The Long Weekend

A few days ago, I heralded the coming weekend as the most exciting 96 hours in American sports. Was I wrong? Ali Farokhmanesh has found himself as the most famous Persian American whose name has been mispronounced countless times over the past few days.

The almost Cinderella story, area code 615

Tomorrow commences with the most exciting 96 hours in American sports. And here is one of the myriad reasons of historical-why. Only four times have 15 seeds upset the deuces in the first round, and two years ago the boys from Belmont almost became the fifth.

Candy Cummings

As we approach spring training, I thought I would drop in a few of my favorite early baseball heroes....Today it's Candy Cummings, long credited as the inventor of the curve ball, who had his eureka moment whilst pitching for the Brooklyn Excelsiors in 1867. It was said that Cummings had developed the throw after observing the curved motion that sea shells made when tossed.
However, as in any instance of baseball lore, there is a bit of controversy. Fred Goldsmith, who pitched for a number of teams, most notably the Chicago White Stockings, is also given some credit for developing the famous throw. These stories of a pre-professional Goldsmith and the unique pitch date roughly to 1870, which would still be three years behind Cummmings' supposed achievement. Either way, Goldsmith has faded into deep sports lore and died in 1939, the same year Cummings was inducted into Cooperstown for an innovation both men believed they had pioneered.