“to inspire Americans to reflect on the nation’s past, renew commitment to founding values, and imagine a brighter future together”

The first season of the #WhiteLies podcast tells Reeb’s story with such unflinching eloquence.

Dear Mr. Stearns, Fans are fans because of their hearts. It’s about emotional connection to PEOPLE they truly like. People like Edwin Díaz, Brandon Nimmo, Jose Iglesias, Harrison Bader. Were there sweeter Mets moments in recent years than Timmy Trumpet or the whole team singing “OMG”?

Without Edwin Díaz and Brandon Nimmo, the Mets are not just a lesser team—they are a less likable team.

America, at this moment in history: www.usatoday.com/story/travel...

#RosaParks earned this statue with courageous activism 70 years ago today. Pictured here in 2023 with my students from #SpringfieldCollege, she continues to inspire young folks to do the hard but necessary work of bending the arc of the moral universe toward justice.

Rosa Parks’ defiance turns 70 today, but it never gets old. That’s Patriotism 101: standing up (or in this case sitting down) to injustice. She made America greater.

Down another Orwellian “memory hole.”

“There is no more essential ingredient than a free, strong, and independent press to our continued success in what the Founding Fathers called our ‘noble experiment’ in self-government.” —Ronald Reagan

I’d make this one exception to the “No Kings” movement. This Nobel Peace Prize winner truly cared about the poor, the hungry, the huddled masses yearning to be free.

Drake prevails over Baker in Pats’ sweetest win of the year.

Terrible, if true. But how completely off the rails we have become to allow bets on whether a single pitch is a ball or a strike. www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

Watching that Drake Maye throw on the half’s final play, I have to conclude—for better or for worse—the Patriots are REALLY back.

Maybe so, but the ENERGY of so many young people getting involved does seem pretty significant.

This might have been the moment when Tom Brady decided to “clown” his dog www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVZM...

If there were a writing Game 7, this might well be the winner: sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/...

The absolute unbridled joy on Mookie Betts’ face is an indelible image of the game at its best. But we can well imagine what the faces look like on the other side. “Losing feels worse than winning feels good.”

There will be plenty of crying in baseball.

No fiction writer. Of course. Truth always stranger.

I have been watching baseball closely and lovingly since the 1960s. I have never seen anything like this game.

End it with a winning play. No walk. No error. No HBP.

Utterly riveting game in an utterly riveting series. On to the ninth.

Ernie Clement playing like Ernie Banks and Roberto Clemente.

So much to worry about in the world. So much that demands our attention. And, yes, baseball is a big distraction. But it’s the best game and the one with the best stories. And right now there is no better baseball story than Trey Yesavage.

Mad Max making heterochromia iridis look good for the Hue Jays.

Baseball majesty right in the top of the first. Shohei. Freddie. Mookie. Mad Max. Vladdy. Five Hall of Famers, most likely. Just half an inning.

Great blue herons and Eastern bluebirds unite in Bluesky tonight to root on the #Bluejays.

Okay, maybe fans or foes of Zohran Mamdani found my post frivolous. Maybe Blue Jays’ bros and Dodger devotees are too stressed. You want to compare apples to apples? These are more delicious than Red or Golden D’s, more gallant than Galas, more cosmic than Crisps. The Macoun wears the crown.

I try to be nonjudgmental. Here in November, our month to choose in this precious, fragile democracy, smart people can disagree about who should be NYC’s next mayor. Wise souls might root for the Dodgers tonight as I cheer for the Blue Jays. But indisputably, Macouns are the best apples.

Simply Trey-mendous.

The Trey Yesavage journey from low A to dominating the Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series has to be one of the most startling one-year trajectories in sports history. Any precedent? Maybe Roy Hobbs.

As Shohei prepares to take the mound after last night’s offensive extravaganza, I search for the athletic equivalent. Steph Curry leading the NBA in blocked shots? Josh Allen leading the NFL in sacks? Alexander Ovechkin winning the Vezina Trophy?

And now for an encore, Mr. Ohtani (fresh off two home runs, two doubles, and nine—NINE—times on base) will step into a phone booth, don a cape with an S on it, and emerge as Shohei-man, superb starting pitcher. It is comic book cool.

Lady Liberty, America at its finest, is 139 years old today. It’s up to all of us to keep that fire burning.

Absolute master class on journalism from Jeff Passan after the Game 3 extravaganza. I particularly love the detail about 89-year-old Sandy Koufax going into the locker room well after midnight to congratulate Will Klein. www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

Love the human element in baseball, the human imperfection of umpires (to go with the human imperfection of players). It’s part of the charm. But that “strike two” call—and pickoff of Bichette—is a mighty persuasive argument for robo umps.

I suppose baseball is better these days with its pitch count imperatives and acres of analytics, but how cool was that Yamamoto/Gausman showdown? Old school= still cool.

Words matter.

Chilling Orwellian brilliance: “He who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”

There are great young players in the league now. There will be more. But in terms of creativity, in terms of audacity, in terms of joie de hoop, there will never be another Steph Curry.

Hamilton Nolan—a most impressive apple falling not far from the formidable tree of his dad. David Nolan taught me a ton about what became the passion project of my life. And, yes, you will learn a lot more about Buddy Hough in my book out next year from Cambridge University Press.

On looonnnngggg hold with XFinity customer support. Deeply honored that my call is “important” to them and shocked—SHOCKED—to learn that they are experiencing “higher than normal call volume.”

Last night my vast Bluesky community saw my reference to #Shohei as a no-show. My inspirational powers are vast. Singularly inspired by my words, Ohtani is, tonight, the complete show. This is simply one of the greatest postseason performances in the history of the sport.

Scary. Dodger domination while Shohei’s a no-show.

Go to a #MLB game, the old saying goes, and you will likely see something you never saw before. But never quite like this: 17 years ago today—the zaniest,zooiest, Zinkiest game ever. wihttps://www.audacy.com/weei/blogs/10-years-later-reflecting-on-maybe-the-craziest-red-sox-game-of-all-time

On #Juneteenth, I celebrate Daniel Smith--likely the last American just one generation removed from slavery. Five years ago today, I published this story (mdobrow.medium.com/juneteenth-t...) about him. Dan died in October 2022, but his uniquely patriotic legacy is a gift that keeps on giving.

It’s only one game in a best of seven series. But it’s the worst Game 1 loss in sports history.

That bounce off the back rim. That foot on the line. Silence in the Garden. Horror. Hope. Overtime.

Yesterday: the Preakness. Today: Springfield College graduation. Huge weekend for JOURNALISM!

Down the stretch they come, and it’s JOURNALISM! Besieged. Derided. Vulnerable. But never more important.