It has been announced that Bank of America is now paying homeowners up to $30,000 in order to have them complete a "short sale" of their property and vacate their homes. This will no doubt be hailed as a great move by our nation's bank, and pundits will point to it… Read full post »

                … and why I hate Yankees’ outfielder Andruw Jones.

                Yesterday, seemingly, the Hall of Fame career of Yankee/… Read full post »

                Charles Manson did not appear for his parole hearing today. The 77-year old Manson, who was up for parole for the 12th  and possibly last time, did not cooperate with his court-appointed attorney and, true/… Read full post »

                “Chief Jay Strongbow”, one of the icons of 1970’s professional wrestling, died last Tuesday at the age of 83. Chief Jay was one of the main characters in Vince McMahon’s WWF stable, a co/… Read full post »

                Today is Opening Day. The real Opening Day. At 3:10 this afternoon, when Tampa’s James Shields completes his warmup tosses and the first Yankee batter steps up to the plate, the 2012 baseball season will/… Read full post »

            Extortion, by its very definition, is not a clean business. This week, however, extortion took on new heights of ridiculousness when a former classmate attempted to extort a Range Rover from Minnesota Twins pitcher Carl Pavano. The ma… Read full post »

Penn State's Board of Trustees has released a statement "explaining" their reasons for firing long-time football coach Joe Paterno in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal. According to the Associated Press, the Trustees blamed a "failure of leadership" for their decision to terminate Paterno. T… Read full post »

         Baseball great and Hall of Famer Gary Carter, affectionately known as “the Kid”, died of brain cancer yesterday at the age of 57. Carter started his career with the Montreal Expos, but gained perhaps his greatest fame as a key member and co… Read full post »

     News reports indicate that Whitney Houston has died at the age of 48. Once pop music's reigning queen, Houston became little more than a punch line after her failed marriage to Bobby Brown and years of drug abuse ruined her once glorious singing voice. If the reports are true… Read full post »

                Three weeks ago, I wrote a piece heralding the beginning of a new era in Jewish baseball history, a charge being led by three all-star players, Kevin Youkilis, Ian Kinsler, and the eventual winner of the 2011 N/… Read full post »

                Yesterday, basketball superstar Chris Paul was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a three-team blockbuster deal which re-shaped the balance of power in the NBA. In order to complete the deal, the Laker/… Read full post »

                Tomorrow, Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers may be announced as the winner of the 2011 National League Most Valuable Player award. If so, he will be the first Jewish player to be showered with shouts of &ldqu… Read full post »

                Jerry Sandusky has admitted showering with boys and engaging in “horseplay” with them. The embattled former Penn State Assistant Coach, in an interview with Bob Costas last night, admitted to shower/… Read full post »

                Joe Paterno has been relieved of his responsibilities as head football coach at Penn State. The Board of Trustees of Penn State, recognizing that the school itself was more important than Mr. Paterno, made the/… Read full post »

                Joe Frazier and Joe Paterno. Two legends, two icons linked by their connections to their adoptive state of Pennsylvania. Two giants of their respective sports. One died yesterday at the age of 67, losing his ba/… Read full post »

Yesterday, the Yankees’ Mariano Rivera retired three straight Minnesota Twins to notch his 602nd career save and, with that perfect inning, secured himself the top spot among major league baseball’s all-time saves leaders. He moved one ahead of Trevor Hoffman, who retired last year after… Read full post »

The article below sums up how I sometimes feel about my posts on Open Salon. There was much writing recently about how to get an EP, about how this is a left-leaning site, female-biased, etc. I take no position on those concepts here.

All that I can say is that… Read full post »

                Last night brought us the news of the death of Clarence Clemons, the man whose larger-than-life persona as the E Street Band’s sax wailer brought him world-wide fame and adoration. The 69-year-old Clemons/… Read full post »

Dear John:  Tonight I will be going to your wake. It will be my chance to say goodbye to you; to say it to your face, and hope that, wherever you are, you will hear me. But it will be quick; I assume that there will be others who will want… Read full post »

Today marks the end of an era in Yankee baseball. Andy Pettitte, a member of the “core four” who led the Bronx Bombers to World Series titles from 1996 to 2009, is retiring from baseball at the age of 38. Pettitte retires with 240 regular season victories, as well as a/… Read full post »

Andrew Ridgeley turns 48 today. Yes, that Andrew Ridgeley. Following in the not-so-giant footsteps left by such famous second-banana musician/singers as Bobby Hatfield (The Righteous Brothers), John Oates, and Sonny Bono, Ridgeley is best known (or not known, as the case may be) as the lesser half of/… Read full post »

“Is Aaron Rodgers the greatest quarterback in Green Bay Packers’ history?”

This was just one of the “We love Aaron” questions posed on sports talk radio this week. Aaron Rodgers, Packer Quarterback and media darling, is now being touted by some as the best QB ever to tro/… Read full post »

My daughter turns 13 next summer, and is in the middle of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah circuit, attending at least one every weekend for the past few months. We have also gone to several; and since I am taking the miracle drug Enbrel (unpaid endorsement) I am again able to hit the dance floor… Read full post »

Falcons. Ravens. Seahawks. This weekend, a veritable flock of birds are taking the field in the NFL playoffs. When joined by the Jets, each game has at least one team that is linked to some form of flying. What better way to analyze the four contests, therefore, than by rating them… Read full post »

                Rutgers University junior Eric LeGrand, 20, was carted off of the field on October 16, 2010 during a game against Army after he sustained a severe spinal cord injury attempting to make a tackle against an Army/… Read full post »