Stories from the First 60 Years with Budd Mishkin

It ain't over 'til it's over.  So true.  So true.

The New York Giants are back in the playoffs and their fans are pretty excited about a second round playoff game this Saturday night against the Philadelphia Eagles.  It's been a while since the Giants have been in the playoffs.  But whenever they are in the playoffs, I recall a game during which I made one of the cardinal mistakes of sports journalism.  Trust me...it's easy to remember "That Time I Cost The Giants A Playoff Game."

What do you remember from the most memorable sports night of your life?

Welcome to the latest episode of "Stories from the First 60 Years."

This episode..."A Coat A Curse And The Cup."

The recent unveiling of the statue of Tom Seaver at Citi Field in New York elicited an understandable outpouring of emotion for the pitcher known as "The Franchise."  Seaver died on August 31, 2020.  A few weeks before that, another former New York baseball player died.  There will be no statues of Horace Clarke outside Yankee Stadium.  He became a symbol for an era in Yankees baseball that the franchise would prefer to forget.  It's easy to root for a team when it is winning championships.  But the true fan roots for a team just as passionately during bad times and remembers those teams just as lovingly.  

I wrote this piece about Horace Clarke and my first baseball game after he died in 2020.  It popped again recently on social media, so I've decided to voice it as well.  

This is the latest episode of "Stories from the First 60 Years."  I hope you enjoy "Ruth Gehrig Dimaggio Mantle Horace Clarke: The Ties That Bind Through Sports."

When the New York Mets unveiled the statue of Tom Seaver at Citi Field Friday before their home opener, it reminded me of this piece I wrote after Seaver died on August 31, 2020.  It's about Seaver, but mostly about the ties that bind through sports and my father.

I hope you enjoy "The Franchise," the latest episode of the personal narrative podcast "Stories from the First 60 Years." 

Postgame.  It's one of the stranger aspects of journalism, specifically sports journalism.  You enter someone else's home, a locker room, and ask them about their job performance.  I covered a thousand post game locker rooms.  Post practice too.  These are some of the lessons learned and memorable stories...moments that were funny, angry, monotonous, poignant and occasionally human.

Sometimes, the power of a phrase transcends the years, eliciting a smile 70 years later.

Welcome to the latest episode of "Stories from the First 60 Years."

What is it like to grieve for your city from halfway around the world?

Welcome to the latest episode of "Stories from the First 60 Years."

In this episode, a conversation with my wife Peri Smilow as we remember 9/11 and the days and weeks after that terrible day, leading Jewish High Holiday services and holding on tight far away from home.

You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy this story about being somewhere on a day when you shouldn't have been there.  And that's why it was the "Greatest Rosh Hashanah Ever."

What does it feel like when the sports hero of your youth dies? Now I know.

We've all known difficult times, though most of us don't have to endure them publicly.  But what if the worst night of your professional life unfolds for all to see? How we respond to the struggle says a lot more about us than the struggle itself.  

Welcome to the latest episode of Stories from the First 60 Years.