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!” […]

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 […]

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 […]

The daily challenge and pleasure of Immaculate Grid

For roughly a year running, I played Wordle _ The New York Times’ puzzle _ virtually every day. And then along came Immaculate Grid, a daily sports challenge from Baseball Reference, one of my go-to sources for information on baseball players and their stats. Throughout July and August, I stopped playing Wordle and instead got […]

Opening day for old Guy Football

It’s opening Sunday for the National Football League, and even better, I survived the first game of the year in the long-running “old guy” touch football game that’s been playing in Princeton since the mid-1990s. In my mid-60s, I was a rookie last season. Now I’m hoping to avoid the sophomore jinx, although I’ll settle […]

How to talk to your kids about Richard Sherman

While trying to keep an open mind, I’ve been watching the arguments unfold the past couple of days in the wake of Richard Sherman’s bombastic remarks after the Seahawks defeated the 49ers in the NFC championship game. Outrage was in abundance that night, with many football fans denouncing Sherman as an ungracious lout and vowing […]

Exit, 49ers, and bring on baseball!

With the 49ers’ overtime loss to the New York Giants still stinging sharply, I turn to my blog and the prospect of another baseball season for solace. As a (baseball) Giants fan, it was weird — and damned annoying — to hear chants of “Let’s go, Giants” ringing out from Candlestick Park after today’s NFC […]

A worthy baseball blogathon

The Ball Caps Blog has been dormant since the passing of the Baseball Solstice, and it stirs to life to today with a recommendation that you check out the blogathon over at Old Time Family Baseball. It’s a fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders, a worthy organization that is even more impressive under its French title, […]

The baseball season ends, and winter begins

It’s no coincidence: The baseball season concluded last night as the Cardinals knocked off the Rangers in St. Louis, and it’s snowing this morning in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York. What more do fans of the Phillies, Pirates, Yankees and Mets need to remind them that the 2011 season didn’t go their way? But what […]

Labor troubles, the NFL and a bit of perspective

National Football League owners and the players’ union broke off negotiations today, and a whole lot of stuff I don’t understand will follow. What I do understand is that if the football season is delayed or scrubbed, I will survive and life will go on. That’s a lesson I learned from the long Major League […]