Billy Paultz Reconsidered

Jim Hersh reports that Billy Paultz, official inspiration of BPR, celebrated his 60th yesterday, June 30. Sudden thought: You’ve got to sympathize with Billy’s mom, giving birth to a Whopper.
As of 11 a.m. today, there is exactly one Billy Paultz-related item on E-bay. Of course, that’s probably one more than you or I have.
Happy birthday, […]

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I’m going to dispense with the pithy commentary and trenchant analsyis here and just point out a good story:
Rwenzururu in a mountainous region of Uganda with a population of about 300,000. Charles Wesley Mumbere is its king. This is noteworthy because Mumbere is a 58 year-old nurse’s aide living in a public housing project in […]

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One interesting thing about the Penn State investigation on “Outside the Lines,” was the contrast between what Joe said and what University president Graham Spanier said.
Confronted with the raw numbers - 46 players arrested since 2002, 27 of them found guilty of something - Paterno went into knee-jerk defensive mode, using the word “witchhunt,” several […]

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The best book I’ve read about show business (not that there’s a lot of competition) is “Cavett,” by the former late-night talk-show host Dick Cavett (duh) with his college pal, journalist Christopher Porterfield, published in 1974. I recently found the book in my attic, beyond dog-eared, after assuming it had been long, long gone.
There […]

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I wrote this last night during the Barnstormers’ game and then got occupied writing alternate ledes to that 10-9, six-error, 217-minute mess of a game. Random observations while getting ready for the Barnstormers game with Newark at the Clip…
ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” is reportedly planning a look at some of the off-field issues with Penn […]

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Everybody’s talking about Heath Ledger’s Joker, and for good reason. He’s literally scary-good. I can’t remember a movie character to which you are so hopelessly riveted every second he’s on the screen.
But it isn’t just Ledger’s Joker, it’s Joker’s movie; the filmmakers give him more cool stuff to do and 10 times as many good lines as […]

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The following is an old column that appears here only so in can be included in the blog’s archive of Sunday News columns. At least for now, you’ll be able to find that archive by clicking on “column archive,” among the list of categories on the main  page. I hope that makes sense….
When Sen. […]

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No, I didn’t stay up to the end, and yes, I’m very glad I didn’t commit to full-blown live blogging….
Couple reactions:
After Chase Utley had warm words for the fans Monday, why wasn’t be booed when introduced Tuesday? He came out right before a Red Sox (Red Sock?), Dustin Pedroia, but you can boo two consecutive […]

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The plan for tonight had been to do a full-blown live blog for the all-star game, but there’s a bit too much chaos at chez Gross (involving an ink stain; don’t ask) for that to be practical. So we’ll just watch the game and jump in from time to time.
Meanwhile, in other news:
One of the many excellent […]

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The guy’s been broadcasting college hoops since well before John Wooden quit coaching it. I don’t hate Packer, which evidently makes me a cult of one. Deadspin, in its’ understated fashion, today referred to him as ”The Archangel of Death.”
We can assume Phil Martelli and Dick Jerardi shared a long, tearful, celebratory hug. Maybe still are. And they aren’t […]

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