Sports Commentary

Last summer I said, “I’d rather hike in a refrigerator than an oven.” Then I focused on higher elevation summits. This year, now that summer has arrived (sort of), I will do what all desert rats do, hike smarter not hotter.

We have reached a new nadir in the era of political correctness. A number of NBA players insist that team owners no longer refer to themselves as “owners” because the word is racially insensitive and offends them.

Coco Gauff the fifteen year old tennis phenom, going into the 2nd week at Wimbledon, the fourth round to be exact, had the run most players only dream of.

Two stadiums in two countries, playing half a season in one and half in the other. Sound strange? Improbable? Impossible?

With money tight, my choice of activities to do with my son came down to choosing either the batting cage or the trailhead. We were on our way to a birthday dinner but had a few minutes to enjoy a little time outdoors.

“There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time, I owe him my best.” Joe DiMaggio.

Being a student of the game of tennis, I’ve read about practically every tennis player in the history books since the humble beginnings of modern tennis started in 1874.

Any time officials are the main topic of conversation after an athletic event, it’s not a good look for the sport. Unfortunately, that was the case throughout the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Tennis is an athletic game taught and made up of many repeated sayings. Repeated because the same mistakes are frequently made and it seems saying it just once or twice to a student makes little headway.

As I have aged and continue to hike solo, I have become a little anxious about crossing paths with a bear somewhere off the beaten path. My concerns may be unfounded but I feel like I am due.

Major League Baseball instituted a reverse-order draft in 1965, severely limiting the negotiating leverage of amateur players. That may soon change.

Tennis in Prescott would be stagnant if it weren’t for the likes of a few very important volunteers working with and some for the Prescott Area Tennis Association and some on their own.

Watching the NCAA Golf Championships (Men & Women) as well as the PGA and LPGA Tours’ events, it is mind-boggling how slow the governing entities allow their players to play golf.

Major League Baseball’s total revenue has been steadily rising since the strike year of 1994 and until three years ago, the same was true of the league’s attendance. That may no longer be the case.

Here and there some of the rules of tennis and other oddities that infrequently come up when you’re on the court may throw you for a loop. Would you know what to do?

What’s your story? We all have one, actually many. This summer is the perfect time to share your story at your favorite library because the theme for the State’s summer reading program is a Universe of Stories.

Larry Nassar, the former doctor for Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics, is rotting in prison for sexually abusing over 300 girls and women during a 30-year period.

With the new technology within our grasp building or rebuilding a recreational facility can be done in a manner that makes so much more sense in regard to: longevity, safety, long term costs with less strain in upkeep, building costs, being user friendly, security and future add ons and/or change of use situations.

Playing golf with your spouse can be fulfilling. The dream is to do something together with your spouse that enhances your relationship.

What will the game of tennis be like in 20 years? I saw this question posed lately and it’s interesting how the evolution of a sport that is popular or becomes such unfolds.

Progressively increasing pain in your legs is one thing but on a four-day solo backpacking trip through West Clear Creek, any little pain can assume a high degree of significance. This 40 mile cross-country trek in central Arizona involves floating a dozen ponds, negotiating cliffs and bushwhacking.

Mention college sports and people think of scholarships, intense recruiting, and professional opportunities. That’s certainly the norm for sports like football and basketball.

Many people remember Arthur Ashe, the first African American to win a Grand Slam tournament; you might remember Jackie Robinson, the first black to play Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, but how many tennis players even know the name of Althea Gibson, a woman of color who had so many firsts that it’s tough to even keep track?

The way we make sense (or non-sense) of incoming data is through our senses. Those five senses are: Visual (seeing); Auditory (hearing); Kinesthetic (tactile touch); Smell and Taste. In the realm of golf, the first three are of concern.

Every world class athlete has certain biological and physical advantages that sets them apart from “normal folks.” As examples, most basketball players are taller than average and most baseball pitchers have large hands.