Sports Commentary

Heading into the last weekend of the 2019 regular season, the 30 MLB teams had hit a record 6,647 home runs, 542 more than the previous high mark. Given those figures, the average fan might think hitting a baseball is a fairly easy task.

It’s tough to do a “perfect” study of what the economic impact of having nice public sporting facilities built, programmed and staffed in a city such as Prescott.

Title IX, which was enacted by Congress in 1972, prohibits sex discrimination in education. While the statute’s specific intent was to provide equal opportunities in STEM education, courts expanded the definition of education to include sports.

The third annual “Laver Cup” just concluded this past Sunday in Geneva, Switzerland, with Team Europe taking yet another but closer match title – their third in its three-year history.

When my son failed to come around the corner within a few minutes, I retraced my steps back toward the trailhead but he was nowhere to be found.

Instead of acting like “adults,” some grownups set a poor example for young people when it comes to exhibiting common sense and doing the right thing.

I have seen many boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses, friends and parents doing their best, with great intentions, to teach those they care about how to play golf.

One prescription for a longer life may be to play Major League Baseball. That was the conclusion of a recent study by Harvard researchers, published in the peer reviewed medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Originally I was quoted as saying I wanted the Top 3 ranked men in the world of tennis to lose early at the U.S. Open, well ... one made it through, Rafa Nadal who defeated Daniil Medvedev in a five-set thriller 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4 for his 19th Grand Slam singles title.

The Sheriff Deputy tried to comfort me, informing me he was trained in search and rescue with the Forest Service. Little comfort, though.

While in Cincinnati, I spent some time talking with Laura Marttinen who was working the booth for a company called “Grand Slam Tennis Tours” that has its main office out of a restored barn in Stowe, Vermont.

Most sports fans are fickle by nature. We cheer for our favorite players and teams when they win and boo them when they lose. But the behavior of some Indianapolis Colts fans when quarterback Andrew Luck announced his retirement was both deplorable and unacceptable.

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.

There’s nothing like sitting down at almost court level to get the full impact of how the top tennis professionals are really hitting the ball during a tournament.

My sister-in-law refers to hiking staffs as “magic sticks.” Such creative terms can be misleading, especially if we expect these “sticks” to magically support our weight.

At the Yankees’ home opener in 1973, newly minted owner George Steinbrenner didn’t know his players’ names. But as he watched his players remove their caps for the national anthem, Steinbrenner wrote down a series of numbers on the back of an envelope.

Being from Ohio there’s some extra enjoyment in covering the final Masters/Premier 5 men’s and women’s tournament prior to the U.S. Open - the Western & Southern at the Lindner Tennis Center across the road from Kings Island in Mason, Ohio.

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.

When is a “forever” contract not forever? We are about to find out, thanks to a lawsuit involving one of the most popular and recognizable sports mascots of all time.

It was an unusual couple final matches at the Canadian Open, first in Toronto where 19-year-old Canadian Bianca Andreescu won the title from Serena Williams after a 3-1 lead in the first set and Williams retiring from the match. The problem was a muscle spasming upper back that started in Serena’s previous semi-final match.

Let’s break this down, word by word. Pine, coniferous trees. But this is merely the tip of the iceberg. Hiking here since the ‘70s, I consistently come across the most interesting plants, like duckweed. Quite unexpected, even weird. That leads me to the next word.

The biggest mystery of the baseball season may soon be resolved.

Many people don’t realize that the Canadian Open is the third longest running tournament in the world. It began in 1881, not long after the very first U.S. Championships were held in Newport, Rhode Island, that same year.

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.

MLB ballparks are about to become safer for fans.