You might think somebody as pre-occupied with reading and writing as I am would not be interested in sports, but actually I love sports. Part of that is likely a side effect of growing up with three brothers who lived and breathed sports, so that much of my leisure time as a youth was spent participating in sports. Not organized leagues or school teams, but neighborhood sports. We played football on the dead end city street where we lived; wiffle ball in a nearby church yard (when we were not running away from the custodian whose main job description seemed to be chasing us away); baseball on the abandoned trolley line at the end of our block. After I graduated high school we moved to the suburbs, and our choice of sport changed to endless hours of basketball in our large driveway. I recall Christmas vacations when we spent a half-day shoveling and de-icing the driveway so we could play basketball. Those were great times.

As an adult, I do not have much time for sports. I bowled with my brother David and friend Rich for twenty-five years on Friday nights before losing interest in it. My brothers are avid golfers, even taking a week-long golf outing every spring, but I have never developed a serious interest in golf, so one or two rounds per summer are my maximum. So what sports do I enjoy? For the past two decades my favorite sports-related activity has been watching my sons play organized soccer, basketball, and running. Andy still runs at ESU, so Jean and I go to as many meets as possible.

And this should not surprise those of you who know me well: I read the sports page of the newspaper avidly every single day. I rarely watch sports on television, although I do sneak into the rec room periodically to catch the score of a Yankees-Red Sox game which Jean is watching. And I go with my family to see several Seton Hall basketball games each winter. But sports to me is primarily something I enjoy reading. Hey, it is a lot less frustrating than reading the news portion of the newspapers!