From the category archives:

SPORTS

MARCH MADNESS: NCAA basketball tournament

March 9, 2011

There are wars being waged. The economy is in the tank. Lousy weather has devastated the entire nation. Charlie Sheen has lost it. Toyota has another recall on its hands. Unemployment is rampant. But throughout the nation (and even beyond) millions of people drop everything to become a participant in  March Madness, the annual NCAA [...]

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TOBOGGAN: a light wooden frame on runners used for sliding over snow and ice

February 28, 2011

When is the last time you researched a word and found that it had come to the English language from the Micmac language?  The Micmacs, a tribe of the Algonquin nation, have actually given us a number of words which pertain particularly to winter, winter sports, winter clothing.  Toboggan is one of them. Maybe you [...]

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MIDDLE GROUND: like an option strategy in football?

November 29, 2010

I have to begin this posting with an acknowledgment that I am no football expert.  I watch football games (mostly NCAA/Big East) but I’m really not sophisticated in football knowledge, statistics, strategies, etc. However, I do know what it means for a quarterback to access an option mentality.  It means that he is open to [...]

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BACKYARD BRAWL: an excuse for beer, bad behavior and … football.

November 25, 2010

“Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we go!” Isn’t that a great song to depict the activity of millions of people on Thanksgiving?   Travel isn’t quite the same as it was when the song was written, what with unbelievable gas prices, pat-downs and full-body scans, and long lines everywhere.   But there [...]

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GOOD SAMARITAN: one who unselfishly stops to help someone in need

October 30, 2010

When Jesus is asked the simple question, “But who is my neighbor?” he responds with a parable instead of a straight answer. (He was known for doing this regularly.) In the Gospel of Luke (10:35-37) he tells the story of a man who is waylaid by thieves who beat him and steal his money.  They [...]

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LEBRON JAMES: Tempest in a teapot

July 13, 2010

Why not?  Everyone else seems to have an opinion!  I’m proud of myself for holding off for all these days and letting others vent before me.  Maybe it’s because I could care less about professional basketball.  Yes, even the Celtics, who I might feel better about if they pronounced their name properly.  But I thought [...]

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HEAD to CLEW: common terminology for the corner and edge of the sail

June 23, 2010

You do remember, don’t you, that I know next to nothing about sailing?  My experience on a sailboat is so limited as to be unmentionable.  But many of my friends are sailors, and I never tire of hearing them toss the sailing jargon around. So when my friend Betty, author of Newport Betty, one of [...]

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RACINO: a casino at a racetrack

June 13, 2010

I was shocked to discover that one of my old stomping grounds at Saratoga, the famous Saratoga Raceway, is now more a gaming casino than a raceway.  They call it the Racino…a clever melding of the words raceway and casino. The parking lot was full when we arrived for the first of three events in [...]

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ELIGIBILITY: the term used to describe a basketball player’s availability to be drafted into the NBA

April 18, 2010

This is the moment when college basketball players (and even some high school players) have an opportunity to throw their names into the hat for potential selection by NBA teams.  College stars who have played well during the past year declare themselves as eligible for the NBA draft.  If they align themselves with an agent [...]

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TIGER’S THERAPY: we’re part of it, for God’s sake!

April 11, 2010

Like many Americans, I spent part of yesterday glued to the TV watching the Master’s Tournament from Augusta.  As a result I saw one of the best hours of  TV golf  I’ve ever seen.   But I was only partially interested in the golf.  I, like many, was there to watch Tiger Woods make his return [...]

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