El Barbudo

El Barbudo

Tim Hughes taught history at Bryan Adams High School in Dallas during my three-year stint there. A man who savored his subject as much as his profession, Mr. Hughes was an unabashed supporter of the red, white and blue. For example, he made sure...

Three Cheers for Fido!

Three Cheers for Fido!

To be perfectly honest, I have never been a big fan of dogs. In my growing-up days, the Pennington family did not have one as a pet. (Nor, for that matter, was there a cat in our household.) They were plentiful, however, in the two east Dallas...

My Five from Texas

My Five from Texas

Perhaps in the spirit of July 4, the people at Sports Illustrated recently printed an article in which they listed the top five athletes from each of the 50 states. I had neither the time nor the inclination to go through the whole thing, so I...

I Dream of Jerry

I Dream of Jerry

According to Carl Jung, “the general function of dreams is to try to re-establish our psychological equilibrium by means of dream material which, in a subtle way, reconstitutes the total equilibrium of our entire psyche.” Yeah, maybe. I have had...

A Sip of Java for Jack Faszholz

A Sip of Java for Jack Faszholz

Not every guy who makes it to the major leagues has a long and successful career, developing his athletic skills to the utmost, winning championships, earning big money and getting his ego endlessly stroked. There are far more who manage to find...

Minnie Miñoso, a Baseball Lifer

Minnie Miñoso, a Baseball Lifer

Having honored John Mackovic as a football lifer and Hubie Brown as his hoops counterpart, I simply had to write a similar article about a baseball man. I sought suggestions and got quite a few, but each one left me unenthused. Then, I heard a...

Hubie Brown, a Basketball Lifer

Hubie Brown, a Basketball Lifer

He was born in the depths of the Depression and grew up in a rough-and-tumble part of Elizabeth, New Jersey, a port town 20 miles southwest of Manhattan. His father was a foreman at a shipyard, lost his job and was not too proud to hire on as a...