Keith Strudler

I am going to fully admit that my knowledge of chess is fairly limited, beyond having played it as a kid and then again with my kids until they could beat me.

Maybe one of the most glorious parts of watching live professional tennis is the decorum of the experience. When you go to a tennis match, there are rules for the fans, just like the players.

It started as a footnote in the horrific shooting at 345 Park Avenue in Manhattan, where a gunman walked into the midtown office building with a semi-automatic rifle and killed four and severely injured another before killing himself.

Maybe one of the most amazing things about Donald Trump is that he makes you start cheering for things you would have never supported until he attacked it.

Sport is a cruel mistress. That’s true as a fan, but it can be even more pronounced as an athlete.

Penn athletics hasn’t been a significant part of the national discourse since around the mid 20th century, when they still had a dominant football program with big fan base. Beyond the occasional NCAA basketball tournament appearance and the Penn Relays, the Quakers don’t get a lot of air time.

For all but fans of two NBA teams, the basketball season has been over for some time. Yes, Oklahoma City and Indiana just finished a seven-game series to give the Thunder their first ever title, but everyone else’s hopes and dreams ended weeks if not months ago.

One of the most frustrating moments of any live sporting experience is walking around to find a concessions stand only to wait in line for what feels like forever for the opportunity to pay Upper East Side restaurant prices for a street cart sandwich and a drink that may or may not have lost its carbonation. And to return to your seat to realize you just missed the only goal of the entire game.

You may have heard the story of the dentist who’s playing in the US Open Golf Tournament this week. His name is Matt Vogt, and he’s 34 years old and runs his own dental practice in Indianapolis, not far from where he once played college golf at Butler University.

Everyone has moments in life when you feel the passage of time, when you realize you’re a long way from where you once were. I had one this week when my oldest son played his very last high school lacrosse game. I actually didn’t make this one in person, since it was about an hour away, but I did watch the live stream and saw his last home game in person just a few days prior.