On the phone with Charlie Sears. We met in the late '60s, at Leroy's, then a seedy sportsbook in downtown Las Vegas. We were among the few who liked to watch the early NFL line …

Often, when national sporting events take place (Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, NBA Finals, World Series), the Box goes to the people for analysis and commentary. And if there was ever a time to have …

Once in a while the Box recommends a book for your consideration. It has to be a sports book and it has to be brilliant. At hand is such a book: The Blind Side: Evolution …

'I remember going to the drugstore on Ingraham Street in Crown Point. They used to have yo-yos displayed in boxes. You'd go up to the shelf and pick up a yo-yo. They let you try …

As of noon today, San Diego Chargers HQ is in lockdown and a dusk-to-dawn curfew remains in effect for the coaching staff and all players. The latest news bulletin quotes an anonymous source as saying …

If you had any doubts about the power of emotion or whether there is such a thing as a home-field advantage in professional football, they were taken care of Monday night. New Orleans played eight …

Two weeks ago I wrote a column about Chargers linebacker Steve Foley, who was shot near his house by an off-duty Coronado policeman. I finished the piece with, "...this story reeks of lies and omissions. …

A friend of mine insists that when we have dinner at her favorite recherché restaurant, reservations are made for 5:00 p.m. She likes to be there when doors open, she says, while cooks and waiters …

Flash! Chargers linebacker shot in front of his house by off-duty cop. I'm sure you know what this means. That's right, it's time to play "If I Were Steve Foley's Attorney." The story so far, …

Football is upon us, and the corporate sporting press floods the valley with pigskin-preview articles. The Box can do no less. Introducing Borrego Springs High School JV and varsity football coach Randy Peyakov. Borrego Springs …

Last week, while working on a column about the NFL Network and its greed war with Time Warner Cable, five hours before deadline, I was run over by a freight train of something resembling a …

What turned me was the Floyd Landis interview on...pick one, the Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS Live, CNN Live, ESPN News,or Fox News. Landis is answering questions, but he's speaking mealy-mouth lawyer instead of …

Turns out last week's screed on gambling (emphasis on legal gambling in California) was incomplete. I assure you staff will be disciplined, but in the meantime, let's shout out the good news about mule racing! …

It's Monday and per usual I'm sitting at the kitchen table perusing our nation's leading newspapers -- The National Enquirer, Star Magazine, Weekly World News, Globe -- when I experience a moment that Einstein or …

This was supposed to be a Tour de France drug-bust column. I wanted to talk to a knowledgeable San Diego bike rider about the sport and its habits. There are at least 18 bicycle clubs …

Due to media info glut I will forego World Cup references, save for one thought. World Cup games begin with 45 minutes of commercial-free soccer followed by an intermission long enough to prepare a wholesome …

Last summer I reviewed a sports documentary, Murderball, about a team of quadriplegics who play kick-ass rugby on custom-built wheelchairs. The movie is so good (later nominated for an Oscar), that the fact its main …

'Is competitive racewalking like most sports? You're done by the time you hit 35?" "It's endurance athletics," Curt Clausen says. "If you're willing to put in the time and put in the training, you can …

On June 6 -- that's 6-6-06, for Satanists keeping score -- federal agents raided the Scottsdale home of Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Jason Grimsley. This visit was a follow-up to an April 19 drop-in conducted by …

Last week I had lunch (lunch being a burger and a beer) with a woman I've known since the 1970s. She's a civil attorney now, seven years divorced, and is thinking about rejoining the hunt …

The May 4 issue of the Reader carried a reprint of a story, "How They Ended Up In Jacumba," that I wrote in 1990. Some readers thought the story was contemporaneous, written this year, describing …

Can you bring to mind the best story you've ever heard? On demand? Here's mine? David was a curiosity. First, his appearance, which begins, and it will stop you, with thick spectacles, the thickest glasses …

A year ago I wrote a column welcoming the Golden Baseball League (GBL) into the pitiless predatory jungle of sports capitalism. The GBL, an independent Class A baseball league headquartered in Pleasanton, California, opened for …

I was going to begin by observing that most books about sports are dreck, but after turning the thought over, I'll modify that statement to, most books about anything are dreck. Still, there is dreck …

Yes, I understand that $500 million is a lot of money to steal in seven months. Or is it expropriate? Or legislate? Perambulate? Something like that. No matter, $500 million is the going rate for …

How does the team look this year?" "We have no idea how our team is going to look," says Brian Beban, 35, assistant general manager of the Eugene (Oregon) Emeralds. The Ems are a Single-A …

I used to travel half the year. Many trips were to oddball places, so I flew on oddball airlines. As a consequence, although I have pro-league air miles on my scorecard, the total is diluted …

Yes, it's time to catch up with our favorite sports heroes from yesterday. Go ahead, kick back on the big, brown living room sofa and while you're there, why not enjoy a glass of your …

The NCAA tournament ends Monday. I've perused my sports calendar, and other than the first annual West Coast Beach Boomerang Tournament, set for April 8 at Playa Del Rey (on the beach side of LAX), …

The usual schools remain standing as the NCAA men's basketball tournament rolls through its second week. We have Connecticut, Villanova, Florida, Georgetown, Duke, UCLA, blah, blah, blah, and Bradley. Bradley. What is Bradley? Turns out, …

On the phone with Randy Grossman, San Diego criminal defense attorney, Major League Baseball agent, former KNSD 7/39 TV sports reporter, and member of the adjunct faculty (teaching sports law) at Thomas Jefferson School of …

The 2006 United States Chess Championship is being played through Sunday at the McMillin Event Center, 2875 Dewey Road, San Diego. A field of 64 is on hand. The youngest entrant and last to qualify …

When it comes to prime-time television, I've cultivated a lifetime of ignorance. I stopped watching TV in high school, didn't own a set for 25 years after that, then, purchased a big one, and it's …

It might be interesting, but not for the reason they think. I'm talking about the World Baseball Classic, an oddball tournament set to begin during MLB's spring training, to the disgust of Major League executives, …

I lean into the telephone and say, "I'm curious about this Katharine Armstrong. She called the Corpus Christi paper and told them Cheney shot a hunting companion and that's how the story got out." "That's …

Redondo Beach sits on the outer rim of convenient. Drive 121 miles, 100 minutes up the I-5/I-405, turn left at Carson, and carry on to the Pacific Ocean. For the geographically impaired, Redondo Beach is …

This started out as an "Up with Detroit" column meant as counterpoint to last week's "Guttersnipe Columnist Slanders Great American City" work product. The idea was to telephone random Detroit bars and ask patrons, bartenders, …

The temperature in Detroit is 24 degrees as I write this. Counting Super Bowl XL, Detroit has hosted two Super Bowls vs. zero for Buffalo, Boston, Seattle, Indianapolis, Chicago, Green Bay, Denver, New York, Kansas …

'We do programming on software that creates sea surface temperature charts. Twice a day." Speaking is Jeff Gammon, founder/owner/worker bee of Vista-based Terrafin Software. What Gammon does, for 99 bucks a year per customer, is …

Two years ago I wrote a column about taking up the practice of Tai Chi Chuan, said I'd report back after a year. Last year. I checked in, promised an update in 12 months' time. …

Cleaning house this morning. New Year's day blew by and the work-year grind begins. Found these items in a paper pile as I was mucking out my file cabinet. Follows are columns I wanted to …

'In the beginning, I was just a mom." Speaking is Candace Conradi, Poway resident, former law-firm administrator, wife, mother, and author of Diamond Moms: A Mother's Guide to Raising a Baseball Player. Conradi is talking …

'How did you come to fly-fishing?" Anne-Marie Bakker, fortysomething, flicks a cast into the pool and says, "There was an old boyfriend who..." I laugh, "Old boyfriends come in handy sometimes." Bakker is president of …

My Dear Mr. Secretary, First, I want you to know that I'm on your side in this. When you said, on the 30th instant, during a nationally broadcast press conference, that Iraq was high-stepping along …

I read a story in the paper recently that said Dennis Rodman, a creature from the last century, had signed with the Tijuana Dragons of the American Basketball Association. The ABA is a minor, minor …

Fresno, California, is a Class B drive-through town. Class A drive-through towns are located on an interstate highway. Think Gallup, New Mexico. Gallup, and all other cities in the Class A category, offer the innocent …

You've probably read or heard the story. Seabourn Spirit, a German-built, Bahamas-registered, Miami-based, Norwegian-crewed cruise ship of 10,000 tons and six decks, carrying 208 passengers and 160 crew, was attacked by pirates 100 miles off …

Let's see, the University of Toledo football team was on ESPN2. Don't remember their opponent, being busy with newspaper, swilling coffee, and mindlessly rubbing bare foot against warm dachshund belly. I looked up and saw …

I know some of you were in the Sports Arena for Sunday's Lakers/Bobcats exhibition game just to check out the pre-mandatory NBA dress code. Indeed, fans everywhere are wringing their hands and crying, "What will …

This is a heady time for women's golf. Two teenage challengers are coming into the game while the undisputed best female golfer on the planet is still running strong. It's as if Tiger Woods and …