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One of the many things they have in common is wealth — lots and lots of it. There is plenty of green to be had in the bluegrass when you are John Calipari and Rick Pitino. But in all deference to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, it is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that fueled coaching’s most bitter rivalry. The road from UMass to bluegrass is a story of out-of-the box thinking (and coaching), of Gucci (and itchy) shoes, and of the one man, the one coach, who helped to launch

A step ahead of his limitations Read more ...

"I want America to be as good as she imagined it." -- President Barack Obama on Christina-Taylor Green, Jan. 12, 2011 Trinity Gonzales of Twentynine Palms, Calif., is the catcher for the Sparks. Courtesy of Gonzales Family Amid the rolling green hills of Cooperstown, N.Y., 22 diamonds are glittering with children at play. The tunnels of fog from Tuesday night have burned off, opening to a sun-sparkled Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 17, a perfect day for baseball. One-hundred-four

From Sport Literature Association "At the end of the day, Knocking on Heaven's Door gives us the rarest of sport literature: the true baseball story...that tells us the truth about the game without sugar-coating its unpleasantries or removing its warts--while somehow still managing to make us love it all the more." Since the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, baseball has had more than its share of apologists to proclaim the game's virtues and unique qualities-how

For most people, the words "minor league baseball" conjure up a bucolic scene of a warm, summer evening, a small crowd gathered around a green diamond, sipping cold beer, enjoying an intimate game, with between-innings silliness from costumed mascots and various contests and promos. None of that is inaccurate, but it is, at best, only half of the story. Marty Dobrow's Knocking On Heaven's Door peels back the Field of Dreams veneer, and shows us the other side of life in the b

From Publishers Weekly Dobrow's first book is a beautifully written, meticulously orchestrated account of the families, common agents, notable triumphs, and devastating failures of half a dozen talented young men who want to play in the Major Leagues. A veteran sports writer, Dobrow reveals an insider's instinct, a high level of compassion, and finds the drama in the dream of "making it big." Minor Leaguers have to make ends meet, often for years, and learn how to embrace a w

From Publishers' Weekly Dobrow's first book is a beautifully written, meticulously orchestrated account of the families, common agents, notable triumphs, and devastating failures of half a dozen talented young men who want to play in the Major Leagues. A veteran sports writer, Dobrow reveals an insider's instinct, a high level of compassion, and finds the drama in the dream of "making it big." Minor Leaguers have to make ends meet, often for years, and learn how to embrace a

From ESPN Hasenfus has done whatever has been asked of him in making the Springfield College JV team. Asked his 87-year-old father, "Do you think there's any chance you'll get called up to the varsity?" Ryan Matlack for ESPNBoston.com SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- The first week of the baseball season can be a time for veteran left-handers to work out the kinks. Last Monday, 48-year-old Barack Obama was high and outside with his presidential first pitch before the Washington Nationa

Mixing memory with desire

A top student and now the top high school scorer in state history, Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir knows there is more to life than a game. But does she have game. Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir competes with her legs and arms covered and with a hijab (or head scarf) on her head. (Globe Staff Photo / Michele McDonald) Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir walks quietly through the halls of the New Leadership Charter School. She is soft-spoken and polite. The youngest child of a devout Muslim family, the 5-foot-3-inc

Disability can't stop athlete from lifting her team The first pitch of the fifth inning, a fastball for a called strike, sent forth a huge puff of dirt from the glove of Elms College sophomore catcher Gina Gilday. The Blazers were already way ahead, 16-1, over Johnson State, in the first game of a doubleheader last Saturday. "All right, Gina!" called out one player as Gilday fired the ball back to pitcher Destinee Meeker. The next pitch was fouled to the backstop, and Gilday

Freeman never lost dream of playing college basketball All of the kids were special to her. In the rough-and-tumble neighborhood of Schenectady, N.Y. -- a place Daisy Smythe unabashedly calls "a hood" -- all of the grandchildren and cousins had a unique place in her heart. So, too, all of the foster kids, the parade of runaways and castoffs she brought in and showered with tough love. They too were children of God. They deserved a chance. But the really tall one, the frequent

1994, Column writing, first place (under 50,000 circulation)