From the category archives:

SPORTS

MARATHON : any contest, event, or the like, of great, or greater than normal, length or duration or requiring exceptional endurance

April 16, 2013

When the bombs went off in Boston on Patriots Day the Boston Marathon was well into its concluding hours.   The winners had come across the finish line a long time ago, and now the “other” winners … those who completed the 26.2 mile course … were surging across the finish line, having seen the attainment [...]

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METTLE: to have strength, courage, fortitude

March 3, 2013

Something happened in the sports world recently that deserves the attention it is receiving.   Tom Brady, the quarterback of the New England Patriots NFL team negotiated a three year contract that will take him to 2017 when he will be 40 years of age.   That will make him one of the “older” players in the [...]

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HOAX [hohks] : something intended to deceive or defraud

January 20, 2013

I’ve been stewing about the Manti T’eo hoax issue for several days now.  It’s time to put my thoughts to print. This young man, a star football player at Notre Dame University, has emerged as the hottest topic for late-night stand-up comedy over his disclosure that an emotional affair he was having with a young [...]

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PITCHPOLE: when a boat nosedives into the water and flips over itself

October 21, 2012

Remember, now, I’ve said it before.  I know almost nothing about sailing.    But for some reason (living just a half hour away from Newport, RI) I’m fascinated with the visual beauty of the sport. We frequently spend part of the day at Beavertail State Park, one of the spectacular parks the State of Rhode Island [...]

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STRATAGEM [STRAT-uh-juhm]: a plan to overcome an adversary

August 2, 2012

There really isn’t a great difference between the words stratagem and strategy. According to the sources I researched, it is a matter of age.  Stratagem is the more ancient term, having come into use in English in the 15th century, and the more common strategy having emerged in the early 19th century.*  In contemporary American [...]

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KINESIOLOGY [ki-nee-see-OL-uh-jee]: the study of the way in which one’s body structure determines movement

August 1, 2012

With all the visibility of the XXX Olympics it is hard to let an evening go by without thinking about the unbelievable capabilities of the human body.   Watching the athletes bend, stretch, reach, and twist in incredible feats of athleticism, one can only marvel at the creation of the body. None of this would be [...]

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CAROM: to bounce off the wall

June 27, 2012

I watch nearly every Boston Red Sox game which is televised.  The announcers, Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy, have become my best friends for the summer.   When I have to listen to the game on the radio in the car at times, it just isn’t the same.   Their humor, inflection, jousting, and commentary is unique. [...]

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TEAM TRAVAIL: when everything starts to go wrong

April 22, 2012

After wearing my socks for a day I know they are smelly and in need of laundering.  It’s not a matter of choice.  It’s a matter of necessity.   If I fail to maintain that protocol people will begin to notice the odor and avoid me. That’s a rather harsh and crude way of saying that [...]

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TAKE A KNEE: a public gesture of bowing in prayer

January 11, 2012

The story rage in NFL football over the past several weeks has not been brutal defeats of reigning teams or even scandalous reports of inappropriate behavior by coaches.  To the contrary, the media has been focused on one man, Tim Tebow, the quarterback for the Denver Broncos.  And it’s not even his playing that has [...]

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OVER-REACTION: pushing a rule too far

December 8, 2011

A Massachusetts state championship football game was the scene this week of one of the most flagrant examples of over-reaction I’ve seen in a long time.   A player ran the ball for a touchdown which gave the victory to his team.   Before he reached the end zone, clear that his was home free, the player [...]

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