Tag Archives: basketball

Set Goals, Keep Score…One Free Throw at a Time (x 100,000)

“Set goals, keep score, break records. Anything else is just exercise.” Fifteen years ago, I met a man named George E. Hood who not only introduced me to those words but embodied them from head to toe. We met shortly after Five Seasons Family Sports Club retained Inside Edge PR + Media to provide public relations […]

In the wake of Kobe Bryant’s death, basketball game is refuge

Kobe Bryant’s shocking death yesterday hit me on an unexpected level. When my son broke the news to me, my heart sank. Horrible, sad, tragic…what are the words? There are no words; there are too many words. It was a moment that smacked me up-side my entire being, soul and body. I realize I am […]

Melissa Isaacson’s ‘State’: A Coming-of-Gender Treasure That Resonates on Many Levels

One of life’s recurring pleasures is coming upon a book I wasn’t looking for—then being powerless to look away. Three weeks ago, with a few minutes to spare before heading to a nearby meeting, that scene played out at a local library. There, prominently displayed along with other new releases, was a book whose cover […]

Damian Lillard’s epic buzzer-beater: off-the-charts talent vs. out-of-your-mind bad judgment

In my 40-plus years as a basketball player, coach, referee and all-around zealot, I have found that there’s no reliable metric when off-the-charts talent meets out-of-your-mind poor judgment. A standout player can make what appears to be the worst decision, and somehow make it right. This is especially true when that out-sized talent is rivaled […]

Reminiscing About Red Auerbach & Roundball

Now in my fifth year of coaching boys’ and girls’ park district basketball, I came across this video online of the late and legendary Boston Celtics coach (and GM) Red Auerbach. The clip, featuring Larry Bird shooting over teammate Dennis Johnson and rival Ralph Sampson, brought back memories of August 1985 (around the time this video […]

Free Throw Shooting (And Tracking) Zeal Garners Local Media Coverage

As circumstances have played out, this post represents the second consecutive basketball-related piece. Fortunately, this one has a much happier, benign thrust than the prior story about my long-ago interactions with, and writing about, the late, could-have-been-so-great Len Bias. Just a brief mention here of my ambidextrous free throw-shooting zeal, as chronicled by fellow Oak […]

LeBron: A look back at a legend-in-the-making

Between 2000 and 2004, I worked on about 85 assignments as a freelance reporter for Time. Easily, one of my favorites was reporting on LeBron James during his senior year at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio. To see some of my first reporting on LeBron, while he was in high school, see […]