Jun 25, 2020
When gyms, playgrounds, pools and parks are closed and everyone told to stay home, exercise opportunities are foreclosed to all but the resourceful.
One activity I managed to continue during lockdowns was tennis. In the first month of shelter-in-place, courts in public parks closed one by one. Many older players dropped out. Our tennis club was the last to bar play, but thankfully, they let family members still share the courts. My adult son had to be convinced to play tennis with his mother.
Apr 28, 2020
Like many baseball fans, Walt Yost enjoys poking around the cobwebbed cellars of baseball history. He’s a member of the Dusty Baker Sacramento chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research, a global fraternity of historians and statisticians united in their devotion to baseball. He loves old baseball stories.
Now he’s told one. His new book, “A Glove and A Prayer,” is a novel that imagines the life of a 1890s baseball vagabond named August Yost. It’s the perfect diversion for baseball fans anchored in the doldrums of sports cancellations caused by coronavirus.
Mar 28, 2020
Nothing bonds sports fans better than a friendly wager. Maybe $20. Or $100. No matter the dollar amount, betting on sports quickens the pulse, heightens the intensity and pulls the fan into the action. When you’ve got money riding on the game, the final score really matters.
Unfortunately, California sports fans transform themselves into criminals when they make a sports bet. Sports wagering is illegal in the state, whether online or between two neighbors. The only way to stay within the boundaries of California law is to make your wager in Nevada.
Jan 28, 2020
Being a Kings fan is one of the toughest jobs in sports. The team is awful. And it’s hard to find relevant, intelligent media. Lots of web platforms carry information on the Kings. But when it comes to deeper insights, the sports media landscape quickly turns barren.
Three decades ago, I was The Sacramento Bee reporter assigned full time to cover the Kings. My job was to cultivate insight. Unlike today, when player availability to the media is tightly controlled, access wasn’t a problem. I would attend practice each morning and go to shoot-around sessions on game days.
