Welcome to the hoops capital for men and women

The games will be played elsewhere. Houston on Saturday and Indianapolis on Sunday, to be precise. But make no mistake about it. The folks who call Syracuse, N.Y., and its surrounding miles home can undeniably make claim as the basketball capital of the entire world this weekend. The Syracuse men’s and women’s teams both won…

Hitting the dome walls makes us happy

KP, Tater and I got our golf season off to its traditional indoor start last week. Too chilly and wet for us to comfortably put in our first swings of 2016 on an outside course, we once again gathered inside the Golf Dome at Turning Stone Resort and Casino, some 25 southeast of Syracuse in…

A special meal coming for a Happy Easter

My dear wife Karen asked a couple of days ago what I’d like to have for dinner on Easter. A ham steak? My answer had that question mark on the end of it, but that’s the way we left it. Then in those nether moments before I drifted off to sleep that night, a better…

The Square Bottle

Both guest blogger Paul Curran and I were both on a more comfortable Saturday schedule this week. So you lucky readers are back to the regular early Sunday start for his weekly Cuppa. Take it away, my Canadian friend. Welcome to the weekly coffee and tea garden. My name is Paul, I’ll be your barista…

Climbing the store ladder, literally and figuratively

I’ve put two weeks in at the paint department. I’m learning a lot at the store. I have to be good at climbing the ladder. For stocking, they keep big things up high. Early on, my boss told me to deal with garbage cans. The store sells a good variety, from humongous to very large…

Stephen Douglas Wolfe celebrates We’ll Live

My good friend Ulf Oesterle sent over a note about a show in downtown Syracuse featuring Stephen Douglas Wolfe. And when a musician catches the ear and wins over the heart of Oesterle, it’s time to take notice. I know that from the years he pointed me toward cool sounds when I toiled as the…

Maryland, Syracuse get to play for elite March Madness status

No way I predicted this. Maryland plays Kansas tonight in the Sweet Sixteen. Syracuse takes on Gonzaga tomorrow night with the same chance to advance to the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament’s Elite Eight. Hover over either gallery photo (Getty Images) for a description. Click on either for an enlarged slide show. My alma mater…

Too big for easy picking?

Usually when something of any value of all is put out to the road here in our Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood, it’s picked up by this urban hunter or that. We’ve had a king-size mattress disappear from in front of the Little Bitty, much to our joy. Yeah, it was a comfortable bed, but…