FRED LIEF
FILE - Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski, left, and quarterback Tom Brady (12) celebrate after the NFL Super Bowl 55 football game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Tampa, Fla., Feb. 7, 2021. Brady's fifth Super Bowl title, at 43 no less, was one of the best moments of 2021, when a continuing pandemic could not dim the brightest of stars of the sports world.(AP Photo/Steve Luciano, File)
Ode to Sports: A year when games and fans came off the bench

By Fred Lief Dec. 23, 2021 12:24 PM EST
Essentially better, wouldn’t you say? Fans back in the stands and games

FILE - In this June 17, 2017, file photo, former Cincinnati Reds player Pete Rose speaks during his statue dedication ceremonies before a baseball game between the Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
2020 sports quiz: Brady to Bundesliga, Big Ten to Brooklyn

By Fred Lief Dec. 30, 2020 11:04 AM EST
You’ve had time to shelter at home and bone up. Your 2020 year-end sports quiz

FILE- In this Aug. 7, 2010, file photo, Marylou Whitney watches horse racing from her box seats at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Philanthropist, socialite and horse-racing enthusiast Marylou Whitney, known as the "Queen of Saratoga," died on July 19, 2019, at her Saratoga Springs estate after a long illness. She was 93. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)
Sports losses in 2019: Newcombe, Robinson, Starr, Havlicek

By Fred Lief Dec. 29, 2019 11:26 AM EST
They ran the next legs, taking the baton from Jackie Robinson as black players

FILE - In this Jan. 8, 2018, file photo, Alabama head coach Nick Saban celebrates the Crimson Tide's overtime over Georgia in the NCAA college football playoff championship game in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
Ode to Sports: Bosox, Bama rise; gymnasts stand tall

By Fred Lief Dec. 29, 2018 11:18 AM EST
No more timeouts, see off the year, Offer a toast and close the show

Sports mourns 1960s touchstones: Mikita, Taylor, McCovey

By Fred Lief Dec. 28, 2018 10:40 AM EST
They were touchstones of sports in the 1960s, and sports lost three of the best in