Lamm at Large

Like in the SEC, naming the top five football coaches in the ACC during my career isn't an easy task. Oh, the top two are easy. I give FSU's Bobby Bowden a slight edge over Clemson's Dabo Swinney because of how long Bowden led the Seminoles. Frank Beamer's long career at Virginia Tech produced a lot of good teams. The Hokies played for the national title in '99. He's a solid […]

I keep telling everyone what a big baseball fan I am. I do love the sport going back to my childhood. I vividly remember the thrill I got when I got a Mays or Mantle or Kaline card for my penny. I also remember how bad the bubble gum was that came with the card. Now I fear I'm a fraud. I was anxious for the MLB all-stars to be […]

You're young, physically fit and, by most standards, rich. You're an NFL player and you're in the midst of a month-long break. What are you going to do? If you're a family man, do you take kids on trips to Disney World, Universal and Sea World? No kids? Maybe you take your bride on a romantic getaway to a Caribbean Island. Or maybe, if you're like the rest us husbands, […]

The first time I saw the Old Course at St. Andrews I thought it looked like a goat ranch. That was in 2005. I still think it looks that way -- evidence that I'm an  American golf snob expecting every course to be immaculately groomed from tee to green with evenly cut rough. No one denies that to win at the Old Course luck is often as big a factor […]

College football has never experienced such turmoil as it is right now. Teams are switching conferences faster than ever, The SEC has swelled to 16 teams after robbing the Big 12 of its two marque teams, Oklahoma and Texas. Bet ya can't name all 16 teams without Google. The Big 10 also has increased to 16 teams, robbing the Pac-12 of its biggest TV market. The conference now literally stretches […]

Going into Wimbledon's quarter-finals I recognized exactly two players, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, Of course I know Serena Williams, but she was long gone. I felt embarrassed because as a sports journalist I should be up to speed on most sports. I used to follow tennis back in the days of John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras -- and stars much earlier than that. I used to enjoy tennis, […]

All-Star Games are a waste of time. Many players, including most of the top players, have lost interest. They bail out of playing, using excuses raging from injuries no one knew they had to exhaustion. The NFL has discussed dropping the Pro Bowl altogether. Fans pay more attention to the NBA skill contests than the game -- where no one can remember the last time anyone played defense. Baseball has […]

When I heard a TV  commentator say the Colorado victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning for the Stanley Cup was a victory for small markets, I was  take aback.. Denver a small market? Not by my standards. It's the No. 17 TV market. Tampa, by the way, is No. 11. The size of the TV market is often over ruled by the depth of the owners' pocket if those owners […]

Title IX is a wonderful thing. I supported it back in the '70s through my columns at the Greensboro Daily News, much to the angst of many of my of my readers. It still strongly support it. It's still to right thing to do. Girls deserve equal treatment with the boys. That means equal facilities, equipment and coaching. My support of Title IX extends to college, although I don't think […]