Good sun, bad sun

In my latest for the Malden Observer, a local businessman explains how a company that thrives on shielding its customers from "bad" sun is now using the sun to its advantage.

Remembering a teacher

In my latest for the Stoneham Sun, I talk about the passing of a local teacher and how much he meant to his community.

More than a marathon

Paul Zeizel could have taken this year after running the Boston Marathon 15 times in a row. He was living in Afghanistan most of the year, after all. But to Zeizel, the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston is more than a marathon, the Daily News Tribune reports.

Cold day, cold bats

Watertown High's bats went cold in yesterday's loss to Burlington, the Daily News Tribune reports.

Storytime

It began when a North Carolina transplant wanted to recreate the storytelling he did with his friends on the porch as moths flew in. Now it's a local phenomenon. The Malden Observer covers the culmination of the story slam season.

The race card

It's the touchies of issues, but Gregg Doyel has a point in his column about the number of blacks in Major League Baseball. While many say there is a shortage, and baseball is hurting for it, Doyel does a great job highlighting the economics of the situation. Underlying motives can't be judged, but the money trail here tells the story.

Reasons to run

In my latest for the Stoneham Sun, I explore why a couple theatre guys decided to run the Boston Marathon.

Ah, the life of a freelancer

Check out this hilarious bit in the New York Times today, adequately describing the life of a freelancer.

Fluff journalism

My newest job, writing cheese for a GateHouse Media New England weekly, the Malden Observer. This week: The Helping Hands club aids local special needs kids.

Duke!

Some columns on the champion Blue Devils:

• Joe Posnanski on why Duke is a great, not just good, team
• Andy Staples on Kyle's Singler's view of the final shot
• Stewart Mandel on how sweet the win is for Brian Zoubek
• Dennis Dodd on Coach K being the best ever

My favorite quote from the coverage appears in Dodd's story, where forward Lance Thomas says Duke "maxed" their season out. And that's the truth. Of all Duke teams, stuffed to the gills with college superstars and future NBA players, this was not a loaded team. They were just a team, a collection of guys who played to their full potential. Coach Mike Krzyzewski got the most out of each role player, shooter, and sub.

But the greatest thing about this championship game, which most people are now saying actually lived up to its hype, is that both sides were teams. They had their stars, sure, but both sides put complete squads on the floor. The magic of this year's NCAA championship was that the vaunted teams with one-and-done NBA prospects died in the early rounds. Yet the teams with four-year seniors, deep friendships, and a group work ethic ended up the final.

And that's why you watch college basketball.

Duke!

There's been plenty of media coverage of Duke the past few days, but I present this piece by Joe Posnanski as a rebuttal to the question of why anyone would root tonight for Duke, the team everyone loves to hate.

Women are the brake pedal

This article from New York Magazine reveals the big surprise that when women and men team up, there are great results because they balance each other out. Of course, the NY Mag article is a lot more about biological influences and risk-taking tendencies (watch out for some salty language and other terms), but what I see is that the way women tend to act, balanced with how guys work, can make a good result when properly combined.

My first NY

New York Magazine ran a great article last week, with some writers talking about their first experience in New York. It's a hook for a new book coming out from the editors of New York Magazine with same idea, just with a lot more people telling their stories, but the first three in this article online are the best.

Check out the photo of Nora Ephron covering Bobby Kennedy's campaign. My favorite line in the whole article? Also Ephron: "I'd known since I was 5, when my parents forced me to move to California, that I was going to live in New York eventually and that everything in between was just a horrible intermission."