Hockey will remain a joke of a major sport until the NHL ends the traditional in-game fighting among players. I’ve long believed this and argue with many about it. What inspired me to write this article is what happened on June 8 in New York. Tampa Bay took Game 5…

The passing of NHL Hall of Famer Mike Bossy had me digging through files looking for that article I wrote for Goal in 1981. There it is, Xeroxed in black in white with the headline: PORTRAIT OF A GOAL-SCORING MACHINE. Bossy was 24 years old when I interviewed him. …

I’m just a writer, not a comedian. I can’t imagine going on stage and telling jokes and stories. It’s so personal; you’re like an open book. But that’s what many funny people choose to do. Joke-telling dates back to 1900 BC. …

The death of Yankee great Ralph Terry flashes me back to 1962, the Yanks vs. the Giants in the seventh game of the World Series. Terry’s on the mound with the Yanks leading 1–0 in the ninth inning, runners on second and third. Willie Mays has just sliced a double…

Knicks forward Julius Randle has been out of control all season. In this long-suffering fan’s opinion, Randle’s ejection late in the third quarter of the Knicks-Suns game on March 4 in Phoenix with the Knicks leading the NBA’s best team by 10 is the final straw. Of course, they…

My mother’s father Benjamin Popkin was from Lida, Belarus when it was part of Russia. He and his four siblings emigrated to the U.S. just after 1900. Ben settled in New York where he met and married Dorothy Thal from Riga, Latvia in 1915. I never met my maternal grandfather…

I grew up sneaking peeks of Playboy like millions of Baby Boomers. My uncle had a stash in his basement. Whenever we visited, my cousins and I would go to the basement for a little peep session. But Playboy was more than about revealing breasts and curves. It was about…

One of my books, Watch Out for the Little Guys (St. Martins Press, 1989). features NBA Hall of Famer, John Stockton. Stockton’s in the news because he refuses to wear a mask when he attends Gonzaga basketball games at McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, WA. He’s an alumni. The school…

Not much is known about the death of Ian Alexander Jr. — actress Regina King’s son — other than it was a suicide. That information was released to CNN and other outlets on Jan. 21. “He is such a bright light who cared so deeply about the happiness of others,”…