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Joe Torre finishes huddling with reporters in the dugout shortly before the first pitch of a spring training game. One writer lingers to ask a quick question.
The Los Angeles Dodgers manager prefers not to offer quick answers regarding Mariano Rivera, the celebrated Yankees reliever who helped Torre collect four World Series rings in the first five years of his tenure on the New York bench… Continue reading
Nothing makes you more legit in Major League Baseball than winning a World Series. When the San Francisco Giants swept the Detroit Tigers to win the 2012 series, they capped the fourth game with a thrilling extra innings victory. Two seasons prior, the Giants clinched their first World Series title since 1954 by defeating the Texas Rangers.
Reliever Jeremy Affeldt was part of the reason San Francisco’s bullpen had an outstanding performance… Continue reading
Reading the children’s classic The Little Engine That Could might be the easiest way to understand what Avery Johnson has gone through to make it in the NBA.
Like the little blue engine from Watty Piper’s story, Johnson is an inspiration. Like the little blue engine, Johnson is much smaller than his counterparts. Like the little blue engine, Johnson has had to persevere. And like the little blue engine, Johnson’s goal is to climb a mountain.
I think I can – I think I can – I think I can – I think I can.
Click here to read the rest of our story on Avery Johnson from our November 1993 issue… Continue reading
Leading up to this story, I have enjoyed watching the perplexed look on people’s faces after sharing my latest subject matter with them. Most recently, I nonchalantly told my doctor, while he was busy writing down notes, that I was writing a story about a blind surfer. He continued writing for a few seconds before dropping his pen, looking up quizzically, and asked, “Wait. What? He surfs blind? How is that even possible?” Ah, yes. The question that everyone who hears about Derek Rabelo eventually ends up asking. Consider how difficult a feat this is. The playing field for a surfer is constantly changing as it shifts along the different bottom contours of the ocean. Three-time World Champion Tom Curren mused about what it must be like. He says he could possibly imagine a blind person surfing who had surfed before losing his or her sight. “But,” he admitted, “to Read More
Look past the call-girl cards that litter the street like confetti at Times Square on New Years, or the erotic billboards on the sides of trucks going down the neon-lit Strip, and you’ll see Las Vegas in its grace.
You’ll see the fountains in front of the Bellagio dancing beneath the dry, Nevada sky, or the city calling your name as you look at it atop the Stratosphere, wooing you from below into an evening that never ends, where the casinos make promises and the liquor makes you believe them… Continue reading
Watching Frankie “The Freight Train” Filippone fighting in the ring or protecting the streets of Virginia Beach can be an intimidating sight. Those who know the real Frank Filippone Jr., know that under his tough exterior is a heart of gold. He never misses a chance to use both his boxing and his badge for all the good he can. The 33-year-old Chesapeake, Va., resident has been a police officer for 10 years and boxing professionally for five. He lives his life by two constants. “My motto as a boxer is ‘keep punching,’” he says. “No matter what, I keep fighting. And my motto as a police officer is ‘Try to save a life before you take a life.’” Filippone is all about saving lives. He wants to make a difference in the lives of the teenagers who find themselves in the back of his police car. He wants to Read More
Imagine having a job in which you get paid only if you do better than most of your fellow workers. And some weeks when you show up for work, your superiors make you try out just to see if you can even work that week. That’s something like the high-pressure world of the professional golfers tour, where nothing is given to you free and the rewards are there only for those who can persevere. Kyle Rote Jr. Talks with PGA golfer Larry Mize to find out how he survives on tour…
Mize won the Masters in 1987, when he chipped in from off the green at the 11th hole at Augusta in a playoff to win his only major title. Click here to read Sports Spectrum’s interview with Mize from its January-February 1991 issue. Continue reading
I was trying to sing “Jesus the Nazarene” but instead stood amazed in the presence of my own stupidity.
We were at White’s Ferry Road Church of Christ in West Monroe, La., attending church with the Robertson family, the clan of redneck millionaires featured on the hit-program Duck Dynasty on A&E—and that’s when it hit me… Continue reading
The scene would have been familiar to basketball fans of the University of Louisville: Peyton Siva going end-to-end to dunk a game-winner over a 7-footer as time expired. It didn’t matter that the game was the last of a series of exhibitions on a Far East mission trip against a Russian team. It was time for someone to step up and take responsibility for the game’s outcome… Continue reading
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