Life & Love

On Monday, I received what I hope will be the results of my final COVID test for 2021. I opened the email from COLOR SF to see a green arrow that said NEGATIVE. In one sense, the words and the image were contradictory. Green means go. That's positive—and in this …

It's not about the weight room. And yet, it is. By now, every sports fan in America should be aware of the story that emerged shortly before tip off of the 2021 men's and women's NCAA basketball tournament. University of Oregon basketball player, Sedona Price created a TikTok video to …

Happy Easter. He is Risen. Alleluia! We are Easter people. I've heard it in the pews and from the pulpit. I say it to my students and serve myself the same reminder: we are Easter people. What does that mean? I have but two thoughts. First are the words from …

It's always fun to ask what if. What if you had your choice of playing golf on any course with any foursome—Where would you go and who would you include? What if you could visit one sporting event—What would it be and where? What if you could attend any dinner …

It is no secret that I have long believed that sports and golf in particular serve as a worthy analog for understanding the spiritual life. I love playing with ideas—and teasing out the correlations, limitations and seeing what sticks. What do I want to pass on? What "works?" It's not …

Japanese culture places such emphasis on the family, that professional athletes are introduced and recognized by their last name first. It is with that spirit and custom in mind that we extend the warmest of congratulations to the winner of the 85th Masters: Matsuyma, Hideki. Matsuyma, the first Japanese golfer …

"You can't be what you can't see."—Marian Wright Edelman I was familiar with the words of American activist and founder of the Children's Defense Fund Marian Wright Edelman long before the Biden-Harris victory. But her message was celebrated by many as no other woman, or woman of color has been …

Walking across campus —from one classroom to the next—my eyes feasted a sea of jerseys. Niners, Warriors and Giants. Sharks, old school Saint Francis brown and gold and even the silver and black—Go Raiders!—were on site. It's Spring Spirit Week at Saint Francis High School and the day's dress up …

A. E. Houseman wrote the elegiac poem "To An Athlete Dying Young." It's haunting. mysterious beautiful and tragic. It resonates with too many of us for sports has carried more than one story of the subject: Jill Costello. Hank Gathers. Jose Fernandez. Len Bias. The list looms long. But where …

I walked out of my front door onto Fillmore Street and took notice of a great sight. Tucked inside the newspaper stand—yes, those still exist—front, center and above the fold of the San Francisco Examiner proudly paid tribute to the Say Hey Kid. "Happy 90th Birthday Willie Mays." I love …