David Ortiz, a star of the Boston Red Sox, gave an impassioned speech to the 35,000 plus fans at Fenway Park last Saturday. It was before the first game in front of the home-town Boston crowd after the bombings and lock-down of the city during the final day of the manhunt. For the sake of completeness, here's what he said (as reported by the Boston Globe): “This past week, I don’t think there was one human being who wasn’t affected by what we got going on down here. Th...

Last night I took my son to see 42, the Jackie Robinson story.  I was a very good movie that, save some graphic language (that was necessary to the story yet difficult to sit through) had the feel of the type of feel good movie you might have watched in school.   The best part of the movie I believe was how they delved a little deeper into the concept of motivation.  It wasn't simply about them being courageous, but also about what motivated them to find the courage and wisdo...

On a quiet Saturday in Washington in June 1972, there weren’t many reporters around at the Washington Post. A news story was breaking. There had been a burglary at a local hotel and someone had to cover the story. Who could the editors get to come in that day for what would likely be fine print in the upcoming edition? Young Bob Woodward, new guy on the block. As he describes it, no one else wanted to come to work that Saturday.  But as he sat in the courthouse later in the...

I know my fellow bloggers have all written about what occurred in Boston this week. But I couldn’t let the opportunity to go by without adding my thoughts. My cousin Josh’s speech to his son at his son’s bar mitzvah this past weekend inspired me to write about the heroes in Boston. Josh, in his speech, recalled a famous discussion between two characters in the movie “Oh G-d.” John Denver, in trying to determine whether George Burns is actually G-d, says, “If you’re G-d,...

The fallout from Boston this past week included among other things whether we are entering an era of Big Brother, and if so, is that such a bad thing.  Without the cameras, how long would it have taken law enforcement to figure out who was responsible for the bombing?  They could have left the country by the time they were identified. While I count myself among the civil libertarians, street cameras really don't bother me.  When I see them I wave and smile.  I have only done ...

It's been less than a week since the bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon and in that time the authorities have figured out who did it and tracked them down in the probably the most intense manhunt in history. The entire city of Boston was on lock down.   I'm grateful that it's over and I want to know why. At present it appears it's not connected to any Islamic terror groups but who knows. The family, who arrived here in 2002 seeking refuge from the war in Chechnya, is in d...

When I was young I was addicted to long distance running. In fact I finished 33 (26.2 mile) marathons in my running career, but the only one that mattered was the Mecca of distance running: The Boston Marathon. "Boston" was the goal and inorder to be eligible to participate you had to achieve a qualifying time (under 3 hours and 10 minutes) at another marathon and inorder to do that one had to train very hard. So hard that you had to run every day and sometimes twice a day. I...

Along with many other Americans, I watched the news the other night as a relative talked about one of the victims of the bombing at the Boston Marathon. Everything that can be said about the personal tragedy has  been said by those more eloquent than I. As I watched the woman speak, I noticed the Boston Red Sox cap on the man beside her. I realized that,  for the first time in my life, the distinctive "B" on the cap didn't ev...

On Monday before hell literally broke loose in Boston, I was reading a post on Facebook.  Obviously there are millions of them these days, but this one caught my attention and I ended up reading the whole piece and most of the comments.  It was written by a woman who had lost her young daughter, nearly three, to cancer.  She spoke with a subtle bitterness about how so many things that people say to her hurt.  Even seemingly kind-hearted comments such as "she was a warrior", o...

There was only one topic that I could write about tonight. Our friends in Boston are suffering an enormous tragedy. Glued to television and social media, we can only watch and try to support those who have been thrust into an experience you just can’t anticipate or imagine. Although for those of us who lived through 9/11 in New York, there are eerie similarities. It is with great sadness to me that the people of Boston have had to join our NY club. But, I am also hope...

The internet is buzzing with reaction to last Thursday’s Glee episode. As some of you may have read, the episode involves a student bringing a gun to school and the terrified reaction of the student’s classmates. I have not yet seen the episode although I have read a lot about it. Those criticizing the episode have argued that it exploited the Newtown tragedy by being broadcast too soon after the horrific event. Newton residents were warned by local advocacy groups not t...

At best it's a tournament that is extremely difficult to win. Each shot needs to be carefully played and when it's windy it's at it's worst. Guan Tianlang, a 14 year old from China (the youngest player in the Masters for over 100 years), is in the tournament and was assessed a one stroke penalty for slow play. It's very rare that a penalty gets assessed, even in a major. You have 40 seconds to take your shot when it's your turn to play.   You can do a lot in 40 seconds...ha...

I'm pretty sure that if I had my life to live over I would not be a lawyer.When I was growing up my sole interest was baseball and my goal was to replace my Idol Mickey Mantle in center field for the Yankees. As such, I was not much of a student and only the rude intrusion  of the Viet Nam era draft caused me to alter my plans. Suddenly, a law school draft exemption was something else to strive for. Miraculously, one thing led to another and today I find myself an AV rated "S...

Last Sunday, I attended the annual commemoration of the Holocaust at Temple Emanu-el in New York City. It made me sad -- indeed sadder than I can remember ever being after attending the somber event in the past few years. At one point during the commemoration, as they have done every year, there is a candle lighting during which thirty-six candles are lit by thirty-six women who survived the Holocaust. My mother has lit one of those candles every year for as long as I ...

I have been coaching for 17 years.  This is my 7th year coaching Little League baseball.  We have only had compettitve playoffs for the last 2 years.  The first year we had competitive playoffs our team was good, but got knocked out in the first round.  The next year our team was given the first overall pick in the draft.  The following year, they determined the draft order randomly and I pulled the first pick again.  We won a championship (co-champions actually in a situatio...