“The gift of growth and enrichment through love and horses”
~ Special Equestrian Riding Therapy

Horses can be great pets for young people. The child learns about companionship and responsibility, and both the child and the horse learn about love. But, it wasn’t always recognized how beneficial the relationship between a child with special needs and a horse can be. Continue Reading

In recent years, NCAA basketball’s “March Madness” has grown so much in popularity that many sports fans now feel it is equal to or ahead of the Super Bowl in overall interest in this country.

Mike Leach thinks college football should have the same format. He is in favor of a 64-team playoff among the major schools. Continue Reading

Dear Ross,

I have been a big fan of you, Jerry Doggett and Vin Scully for many years as well as a lifelong Dodger fan. Looking forward to reading your site RealSportsHeroes.com God bless you and your family.

John E. Ryan
Los Angeles

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Ross:

It’s nice of you to check in, John. Enjoy our website and vignettes.

Hi, Ross,

We should have some good baseball playoffs this year. The Angels do well against the Yankees so I hope they beat them. You can’t count out the Red Sox either. Kazmir should really help the Angels. The Phillies and Cardinals should be a good NLCS. Both teams can hit. St. Louis has a little bit better pitching, I think. The Dodgers don’t hit much now. I’m enjoying Real Sports Heroes on 830 AM in Anaheim.

Stay well.

Clyde Smith
Riverside

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Ross:

Clyde, you are correct about the Red Sox. They give the Angels trouble in post-season games. I think you are right about the Phillies and Cardinals in the National League. The Yankees have not won a World Series since 2000, but they are playing well.

Ross,

General manager Ned Colletti of the Dodgers is to be commended for his recent acquisitions and their 1-8 lineup is almost as strong as anybody’s. Manny is now their third best position hitter after Kemp and Ethier. Broxton has come on strong and their bullpen is tight. Their only flaw is that they have no pitching ace and that is key in that first round best of five series in particular. Don’t discount the Cardinals.

Harry Bluebond
Los Angeles

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Ross:

I think Ned Colletti has made some good moves with the Dodgers and deserves to be rehired. I know, Harry, that you are pulling for the Phillies. They have as good a chance as any team.

Beginning his major league baseball playing career with the Boston Braves in 1946, and ending it with the Milwaukee Braves in 1960, Alvin Dark was one of the top shortstops in the post-World War II era. Continue Reading

“It’s why they play the game,”

That’s a comment I make to my wife when there is a huge upset in sports. Continue Reading

How do you judge a professional football quarterback?

By the totalness of his career……or by how many Super Bowls he won——-and lost? Continue Reading

Hi, Ross !

I have poured over your website and listened to many of the interviews. Of course I started with the Dodgers and baseball interviews. I really enjoyed your interview with Jerry Coleman. In fact it is my desire to somehow get Jerry the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The one thing I really enjoyed about your website is the uplifting stories. In fact, in my eighth grade classroom today, we talked about “Dummy” Hoy and how signs were born in baseball. Kids were amazed !

Todd Anton
Temecula

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Ross:

Todd, I appreciate your comments. It would be wonderful if Jerry received the Presidential Medal of Freedom as he is the only major leaguer to serve in combat in both World War II and Korea. I’m glad the youngsters were enamored with “Dummy” and his story. We think he should be in the Hall of Fame.

Ross:

I admire Torii Hunter very much. The Angels really needed a leader like Hunter and he’s proven to be a great guy on and off the field. Beside, education is a passion of my husband’s and mine. We’re involved with the Camino Nuevo Charter Academy in inner-city Los Angeles. I’m glad you’re getting such stories out—-way too much dispiriting news this season in sports.

Jean Ardell
Corona del Mar, Ca.

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Ross:

You are right, Jean, when you point out Torii”s contributions to the Angels in several areas. He’s got a good heart, and wants to help youngsters in particular as you and your husband are doing. Keep up your good work.

(Jean is a well-respected free lance author and college teacher who wrote, “Breaking into Baseball: Women and the National Pastime” She and her husband Dan, a former first baseman of the Los Angeles Angels, host the annual NINE Spring Training Conference on the Historical and Sociological Impact of Baseball. It’s held every March in Arizona, and this year was the 16th annual conference. NINE is a journal of baseball history and culture. The conference invites originally unpublished papers that study all aspects of baseball with particular emphasis on history and social policy implications. I am looking forward to meeting the Ardells and serving on a panel with Jean tonight at the Burbank library.)

Ross——

The other day, while watching a Yankee game, I heard Michael Kay and John Flaherty say that one of the things that makes this year’s team special is that all the starting pitchers sit in the dugout and cheer on their teammates. They said that Clemens, Mussina and Randy Johnson were never there except on days they were pitching. I couldn’t tell if they meant it was only unique to this year’s Yankee team or if it were unique in the major leagues. I would think that, just for the purpose of team morale, pitchers would be in the dugout. Wouldn’t they be embarrassed if they weren’t there to watch a teammate throw a no-hitter, hit four homers or get a walk-off hit?

Burt Prelutsky

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Ross:

Your question is a good one, Burt.

Each major league manager has a set of rules that he wants followed, but some do not enforce them when it comes to their star players, or pitchers, in this case. It used to be that if a pitcher were going to face the same opponent the next day or night in that series, he would sit in the dugout and “chart” pitches. Using a clipboard, he would note every pitch his teammate would throw to an opposing batter, listing the type of pitch, the ball-strike count, the location where it was thrown, and what the hitter wound up doing in that at-bat. This “charting” would continue the entire game showing what relief pitchers threw as well. The next day before the game, the pitcher and his catcher would go over that chart and form their plan of how to pitch to each enemy hitter. I don’t know how many teams still “chart.” If pitchers are not due to work in the current series or have already made their start, they would often do their work in the weight room and go home during the game. A video cassette is made of each game so pitchers can study the tapes and get an idea of what they will do. Times have changed in baseball. No players are embarrassed because they didn’t stay the whole game, regardless of what they missed. Someone once referred to the current climate as “25 players, 25 cabs.” Everyone does his own thing. It used to be that if a team were winding up a road trip and going home after the game, the starting pitcher the next night would fly back early before his team to avoid the late hour arrival and get a better night’s sleep. That doesn’t seem to happen now. Don Drysdale flew to Los Angeles for that reason one time and missed one of Sandy Koufax’s no-hitters on the road. When told what he missed, Don remarked, “Did he win?”

Were you aware that NFL Films has chosen the “Immaculate Reception” catch by Franco Harris of the Steelers in a 1972 divisional playoff game against the Raiders “the greatest football play of all-time” as well as the most controversial. Continue Reading

To see good tennis!
What divine joy can fill our leisure or our minds employ?
Let other people play at other things
The King of Games is still the Game of Kings.
__ J. K. Stephen 1891 Continue Reading

He was born with no right hand and a severe form of clubfoot. His right foot was half the size of his left with a broad flat surface where the toes should be. His friends nicknamed him “Stumpy.” Continue Reading