rare and unusual baseball artifacts and memorabilia donated to the university over the years. The class was part of Wintersession, the annual between-the-semesters opportunity for students, faculty and […]

Maybe, Just maybe, this is the browns’ year

I’ve been ruminating on the Cleveland Browns much of this NFL season, particularly since aging Joe Flacco stepped in as starting quarterback, leading the team to impressive late-season victories and securing a rare playoff spot. Then today I learned today that Frank Ryan, the Browns’ QB of my early fandom, has died. Could it be […]

Go birds! My Philadelphia Eagles cap always gets a reaction

Since moving into the Philadelphia area, I’ve bought and often wear Eagles-branded clothes. I have a Super Bowl LII T-shirt, an Eagles windbreaker and a cap, which I wear most often. Invariably, whether I’m out shopping, eating at a fast-food joint or even walking in the woods, somebody spots the cap and says, “Go birds!” […]

A tribute to Vic Davalillo

In my schoolboy days in the 1960s, Vic Davalillo was a fixture in the Cleveland Indians lineup. Sadly, I learned today that he has died at age 84. Davalillo, a good-fielding center fielder, finished third in the American League in batting average in 1965 at .301. I remember the Topps “league leader” baseball card the […]

Turkey Bowl XXVIII on a beautiful Thanksgiving Day

Forget the Lions and the Cowboys. We have plenty of football excitement of our own in Princeton, New Jersey, on Thanksgiving. Today we held the 28th Turkey Bowl pickup touch football game. The curiously named Princeton Gentlemen’s Club holds the annual event, which brings players of all ages and their families to the big field […]

A season with the pitch clock: We survived

Major League Baseball completed its first season with a pitch clock, and as far as I can tell the world is still spinning on its axis. I am a traditionalist at heart when it comes to baseball, but as much as I sentimentally resisted the idea of a pitch clock, I was glad when the […]

A fabulous auto racing museum in Philly

The World Series is off to a rollicking start out west, and I’m filing what surely to my longtime readers and friends is an unexpected post about auto racing. A few years back I discovered that there’s a terrific auto museum not far from Philadelphia International Airport, the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum. After my first […]

princeton-Harvard football: a classic matchup

Princeton and Harvard have faced off in football since 1877, and I got to watch the 115th meeting Saturday at Princeton Stadium. The Tigers beat the Crimson 21-14 after scoring what turned out to be the winning touchdown with about a minute and a half left in the game. One hundred years ago, a good […]