Back In The Day ...

I spent about one hour at Santa Monica Beach at its concrete skate park looking for a good action shot. Instead this skater caught my eye as he took on the undulaying, swimming pool-like surface. The kid reminded me of me - from about four decades ago - when I was among the few minority skateboarders in Los Angeles. My first board - unlike the state-of-the-art skateboards of today - was made of a thin sliver of wood with tiny steel wheels. Then I ungraded to a Sears model made of fiberglass with hard rubber wheels. Who knew back then, that skateboarding would become the multi-million dollar industry it is today.

Happy Father's Day

We had a special credits role after the Yankees-Mets game

on Father's Day. Since I don't have kids, I elected to have

my father's name on the video board. Daddy was a big baseball fan would have really enjoyed this.

Ready For Their Close-Up

Some photographers at Yankee Stadium got in close to capture the first meeting between new Nets' basketball coach, Avery Johnson (l) and Yankees' manager Joe Girardi. Johnson was making the rounds at Yankee Stadium after his formal introduction as the new man in New Jersey. By the time the Nets move to Brooklyn in two seasons, Johnson hopes he can match the success Girardi has had with the first place Yankees.

Throwing In The Towel ...

You've heard that term and probably used it a few times. But here the literal meaning of it. The folks in the corner of boxer Yuri Foreman (black trunks) wanted to end his title fight with Miguel Cotto (l) at Yankee Stadium early in the 8th round. The towel came in, the fight was stopped and Cotto thought he was the winner. But the referee, Arthur Mercante Jr (r) said the fight must continue because he felt Foreman - who was hobbled by a twisted knee - was doing a good job defending himself. One round later, Cotto won on a technical knockout. The origin of the term, 'throwing in the towel' dates back to the late 1800's and has always applied to boxing and giving up the fight.