RIP Michael Ray Richardson, a troubled and gentle soul who provided two of the most memorable quotes in NBA history. Asked during the 1981-82 season about the state of his Knicks, he said, "The ship be sinkin'." Asked how far it could sink, Sugar added: "The sky's the limit." You can't make that up.

My annual Veterans Day post about my friend, Bobby Gasko, who died in Vietnam and another young soldier, Mike Arciola, who died in Iraq. bit.ly/4oEI2SQ

No one is requesting that I do commercials, but if I did it would be for air fryers. You gotta get one. Thanks for listening.

The real takeaway here is health expert RFK Jr. exiting Stage Right as soon as he realizes something has gone off script. bit.ly/3LpJFVQ

Shocking that President Bone Spurs could not bring down the Navy pilot/prosecutor in New Jersey governor race.

Great line by my old colleague Tom Verducci to Rojas: “Welcome to the world of World Series legends.”

Not over till the fat catcher swings

Good thing we get an extra hour of sleep with this game

Want to thank @williamfleitch.bsky.social for including "Dream Team" in his piece for The Atlantic about sports books. (Sorry if you hit a paywall.) Instead of calling me "old" or "ancient," Will christened me as an "auk." I'm honored. bit.ly/3Wlm0Im

Bull Durham is back. As a musical. It's trying to get to Broadway, in other words, trying to make The Show. Writer-director Ron Shelton wrote the book and the brilliant and should-be-better-known Susan Werner did the music. Here's a piece about it on si.com. Read it between innings. bit.ly/3WnFyfg

Dan has spun some great tales over the years, and this is among the best. Sure, you have material for a story, but you gotta figure out how to spin it. He did. Sorry if you run into a paywall.. Cousy was one of the first superstars I met on the hoops beat, and he was always terrific. bit.ly/4njpTZe

Rewatching some “Breaking Bad,” and on comes the first appearance of “Better Call Saul” Goodman. When you’re in legal trouble with drugs, Jesse explains to Walt, “You don’t want a criminal lawyer. You want a CRIMINAL lawyer.”

Most effective sign at the “No Kings” rally in Bethlehem Pa.: “Somewhere in America a young Hispanic girl is hiding in an attic writing a diary.”

After watching several playoff baseball mound conferences, I informed my wife that until the World Series is over I will be holding an oven mitt over my mouth during all conversations.

The excitement is palpable.

I theorize that when a first or third-base ump is asked to rule on a checked-swing, it's like he being awakened from a nap and has no clue about whether the batter swung or not.

Phils manager Rob Thomson believes he's managing an American Legion team when he orders a no-outs bunt with a slow runner trying to go from second to third. And Bryson Stott, one of the most baseball-savvy guys on the team, bunts it down the THIRD BASE LINE without disguise.

United States is so far behind on this final day of the Ryder Cup they should've turned it into a regular-golfer scramble. Shotgun start. Beer stops at every green. Hot dogs on the grill. Circus clowns riding around in carts.

I'm pretty sure that, after his Britain visit, Trump is going to want his own horse-drawn carriage. And a robe and crown might be nice, too, thank you very much.

As a way to show my wife I understood what she said, I'm alternating between "Heard, Chef!" and "Copy that!" But she says, "How about if you just go with 'Okay' and shut the hell up."

RIP Mark Volman, co-founder of the Turtles. I got to know Mark a little because my bro-in-law, bassist Donnie Kisselbach, toured with them for a while. Mark was the spirit of the group, a gentle, smart man who had a life as a music educator even as he was still doing the "Happy Together" tours.

RIP to one of the great guys, George Raveling. George happened to be my counselor when I attended the Jack Kraft basketball camp in the summer of 1965. That is NOT what he is known for. He was working security at Martin Luther King's Washington D.C. speech in 1963 and, on a whim, asked King for a

Mesmerized by Djokovic pre-serve routine. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Catch. Hold. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Serve.

USA Today billed this as an exclusive and said that Vance "revealed" this astonishing news. Seriously, at best we're a year away from turning into North Korea. bit.ly/3Hxm9on

The most interesting revelation of fam vakay so far is that one grandson thought “Pizza Hut” was “Pizza Hat,” which would be a far better name. Thanks for listening.

This is a five-move clinic in five seconds.

I read an excellent story in "The Atlantic" about insomnia, but it was so long I feel asleep. Thanks, and be sure to tip your waitress.

During visit to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame today, grandsons Zev and Asa pretend to be interested in the display that includes the 2005 media award winner. The other person in the display photo is a man who coached Syracuse hoops for 2,713 years.

I've been watching so many episodes of "The Pitt," the superb hospital drama on Max, that when my wife told me she had a headache I prescribed 10 ccs of Epi.

So, maybe a movie before turning in. And on comes ... "Rosemary's Baby." I rate it among the most disturbing films ever made. But I'll probably hang in there.

Follow up to "Incredible Dog Channelge" post. I understand that one of the leading dogs is in trouble with the law and they may impound his winnings.

I just accidentally breezed by something called “The Incredible Dog Challenge “ and the commentator was saying, “When they’re not competing they’re just dogs.” Absolutely unassailable analysis.

I hummed O Canada in honor of you and Farber, Doug. Also, Steve Nash and Margaret Atwood

Four young girls approached my wife and I at the beach yesterday and asked if we wanted to buy bracelets they had made. “We accept cash and Venmo,” they said. No lie.

I’m looking in on the Celtics. I think they’re planning on unloading Russell and Bird.

thank you ... but Pop is owed much more

Honored to have written SI's official farewell to Greg Popovich. Every minute of covering him was interesting. Hope you enjoy. bit.ly/3TN7p70

With the enthralling second round of the NBA draft upon us, you need some Warren Zevon. You may not have realized it but you do. Lots of dudes in the audience, I notice. Okay, not the most sensitive lyric. But Warren and the band ... omigod bit.ly/3HUaZKa

Great story here by Brendan Quinn about an American original. I didn't know Art well when I was out on the roar, but, of course, I knew him. Because everybody does. www.nytimes.com/athletic/643...

I sent them a nice chafing dish. It's good to reward a young struggling couple with something practical. www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-l...

Took a nice 2 1/2-mile walk today and afterward congratulated myself for manning up in the heat. Meanwhile, my 15-year-old grandson is in the middle of bicycling from Pennsylvania to New Hampshire.

Please, please, please watch the Max doc "Surviving Ohio State," taken from a great piece written by my ex-colleague L. Jon Wertheim for Sports Illustrated. Watching Gym Jordan squirm is worth it.

Seems impossible that Metta-Sandiford Artist wouldn't have grabbed that gig.

The things you find out when the playoff game gets out of hand and you switch to the Led Zeppelin doc on Netflix for a few minutes. Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were the session guitarist and bassist when Shirley Bassey recorded "Goldfinger." You're welcome.

As the Oklahoma City Thunder is poised to win the championship tonight--I'm not saying they will; just saying "poised"--I thought a history lesson might be in order. (Many of you don't need it; others don't want it.) Anyway, the Thunder was until 2008 the Seattle SuperSonics, one of the coolest

Yeah, you got a honey badger sitting across from a blobfish, and it's tough to come down on one side or the other, but the badger made the better points, so you gotta go badger in this one. Probably not next time, though.

Fox News planning two scenarios: We go to war "Donald Trump did everything possible to avoid this. He was a virtual Gandhi. Without DT, this would've happened days earlier." We don't go to War "Donald Trump was Gandhi-like in his cry for peace. We'd be a world in tatters right now if not for DT."

Andrew Lawrence crossover dribble, waves off a ball screen, stutter handle, steps back, shoots .... YES!

I tuned in to watch Indiana Fever-Connecticut Sun and it turned out to be Bulls-Pistons circa 1988.

Happy Father's Day to all. If I had any success at all at this gig, it's because these three made it fun and easy--Jamie, Donna and Chris.