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There was a vacant lot on the corner of 10th Street and Avenue H. I learned to play there, meeting up daily with other children in the neighborhood after school. There is something irreplaceable about unsupervised play; many lessons are learned. We...

Good morning!On a sunny day at McGuirk Alumni Stadium, a dark cloud hung over the UMass bench. Finish strong or you’re gone, the staff had been told, and the team was hanging on for dear life against heavily favored Liberty.The visitors had chartered...

A few weeks back a reader of the Recorder, we’ll call her Joanne, sent me an email commenting on a recent On the Ridge column. In the content of the email, she asked, “would you include a hunting calendar in your columns? It will help all the...

Good morning!Politics is sport, and on Election Day I visited two New Hampshire voting locations for a glimpse of what to expect after the polls closed.At the entrance to Hinsdale High School a woman held a large sign that said, Roe, Roe, Roe Your...

Thanksgiving is almost upon us and I’m ready to carve the turkey. White meat or dark meat? I go for the white but I always remember my grandfather; he said the neck was the best part. I have yet to eat a neck, but one does wonder why turkeys have two...

I watched the Canadian geese moved high overhead, winging toward a destination that I could only imagine. They were so far up that I could barely hear their mournful voices, yet I wondered how far this flight would go before rest would finally...

By JIM JOHNSON

For years, athletic directors and coaches have referred to their college athletes as scholar athletes or student athletes. The reference is that college athletes are students first and athletes second. Meanwhile, college athletes, especially...

Ah, the scent of autumn is in the air, and for freshwater anglers, this signals the last chance to “home in” on their favorite underwater creatures before they depart to their cold-water havens. This also means the last hurrah before rods and reels,...

Historically, American sprinters have been one of the biggest stories at the Olympics, and this summer’s excellent Games in Paris hardly altered that pattern. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone broke the world record for the 400-meter hurdles for the sixth...

By AMY NEWSHORE

Part 1 of a 2-part seriesWhen you think of someone you consider to be intelligent, what comes to mind? Perhaps they are well-schooled, are good problem solvers, or are self-taught, knowledgeable and passionate about a subject. It is most common to...

By all accounts the Paris Olympics were a great success. We were treated to a magnificent sport spectacle, the world’s greatest athletes at their best. The display of sportsmanship was fulfilling, a tribute to the competitors. The Olympics are for the...

Good morning!UMass opens the 2024 football campaign Saturday against Eastern Michigan at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. The season outlook is bleak. UMass plays at top-ranked Georgia and at Mississippi State, and is home against No. 10 Missouri. Already...

During a recent meeting of a group of New England outdoor writers, a discussion began in reference to “high technology in today’s world of hunting and fishing,” which completely caught my attention. This stems from the myriad of technological advances...

The next time we tune in to hear the drums of NBC’s Summer Olympics coverage, the torch will be lit in California for the first Summer Olympics in the United States in 34 years. And from the perspective of those studying the business of sports, the...

Good morning!The UMass football program got its Welcome-to-the-MAC moment last month when a Western Michigan alum and social media freak named Garrett, aka @GfedGoCrazy, visited McGuirk Alumni Stadium, home of the Minutemen.Garrett’s hook is the...

A recent conversation with my daughter Olivia, a teacher at Hillcrest Elementary School in Montague, and my 6 year old granddaughter, Vivian Charlotte Baron, a student at the same school, brought back memories of what we so often hear from teachers...

The last time Paris hosted the Summer Olympics was 100 years ago. If you were to walk into one of the dining halls at that time you would not be able to predict which sport an athlete participated. Swimmers looked like discus throwers and distance...

The marathon was not part of the ancient Olympics but was introduced as a special event in the 1896 games. Seventeen participants from five nations started the race but only nine finished. One American entered but did not finish. The original race was...

Running in the kind of hot weather we’re having these days can be fun. It can also be uncomfortable, exhausting, depleting. In extreme cases it’s even dangerous. Seriously, how do you exercise in the heat?Part of the answer is obvious. Dress lightly....

With the Summer Olympics in Paris upon us, expect the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to start complaining about ambush marketing. Ambush what, you ask? Ambush marketing – it’s a term unique to the business world of sport. History has it that...

(Note: Fit To Play columnist Jim Johnson will lend his voice on the 2024 Summer Olympics throughout the next month with special features pertaining to specific events and what goes into them for the athletes competing in Paris.)Athletes from all over...