The celebration a few moments after a 1st quarter touchdown by the home team (Oak Park and River Forest Huskies) on Friday evening. OPRF went on to defeat Rich Township, 39-8.

Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of Mark Fidrych becoming a national cultural phenomenon....my brother Andy revisits that special moment--and unearths new insights into this late, great American folk hero. My column: open.substack.com/pub/theins…

What we have here, folks, is a failure to box out. That comeback by the Knicks was one for the ages...and a reminder that too many players regard boxing out as optional. Read my breakdown of the Spurs' defensive breakdown: open.substack.com/pub/theins… #NBAFinals #Knicks #Spurs

I saw Bruce Springsteen last week. Three hours. 28 songs. Still going strong at 76. The next day, I spent an hour with someone whose survival might be even more improbable. One is a legend. The other is my brother. My column: open.substack.com/pub/theins…

I saw Bruce Springsteen in Chicago in 1988---and thought he was OLD. After seeing him this week? Not so much. But the more humbling calendar realization came the next day, sitting with my bro on his 60th b-day, a milestone that once felt impossible. open.substack.com/pub/theins…

In 1987, I was a young newspaper reporter interviewing a hockey player I'd grown up with & who'd just been drafted in the NHL. “Hopefully," he said, "I’ll make it." That kid, Mike Sullivan, guided Team USA to a gold medal in men's hockey. My column: theinsideedge.substack.com/p…

Anyone else know why Saturday Night Live aired its cold open 12 hours earlier than usual? And the guy playing Trump---amazing impersonation!

"Spinal Tap II: The End Continues" works so well because it consistently knows when to end, one scene after another. My column: open.substack.com/pub/theins…

As my son Zach graduates today from Indiana University, reflections on my first meaningful time on this beautiful campus nearly a quarter-century: theinsideedge.substack.com/p… #IUBGrad25

Congratulations, Zach Baron and your Sigma Nu brothers on your successful journey to graduation! We're very proud of you!! #IUBGrad25

Remembering MLK 57 years later...and reflecting on the present-day lesson contained in one flawed lyric in U2's “Pride (In the Name of Love)”: open.substack.com/pub/theins…

From 2 days ago: free throw attempts 199,999 & 200,000 since I began counting my ambidextrous shots in March 2007. (169,873 made in that span, including these two) #basketball

A three-parter this week: October is the best month for sports....those huge skeletons in neighbors' yards....and McProof of my fast food job as a teen: theinsideedge.substack.com/p…

I call it The Great IHOP Standoff -- Recalling the time my refusal to go along with a restaurant manager's moronic `security' step prompted a swarm of police officers to swoop in. open.substack.com/pub/theins…

Thirty years ago, I became a mascot for the Illinois Lottery. My behind-the-scenes (and under-the-costume) reflections as the Wizard of Odds: theinsideedge.substack.com/p…

My column from the Jan. 2024 issue of School Administrator magazine was selected to appear in the AASA's "Best of" 2023-2024 edition. [Boiling it down: In our short-attention-span, clickbait media landscape, schools must be persistently proactive with bite-size good news.]

From a 2016 basketball game I coached to the Boston Celtics' latest title, here's why keeping score matters. open.substack.com/pub/theins…

The latest on my journey with Phil -- our brother love shows up for one another in different ways. My Substack column's here: lnkd.in/g-qxZWuH #Homelessness #addiction #family

March Mendacity... There's a weird subculture of guys who falsify their athletic exploits, a reality that I recently ran into (once again). My latest Substack column ends with a poll asking: What's behind people spinning these yarns? open.substack.com/pub/theins… #MarchMadness