Breaking News

Voice of the Fan

Officials flee youth sports over reports of increasing abuse

By Paul Newberry The Associated Press ATLANTA — When one looks at the ugly bruise encircling Kristi Moore’s left eye, it’s not surprising so many refs and umps are hanging up their stripes. Why put up with incessant taunts and threats from out-of-control parents? Why fret over potential violence — even the chance of losing your life — because someone thinks you blew a call at a 12-year-olds’ softball game? America is facing a crisis in prep and youth sports, where fewer and fewer people are willing to take on the thankless job of officiating games. “The veterans ...

Mailbag: Augusta can’t match St. Andrews

Masters Week just passed, and with it came many memories of victorious thrills and agonizing defeats. No doubt this golf major and its timing in early spring, when many of us are just finding our “golf legs” on the area’s courses, make it special. Rory McIlroy was trying to compare Augusta National to St. Andrews. Both can be considered hallowed grounds to any golfers who have followed the sport. But there is a vast difference in the two places, and that is simply 99.9% of golfers will never get to play Augusta National due its exclusivity. Many have reveled in ...

Meet the PGA’s new sheriff, Scottie Scheffler

Forty years ago, iconic comedian Eddie Murphy made his acting debut opposite Nick Nolte in the movie “48 Hours” by delivering the now epic boast, “There’s a new sheriff in town and his name is Reggie Hammond.” After a near wire-to-wire performance at this year’s Masters tournament Scottie Scheffler can now stake his own claim as the PGA Tour’s newest young gunslinger as the former Texas Longhorn standout’s start to the 2022 campaign has been hotter than an Amarillo fire pit in August. Scheffler seized control after his second round 67 at Augusta vaulted him ahead of ...

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 ...