::: 5thWardReview.org ::: Nether Providence Township :: 19086

Red Skelton & The Pledge of Allegiance

2014-10-07T22:13:00.003-07:00

Wallingford Swarthmore Schools & Contacts

2014-02-07T18:34:00.001-08:00

SHMS Faculty and Staff Directory

Main phone number - 610-892-3470

To find a staff member's contact information use any of the search fields below.

For a full SHMS directory, select SHMS from the Building drop down menu and press submit without filling in any other fields.

Super Bowl 2014

2014-02-02T14:09:00.002-08:00

How to Watch the 2014 Super Bowl XLVIII

Game Online or Live Stream to Your Phone or Tablet

Posted By

Osas Obaiza 10K3 days ago

The mother of all games is less than a week away. Super Bowl XLVIII pits the Seattle Seahawks (or Seachickens, if you're from the Bay Area) against the Denver Broncos and regent exemplar of neck surgeries, Peyton Manning.Over the years, the Super Bowl has become one of the world's most celebrated television sporting events, bringing in over a hundred million viewers each year, and Super Bowl 48 will be no different.

Whether you're a fan of the Super Bowl commercials, halftime show, or football game itself, there are plenty of ways to watch on February 2nd, 2014. Long gone are the days where the only place to catch the game was either at the stadium on your local TV network. Now people traveling, working, or without a TV can watch the Super Bowl online.

Watching Super Bowl 48 with FOX Sports (TV)

This year, the game's broadcasting rights are owned by FOX. The game airs on February 2nd at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium starting at 6:30 p.m. ET (or 3:30 p.m. PT). You can watch it at home on your local FOX channel.

Watching Super Bowl 48 with FOX Sports GO (Web)

You can catch the live stream of Super Bowl XLVIII, including the pre- and postgame shows, over at FOX Sports GO for free. Normally, you'd be asked to authenticate your cable service provider, meaning that you'd need to subscribe to one of their six cable partners in order to access the live stream. However, the company is allowing EVERYONEaccess to the Super Bowl 48 stream for free and without authentication as a special Super Bowl preview. There will be unfettered access to site between 12 a.m. ET on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 2nd, until 3 a.m ET on Monday, Feb. 3rd. That means anyone can watch the big game, along with the FOX pre- and postgame shows, online without needing a cable subscription. There will also be a Spanish language broadcast available through FOX Deportes. Here are the highlights of the schedule (in Eastern (ET) times).

10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. — FOX Super Bowl Kickoff
2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. — FOX Super Bowl Sunday Pregame Show
6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. — Super Bowl XLVIII (English/Spanish)
10:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. (approx.) — Postgame Show
10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. — FOX Sports Live

Watching Super Bowl 48 with FOX Sports GO (iPad)

If you're on the go, or don't have access to a TV or computer, you can use theFOX Sports GO app for Apple iPads to watch everything you can on the browser-based stream above.

However, this is an iPad-only feature, meaning that iPhones and other smartphones will NOT be able to stream the game from FOX due to an NFL agreement with Verizon. Unfortunately, there is no FOX Sports Go app for Android, so Android tablets will not be able to watch the FOX coverage either, but that doesn't mean you're left out entirely...

Watching Super Bowl 48 with NFL & Verizon (Mobile)

The NFL inked a deal with Verizon a few years ago, making them the only cellular provider that can stream the game. This means you must be a Verizon Wireless subscriber, as well as upgrade to the NFL Premium Featurespackage for $5 each month, in order to live stream the Super Bowl on your smartphone or tablet.

Once you're subscribed to the Premium features, you can then use one of the NFL mobile apps below to live-stream the Super Bowl Sunday action.

What Are Your Other Online Options?

Though it may seem like you're limited to just using the FOX and NFL apps for live-streaming Super Bowl XLVIII, it's not so. There are a few more options that might work for you better.

Watching Super Bowl 48 on Aereo

If you do not have a cable subscription, but do have a TV, you may be able to use Aereo. It's an internet-based antenna service that allows you to watch local TV channels, like FOX, on your mobile device or TV. The company's coverage area is pretty small, but you can check here to see if it's available near you. If you already have it, this is the way to go.

Watching Super Bowl 48 on Slingbox

If you have one of these bad boys, you can watch you the Super Bowl from wherever you are. The Slingbox device, which retails between $180 and $300, allows you to watch your TV from anywhere you can find an internet connection. It's a pretty cool device, its just the price I'm not too hot on.

How Are You Watching the Super Bowl?

So, there are more than a few ways of watch Super Bowl XLVIII this year. And if you haven't noticed that these teams come from the only two states in the Union to have legalized marijuana, you haven't been paying much attention.

Looks like the Super Bowl is going to have more than one meaning this time around. How are you watching the big game? Share your plans below!

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WSSD Teacher Resigns & Says She Wasn't Heard

2014-02-01T06:11:00.003-08:00

Ex-teacher confronts Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board over ‘bullying'

By NEIL A. SHEEHAN, Times Correspondent

POSTED: 01/30/14, 9:01 PM EST | UPDATED: 1 DAY AGO

NETHER PROVIDENCE — A teacher who resigned recently over the handling of an alleged bullying incident took her concerns to the Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board, but left without much apparent satisfaction.

Janelle Bonhomme, who was hired last August by the district on a temporary contract to teach fifth-grade students at the Swarthmore-Rutledge School, said stepping down from the position was a “last resort,” yet a move she believed she had to make.

“I was unable to support a school that supports bullying,” Bonhomme told the board on Jan. 27. She asserted that the school’s principal, Angela Tuck, failed to back a “full investigation” into the matter, without elaborating on details of what it entailed.

“My only alternative was to sadly and suddenly say goodbye,” she said.

When Bonhomme pressed the board on the situation, President Paul Schregel and Superintendent Richard Noonan said they could not comment on the issues in a public setting because they were personnel-related.

But Noonan did say that the district takes bullying issues “very seriously,” and that Bonhomme could continue to share any concerns with him and district Director of Human Resources Ferg Abbott.

As Bonhomme persisted with more questions, board member Vincent Marriott said, “This is not the forum to hash out the issues of any particular situation.”

Noonan said the district’s policy on bullying issues can be found on its web site, adding that it was updated last year. Bonhomme responded that the policy posted there was from 2009, but a check of the document clearly states it was revised in April 2013.

MLK Speeches YOU Never Heard

2014-01-20T16:03:00.001-08:00

The greatest MLK speeches you never heard

By John Blake, CNN

updated 8:14 AM EST, Mon January 20, 2014

American civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is best known for his role in the African-American civil rights movement and nonviolent protests. His life's work has been honored with a national holiday, schools and public buildings named after him, as well as a memorial on Independence Mall in Washington. Take a look back at the civil rights leader's defining years.

HIDE CAPTION

The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

>>>

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

King's "overlooked gems" spotlight leader's hidden side
Some MLK works never got attention they deserved
Scholar: "He was a revolutionary"
One speech even infuriated civil rights leaders

(CNN) -- Here's a pop quiz for anyone who calls the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. an American hero.

Can you name any of his great speeches or written works without citing "I Have a Dream" or the "Letter from Birmingham Jail"?

Most Americans would likely flub this quiz. King may be a national hero whose birthday the country commemorates on Monday, but to many he remains a one-dimensional hero -- the vast body of his work unknown. Though he wrote five books and delivered up to 450 speeches a year, he's defined by one speech and one letter.

What then are the great works by King that never get the attention they deserve?

Martin Luther King speaking at Vermont Ave. Baptist Church in Washington, Febuary 1968.

That's the question CNN put to some members of King's inner circle as well as top King scholars. We asked them to pick their favorite overlooked gems from King, any extraordinary spoken or written words people don't typically hear during King commemorations.

Six entries made our final cut: three sermons and speeches, King's most radical book, an astonishing letter he wrote as a college student, and a "eulogy" he delivered for a friend that revealed a side of him the public rarely saw.

'A Time to Break the Silence'

Sermon delivered at Riverside Church in New York on April 4, 1967.

Why it's important: This was King's most controversial speech. Even some members of his own staff warned him not to give it. With this sermon, King decisively came out against the Vietnam War at a time when many Americans still supported it. People were furious. President Lyndon Johnson stopped talking to him. Civil rights leaders criticized him, and major newspapers told him to stick to civil rights. Yet King put principle over personal popularity and continued to oppose the war. One year later to the day he gave this speech, King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

King: Holiday to focus on 'nonviolence'

Hear lost interview of MLK Jr.

What he said: Money that should have been spent on Johnson's War on Poverty was being lost in Vietnam's killing fields. He said, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." The speech distilled King's belief that racism, economic exploitation and war were all connected as "triple evils."

Signature lines: "We are taking the black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them 8,000 miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in Southwest Georgia and East Harlem. So we have been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the same schools."

What others say: "It's Dr. King's most underappreciated speech," says Vorris Nunley, a professor of rhetoric at the University of California, Riverside. "Former supporters, black as well as white, backed away from this too compassionate, too radical, too political King."

Rare recording of MLK Jr. talking about JFK released

'Our God is Marching On!'

Speech delivered on March 25, 1965, in Montgomery, Alabama, at the end of the Selma-to-Montgomery march.

Why it's important: It is one of King's most electrifying speeches. When the roaring crowd joins King in shouting "Glory hallelujah!" at the end of the speech, the march becomes a church revival. The speech was the culmination of one of the movement's most brutal but critical campaigns. Three civil rights activists were killed and other marchers were beaten at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. King gave his defiant speech while standing on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, a city known as the "Cradle of the Confederacy." This was the high-water mark of the civil rights movement. The Selma campaign would spark the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

What he said: King praised the white clergy and laypeople of various faiths who traveled to Selma to face danger with African-American protesters. He said that segregation was "on its deathbed" and the movement must now be prepared to "march on poverty."

Signature lines: "They told us we wouldn't get here. And there were those who said that we would get here only over their dead bodies, but all the world today knows that we are here and that we are standing before the forces of power in the state of Alabama saying, 'We ain't going to let nobody turn us around.'

"I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because 'truth crushed to earth will rise again.' How long? Not long, because 'no lie can live forever.' ... How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

What others say: The speech marked the triumphant end of the first phase of the civil rights movement -- seeking legal and political rights -- and the beginning of a new phase focused on economic inequality, says Jerald Podair, a history professor at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

"We see King at a moment of triumph," Podair says. "He is on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol, near the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church from which he launched the Montgomery bus boycott, as (Alabama) Gov. George Wallace cowers in his office with blinds drawn. But he also has miles to go. America is still an economically and socially divided nation.

Opinion: On MLK day, helping the unemployed is a moral issue

'The American Dream'

Sermon delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on July 4, 1965.

Why it's important: We've heard about King's dream. But just two years later he told an audience that his dream had turned into a nightmare. King's sermon addresses questions that could have been snatched from today's headlines: What is a living wage for workers in menial jobs? Is income inequality as corrosive as racial injustice? What are the challenges of preserving a multicultural democracy?

What he said: King said that class divisions within the United States "can be as vicious and evil as a system based on racial injustice." King also talked about the dignity of all work, saying that even menial workers should make enough "so they can live and educate their children and buy a home and have the basic necessities of life."

Signature lines: "About two years ago now, I stood with many of you who stood there in person and all of you who were there in spirit before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. As I came to the end of my speech there, I tried to tell the nation about a dream I had. I must confess to you this morning that since that sweltering August afternoon in 1963, my dream has often turned into a nightmare.

I must confess to you this morning that ... my dream has often turned into a nightmare
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"I've seen my dream shattered as I've walked the streets of Chicago and see Negroes, young men and women, with a sense of utter hopelessness because they can't find any jobs. ... I've seen my dream shattered as I've been through Appalachia, and I've seen my white brothers along with Negroes living in poverty. And I'm concerned about white poverty as much as I'm concerned about Negro poverty."

What others say: "The dream is now clearly tied to equal job opportunities and decent wages," says Thomas Jackson, author of "From Civil Rights to Human Rights: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Struggle for Economic Justice."

"King asks: How are you going to have a multiracial democracy if inequality makes life is so harsh and competitive at the bottom, where society is most multiracial and multinational?"

9 thinks about MLK's 'Dream' speech and the March on Washington

'Mock eulogy'

Delivered just before the 1963 campaign in Birmingham, Alabama.

Why it's important: "Every hero becomes a bore at last." That quote from the 19th century writer Ralph Waldo Emerson could have applied to King. With the rise of the Black Power movement, King seemed dull and obsolete to many youths in the late 1960s who preferred the fire of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers. King dressed like an undertaker and carefully measured each word in public. But King's "mock eulogy" reveals that in private King had a wicked sense of humor. He was a man who nicknamed one of his top aides, "Lil' Nigger," drank Harveys Bristol Cream sherry and smoked in private, and liked "playing the dozens," an African-American tradition of friends good-naturedly trading insults.

What he said: The moment is grim. King is holding a meeting of top staffers in 1963 just before they initiate a campaign in Birmingham. He warns them that some may not return alive. Then he breaks the tension by assuring them he would preach a marvelous tribute for anyone who doesn't make it. He proceeds by delivering an over-the-top eulogy for one of his aides at the meeting, Andrew Young, who was often dispatched to negotiate with white leaders because of his nonthreatening demeanor.

Signature lines: "Andy, when the Klan finally gets you, here's what I'll preach: 'Lord, white folks made a big mistake today. They have sent home to glory your faithful servant, Andrew Young. Lord, have mercy on the white folks who did this terrible deed. They killed the wrong Negro. In Andrew Young, white folk had a friend so faithful, so enduring, they should never have harmed a hair on his head. Of all my associates, no one loved white folks as much as Andy.' "

What others say: "King lived under the tremendous burden of people's expectations," says Jonathan Rieder, a sociology professor at Barnard College in New York who includes King's mock eulogy and other examples of his "backstage" personality in his book, "The Word of the Lord is Upon Me: The Righteous Performance of Martin Luther King, Jr."

I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"By temperament, he had a tremendous sense of refinement and dignity," Rieder says. "The burden of dignity was always being proper because he was leading people. So this was a special moment with his preacher buddies when he could cut loose and renew his spirit to go on."

Would the government have spied on MLK Jr. today?

Letter to Coretta

Written on July 18, 1952, to his future wife, Coretta Scott, in which King revealed some surprising thoughts on capitalism and communism.

Why it's important: There's a theory that King adopted more radical economic theories in the last three years of his life. But King's 1952 letter reveals he was radical far earlier than most people realize.

What he said: The letter is an intriguing mix of the personal and abstract. King woos his future wife by telling her: "My life without you is like a year without a springtime which comes to give illumination and heat to the atmosphere which has been saturated by the dark cold breeze of winter."

He then switches gears and starts praising a recent book on economics he has read. He says he would "certainly welcome the day to come when there will be a nationalization of industry ... and a better distribution of wealth."

Signature lines: "I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic. And yet I am not so opposed to capitalism that I have failed to see its relative merits. It started out with a noble and high motive, to block the trade monopolies of nobles, but like most human systems it falls victim to the very thing it was revolting against. So today capitalism has outlived its usefulness. It has brought about a system that takes necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes."

What others say: "King steered toward socialism early on," says Michael G. Long, author of "Christian Peace and Nonviolence: A Documentary History."

"He's speaking about the need for the demise of capitalism, the need to nationalize industries. Early on he has this dream that equality won't happen in America until there's a radical redistribution of wealth."

Opinion: How MLK ad helped define America's press freedoms

'Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community'

King's fifth book was published in 1967

Why it's important: This is King's last -- and most radical -- book. By 1967, he was organizing a "Poor People's Campaign," a plan to dispatch an interracial army of poor people to occupy Washington and force the U.S. government to address poverty.

What he said: He takes on black nationalists who ridiculed nonviolence. He says the passage of civil rights laws is not enough. The country must institute a "massive, new national program" to attack poverty. He predicts the civil rights movement will go international as oppressed peoples in other countries adopt nonviolent tactics to combat America's "economic colonialism."

Signature lines: "White Americans must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical changes in the structure of our society. The comfortable, entrenched, the privileged cannot continue to tremble at the prospect of change of the status quo. ... This is a multiracial nation where all groups are dependent on each other. ... There is no separate white path to power and fulfillment, short of social disaster, that does not share power with black aspirations for freedom and human dignity."

What others say: "I get so tired of people turning Dr. King into a dreamer," says Doreen Loury, a sociology professor at Arcadia University in Pennsylvania, who says she was blown away by the book when she first read it in the 1960s. "They made him safe. He was a revolutionary."

Oliver Stone drops out of MLK Jr. project

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Freedom Isn't Free

2014-01-19T21:54:00.003-08:00

When Truth Becomes An Excuse

2014-01-18T06:38:00.001-08:00

Helping the Homeless

When Truth Becomes an Excuse...

The other day, I passed a homeless woman who characteristically asked me for spare change. I told her I didn’t have any, which was probably a lie. I didn’t take time to check because I don’t think I would have given her money even if I had found a wad of it in my back pocket. As I walked away, I cringed at the irony of my serving the homeless at a rescue mission and ignoring them on the streets.

What’s the great turn-off about giving homeless people money? I suppose it’s the age old “You don’t know what they’ll do with it” argument, which can be very valid. True, there are homeless people who will ask for money to buy food and then use it to buy drugs. Even worse, we’ve all heard stories of people who feign homelessness to take advantage of peoples’ kindness.

But then there are the others.

There’s the lady I saw last week who was thin as a rail and digging through a subway trash bin. There’s the man I pass on the sidewalk each morning who sIeeps in a disheveled pile of meager blankets and belongings. There are dozens who make their way to Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission each day just to receive supper and a bed.

What about these?

“They need to get a job,” I’ve grown up saying. This is probably true, but I don’t suppose it’s helping them when I make such an obvious statement and move on with my life. If America has college graduates who are hard pressed to find work, how much more difficult might it be for a homeless person to do so?

We can’t always give food, and we shouldn’t always give money. However, while it may be true that the best ways to help the homeless are more complex than giving them a hand-out, we shouldn’t let this truth be an excuse for inaction on our part.

Especially as Christians, we are called by the Lord to act on behalf of the less fortunate. The Bible is full of verses that deal with this issue (you can find some of them here).

So how, then, are we called to act when approached by a homeless person on the street? Much of our response may be based on specific circumstances such as our age, level of comfort in the neighborhood, etc. I think the key lies in our attitude and genuine interest in loving people.

If you live in the city and know you’ll likely come across needy people (and not just the homeless; we all need each other) on your way to work or school, consider packing an extra sandwich, piece of fruit, or granola bar in your backpack. When someone says they need money for food, offer them one of these things instead. If you have time and feel it is appropriate, you may even buy a snack for someone on the spot. Beyond food, sometimes the biggest thing people need is a person to listen or understand them or maybe a genuine smile or even go the extra mile and extend an understanding hand, listening ear or warm hug.

If the best thing you can give is a kindly spoken word or a smile, give it. Maybe it is within your power to help them get rebooted in life then dammit do it!!! I know it may inconvenience your schedule but remember Jesus; He never turned anyone away and even went out of His way to heal all who came across His path.

My question to you is: "What are you doing to do to become part of the solution?"

Are you just going to slam the door of your heart & mind putting all thoughts of them to bed hoping to bury their memories while you wallow in your neatly packaged life? That's not what Christ would do; He would back up His words with direct action.

Christ committed His entire life to the oppressed, the homeless and the broken.

Jesus came to set the captives free. (Galatians 5:1)

"And after reading this, what are your plans for tomorrow?"

Whatever you choose to do today or tomorrow, keep in mind the dignity of the human heart. We are all made in God’s image, and that’s a truth that should call us to loving action on a daily basis and a daily reminder not to judge from the outside looking in but to know that there is a heart underneath all of that outer dishevelment and obvious disorder. That is where we are supposed to come in and become the hands and heart of Christ. If not me, then who? If not now, when?

Cityteam

www.cityteam.org/‎

Ministry providing meals, shelter, recovery programs, youth outreach, and a camp for inner city kids with missions throughout the United States. Includes ...

1 Google review · Write a review

634 Sproul St, Chester, Pennsylvania 19013

(610) 872-6865

Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission

www.sundaybreakfast.org/‎

Homelessness Men in Philadelphia Receive Foot Care · Jan. 20 Concert Set to BenefitSunday Breakfast Rescue Mission · Home | About Us | What We Do | Get ...

2 Google reviews · Write a review

302 N 13th St, Philadelphia, PA 19107

(215) 922-6400

Tags: News, Transformation, Homeless Shelter, Recovery Program, Philadelphia,Volunteer

Masters of War :: Bob Dylan

2014-01-17T18:20:00.003-08:00

Suburban Junkies

2014-01-12T07:20:00.002-08:00

Hit & Run Driver Sought

2014-01-06T13:30:00.000-08:00

Upper Darby Police Seek Driver in Fatal Hit-and-Run

A 69-year-old man and his dog were killed in the crash.

Posted by Tim Zatzariny Jr. (Editor) , January 06, 2014 at 03:53 PM

Source: Patch.com

Upper Darby police are searching for the driver of this vehicle, which allegedly struck and killed a man and his dog. Credit: Upper Darby police.

Upper Darby police seek the public's help in identifying the driver whose vehicle struck and killed a 69-year-old man and his dog.

On Sunday at 5:07 p.m., Upper Darby police responded to 911 reports of a pedestrian struck on Providence Road near Arbor Lea Road in the Hilldale section of the township.

Arriving officers found a 69-year-old man and his dog dead in the middle of the roadway. The victim was surrounded by crash-related debris. Two witnesses reported to police that a white, mid-sized sedan fled the scene on Providence Road toward Hilldale Road.

The victim was identified as Richard Patterson, 6ABC reports.

The front end of the vehicle that struck Patterson had significant damage that included a hanging bumper, police said.

Crash debris recovered from the scene indicated that the vehicle was missing a section of a front headlight. Video recovered from nearby cameras, and paint chips from the scene, confirms the vehicle's color and shows the vehicle turning off of Providence Road onto South Lansdowne Avenue and then onto Lincoln Avenue in Yeadon Borough.

Police on Monday released a photo of the vehicle, and said in a news release:

"If you see this vehicle or know someone who owns such a vehicle that now is not usually where it is parked, please contact UDPD at610-734-7677 with any information no matter how insignificant that you may think it is, it may be the one key piece of evidence to solve this crime. If you were traveling in the area and saw this vehicle with the bumper coming off, let us know the last place you saw it."

by Taboola

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

2014-01-01T12:51:00.002-08:00

2013-12-30T21:36:00.002-08:00

You are here: Home » philadelphia » 10 Best Pieces Of Sportswriting 2013

10 Best Pieces Of Sportswriting 2013

By admin on Tuesday, December 31, 2013

CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK

Every year, the sports media produces hundreds of thousands of stories covering everything from the games we play to the people who play them. Those stories tell us who won and who lost, who was better and who was best, who deserves our praise and our scorn. And because sports, as I’ve argued plenty of times before, have the power to frame the major issues that face our society in a unique light, those stories often tell us something about ourselves and the world around us.

The following 10 stories all do that in some way. Some focus on race, some on gender, some on basic questions of fairness. Some tell the story of human triumph, some tell the story of human failure. They all, however, are marked by excellent writing on timely and important subjects that explain how sports fits into and affects the world we live in. It’s not a comprehensive list by any means — I chose long-form pieces that focus on the cultural side of sports, and I’d love to see what you’d include on your list in the comments — but here, in no particular order, are my 10 favorite pieces of sportswriting from 2013:

Why Jason Collins Is Coming Out Now, Jason Collins with Franz Lidz, Sports Illustrated: In April, Jason Collins shook the sports world when he came out as gay on the cover of Sports Illustrated. In the piece, he explains why he chose now, a time when he was a free agent hoping to continue his career. “The strain of hiding my sexuality became almost unbearable in March, when the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments for and against same-sex marriage,” Collins wrote. “Less than three miles from my apartment, nine jurists argued about my happiness and my future. Here was my chance to be heard, and I couldn’t say a thing. I didn’t want to answer questions and draw attention to myself. Not while I was still playing.”

When The Beautiful Game Turns Ugly, Wright Thompson, ESPN: Thompson’s piece on racism in Italian soccer dives deep into the roots of the problem: an anti-immigrant history, a burgeoning neo-Fascist ideology among supporters of its biggest clubs, a slumping economy that had worsened the trend, and the rise of black superstars who were bringing attention to the racism and, hopefully, helping bring it to an end. “Italy is in crisis,” Thompson writes of the racism. “I think that’s safe to say. Something new is arising out of something old. I don’t know whether it’s a first breath or a last gasp. James Walston, the professor, thinks all the racial abuse is a sign that Italy has changed, and this is a defiant last stand before a multi-cultural society emerges. Maybe he’s right. I don’t know.”

20 Minutes At Rucker Park, Flinder Boyd, SB Nation: Boyd carries readers on the journey of Thomas “TJ” Webster Jr., a kid from a broken California home who spent all his money on a bus ticket to New York City. “Each year, one, maybe two players, at most will be good enough to be granted a jersey and, in essence, a pass inside the halls of the cathedral of street basketball; a chance to feel the nearly religious power of Rucker Park – the same court that has hosted some of the greatest players to ever play the game,” Boyd tells us before winding through the emotional journey that is Webster’s attempt to become the ultimate streetball success story.

Owning The Middle, Kate Fagan, ESPN The Magazine: Fagan’s profile of Brittney Griner, the first overall pick in the spring’s WNBA Draft, tells the story of an immensely complex character who was just realizing her powers to destroy cultural norms both inside and outside of sports. “She has long exuded a gender-bending vibe, yet the player who led her team to a national championship and dunked her way into the highlights was merely a muted version of her true self,” Fagan writes. “Now, the real Griner is appearing as if in Technicolor 3-D, shouting her truth to the rafters.”

Kansas’ Ben McLemore Fights Through Poverty To NCAA’s Center Stage, Eric Prisbell,USA Today: Prisbell digs into the past of Kansas basketball star Ben McLemore, an out-of-nowhere freshman who became the Jayhawks’ best player and nearly the national player of the year in the 2012-2013 season. What results is a tear-jerking story about the extreme poverty McLemore has overcome: “He won’t forget the feeling of waking up knowing there was no food or beverage in the refrigerator, with none on the way those days. He says at times he would go one or two days with no food,” Prisbell writes. “‘Sometimes we would not have food so we could keep our lights on and have hot water,’ (McLemore) says. ‘She had to sacrifice for that.’” Months after it published, McLemore’s story had a happier ending: the Jayhawks didn’t win the national title, but the Sacramento Kings made him the seventh pick in the NBA Draft.

You Can Only Hope To Contain Them, Amanda Hess, ESPN The Magazine: Part of ESPN’s Body Issue, Hess’ piece examines the challenges breasts present to female athletes — and to the researchers studying how to address those challenges in healthy ways. While it may sound like humorous topic, it’s not. As Hess explains, breasts pose health, image, and competitive concerns to women and girls at all levels of sports. “Gymnasts push themselves to the brink of starvation to avoid developing them. All sorts of pro athletes have ponied up thousands of dollars to surgically reduce them,” Hess writes. “For the modern athlete, the question isn’t whether breasts get in the way — it’s a question of how to compete around them.” Another benefit of this piece: it has, via ESPN editor Megan Greenwell, the best headline of the year.

Inside Major League Baseball’s Dominican Sweatshop System, Ian Gordon, Mother Jones: Gordon uses the story of Dominican baseball player Yewri Guillen, who died on the day he was supposed to leave the island for the United States, to look into Major League Baseball’s Dominican development system. What he finds is troubling: “Guillén’s death is the worst-case scenario in a recruiting system that treats young Dominicans as second-class prospects, paying them far less than young Americans and sometimes denying them benefits that are standard in the US minor leagues.”

The Sports Cable Bubble, Patrick Hruby, Sports On Earth: Hruby gets to the center of one of the biggest issues in the economics of sports this year: how much cable customers are paying to watch sports, even if they don’t watch sports at all. “Add it all up, and big time sports are taking a minimum of $84.90 out of my pocket, year after year. Before I buy a jersey. Or a licensed video game. Or even a single game ticket. Just because I have pay television,” Hruby writes. He goes onto explain why this happens — and whether it’s a model that can last for companies like ESPN.

Failure Is Not An Option, Mimi Swartz, Texas Monthly: Swartz delves into the story of Beverly Kearney, the former coach of the University of Texas women’s track team who was fired, supposedly, over an affair with an athlete that happened a decade ago. “But what looks to be a familiar story of an illicit romance is in fact more convoluted, encompassing matters of gender, race, and the state of college sports. And at the center of it all is a highly gifted woman whose internal complexity threatens each and every thing she’s won,” Swartz writes. It’s a compelling, complex story that keeps twisting all the way to the end.

The Forgotten Phenom, Jonathan Abrams, Grantland: Abrams tells the story of Korleone Young, once considered a can’t-miss NBA prospect who ultimately saw only 15 minutes of playing time in his lone season in the league. Young is now 34 and trying to piece his life back together while dealing with depression and other issues. “Where is Korleone Young now?” Abrams asks. “Right where he started, still trying to get started.”

By: TRAVIS WALDRON

Source: http://alturl.com/55aae

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“The 10 Best Pieces Of Sportswriting From 2013”

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Get Good At Math

2013-12-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

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Someday At Christmas

2013-12-20T04:04:00.002-08:00

Bring Our Troops Home

2013-12-20T04:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas Gifts on The Cheap

2013-12-19T05:48:00.003-08:00

Patriot League :: College Hoops

2013-12-14T21:14:00.002-08:00

Lafayette Leopards College Basketball Do It Again Upsetting St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers 61-58

By admin on Sunday, December 15, 2013

Lafayette comeback beats St. Francis (Pa.) 61-58 – Men’s College …

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EASTON, Pa. (AP) — Dan Trist scored 16 points, and Lafayette overcame a 15- point, second-half deficit to beat St.
Lafayette settles down in second half and beats St. Francis …

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Dec 4, 2012 - Lafayette coach Fran O’Hanlon knelt on the floor and buried his face in his hands … Lafayette’s Alan Flannigan (right) drives to the basket in front of Saint Francis‘ …. Lafayette men’s basketball team playing defending national.
Lafayette College men’s basketball team defeat St. Francis (N.Y. …

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Nov 17, 2011 - Rob Delaney against St. Francis (N.Y.) View full sizeExpress-Times Photo | JIM MIDDLEKAUFFLafayette’s Rob Delaney jumps up to pass the …
St. Francis (PA)

Red Flash vs. Lafayette Leopards – Live NCAA …

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Watch St. Francis (PA) Red Flash vs. Lafayette Leopards live NCAA collegebasketball game online with GameTrax.
Lafayette Leopards Official Athletic Site – Men’s Basketball

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.. Saint Francis December 3, 2012 - Lafayette Set to Host Winless Saint Francis ….February 18, 2011 – Men’s Basketball Live Chat – Beat Lehigh! February 17 …

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Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

2013-12-14T06:04:00.001-08:00

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Hi Friends and Neighbors of the 5th Ward,
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DON'T FORGET.............

The Garden City Fire Company Annual Holiday Float with Santa will be around this weekend, Saturday December 14th and Sunday December 15th. The weather for part of this weekend looks blahhhh, so refer to the Garden City Fire Company website I provided below for updates and when they will be in your area. The 5th Ward is typically on Sunday. Pennsylvania/ New Jersey Ave in the late morning afternoon, with the "tree" streets in the evening. This schedule is subject to change due to the impending weather. Listen for the fire truck siren. You know they will be coming then.

http://www.gardencityfire.com/index.php

Regards,

Larry Baker

5th Ward Commissioner

Nether Providence Twp.

D.I.Y. Make Your Own Christmas Gifts & Ornaments

2013-12-09T21:16:00.004-08:00