Few positions in sports carry with them as much inherent pressure as being the closer on a Major League baseball team. Whenever the closer takes the mound, they know that the game is in their hands. They are protecting a small lead, and the final outcome is far from settled. That is why the ability…
Read More »It’s the fourth quarter. The game is tied. You are out of timeouts. It’s fourth and goal on your opponent’s 12-yard line. This is the time when you have to perform. The game is on the line and this one play will likely determine the outcome of the game. For some quarterbacks, this is the…
Read More »This past Friday, Liverpool Football Club, part of the English Premier League, introduced Brendan Rodgers as the replacement for Kenny Dalglish, who had recently been sacked as manager of the club. Dalglish is a hero at LFC, and it is not going to be easy for the 39-year-old Rodgers to replace a man who is…
Read More »Sometimes, as an athlete, you are thrust into a trying moment of challenge that comes at you unexpectedly—and you are expected to perform at a high level anyway. Such was the case this past Saturday for Liverpool goalkeeper Brad Jones. Jones, an Australian international, was the third-string keeper for the Reds one month ago, but…
Read More »The Dallas Cowboys entered their Saturday night contest against the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay under pressure. Having lost recent games on missed field goals and fourth-quarter collapses, their goal of making the playoffs was in real trouble—meaning that, in a sense, their playoffs were starting against the Bucs. They simply could not afford another loss…
Read More »With the English Premier League season having begun just two weeks ago, the NFL and college football seasons yet to begin, and Major League Baseball postseason still over a month away, it seems an odd time to talk about playoffs—but that is exactly where the PGA Tour now finds itself. This past weekend, with The…
Read More »This past weekend, I was at a baseball game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City between the Royals and their cross-state rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. It was a really entertaining game played on a beautiful, sunny day—and it is always fun to be at the ballpark. But what really got my attention was a…
Read More »When Gary Williams retired as head coach of the University of Maryland basketball program, he left behind a tremendous legacy. Most notable was the 2002 national championship he had won, but he also ended with a career total of 668 wins—461 of them in the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of college basketball’s premier leagues. He…
Read More »This past Saturday night, while much of the sporting nation was watching the NCAA basketball tournament, I was watching soccer. In the international friendly (i. e., exhibition match) between the United States and Argentina, I watched some of the most interesting and exciting soccer anyone could ever hope to see. The result was a 1-1…
Read More »There are some coaching jobs that are just not great jobs. Perhaps, in the pros, it is because ownership is intrusive or, worse, incompetent. Or, it is because it is a small-market and resources are limited. Or, it is because it is a once-storied franchise that has long ago lost its luster, and the hue…
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