Learning How to Lose — and Bounce Back
[Listen to the audio by clicking here: Sports Parents 5-12] Teresa Bloodman’s son was thrilled to pass the first two tryouts for his Maumelle, Arkansas, high school freshman basketball team, which allowed him to play on the team for the first two months of the fall. But, when the football season ended, the coach held a third round of tryouts so the football players could come out for the team, he cut Bloodman’s son. She was so livid she sued the school, the district and the state. She claimed cutting her son was arbitrary, that the...
read moreThe Most Powerful Sentence of the Century
[Listen to the audio by clicking here: Title IX 5-11-12] This week, the University of Michigan celebrated the 40th anniversary of Title IX, with a host of speakers and panels discussing the historic legislation and its impact on girls, women and the United States itself. It all started pretty quietly. Just a sentence buried in the back of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any...
read moreOff to Nawlins / Gone Fishin’
No Bacon Blog today, sports fans. Semester is finally done, and I’m off to Nawlins, NOLA, the Big Easy (New Orleans, to you Yankees), for Jazz Fest. So, there you go. Not much of an excuse, I’ll grant you — but good enough! Back next week.
read moreThe World’s Most Important Soccer League
[Click here for the audio: BACON0southafrica] A few weeks ago, I visited Cape Town, South Africa. It’s a famously beautiful city, right on the ocean – but that’s not what I took away from my trip. The boat ride from Cape Town to Robben Island is just five miles, and takes only 30 minutes. But to the prisoners held there, starting in the 17th century, it might as well be on the dark side of the moon. Only a handful even tried to escape, and none of them made it – most notably Makana, a famed 19th century Xhosa leader, who drowned...
read moreBad Idea — But Great Career Move
[Listen to the audio by clicking here: Bacon0419] While I was writing “Three and Out,” the Michigan football players challenged me to join their workouts in the weight room. They were surprised when I was actually game – one of the dumbest decisions of my life. I’d heard so much about these modern gladiators and their weight room heroics that I wanted to find out for myself just how much harder it really is compared to what the average weekend warrior puts himself through just to avoid buying “relaxed fit” jeans. The plan was...
read moreDoing Good While Doing Well
[Click to listen to the (admittedly shorter) audio version here: BACONwallace] Everybody knows Mike Wallace was one of the best journalists of his time – and his time spanned a half-century. But he also had a great love for his alma mater, the University of Michigan, where he wrote for the Michigan Daily, and got his first taste of broadcasting. Back then, that meant working for the student radio station. There was no television. Sadly, Michigan cut its department of journalism in 1979. But it was survived by something called the...
read moreA Clean, Well-Lighted Place
[Click here for the audio version: Bacon_Parthenon] Ann Arbor’s Parthenon Restaurant closed last week after almost forty years at the corner of Main and Liberty. For me and my friends, it marked more than the passing of a favorite spot, but the end of a time-honored ritual. On our last visit, we filed in, and walked to our favorite table in the back. A little warmer, and we’d sit outside, but it was still March, so whatya gonna do? The owners and waiters nodded. They’ve seen us more than a hundred times. When I needed to sell...
read moreMichigan Hockey’s Little Big Man
[Click here for the audio version: Hunwick 3-30-12] Two years ago, Michigan’s hockey team was in danger of snapping its record 19-straight NCAA tournament bids. They finished seventh in their league – unheard of, for Michigan – so the only way to keep the streak alive was to win six straight league playoff games to get an automatic NCAA bid. Oh, and they had to do it with a back-up goalie named Shawn Hunwick, a 5-foot-6 walk-on who had never started a college game. It didn’t look good. But the kid caught fire. Michigan won all...
read moreThe Tigers and Lakeland: A Spring Training Marriage Built to Last
Hello Loyal Readers, Michigan Radio just finished its fund-drive, so no audio today, sports fans. Hope you enjoy this piece — even if you have to read it. -John If you think the divorce rate among U.S. couples is high, check out the recent rash of break-ups between major league baseball teams and their spring training sites. Almost all of the major league baseball’s 30 teams have moved their spring training camps in the past three decades, and fully half of them now play in Arizona. Stay-at-home stalwarts like the Cincinnati...
read moreAnd Now for Something Completely Different
Dear Loyal Readers, Michigan Radio finished their fund-drive this week, and pretty much everyone over there was exhausted and/or sick by the end of it, so we’re taking another week off from recording the weekly piece. (Good news: They reached their goals, so Michigan Radio will continue in all its glory. For the many of you who contributed, thank you!) In the meantime, here’s a recent story from James David Dickson, reporting on a talk I gave last week on fighting writer’s block and other issues we ink-stained wretches...
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