Benedict Canyon was unusually quiet on the night of August 8, 1969. The sounds of Sunset Boulevard traffic barely emanated through the hills. Despite the haze, the lights of downtown Los Angeles seemed brighter than ever. A hot day had given way to a balmy 72-degree night. By 11:30, the…

A Curious Process Induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame has been a matter of controversy since its inception in 1936. Some of the greatest of all time have not received unanimous votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). The mindset or motivation of the writers is a perpetual mystery…

Going for Broke On August 24, 1989, Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose was declared permanently ineligible from Major League Baseball (MLB) after an investigation determined he bet on games. The ban shocked the sports world. …

On the cold, foggy morning of December 17, 1944, a convoy of U.S. artillerymen approached the village of Schonberg, Belgium. They were trying to escape from a German attack which had caught them by surprise the day before. As they reached a smal stone bridge across the Our River, the…

Since 1876, over 20,000 men have played Major League Baseball. Only 33 have 3,000 hits or more, less than 1%. Yet there are many who would dismiss this statistic as meaningless. Some call it a stat of longevity, while others argue about the true value of the players’ output. If…

Make It Rain On April 2, 2014, the Supreme Court issued its ruling in the landmark campaign finance case, Shaun McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, 572 U.S. 185 (2014). The decision removed the aggregate limits on donations to federal candidates, parties and political action committees (PACs) during an election cycle (two-year period). Citizens…

Career Interrupted Russell Wilson has been one of the most successful NFL quarterbacks of the past decade. Entering the league in 2012 and winning the starting job as a rookie, he took Seattle by storm. He’s won more than 60% of his games, throwing for more than 40,000 yards with a completion…

On December 16, 1944, the Germans launched what became known as the Battle of the Bulge. Three armies poured through the thinly defended Ardennes Forest of eastern Belgium and Luxembourg. The surprise attack trapped thousands of American troops within 48 hours. Many of those were from the 106th Infantry Division…

Going Rogue In May 1944, the Allied armies in Italy were poised for a great victory. They were just 30 miles south of Rome. But the eternal city was not the real goal. It was the destruction of the battered German Army in Italy. After weeks of planning, a carefully coordinated attack…