Matt Baron

PR / Journalism / Ambidextrous Free Throwing | Jesus Follower | [email protected] | Subscribe to my Substack:

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of Mark Fidrych becoming a national cultural phenomenon....my brother Andy revisits that special moment--and unearths new insights into this late, great American folk hero.

My column:

https://t.co/r8JyL7RT9f

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

What we have here, folks, is a failure to box out. That comeback by the Knicks was one for the ages...and a reminder that too many players regard boxing out as optional.

Read my breakdown of the Spurs' defensive breakdown:

https://t.co/HpK9AThy2k

#NBAFinals #Knicks #Spurs

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

I saw Bruce Springsteen last week.

Three hours. 28 songs. Still going strong at 76.

The next day, I spent an hour with someone whose survival might be even more improbable. One is a legend. The other is my brother.

My column:

https://t.co/ybgioaKs1M

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

I saw Bruce Springsteen in Chicago in 1988---and thought he was OLD. After seeing him this week? Not so much.
But the more humbling calendar realization came the next day, sitting with my bro on his 60th b-day, a milestone that once felt impossible.
https://t.co/ybgioaKs1M

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

In 1987, I was a young newspaper reporter interviewing a hockey player I'd grown up with & who'd just been drafted in the NHL.

“Hopefully," he said, "I’ll make it."

That kid, Mike Sullivan, guided Team USA to a gold medal in men's hockey. My column:

https://t.co/qMf4WHl3B7

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

Anyone else know why Saturday Night Live aired its cold open 12 hours earlier than usual? And the guy playing Trump---amazing impersonation!

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

"Spinal Tap II: The End Continues" works so well because it consistently knows when to end, one scene after another. My column:
https://t.co/aiGvCK3gzl

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

@scottmerkin likelihood of game happening? on train (aka second hand smoke and cannabis center) heading there now.

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

As my son Zach graduates today from Indiana University, reflections on my first meaningful time on this beautiful campus nearly a quarter-century:

https://t.co/fyIEYhXfh5

#IUBGrad25

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

Congratulations, Zach Baron and your Sigma Nu brothers on your successful journey to graduation! We're very proud of you!!
#IUBGrad25

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

Remembering MLK 57 years later...and reflecting on the present-day lesson contained in one flawed lyric in U2's “Pride (In the Name of Love)”:

https://t.co/Wp0GoqtxTx

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

@BrooksBarnhizer @NUMensBball Brooks, wishing you the best! For 4 years, I've admired your grit, drive and talent. I was saddened when I learned your season/career at NU was cut short. I look forward to watching you as you carve out a bright future. Deep respect from this '90 alum (covered '87-88 team)!

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

From 2 days ago: free throw attempts 199,999 & 200,000 since I began counting my ambidextrous shots in March 2007. (169,873 made in that span, including these two)
#basketball

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

A three-parter this week:

October is the best month for sports....those huge skeletons in neighbors' yards....and McProof of my fast food job as a teen:

https://t.co/utKRROzq49

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

I call it The Great IHOP Standoff -- Recalling the time my refusal to go along with a restaurant manager's moronic `security' step prompted a swarm of police officers to swoop in.

https://t.co/zKkeqYgtDP

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

Thirty years ago, I became a mascot for the Illinois Lottery. My behind-the-scenes (and under-the-costume) reflections as the Wizard of Odds: https://t.co/t7hb0iUZOh

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

My column from the Jan. 2024 issue of School Administrator magazine was selected to appear in the AASA's "Best of" 2023-2024 edition.

[Boiling it down: In our short-attention-span, clickbait media landscape, schools must be persistently proactive with bite-size good news.]

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

From a 2016 basketball game I coached to the Boston Celtics' latest title, here's why keeping score matters.

https://t.co/0CM0WQRxsE

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

@CardboardHistry I don't believe "infamous" is the right word....Fritz did nothing to deserve that tag. When I wrote a feature about him, some 20 years ago, he was a blackjack dealer on the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, Ill. A class act, with a great marriage to the former Mrs. Kekich.

[Matt Baron @InsideEdge]

@john_biemer From the Boston Globe, Sept. 12, 1968. Pretty nifty rabbit hole you led me on!