BLOG
Toward the End: Readings, Writings, Football
Mayfield Memorandum 2: Catchy Spotlight Question
Do receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (13) and quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) have the Browns' answers? Matt Starkey/Cleveland Browns When skill players want the football in their hands, inevitably some ninny will inquire: Are there enough footballs to go around? As if Wilson...
Not Always an Angel, Doyle Baird Punched Like the Devil
Doyle Baird (left) guides one of the many, many fighters he helped through the years pound4pound.com Photo When Doyle Baird was young, Akron was a tough rubber town, a fight town. Tire builders still stretched the rubber that became the carcasses onto their machines...
Best Sooners Ever—Sliced, Diced, and Okie Covered
sooner sports.com Photo Don Ursetti always has done his homework and stored it for instant recall in what must be a brain as deep as the Grand Canyon and as wide as the Mississippi River. That, or this all-Akron sports play-by-play broadcaster has had Google...
Mayfield Memorandum 1: Ready to Go in 2021
Matt Starkey/Cleveland Browns Note: Turning the Cleveland Browns’ Season of Promise into one of super success depends on their quarterback, Baker Mayfield. It is always about the quarterback in the modern, pass-happy National Football League. There may be variants,...
What to Remember as a Senior? Your Teammates
Dempsey Gillman (front row, second from right) . . . the pride of his grandpa's life Photo from Facebook courtesy of Melissa Buck Gillman Depending on one’s perspective, Dempsey Gillman and his Tulsa Metro Christian Academy teammates would seem to have a high hill to...
Not Everyone Must Play by the NCAA’s Rules—Thankfully
uakron.edu As if the University of Akron football program had not already had its nose ground into the dirt—OK, make that, artificial turf—a former athletic department administrator has caused the NCAA to put its foot squarely on the Zips’ neck and jump up and down...
Will Browns Starters be Prepared to Start the Season?
A Browns Fan at the New York Giants Game: Does He Want to See the Starters Play? Brent Durken/Cleveland Browns Even during the most revealing of training camps and preseasons, it can be difficult to impossible to determine what caliber of team will come out of the...
Clem McSpadden: A No-Bull Man and His Golden Voice
Clem McSpadden gave fellow Oklahoman Reba McIntire a leg up as a rodeo National Anthem singer oklahoman.com Photo When they auction off the flotsam and jetsam of a life, especially an important one, the memories that come with the items can prove not only personal but...
Living in Your Head? Beware of Fantasyland’s Trap Doors
Oklahoma's gravel road's take me back to yesterday in the dusty corners of my mind Photo by Hayden Scott on Unsplash Where do you live? For such a simple, straightforward question that everyone has heard and answered countless times, it can be nonetheless...
Fritz Pollard Serial, the Last: Unforgotten, Forever Great
Fritz Pollard's mural and bust at his 2005 Professional Football Hall of Fame induction Pro Football Hall of Fame Photo NOTE: This is the last piece of a 13-part serial about Pro Football Hall of Famer Fritz Pollard, star of the Akron Pros and first Black coach in the...