Author of Three Seconds in Munich and Lamar Hunt. Write about sports, business, travel and more. Former columnist for WSJ and NBCSports.com
MLB.com's Top Man Hopes To Turn Pitches Into Profits
NEW YORK -- Before Bob Bowman explains why he took the top job at Major League Baseball's new-media arm, the sound of a toilet flushing seeps through the cinder-block wall in his tiny office.
It's a long way from corporate behemoth ITT, where Mr. Bowman served as president -- and even enjoyed a private bathroom -- until the company's 1998 acquisition by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.
Black Friday is the Super Bowl of shopping
As the kickoff to the season approaches, they pick out their running lanes. Having researched the competitors and concocted their strategies, they go over their plan of attack one more time. Unflinching in their desire to be first, they are willing to be bloodied to get what they want.
Players during National Football League games on Thanksgiving Day? Far from it. Rather, they’re shoppers on Black Friday.
‘It’s Never Too Late’: Chicago-Area Septuagenarian Discusses Mount Everest Climb Before Trip to Antarctica
By David A. F. Sweet
Back in 2013, Art Muir was nearing the end of a 35-year career as a transactional attorney at McGuireWoods, LLP in Chicago. At 68, he was ready for a retirement full of golf, platform tennis and grandchildren.
Then, a longtime friend of his named Jim Daverman called and invited him to climb some volcanoes in Ecuador.
Owners of a Defunct Hoops Team Are Still Hitting Nothing but Net - WSJ
It's amazing how an ABA team who didn't make it into the NBA still gets money from the league.
These NFL players are in a class by themselves
In front of Northwestern University professor Tim Calkins sit two dozen students, armed with three-ring binders and surrounded by bottled waters. Calkins eyes the class and asks them to describe a negative brand. The answers come quickly.
“Britney Spears!”
“Pit bulls!”
How the U.S. got clocked in the controversial 1972 Olympic basketball final
This excerpt was adapted from Three Seconds in Munich: The Controversial 1972 Olympic Basketball Final by David A.F. Sweet by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. © 2019 by David A.F. Sweet.
Biography offers insight into Lamar Hunt
David A. F. Sweet, a longtime sports writer and columnist, has just published a very interesting book that should be of great interest to Kansas Citians. The book, “Lamar Hunt: The Gentle Giant Who Revolutionized Professional Sports,” is a laudatory but very balanced biography of the man who brought the Chiefs to our town.
I found many sections of this book absolutely fascinating.
Will Reggie Bush take Peyton's place?
For the past few years, it's been hard to turn on the television during the NFL season without seeing Peyton Manning — in a commercial. Whether encouraging a poor-throwing paper boy in a MasterCard spot or getting decked out as a mustachioed Peyton Manning fan for Sprint, the Indianapolis quarterback, on any given Sunday, has often pitched more products than touchdown passes.
College Football Powers Enjoy Heisman Advantage
The job candidate had barely introduced himself when Alcorn State University president Walter Washington posed the critical question.
"What would you do to promote Steve McNair for the Heisman Trophy?" Washington demanded of Derick Hackett, an applicant for the university's sports information director position three years ago.
To the head of a school with fewer than 3,000 students, Hackett's best answer may have been: Let the star quarterback transfer to Florida. Or Ohio State. Or Tennessee.
...
‘Not Your Average Rom-Com’: How a Lake Forest Couple Met on Death Row
By David A. F. Sweet
Back in 1975, when Michelle Hirschfield was born, the odds of a pregnant woman having quintuplets was rather large – as in 85 million to one. It was so rare that Walter Cronkite announced the birth of Hirschfield and her four siblings on the CBS Evening News.
But the Lake Forest resident who works at the Gorton Community Center may have topped those odds later in life. After all, how many people meet their spouse on Death Row?
Pianist Hears the Sound of Music in Silent Films
After Robert Israel played the organ for five silent movie comedies at a UCLA film class this spring, a sophomore confided her initial surprise to him. “I was expecting an old man to be sitting there,” she said. “I was shocked to see how young you are.”
Television Hurdles the Web in Race for Olympic Gold
Bringing the world together every two years, the Olympics seems ideally suited to a global medium, such as the Web. But during the 2000 Olympics, the International Olympic Committee banned video and audio from competitions from the Web. Why?
The Law Has Spoken
A prolific author whose forte is legal thrillers, Scott Turow is asked how his most recent novel, The Last Trial, stands apart from his previous works.
He laughs before answering.
“It stands apart because of the reverential reviews,” said Turow who, like most writers, have been stung by the negative ones.
Web Site Delivers Unique View From the Sea to Its Many Fans - WSJ
Sailing enjoys the dot-com era.