Seat 2 in Row 19 of Section 140. That's Father Bob’s seat at Rate Field. As the White Sox honor Pope Leo XIV with an outdoor Mass on Saturday, his 2005 World Series seat has become a pilgrimage site for the faithful. 📝 @andrew-carter.bsky.social

Twenty years ago, the future pope attended Game 1 of the World Series in Chicago. A television camera caught him, by chance or by fate, for about three seconds in the ninth inning. A story about what lingers from that moment, and night, two decades later: www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/11/c...

Twenty years ago, the future pope attended Game 1 of the World Series in Chicago. A television camera caught him, by chance or by fate, for about three seconds in the ninth inning. A story about what lingers from that moment, and night, two decades later: www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/11/c...

More than 72,000 American military members remain unaccounted for from World War II. This is the story of one who was recently found, and laid to rest. On the Chicago-area homecoming of Pvt. James Loyd, an American soldier: www.chicagotribune.com/2025/05/25/c...

More than 72,000 American military members remain unaccounted for from World War II. This is the story of one who was recently found, and laid to rest. On the Chicago-area homecoming of Pvt. James Loyd, an American soldier: www.chicagotribune.com/2025/05/25/c...

Honored this week to begin a new chapter at the Chicago Tribune, where I’ll be a Senior Reporter on the GA/enterprise team. In other words: I’ll be looking for great stories all over Chicago and Illinois. Excited to get to work in America’s best and most compelling city.

After 4,864 days of bylines, datelines and deadlines (some of which I actually met), last night’s Duke-Carolina game was my final assignment at The News & Observer. It has, very literally, been a dream come true to be a part of it. I’m grateful beyond words.

Clemson, Florida State and the ACC have dropped their lawsuits against each other. And so there is peace, for now. For the long term? Eh. Probably not so much. Winners and losers and what-to-know, while pondering the Neville Chamberlainedness of it all: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

Cade Tyson has seen the mean tweets and heard the noise. And he understands the angst better than anyone. “I feel like I haven’t accomplished much here," he said Monday in Tallahassee. Slowly, though, there are signs. On his faith during a tough season: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

Wrote about the sorry state of ACC men’s basketball. Is the explanation as simple as an exodus of great coaches? Probably. Even so, there are some deeper issues here. The conference should never be *this* bad. On some of the causes and effects: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

Red-eyes with stops to refuel. Consults with "sleep guys," including a NASA expert. A travel schedule more grueling than that in the NBA. Football TV money drove the ACC’s Westward expansion. The league’s basketball teams, among others, are paying the price: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

Cooper Flagg put on a show Saturday night in Durham in his Duke-Carolina debut. He also underscored the broader difference between the two rivals in this new college basketball era. One program has been aggressively progressive. The other has resisted change. www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

Cooper Flagg put on a show Saturday night in Durham in his Duke-Carolina debut. He also underscored the broader difference between the two rivals in this new college basketball era. One program has been aggressively progressive. The other has resisted change. www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

His back literally against a wall late Tuesday night, near midnight, Hubert Davis spoke of a need to keep fighting. “What choice do you have?” After another late meltdown, it’s fair to question whether UNC can muster such resiliency. From Pittsburgh: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

Settling in at the Smith Center for some bicoastal Atlantic Coast basketball action: Cal at UNC. Last time the Golden Bears were here: November 1997. That game gave us perhaps the most iconic shot of a Vince Carter dunk, ever. Photograph made (of course) by Hugh Morton.

Yes, it was only Miami and arguably the ACC's worst team. But after another rout, it's fair to say Duke's biggest obstacle in ACC play might just be boredom. When was the last time the gap was this wide between the ACC's best and the rest? From Cameron Indoor: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

Saturday’s Carolina-State game delivered, in the end, after 35 minutes as ugly as any in the 248-game history of the series. The good: Jalen Washington. Ian Jackson. State’s D (maybe?). The not-so good: this underscored the ACC’s mediocrity: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

UNC and Bill Belichick came from opposite directions to arrive at this marriage of football convenience. “College kind of came to me this year,” Belichick said. “I didn’t necessarily go and seek it out.” “We’re taking a risk,” Bubba Cunningham said. www.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-c...

Dick Crum once said UNC wanted to be Oklahoma on Saturday and Harvard during the week. But now it's no longer content to be "relegated to the kids table" in football. On a decades-long dance ending in the decision to go all in, and hire Bill Belichick: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

Dick Crum once said UNC wanted to be Oklahoma on Saturday and Harvard during the week. But now it's no longer content to be "relegated to the kids table" in football. On a decades-long dance ending in the decision to go all in, and hire Bill Belichick: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

Bill Belichick, cutting the sleeves off an Alexander Julian plaid blazer. Bill Belichick, being asked to shake the hand of a human dressed as a toaster pastry. Bill Belichick, adding the entire UNC lacrosse team to the football roster. Can you imagine? www.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-c...

Back for more in Chapel Hill. No sign of Bill Belichick inside the Smith Center. Not much in the way of early energy, either, from the Tar Heels, who trail Georgia Tech 8-4 early. UNC looking for something good to happen today. Been a bit.

Junior college football is about second (third? fourth?) chances. The opportunity is often the reward. There’s no trophy at the end. For the first time, Louisburg College has a chance to win one Saturday. www.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-c...

It’s true, as (highly, highly) unlikely it is that it really goes anywhere: Bill Belichick has had talks with UNC about its head coaching vacancy. www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

One of the most surreal scenes I can remember in Triangle college hoops: A chant of "Roll Tide" bellowing in the Smith Center. On the ACC's woeful "challenge" showing against the SEC, which UNC's performance epitomized. How did things reach such a point? www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

Back for more in the Smith Center. Game of significance here this evening between UNC and Alabama. Big thanks to the Worldwide Leader for scheduling all three Triangle ACC/SEC games at petty much the exact same time, too. Nice looking out for their comrades in the local media.

UNC wanted to give Mack Brown a proper sendoff Saturday at Kenan Stadium. What happened instead was more fitting: a defeat against N.C. State that epitomized Brown's second tenure – the promise and, ultimately, the disappointment. On Brown's farewell: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

UNC wanted to give Mack Brown a proper sendoff Saturday at Kenan Stadium. What happened instead was more fitting: a defeat against N.C. State that epitomized Brown's second tenure – the promise and, ultimately, the disappointment. On Brown's farewell: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

For those who missed it in the rush of Thanksgiving prep: On Mack Brown and the end, at UNC: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

Mack Brown, as the old saying goes, could sell sand in the desert. Few in college football history have ever been better at that part of the job. It was everything else that led to his firing Tuesday. On Brown's UNC legacy and the (coaching) death of a salesman: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

Mack Brown, as the old saying goes, could sell sand in the desert. Few in college football history have ever been better at that part of the job. It was everything else that led to his firing Tuesday. On Brown's UNC legacy and the (coaching) death of a salesman: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

If the early returns are any indication, college basketball is experiencing something of a renaissance. The combination of NIL keeping guys in school longer and the last class of extra Covid-year players has made for the most compelling November I can remember. Will be a fun season.

Maui (and more specifically the Lahaina Civic Center) would rank very highly on a list of “best places I’ve had the good fortune to cover some ball.” Fun to see a great one to start things off there.

It’s Carolina-State on Saturday in what might as well be the Misery Bowl. Disappointment is nothing new for these two, but the angst is unusually high. These programs are pretty much the same. And that’s not a good thing. On that and more: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

It’s Carolina-State on Saturday in what might as well be the Misery Bowl. Disappointment is nothing new for these two, but the angst is unusually high. These programs are pretty much the same. And that’s not a good thing. On that and more: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

Back for more at the Smith Center. Tar Heels of North Carolina partaking in some college basketball action against the Eagles of American, coached by former Maryland Terrapin Duane Simpkins. There's a good "Name an ACC Guy" guy if there's ever been one. Former Tar Heel Jackie Manuel on his staff.

My hottest (at the moment) college hoops take: With the exception of Maui and the Bahamas, all neutral site tournaments/“classic”s should be abolished and returned to home sites. Duke-Kentucky in Atlanta is great. Duke-Kentucky in either Durham or Lexington is way better.

N.C. State's football travails this season (to me, anyway) epitomize the quandary of today's NIL-driven college sports world. Fans are asked to give and give (and give) and yet ... for most teams the ROI will be nonexistent. More on that: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

The bird has landed. I repeat: The bird has landed.