Billy Paultz Reconsidered

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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Here’s my column in the May 11 Sunday News, sort of relevant here because it’s about “new media,” blogs and etc. I should probably do more of this kind of thing. In fact, I will. Promise….
Old, new media can coexist
Question: I’m a fiftyish white male sportswriter, so how come I’m not as angry […]

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Driving in to work today I heard one of the Mikes say if he was a Spurs fan, he’d feel pretty good about last night all things considered.
Have to disagree. Strongly.
The Spurs got a huge game (30 and 18) from Tim Duncan. Kobe did one of his covert, see-I-don’t-have-to-shoot-all-the-time numbers for a half. The […]

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I have never seen what others seem to in Don Nelson, the longtime NBA coach regarded by many basketball people as an eccentric near-genius. When Nelson took over the Golden State Warriors last season  and oversaw a modest turnaround and then an impressive defeat of Dallas in the first round of the playoffs, I thought […]

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Since I first-guessed Charlie Manuel the other day about something no one else seemed to notice, I wanted to defend him from some particularly stupid grief he got recently.
This is from the Adam Eaton game with the Reds Saturday. Eaton enters the eighth inning with a 3-2 lead, his pitch count in the 70s. He […]

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The headline to this post refers to an amazing 1955 Sports Illustrated piece about the Kentucky Derby by some Faulkner dude who could write a little.
It also refers to the fact that unlike most of America, I have worked Saturdays for my entire adult life. This not only doesn’t bother me, it’s an enormous relief. […]

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Exactly what I expected- a pleasant feature that didn’t do James’ work justice. I liked Theo Epstein’s comment that James’ value to the Red Sox is more often the questions he asks than the answers, because it suggests the important truth that Sabermetrics isn’t about slide rules and formulas but simply about thinking.
I didn’t like Terry Francona’s, […]

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I’m sitting on my bed with the computer in my lap. Son number one is web-surfing in his room. Son number two is doing the Jimi Hendrix thing in his. Mom is downstairs watching whatever on the HDTV with Tivo, and using her laptop….
It’s a full life, but a very electronic one.
It’s been a light […]

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One staple of this blog in its original conception was supposed to have been to sit down late in the evening weekdays, with the family in bed, and sort of purge. For a variety of reasons (i.e. my disorganization and sloth) that hasn’t happened much. Tonight the domestic planets are aligned….
I’m doing a column for the […]

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