Keith Strudler

There’s apparently a whole section at the University of North Carolina book store for shirts that without irony declare that UNC is now a football school. Sports fans recognize the twist, as Michael Jordan’s alma matter is historically known as one of the blue bloods of college basketball, along with places like Kansas and Kentucky, schools that expect to compete for basketball titles and hope for the best in the exorbitant world of big time college football.

So I was lucky to be at a five set match earlier this week at the US Open, one that was decided in a 10 point tiebreak that would determine who moved on to the second round and who went home.

It’s really hard to win a college football national championship. Now imagine winning four – all in one day. That’s technically what just happened for Auburn, who have just claimed four additional college football national titles, bringing their full total to nine. Not long ago, it was only considered two, in 1957 and 2010. In those years, the Tigers were ranked first by AP Poll and in the NCAA Record Book, in addition to the BCS in 2010.

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.