WDRB Sports Journalist. Writer. Photographer.
Nearly 3 months into his job as the University of Louisville men’s basketball coach, we’ve learned a few things about Kenny Payne. One of them: Ask him a question, and often, he’ll tell you a story. And that’s a good thing. From his first day on the job, storytelling has helped Payne engage with a…
By Eric Crawford, WDRB This column originally appeared at WDRB.com after Louisville’s 2013 NCAA Championship, as part of Eric Crawford’s e-book commemorating the title, “The Run.” It was an easy moment to miss, but in some ways, it was a defining Russ Smith moment. With two seconds left in the NCAA championship game, the University…
On the morning Simone Biles withdrew from the Olympic gymnastics team competition for mental wellness reasons, I couldn’t even write about Biles dropping out of the competition. For my own mental health reasons. Biles, who reaches a height of 10 feet on her vaults, lost herself somewhere mid-vault and did well to land on the…
Louisville coach Scott Satterfield wasn’t scheduled to speak with the media on Monday, but the head man had something to say, so the decks were cleared. Satterfield has watched events unfold in college football all weekend. He had seen initial reports that the Big Ten may already have voted to cancel its college football season…
We have reached the point in this pandemic when our greatest adversary now has a rival. The novel coronavirus that entered the United States sometime early this year and which has now killed more than 75,000 Americans in 68 days remains our biggest concern – or at least it should. The financial catastrophe left in…
Jody Demling knows he is lucky to be here. Lucky to be doing interviews (even if it is strange being the one answering questions, not asking them). Lucky to be able to talk for a half-hour without getting winded, though a home health nurse stands nearby just in case. After Demling recovered from a harrowing…
Derby week is here. The Kentucky Derby is not. In the parlance of the sport, days on which a track holds no horse racing traditionally are called “dark days.” At Churchill Downs, and all over the Derby city, these are dark days indeed. A ban on mass gatherings because of the novel coronavirus that has…
I write to you today as a member of the vulnerable population. As one of those with “underlying conditions.” I’m not that old. I’m 51. But I’ve had two strokes, because of high blood pressure, which now is treated with three medications. Like much of Kentucky, if the state surveys are to be believed, I…
The commercials used to try to sell us products. Lately, as the nation settles into its second month under a coronavirus cloud, they are trying to sell us hope. Maybe I’m falling prey to the frustration that everyone else seems to be feeling, but lately, I’m not buying. JP Morgan Chase offers the message that,…
Every once in a while, this needs to be said. Today seems like a good time to do it: We need to keep our eyes on the ball. COVID-19 cases in New York, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called the “canary in the coal mine” in the U.S. battle against the novel coronavirus, appear to…