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ESPN’s ‘Last Dance’ Replete With Life Lessons

ESPN’s documentary on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls is already receiving rave reviews for shining a spotlight on not only the greatest basketball player ever but one of the best athletes of all time. Four episodes into the 10-part series, “The Last Dance” has already underscored the vital role that family plays, especially in the lives of young black men. “The Last Dance” skillfully bounces between chronicling the last running of the Bulls toward their sixth championship in eight years and delving into the backgrounds of the team’s stars. Michael Jordan is rightly ...

It Isn’t A Pause, It’s Slow Motion Destruction

The governor of New York again pressed the “pause button” on the state’s economy until May 28. The excuse is that if people go out and about, more individuals are going to die from the virus. That is possibly true in the short run. The shutdown was ostensibly only to “flatten the curve” so hospitals weren’t overwhelmed. Most people were willing to cooperate for the short time promised, but anyone who supposes that a government can pause an economy doesn’t have any idea about how an economy works, nor do they have a sense of what it takes to actually run a business. The ...

Lakewood Lens: It May Be A Different Kind Of Summer

Bemus Point Mayor Bryan Dahlberg told me their community gardener walked up to him last week and voiced something a lot of us are thinking: “What are we going to do?” He looked at her, shrugged and said, “Plant flowers.” His story underscores the ever-present optimism the mayor has always had for his village, but it also serves as a metaphor for the rest of us. We don’t know what’s going to happen, but what we can do is plant flowers and make the best of things. “Visitors and residents love and appreciate the flowers here,” he said, and since they’ve already ...

View From Hickory Heights: Ah Rhubarb, Much, Much More Spring Bounty For Taking

I think often of my great-grandmother’s house. She was an immigrant from The Netherlands or Holland as she preferred to call it. Both great-grandma and great-grandpa were immigrants. I am not sure how they ended up living in Dunkirk, but they did. He worked for the railroad when he came to Dunkirk. Their house was the last house on the street near the railroad. I think maybe he walked to work. I never knew great-grandpa because he died before I was born. However, I knew great-grandma well. When I was in grade school, they were building schools in town. The older students switched ...

Turning 14 For A Golden Retriever Is A Milestone

The celebratory date is today and, while I’m writing this at the end of March, today ranks high on my list of things to look forward to. She might prefer her birthday, which is May 1, and I’m not forgetting that for a moment. My calendar already has the appropriate stickers. Turning 14 for a golden retriever is a huge accomplishment, no doubt about it. For all the dogs I’ve loved, none has ever reached that milestone — or even come close. Still, it’s the date Molly came to live with me that I’ll mark. It was a struggle to get her out of the stranger’s car — ...

Our House Is Very ‘Draft-y’ In April

In 2014, the movie, “Draft Day” was released, starring Kevin Costner as General Manager of the Cleveland Browns preparing for, and executing, his game plan in building the Cleveland Browns Football Team before the 2014 season. It was based on the annual NFL Player Draft and even featured appearances by Jamestown’s own Roger Goodell, the present NFL Commissioner. Being a lifelong Browns fan, I thought the fictional Sonny Weaver, Jr. executed a fantastic draft, using ingenuity and savvy in making deals on his draft day. After seeing the real draft that year, I wish the real ...