MIKE DIMAURO - RECENT COLUMNS
A salute to Mo and NL's fighting spirit
Published: September 19, 2020 | Mike DiMauro
The All-Whaler class reunion celebrated New London's finest.
It's a mask, not a catheter
Published: September 17, 2020 | Mike DiMauro
There are people – not the majority, but enough – who have turned mask wearing into a hissing contest
Jim Leone: the wind beneath the wings of St. Bernard
St. Bernard is minus one of its cleanup hitters now. Jim Leone, a 41-year theology teacher and football/wrestling/baseball coach, has opted for retirement – and just in time before having to learn Google Classroom, too.
Spring: When a young man's thoughts turn to ... football
Springs offers a safer version of Friday Night Lights
Dr. I's suggestions to combat the H.S. football crisis
Here are a few Idle Thoughts ... from COVID-19 to "hey, batter batter."
Dear H.S. football folks: Cope with the word 'no'
Giving science more time is the far better option than 22 football players breathing on each other in close proximity.
So when did high school football become more important than a lung?
We all want to know more about this virus. We just don't yet. We are still learning. Sometimes, science, patience and faith are all we have.
Barry and Sue poured more than coffee into Muddy Waters
Barry and Sue, who have decided to sell Muddy Waters, probably have no idea the impact they've had on the community just by choosing the vocation of coffee-pouring.
The Mets lost their hero, a guy that made fans treasure their childhoods
Every team has one. The icon. The Man. The one player the fan base agrees — as much as fan bases can agree on anything — who symbolizes all it's ever meant to wear the uniform.
The NBA has turned activism into a living thing
The NBA players, who have turned activism from rhetoric into practicality, not only just made it easier for inhabitants of Milwaukee, Detroit and Charlotte to vote, but turned it into a cooler, safer experience.
Embracing the 'Mamba Mentality' to do better
I promise you: If you've ever been made uncomfortable — especially because of your own indiscretion — you learn that being uncomfortable is a great teacher.
CIAC: where amateurs know more than experts
The high school sports wheels spin furiously but with no traction.
CIAC's foibles are everybody's fault
If school systems want change, there will be change. And things must change
Killingly: the home of true Native American expertise
Maybe the actions of the Washington football team and from the Guilford school system would deliver a blinding flash of obvious to the Killingly school board.
We need to prepare the kids, not criticize the process
Kids, coaches and anyone else with an affinity for local sports were offered some hope Tuesday, when a CIAC source spoke of the likeliest path – for right now anyway – that fall sports return.
Baseball in the fall and football in the spring? Hmmm ...
Baseball in the fall would be a natural extension of a summer activity
Why does a golf course get more consideration than the kids?
And to think but three miles separate Norwich Golf Course from Jenkins Park. Three miles. Same city. Yet another example in this country that geographical proximity hardly begets corresponding philosophical connection.
No more excuses at UConn: It's time to win
UConn has competitive advantages – some self-evident, others to be exercised – other Big East schools do not.
Lorraine Allen: I'm glad I got to know her ... and will miss her dearly
New London hasn't known many more civic minded people than Lorraine Allen.
On transgender athletes: The law cannot stand still
Our antiquated, one-size-fits-all laws on this issue do not address the inherent concerns of equity, morality and biology. They need to be rewritten.
Change is happening before our eyes
This country works best when we include everyone of all colors, religions, ancestries and orientations who learn with, play with and learn about each other.
Local businesses offer hope to 700 with graduation gift boxes
Dozens (and dozens) of local businesses have offered us hope this month. They conspired to fill 700 "graduation boxes" with goodies for every kid graduating from East Lyme, Waterford and New London High Schools.
Do we have the guts to start teaching history differently?
History is a living thing, with tentacles and voices stretching across varying races and cultures
All-world fundraiser Bill Stanley can use a helping hand now
It requires time and many acts of good to reach institutional status. Ladies and gentlemen ... Bill Stanley.
CIAC: the home office for competitive disadvantage
Three-time defending state champion St. Joseph moves to a less competitive division
It's time to get the bugs (mosquitoes) out
If we have a high school sports season this fall, what guarantees do we have that it won't get hijacked again by those infamous mosquitoes carrying Eastern Equine Encephalitis? Ah yes. The dreaded EEE.
Sorry if failing to 'stick to sports' makes you uncomfortable
Athletes must use their forums and influence now more than ever
Are the Chicken Littles going to win at UConn?
State U is hardly alone nationally in its financial quagmire. But trying to solve it as if there's some cosmic shot clock tick-tick-ticking is far more reactionary than cautionary.
Colin Kaepernick's knee never killed anybody
Colin Kaepernick is still deemed "unpatriotic" by many who have never had to fight for the foundational right to live. Derek Chauvin's knee, placed on George Floyd's throat for more than eight minutes in Minneapolis, is a murder weapon.
The Day never had a better reporter than Bill Toscano
We lost William Donovan Toscano last week to COVID-19. He died in Framingham, Mass. at 61. The Day has sent several alums to bigger papers and media outlets. But never — ever — has it had a better reporter.
Millsaps comes with baggage, but deserves clean slate at NLHS
The state found 116 students bypassing the blind lottery process at Millsaps' old school.
R.I.P. to 'Waterford's Baseball Encyclopedia'
Harold "Hat" Fengar coached two Waterford teams to the Babe Ruth World Series.
Dodd Stadium open to just about anything as it celebrates its 25th season
How sad, really, that Dodd Stadium's silver summer may be rendered quiet by the new abnormal
How much longer will sports fans be so well behaved?
A portion of this country -most of the south - will go Vesuvius without college football
A chance to honor Emily Eshenfelder ... and have fun, too
Creativity often begins in the abstract, which is why at first glance, this project involving the Emily Eshenfelder Foundation spawns quizzical looks.
Missing the Kentucky Derby, but remembering it with 'Unbridled' passion
There was supposed to be a Kentucky Derby on Saturday. It would have been cause to gather, watch and bet. It's a holy day of sports obligation to many of us.
It was about textbooks as much as playbooks for A.J. Dillon
This is not a football story. It is a life story. It is about how A.J. Dillon, the next kid to go national from the 06320, arrived not merely because he was blessed with the football gene, but because he parlayed it with unflagging pursuits of education and community.
'Stick to sports?' Fine. Maybe others should, too
The concepts of greater good and self-sacrifice have never been more prevalent.
Dr. I: In the Department of Redundancy Department ...
Dr. Idle, Dr. I to his close friends, would like to join the chorus and salute all doctors, nurses, medical technicians, healthcare office staff, grocery store workers and all the other folks on the frontlines for the work they do.
The coronavirus may turn me into a better loser
Some of you read this daily drivel and think I couldn't possibly be a bigger loser, let alone a better one. Thanks for reading nonetheless. And let me explain.
Desmond's project will get us all talking about baseball again
Not to be pretentious or anything, but there are problems remaining in the world because social distancing precludes us from solving them at the moment.
All-Decade softball team features Gatorade variety pack
Softball. This is where the Eastern Connecticut Conference gets to create similar self-esteem issues for other parts of the state, as evidenced by our All-Decade team.
Of mosquitoes, bowling and singing at Fenway: a look back at H.S. season
A chronological look back at some notable high school sports moments since September:
Sports are doomed! Sports are doomed! (Or not)
It's early April. I have no idea what sports will look like in the coming months. Neither does anyone else
Playing politics during a pandemic? You no longer matter
This pandemic, if nothing else, has illustrated a few things to me: 1) politics during a health crisis are toxic and destructive; and 2) the unending need to be right about everything is overrated.
We have more reasons than ever to believe in the goodness of people
We are living very conscious days, perhaps examining our lives and values as never before.
Moreland hasn't lost his fastball, even dealing with daughter's coronavirus
Local football official and baseball umpire Kevin Moreland learned Monday that his daughter, Cory Lynn, a nurse at Yale-New Haven, has the coronavirus. She is 24.
East Lyme's Mebus sisters are heroes in NYC ... and need your help
Rachel and Paige Mebus, former athletes and graduates of East Lyme High, work in New York City hospitals, heroically and frightfully fighting the coronavirus.
Game changer: My friend Doris tested positive for coronavirus
It's a relief to know Doris Burke is symptom free. Yet her story is also a cautionary tale.