Sports & Society

The Lowell Spinners, Class-A Affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, will welcome Red Sox star, and 2001 Spinner, Kevin Youkilis back to Lowell for the Eighth Annual Lowell Spinners Alumni Dinner, Tuesday, December 29 at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium in downtown Lowell.

With the date fast approaching, the Spinners are continuing to add to the guest list, confirming former Red Sox catcher Rich Gedman and former New York Met Mike Glavine will be in attendance.

WOYK 1350-AM, and the York Revolution of the Atlantic League have come together on a three-year partnership.  The agreement was announced by Revolution general manager Matt O’Brien and WOYK general manager Vince Grande.

“We’re excited to be broadcasting on the area’s most powerful AM signal,” O’Brien stated in a news release. “Being a sports station, WOYK 1350 broadcasts York College basketball, the NFL playoffs, the Super Bowl and now the York Revolution. It’s a great fit.”

Introducing Mark McGwire Will Be Tricky

In the early fall of 2001, New York was rocked by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.  In one hour and forty three minutes, the tallest buildings in Manhattan had gone from glistening beacons of American achievement to a mass grave for three thousand innocent people. 

Like a good perfume smells better on Penelope Cruz, championships, perhaps, are best celebrated at baseball’s cathedral.

Whether you love them or hate them, you’re a capitalist or a socialist; the Yankees should be respected by every American because they are synonymous with winning and excellence.

By no means are the Yankees a model of perfection, however, but do you think you get to the top in America and stay there by shining everyone’s shoes?

Many people just want to side with the winning team, many even skip Church on Sundays, because the game is on, and will feel more resolve in the fleeting of sports victory rather than the eternity of spiritual victory.

Some Florida Gator fans have even seen the spiritual meaning in the Tim Tebow led victory over the LSU Tigers at night, after Tebow had been injured with a concussion.

"When you become the cheating baseball player, it becomes who you are, and nobody wants to walk around with that." - Steve Phillips

So what about if you're a cheating ex-GM who spouts incredible wisdom to ESPN audiences on a regular basis? Do you become the cheating ex-GM or the cheating ex-ESPN analyst? Inquiring minds want to know, Steve.

Ah, Steve Phillips. Now here's a guy who talks about the impact of cheating in the sport of baseball when, all the while, the moron is cheating on his wife. Nice.

A little girl's unconditional love for her father is a heartwarming story that I can hear over and over again without tiring of it. More so, I feel absolutely within the boundaries of creative license to share the story on more than one occasion.

The following is part of a weekly series called "Through the Eyes of..."  In each segment, I share interviews with or stories about those who I view to be the "Good Guys." The men and women who participate in and are the very fiber that make up the great game of baseball.

"Through the Eyes of..." is a part of my personal crusade to present baseball in all its beauty, splendor, and goodness, instead of through hashing and rehashing all that is broken with our national treasure. TC

They say "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence," leaving one to believe that they have never played in Jeff Paolino's back yard.

Paolino is the Head Groundskeeper for the Lowell Spinners, Class-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, and was recently named the New York-Penn League Sports Turf Manager of the Year for his work at LeLacheur Park.

An avid baseball fan and criminal justice major, Paolino, in his second season as the Spinners head groundskeeper after three seasons as the assistant.