By Don Mahler
Valley News Sports Editor
Monday, May 13, 2013
It was a typical December morning in El Hormiguero, Nicaragua. Typical, as in hot and humid. Located in the Atlantic Norte region of the country, the small community is more than 10 hours away from a town with more than 50,000 inhabitants. It is a community of maybe 50 families. In the municipality of Siuna, 318 kilometers from the capital city of Managua, El Hormiguero is in the forgotten side of Nicaragua. To give you an idea of how small it is, El Hormiguero translates
By Don Mahler
Valley News Sports Editor
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Krista Perry knows just what Jason Collins is going through these days. It’s not easy putting questions of gender identity and sexual orientation on the table for everyone to see ... and judge. But that’s how change occurs — through the bravery and dedication of single individuals making a stand. It wasn’t so long ago that Perry, a 2006 Dartmouth College graduate and former women’s basketball captain was one of those special people, coming out and proudly declaring she was gay during her sophomore summer
By Don Mahler
Valley News Sports Editor
Thursday, April 4, 2013
I got a phone call yesterday morning. The caller didn’t say a word. His phone number was ID blocked. All he did was laugh. I knew it was coming. It was just another call from one of my dear Red Sox friends from the Upper Valley letting me know how bad things looked down in the Bronx on Opening Day. New York Yankee haters unite! Here’s your chance to kick a dying dynasty while it’s down. Take out those baseball bats and get in line
By Donald Mahler
Valley News Sports Editor
Monday, March 25, 2013
I met three wise men the other day. Well, actually, three wise young men. But age really doesn’t matter. Young or old, what matters most is what you do with your life. And these three young guys are already making a difference with theirs. At an age when selfishness is the norm, these three Richmond School seventh-graders — Brook Leigh, Chanler Miller and Jon Thoms — have, instead, decided that it is better to give than receive. They decided to take their passion for freestyle
By Don Mahler
Valley News Sports Editor
Friday, March 22, 2013
Nearly 70 years before Kentucky and John Calipari popularized the concept of one-and-done in college basketball, there was Dartmouth College’s Everett Nordstrom. He was the original one-and-done guy. And I’ll bet you never heard of him. Our story begins on the basketball hardwood of Dartmouth. The 1943-44 season was a special one for the Big Green. Led by All-American guard Audley Brindley, Dartmouth was coming off a heady string of three straight years playing in the NCAA tournament — including an appearance in the NCAA
By Don Mahler
Valley News Sports Editor
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
It was halftime at the basketball game and Chris Wielgus was walking off the court with her staff of Dartmouth assistants. As she was heading toward the locker room, the game ball somehow squirted loose onto the court. At that very moment, I was steering my 18-month-old daughter down to the floor to get her first taste of a basketball court — hopefully starting her on her way to a lifetime love affair with the sport. Just as we got to the floor, Wielgus picked
By Don Mahler
Valley News Sports Editor
Thursday, March 14, 2013
For 28 years, the name Chris Wielgus has been synonymous with Dartmouth women’s basketball. She has been the face of the program, the turbo-charged engine behind its explosive successes and the beacon for hundreds of Dartmouth women student-athletes. But in recent years, the wins have been fewer and harder to come by. And yesterday, after four consecutive losing seasons, Dartmouth announced Wielgus’ resignation in a one-page news release supplied by the college’s sports information department. Around the basketball and Dartmouth community, the news was met
By Don Mahler
Valley News Sports Editor
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
You don’t have to be a basketball fan to appreciate what will be happening tonight in the Rivendell gym. But don’t take my word for it; go on up there yourself tonight and see first hand what happens when a few caring people put their hearts and minds together to make a difference. You always hear about how athletes are so self-centered, how athletics is such a negative drain on resources. Don’t believe what you hear. Believe what you see, instead. And when you walk
Donald Mahler
For the Valley News
Monday, February 4, 2013
It’s been called ‘“the Castle on the Parkway” — a reference to the imposing structure of DeWitt Clinton High School and its proximity to the Mosholu Parkway in the Bronx. I just called it Clinton. In a couple of weeks, the city of New York may just call it closed. According to a letter I just received from the school’s alumni organization, the city’s Department of Education Progress Report has given Clinton a grade of F for the past two years and will vote later
By Don Mahler
Valley News Sports Editor
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Twice within a span of six hours on Saturday, Dartmouth College’s basketball teams had a chance to make some real noise in the Ivy League. Twice, the Big Green had title contender Harvard on the ropes. Both the men’s and women’s teams held double-digit leads in the waning moments of the second half. Both teams held victory in their grasp. But in the end, only one held up its end of the hoop bargain. When the buzzer sounded at the Ray Lavietes Basketball Pavilion in
