Stories | Sporting Box
Winners and Losers
Published Dec. 30, 2008
Dallas is the great loser. Like a schoolmarm who has run out of patience with the class dullard, Dallas players brought home their message of quit with a slap to the face. The Boys were stuffed ...
Playoff Scenerios Bought and Sold
Published Dec. 23, 2008
It’s still a Norv Turner team, make no mistake, but in spite of that, the AFC West championship now lies in San Diego’s hands. Or Denver’s, depending on your point of view. If the Chargers ...
Dog Days, Dog Nights
Published Dec. 17, 2008
‘It’s an international organization. We promote the training and ownership of hunting dogs and hunting itself. We go out once a month and do training days and hunt tests. There are 50 members in our ...
House Money Published Dec. 10, 2008
Gentlemen, please remove your hats. For the first time in Sporting Box history, I am pleased to offer congratulations to the A-R-I-Z-O-N-A C-A-R-D-I-N-A-L-S. Funny how ... More Post a comment
Game of the Year Published Dec. 3, 2008
Mark ye well, the University of San Diego Toreros men’s basketball team goes up against the (San Francisco) Academy of Art University Urban Knights, 7:00 ... More Post a comment
Thanksgiving Tour Published Nov. 25, 2008
THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION, 1676. The Holy God having by a long and Continual Series of his Afflictive dispensations in and by the present Warr with the ... More Post a comment
Bail Out SDSU Football Published Nov. 19, 2008
Things are grim in San Diego State football world. Staff is still hungover from Saturday’s 63-14 drubbing at the hands of Utah. That drubbing was ... More Post a comment
The $1500 Crank Published Nov. 12, 2008
‘What kind of repairs do you do? Tune-ups? Rebuilds?” I’m talking to Kris Wells, 37, store manager at the UCSD Bike Shop. “All that,” Wells ... More Post a comment
Last Light Published Nov. 5, 2008
I like sandhill cranes. It’s the pterodactyl in them, the too-long toothpick legs, the Ichabod Crane anatomy, the black beak, and the 1950 Mercury convertible ... More Post a comment
What Goes There? Part Two Published Oct. 29, 2008
Continuing with Mike Kelly, 64, volunteer coordinator and conservation chair at Friends of Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve. Friends focuses on Peñasquitos Canyon, leading interpretive walks, ... More Post a comment
What Goes There? Part One Published Oct. 22, 2008
I ask, “How do you track and what do you track?” “You track by sign. The easiest sign is a print, whether it’s a bird ... More Post a comment
Secrets Published Oct. 15, 2008
Strange, what you take away from a baseball game. I watched the Tampa Bay/Boston contest into Saturday night (Sunday morning on the East Coast). It ... More Post a comment
Leaving It All on the Field Published Oct. 8, 2008
There is no I or, in this instance, no finger in “team.” As you’ve heard by now, Trevor Wikre, a 6-foot-3, 280-pound offensive right guard ... More Post a comment
Old School Published Oct. 1, 2008
The Dalles, Oregon, is found on the south bank of the Columbia River, 85 miles upstream from Portland. Today’s population of 12,000 is about what ... More Comment (1)
Better Than I Think I Can Be Published Sept. 24, 2008
Sal Convento is chief instructor and owner of the United States Karate Academy in Point Loma (uskasandiego.com). He’s single, 36 years old, a third-degree black ... More Post a comment
A Word About Electrical Safety Published Sept. 17, 2008
I pick up the phone and hear a grunt, ambient department-store music, bar noise, and slot machines. I know the grunt. “Larry, where are you?” ... More Post a comment
Week One Published Sept. 10, 2008
An erratic NFL Week 1. Tom Brady’s gone. After 111 consecutive starts, the New England quarterback left Sunday’s KC game in the first quarter. Knee ... More Comment (1)
Six Keys to Victory Published Sept. 3, 2008
Unlike some nattering nabobs of negativism in the local press, I thought our San Diego State Aztecs played with skill and enterprise against those beasts ... More Comment (1)
Seven Days Left Published Aug. 27, 2008
The NFL regular season goes off in one week. Players who make the cut get a shot at millions of dollars and what goes with ... More Post a comment
Democratic Convention Sports Preview Published Aug. 20, 2008
While watching the NBC Olympics on television, quietly enjoying the 105th consecutive evening of women’s beach volleyball, I had a sad thought: This is going ... More Comments (3)
Bummer Published Aug. 13, 2008
One of the more downhearted groups in the world must be the 2012 London Olympics organizers after watching Beijing's opening ceremony. China's big show had ... More Comment (1)
Olympics Preview Published Aug. 6, 2008
Communism has taken a hit in recent years. At one time or another, 31 countries were self-declared communist states, including such sleepers as Ethiopia, Benin, ... More Post a comment
Prepare for the Onslaught Published July 30, 2008
This may be the last hours of sporting life as we’ve known it. Soon, very soon, a 500-foot-high Summer Olympic Games tsunami, now rocketing across ... More Post a comment
Janet Jackson's Breast Walks Published July 23, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008, will be remembered as the day activist federal judges decided it was okay to force-feed pornography into the minds of elementary ... More Comment (1)
World Champion Published July 16, 2008
‘You’re still boxing, right?” “Yeah,” K.J. Noons says. “I’ve got two contracts: Gary [Gary Shaw Productions], with his boxing, and then EliteXC [Elite Xtreme Combat], ... More Post a comment
Cashing In Published July 9, 2008
It’s been a busy sports morning, checking the Internet for news about A-Rod and Madonna, Cynthia (Mrs. A-Rod), and Lenny (Mrs. A-Rod’s special friend). Inevitably ... More Comment (1)
July 4 Edition Published July 2, 2008
Letter from John Adams to his daughter Abigail “Nabby” Adams: Philadelphia, July 5th, 1777 My dear Daughter, Yesterday, being the anniversary of American Independence, was ... More Post a comment
Olympics Loophole Published June 25, 2008
I am at a table in a Chinese restaurant, inside a Chinese shopping center. Both entities are crowded with Chinese shoppers. Opposite is Todd Anderson, ... More Post a comment
Sui Generis Published June 18, 2008
Greg Budney is curator at Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds (Cornell University). Among birders, this is authentic fame, as good as it gets. He’s been ... More Post a comment
U.S. Open Edition Published June 11, 2008
‘Actually, I’m walking the golf course right now. Give me a call around 7:00 or 7:30 tonight.” That’s Craig Barlow, professional golfer, scouting Torrey Pines ... More Post a comment
Uneasy Lies the Head... Published June 4, 2008
Bottom line, David Stern got the finals he needed — Lakers vs. Celtics — and people are watching. Mediaweek reports fat times in NBA World, ... More Comments (2)
Scorecard Published May 28, 2008
Unlike corporate sportswriters, the Box owns its preseason baseball predictions and is unafraid to review them in the public square. Kindly stay behind the yellow ... More Post a comment
Alaska Football Edition Published May 21, 2008
Wrapping up farewell visit to Fairbanks, Alaska, my hometown for 25 years. I have coffee and this morning’s Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in hand. There’s an ... More Post a comment
One Last Look Published May 14, 2008
Three o’clock in the morning. Looking out a second-story bedroom window. This is the Charlie Simmons/Sheree Dohner once-abandoned barn, now, after more work than I ... More Comment (1)
White Crane Spreads Its Wings Four Years Later Published May 7, 2008
I began tai chi lessons in February 2004. Since there is nothing in my past that would foreshadow an interest in tai chi as opposed ... More Comment (1)
Derbytime Published April 30, 2008
For those who do not follow horse racing, and that’s 98 percent of the population, I should explain that Derbytime refers to the Kentucky Derby ... More Comment (1)
Bob Mitchell Published April 23, 2008
I got a call Saturday night from a man whose name I didn’t remember, but someone who remembered me and had the kindness to telephone ... More Comments (5)
Family Motorsports Published April 16, 2008
I figured it was a George Bush thing, his idea of public service. No matter how sordid your disgrace is, how incompetent you are, no ... More Post a comment
Two for You Published April 9, 2008
Occasionally, the Box offers a sports movie review. Leatherheads opened Friday and this time I invited a genuine movie reviewer along. The idea is to ... More Post a comment
Baseball Preview Edition Published April 2, 2008
The Box, seeking a measured tone, likes to have opening-day jitters out of the way before offering season predictions. All right then, listen up. One ... More Post a comment
Crazy Published March 26, 2008
People fall in love. They fall in love with other people, with their pets, with the city they live in (or the city they don’t ... More Comment (1)
March Madness for Newbies Published March 19, 2008
This column is for once-a-year college-basketball consumers. The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is going to run for the next 18 days, and it’s possible to ... More Post a comment
Long Ago and Far Away Published March 12, 2008
My connection to gymnastics is watching a 14-year-old Bulgarian girl do backflips once every four years. Turns out, I’m not the only one. I found ... More Post a comment
Free Michelle Wie, Part 2 Published March 5, 2008
We were talking about Michelle Wie, who was The Next Big Thing in women’s golf at the age of 10, and now, at 18, is ... More Comment (1)
Free Michelle Wie Published Feb. 27, 2008
I wrote this in October 2005: “The thing about the future is, nobody knows what will happen. So, we don’t know what will happen to ... More Post a comment
An Excellent Look Published Feb. 20, 2008
Annoying clock buzz. It’s 3:30 a.m. and hunting-trip dark outside. Get up, shower, make lunch, make coffee for the thermos, pack gear. This is my ... More Comment (1)
Motor Sports Published Feb. 13, 2008
NASCAR revs up on Sunday ($89 for a DirecTV season sub) with their biggest race of the year, the Daytona 500. And you know what ... More Post a comment
Valentine's Day Column Published Feb. 6, 2008
This morning I mailed a Valentine’s Day card to a woman I haven’t seen or talked to in 40 years. I added a personalized inscription, ... More Comment (1)
I've Invited Osama bin Laden to My Party Published Jan. 30, 2008
The AP headline reads, “Super Bowl a magnet for prostitutes.” Phoenix police sergeant Joel Tranter explains that Phoenix PD and FBI “are going to go ... More Post a comment
Super Bowl Preview Edition Published Jan. 23, 2008
Time to get your seat on the bandwagon, and I would claim mine, except I don’t see why this New England/New York Giants Super Bowl ... More Post a comment
Why the Chargers Will Beat the Pats and... Published Jan. 16, 2008
…destroy their perfection, thereby establishing athletic dominion over the continent, AFC-wise, and, at the same time, crush the hopes of little boys and girls living ... More Post a comment
He's Going All In Published Jan. 9, 2008
This started with Brian McNamee saying he injected Roger Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone from 1998 to 2001. Fast forward to Monday, the ... More Post a comment
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