Sports
'I didn't know baseball started so early on the West Coast. You have a reference to it being played in California during the late 1850s." I'm talking to Bill Swank, 64, about his latest book, …
Does it seem to you, that at some obscure hour, sometime during the past five years, the NBA season went year-round? We were never told, no one reported it, but now the merciless truth lies …
Golden Baseball League (GBL) is a new, independent, eight-team, class-A baseball league with a franchise in San Diego. The league reminds me of what a friend said when talking about her favorite restaurant. "I like …
Haruko Crawford says, "I started taking ikebana lessons when I was 13 years old. I'm 80 now." I lean back into my chair, close my eyes, and wonder how I got here, on the telephone …
Brian Aguon, an Oregon fishing guide, is describing the benefits of spey casting. "First, you don't need to have a lot of room behind you to throw an 85-foot cast. Secondarily, it's easier for the …
Doodling along the Internet and come across, "Bobileff Motorcar Company is internationally known for their expertise in fine automobiles and their ability to restore cars to the highest state of perfection." Then I espy the …
'Don't think they'd let you do that anymore." I take a moment and silently replay what I've just said, add, "I think they'd track you down and arrest your ass." The foregoing is spoken halfway …
It sounds so Baseball, the sneak-sneak, slip-one-past-the-stupid-public-while-they're-looking-the-other-way latest steroid deception. I'm talking about the bust of not-a-household-name and Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Alex Sanchez. Sanchez got to go first; got to be the first …
"Everybody I know, once in their life, has gone out to watch grunion run, but I don't recall anyone actually seeing grunion. What, exactly, is your connection to the beast?" I'm on the phone with …
Yes, news consumers have moved on. The televised congressional hearing produced 48 hours of press/video roar; it was a crossover story, headlined on the front page and sports page, but then it was back to …
Head out the door, find a freeway, and drive to Lindbergh Field. Get on a plane and fly to Des Moines, Iowa. Rent a car, motor north on I-35, turn right on Highway 20, turn …
I bounce over to www.iditarod.com, click on "Race Updates," watch the page load, let loose a sincere but muted, "This is good," pick up the phone, and dial a number in Fairbanks. The receiver clicks, …
In the spring of 1903, Wyatt Earp was working as a special assistant to the Los Angeles Police Department and the Chicago Cubs were in town for spring training. The Cubs finished third in the …
There are senior tours for golf, tennis, billiards, and bowling -- sports that are normally not identified with broken clavicles, necks, and spines. In other words, sports that have nothing to do with rodeos. On …
Carlisle Pryce is a naturalist. Old school. He reserves for himself one day every week and hikes seven, eight, nine miles. He paints and takes photographs. He knows the names and characteristics of all the …
It's been 12 months since I wrote a column about taking up Tai Chi Ch'aun. I promised to report back after a year. The teacher, Sifu Yee Yuen, is somewhere between 75 and 100. He's …