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Remembering Robinson in town where it started

Far off the beaten path, way down in southwest Georgia near the Florida state line, a remarkable life began in the most humble of circumstances. Jackie Robinson was born just outside the small town of Cairo (pronounced “KAY-ro”), the child of sharecroppers struggling to make ends meet in the grinding poverty of the Jim Crow South. As Major League Baseball honors the 75th anniversary of Robinson’s historic breaking of the color barrier, let’s not forget where he came from. Robinson spent the first year of his life near Cairo. For decades, there was nothing to mark that he ...

A Duke journey to remember

By Ira Kaufman For the Mirror I followed Mike Krzyzewski — Coach K — and Duke on the road to the Final Four from Greenville to San Francisco to New Orleans. Thirty years ago, as a Duke law student, I was in the Spectrum in Philly when Christian Laettner hit the game-winning shot against Kentucky, and at the Final Four in Minneapolis where Duke beat the Fab Five Michigan team for Coach K’s second title. This final run following Coach K was a nice bookend to three decades as a Blue Devil fan. The NCAA tournament is so much fun to attend in person because you are able to ...

NBA at 100? What fans can expect at anniversary party

By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press It was David Stern’s running joke. He would get asked when the NBA would be adding a European division and his answer was almost always the same. “In 10 years,” the then-commissioner of the NBA would say. Thing is, it wasn’t intended to be a joke. Stern was always looking ahead, looking for the next thing, the next innovation to keep the league moving. He oversaw expansion, pushed toward getting the league on television around the world, found ways to take revenues to record levels. It took more than 4,700 players and nearly 14 ...

What’s in a name? We’ll see with Trubisky

Don’t look now but a paper-thin NFL quarterback draft class — I defy anyone to identify one candidate not named Pickett, Willis, Corral or Howell — has several NFL teams in full-blown panic mode. General managers have used the current free agency period to play “Let’s Make A Deal,” trying to replicate the magic the Rams found last season when they swapped their former No. 1 overall pick for an 11-year veteran with exactly zero playoff wins who promptly steered them to their first Super Bowl in 22 years. The flurry of recent activity involving starting NFL quarterbacks is ...

‘I left my heart in Altoona’

It has been a while, but once again my wife and I get ready for a trip to my hometown, Altoona. The Blair County Sports Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony are being held on April 9. The committee that hosts and puts the affair together are to be congratulated on a wonderful evening. I moved from the city over 50 years ago, but I still call Altoona home. When being introduced to a stranger, I will tell them where I live, but that I was born and raised in Altoona. The weekend will be filled with old friends, family and reunions with people I have not seen in years. All ...

Today’s players need dose of humility

By Jim Caltagerone For the Mirror As a ballplayer, Joe DiMaggio was acutely aware of his elevated stature in baseball, but his words and actions never left anyone with the impression that The Yankee Clipper thought that he transcended the game or his ballclub. Even when DiMaggio was engaged in salary disputes with management, his views on the composition of the team roster and gameday strategy were never points of contention. A growing number of professional athletes, particularly in the NFL, are of the opinion that they know best how to manage personnel and/or devise a ...