Love in the Kitchen

A caring heart is as good a measure as any, when you try to evaluate success.   World-class Chef Scott Peacock once told me, “It’s always the most important ingredient.” He was lifting a cake out of the oven.  Turned and dropped it on the kitchen...

Midnight Basketball

My grandfather’s basketball coach was James Naismith, the man who invented the sport. In those days the Founding Father had not yet punched a hole in the bottom of the peach basket that was used instead of a net. “Coach,” grandpa said, “this game would be a whole lot...

Coach Abe Lemons for the Laugh

My first job for NBC News was at the Munich Olympics in 1972. That’s where I met legendary basketball coach Abe Lemons. He was president of the College Coaches Association that year, but told me he couldn’t get tickets to any Olympic basketball games. Instead, he...

Silent Dreams

Janelle Barencott has never heard the bounce of a ball, the swish of a net.  But on this day, she got to play against the best of the best, players dreaming of jobs in the National Women’s Basketball Association.  Janelle’s dreams are silent.  ...

Budding Larry Bird 

March Madness gives us a chance to watch the superstars of tomorrow.  Before Larry Bird became a basketball legend, he was a shy student.  I covered one of his first games. Hop in my Way Back Machine for a bit of March Madness from 1979.  You’ll be...