Sports Commentary | The Daily Courier

Johnson: New Mexico’s high point is Wheeler Peak

Hiking Arizona

This is my favorite alpine hike. First, it is an excellent training hike for more serious alpine treks such as Mt. Whitney. ...

Kobritz: Legal sports betting may add billions to Major League teams

Beyond the Lines

Mark Cuban recently said: “I think everyone who owns a top four professional sports team just basically saw the value of their team double.”

Howard: Serena, Serena, Serena … bad behavior is bad behavior

My Point

There’s no real reason to go over what happened at the U.S. Open singles final except the fact that everyone seems to have a different take on it. Tennis, like most sports can be very emotional - and even more so because it’s just one person playing another, it falls completely on your own shoulders - you against them.

Gunby: How to pick out the best golf equipment for your game

Tee It Up

I think we all can agree that we play golf because it is a challenge and a never-ending quest for some common goals. Some of the common goals that I hear a lot from students is that they want to be consistent, hit the ball farther, improve their accuracy, and have fun.

Kobritz: Can we rid sports of performance enhancing drugs?

Beyond the Lines

On Sept. 3, 2003, federal agents raided BALCO, the San Francisco Bay Area Laboratory that provided performance enhancing drugs to several athletes.

Howard: Events make tennis much more fun

My Point

It was a crazy women’s final at the U.S. Open, and opinions of what took place are being bounced around like ping pong balls. But under the guise of this column, it’s still the fun events that make the game of tennis what it has become today.

Johnson: Hiking Colorado’s Cross Mountain

Hiking Arizona

I feel a change in the weather coming, signaling the end of summer. However, autumn is still many weeks away, especially across the Southwest.

Kobritz: A novel proposal to save baseball

Beyond the Lines

A pair of academics have proposed a radical change to save baseball which is guaranteed to make traditionalists apoplectic.

Howard: Don’t mess with my tutu, or my cat suit

My Point

It’s the day and age of almost anything goes in the world of tennis attire as well as where you change your clothes during a tennis match.

Atherton: Local pickleball players gather to play Silver Fox tourney in Prescott

Paddle Up

The Silver Fox and Foxie tournament was held at Willow Hills Baptist church in Prescott on Aug. 25 and sponsored by the Willow Hills Pickleball Club, a ministry of the Church. The players were required to be 80-plus years old to play and the motto was, “You gotta be old enough to play to the game.”

Gunby: More putting, part 3: Firing on faster greens

Tee It Up

This is the third of a series to assist you with putting. We will discuss different types of strokes and how to get the most out of your practice putting sessions.

Kobritz: Assault on the diamond, pitchers who throw at batters are ‘cowards’

Beyond the Lines

Headhunting in baseball is a euphemism to describe the actions of a pitcher who intentionally throws at a batter’s head. In any other setting we would simply describe the practice as assault.

Howard: Andre Agassi more than a great tennis player

My Point

Many moons ago when the Scottsdale Princess Resort held both a men’s and women’s professional tournament I had the pleasure of taking busloads of local tennis players down to watch some of the matches and at the same time interview the professionals playing matches there.

Johnson: Making our way through Wheeler Peak

Hiking Arizona

I thought, “Nobody likes a quitter,” when Mark told me he was quitting. I yelled into his face, “You can do this,” knowing we only had a quarter of a mile to go to reach the summit. Sure the winds were howling and visibility was zero, but when the goin’ gets tough, the tough get going’, right? Mark was ill-equipped for the hike.

Kobritz: Athletes and social media, a toxic brew

Beyond the Lines

What do Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers, Trea Turner of the Washington Nationals, Sean Newcomb of the Atlanta Braves, and Sonny Gray of the Yankees have in common?

Gunby: Putting is a mental art

Tee It Up

Putting is not a physical science, it is a mental art. Everybody tries to get too technical when it comes to putting. They put way too much emphasis on the mechanics.

Kobritz: Brian France should do the right thing for NASCAR

Beyond the Lines

Brian France, CEO of NASCAR, announced he was taking an “indefinite” leave of absence to address his “problems” after he was arrested last weekend in Sag Harbor, New York, for aggravated DWI. He would be doing all of NASCAR Nation a great service if he made his leave permanent.

Howard: ‘Red Oaks,’ a TV miniseries and trip down memory lane

My Point

My wife said to me, “Chris — you need to come watch a little of this.”

Johnson: Exploring Weatherford Loop, be prepared

Hiking Arizona

Hiking beyond timberline involves a greater probability of exposure to high winds, heavy rain, lightning and snow any time.

Kobritz: Urban Meyer saga won’t end well, for someone

Beyond the Lines

Winning in college sports is highly valued, no more so than in football. That’s why elite coaches, who are integral to the success of a program, are paid such astronomical salaries.

Howard: Tennis inventions and how we got here

My Point

The most basic parts of playing the game of tennis are taken for granted, things like a racquet, the ball, strings, rules and such.

Atherton: Is it pickleball or banger ball?

Paddle Up

I get a strange not all that familiar look when I refer to pickleball as banger ball sometimes.

Gunby: Putting, the great equalizer in golf

Tee It Up

A putt, even from two inches, counts the same as a booming 300-yard drive. The easiest area of our game (and score) to improve upon is putting.

Kobritz: The mental game of baseball

Beyond the Lines

Yogi Berra once said, “Ninety percent of the game is half mental.” Berra, one of the most quotable baseball players of all time, was credited with innumerable sayings, some of which he never said.

Howard: Playing sports throughout the aging process

My Point

Most of us have loved playing sports of some kind throughout our lives, and God knows we want to continue doing what we love and probably have gotten pretty good at.