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Jack Kerouac’s homebrewed tabletop baseball game
You may be familiar with Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) as the author of novels (e.g., On the Road) and poetry that established him as an iconic figure of the Beat Generation. But did you also know that he...
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Throwback Thursday: Playing baseball and discovering “dinosaur bones” on...
Baring Parkway, Hammond, Indiana (Cropped & magnified version of photo originally taken by Edwin Rivera — thanks Edwin, and blame the blurs on me!) Baring Parkway makes up two big rectangular plots...
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Derby-Pie, baseball bats, and a Gatsby-esque hotel in Louisville
Featuring Scott, Big Al, and maybe a ghost or two (photo: DY, 2014) I was reminded how travel is one of the benefits of my work when I made a quick trip to Louisville, Kentucky to speak last Friday at...
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Summer means…football pre-season magazines!
Especially after I whined about the brutal winter we experienced here in Boston, it may seem odd that the summer months fill me with anticipation for the start of fall football season. But I can’t...
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Throwback Thursday: Steve Anderson’s “Retro Football Games”
Those who want to play a game of simulated football today are likely to fire up Madden Football on their video game systems or check the status of their fantasy football teams. But before these brands...
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I’m still writing about (drum roll, please) snow
Sunday a.m., looking down my street while the wind gusts Dear readers, you’re about to be treated to another entry about the weather here in Boston. We’ve got our fourth consecutive weekly Big...
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Dreaming of spring training
Baseball season approaches! Meanwhile, if you’re wondering what the sidewalks look like in many residential areas of Boston, here’s one from my ‘hood. I snapped the photo on Sunday night, walking home...
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On being a college sports fan: A waif’s journey
From SBNation.com Although I’m a moderately serious sports fan, and I’ve been associated with a good number of colleges and universities over the years, I’ve never attended a school with a big-time...
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Throwback Thursday: Boyhood summers spent managing big league baseball teams
Box cover for RGI’s Gil Hodges’ Pennant Fever (photo: DY) Late in my grade school years, I discovered a world of baseball board games that simulated the National Pastime through sophisticated play...
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Throwback Thursday: High school football benchwarmer
I’m in this photo, the very tanned kid with black hair in the 5th row. Some forty Augusts ago, I was sweating it out on a blazing hot northwest Indiana practice field, along with 60 or so other guys...
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Fall, fantasy football, and a song or two
Thursday night kicked off the NFL season, which for several million fans also meant the beginning of fantasy football. Somehow I find myself in three fantasy leagues this fall, which means that I’ll...
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Fighting Irish schmaltz: “Rudy” and “Knute Rockne All American”
When it comes to college football fandom, I’m not naturally rooted. My undergraduate alma mater, Valparaiso University, has a terrific mid-major basketball program, but for decades its football team...
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A view from the Garden
This 1940s wartime era photo prompts a nostalgic moment for me, even if I wasn’t around back then and my soggy sentiments have nothing to do with the picture itself. This is the old Madison Square...
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My late 20th century middlebrow center of gravity
Deliciously burning tops of mouths since 1974 (photo: Stouffers.com) Sometimes I like to scroll through this blog for the fun of it, as if I’m walking down Memory Lane to revisit writings about Memory...
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Pats win! (And other notes about sports fandom in Boston)
Banner up — my school is on Boston’s championship parade route (photo: DY) Although I’ve been living in Boston since 1994, this city is not my first love when it comes to pro sports devotion. I grew up...
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Pandemic Chronicles #5: Sports-inspired nostalgia
L to R: Players Steve Kerr, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, coach Phil Jackson I know I’m hardly alone in spending more time watching television during this public health crisis. As I...
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Pandemic Chronicles #15: Let’s get through this bleak midwinter
Recent snowfall viewed thru my kitchen window, Jamaica Plain, Boston Here in the U.S., the coronavirus pandemic continues at a brutal pace, as we await larger distributions of vaccines that will help...
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