http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/frank_fitzpatrick RSS Feed for Inq Col Frank Fitzpatrick en-us Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:01:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/frank_fitzpatrick/20091120_Morning_Bytes__A_golden_era_has_vanished.html The first sporting event I ever attended was a Frankford-North Catholic Thanksgiving Day game sometime in the mid-1950s. The memory is musty now. But I can still recall clutching my father's hand as, wide-eyed and at knee-level, I waded through a sea of pennants, hats, and hot dogs. The crowd at Frankford's stadium was so big that crisp, clear morning that it spilled out onto Large, Dyre, and Wakeling Streets. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/frank_fitzpatrick/20091113_Morning_Bytes__Ex-Eagle_Runyan_asked_to_tackle_political_office.html So Jon Runyan may be getting into politics. According to recent reports, the Republican Party in South Jersey would like the longtime Eagles lineman to run against U.S. Rep. John Adler. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/frank_fitzpatrick/20091014_La_La_Land_glitz_and_Philly_grit.html LOS ANGELES - So much for sunny Southern California. The weather that greeted the Phillies when they arrived here last night was a lot like May in Manayunk. Skies the color of J.A. Happ's pallor. Low 60s. And a sporadic light rain - though, come to think of it, it could just have been liquid smog. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/frank_fitzpatrick/20091007_Morning_Bytes__His_days_as_an_Eagles_fan__Ah__the_memories.html Typically, Morning Bytes is a freewheeling, free-spirited, free-flowing and, all too often, free-falling enterprise. But occasionally, as happened this week, Jim Cohen, our sports/fried-food editor, insists I write about something specific, even (shudder!) meaningful. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/frank_fitzpatrick/20090929_Morning_Bytes__A_condensed_history_of_pro_football_in_Philly.html Now that another Eagles season is well under way, it seems like a good time to answer some of those persistent questions about professional football in Philadelphia. Here is a brief history: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/frank_fitzpatrick/20090917_Morning_Bytes__Same_old_attacks_on_McNabb.html Why does all this fantasy fury directed at President Obama seem so familiar? Maybe because it sounds like the same kind of skewed logic, stupidity, and - yes - bigotry that has marked a lot of the criticism of Donovan McNabb over the years. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/frank_fitzpatrick/20090903_Morning_Bytes__The_latest_blood_sport__Health_care.html Recently, I was watching televised scenes from outside and inside one of those health-care forums that are giving me a headache and democracy a bad name. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/frank_fitzpatrick/20090827_Morning_Bytes__One_thing_in_sports_you_never_can_beat__Writing_about_them.html Inquirer staff writer. Except for family, that three-word appendage to my name is really all I ever wanted. Oh, it could have been Evening Bulletin staff writer or Daily News staff writer, but as long as I was writing about sports in my hometown, I knew life was going to be good. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/frank_fitzpatrick/5597151.html http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/frank_fitzpatrick/20070126_Morning_Bytes___Spoiled_athletes__stale_food__a_writer_s_life_.html "Mets Fan Banned for Impersonating Sports Reporter." That was an actual headline this week. Before I go further, a personal disclosure: In my more than half-century following Phillies baseball, I've often had the urge to pass myself off as a Mets fan.