Michael Sandler is an advocate of Barefoot running and has begun teaching others the benefits of walking and running without shoes. Through Meetup.com, a group has formed that meets Saturdays at Martin Park in Boulder to practice running together, without sneakers. Barefoot running has started to gain momentum, but it is still an odd concept to take off your shoes and run down the street, especially when you have to run on the pavement. Photo by Reza A. Marvashti for The Denver Post.

The pavement begins to warm under the summer Colorado sun as Michael Sandler jogs up Flagstaff Road near Boulder. Normally, this shouldn’t concern a runner. Sandler, however, is jogging barefoot.

“When you are barefoot, you are forced to run the way ancient man ran, which is a soft dance,” Sandler said. “Even my upper body got stronger.”

He claims he can run farther and with less chance of injury now that he has left his running shoes in the closet. He’s far from the only runner who believes so. The number of barefoot runners appears to be a growing niche among the running community. Those who run barefoot maintain it helps them keep a stride that delivers less shock to the foot, helping prevent injuries.

But experts caution that only a small percentage of runners can successfully train sans shoes.

“Your muscles, tendons and bones are balanced if your shoe is properly fit and your foot is properly supported,” said Eugene Rosenthal, a local podiatrist, who said he would never recommend running barefoot.

The concept of running without shoes can be hard to wrap your mind around, mainly because so few people in this country have ever tried it.

“I would say 98 percent of the U.S. do not grow up barefoot, walking barefoot, going to school barefoot,” said Mark Plaatjes, a physical therapist and owner of Boulder Running Company. “If you do not grow up barefoot, it is a really difficult thing to do.”

But Ethiopian Abebe Bikila did grow up running barefoot, and he won the 1960 Olympic marathon in Rome unshod.

The beauty of running barefoot, say its true believers, is that your feet will adapt naturally to almost any surface.

Read the full story on the Denver Post’s Web site.

Former OSU standout Prentiss Elliott, who was kicked off the team after his freshman season in 2004, now plays for the Oklahoma Thunder, a semi-professional team in the World Football League. Photo by Sarah Phipps of the Oklahoman.

SKIATOOK — Prentiss Elliott’s legs belong in the NFL. Wherever his legs are, a defender is usually far behind or below them, cursing at the prospect of giving up another reception.

His hands, strong and reliable, extend from below his forearms, bulging biceps and broad shoulders that should belong to a man who made a fortune playing wide receiver.

His brain wakes each morning from long nights dreaming about Sundays spent playing football in front of thousands, beneath a pirate ship in Tampa Bay or a hole in the ceiling in Dallas, or on fields frozen solid once the calendar flips to December. It tells him another trip to the gym is the only way his dream will ever come about.

But it hasn’t.

And those legs, those hands, those arms, those shoulders, and most importantly, that brain, are the reasons why.

As a receiver at Oklahoma State in Stillwater, he played in a town with one team. Now, he plays in a town with one McDonald’s.

Read the full story on the Oklahoman’s Web site.

Antonio Margarito (right) and Miguel Cotto trade blows in the July 2008 WBA welterweight title fight that Margarito won. Photo by Getty Images.

MONTEBELLO — He won’t forget it.

Tattooed in Antonio Margarito’s mind is the moment he received the devastating news.

It was October 1999, on the eve of his bout against Buck Smith, when Margarito was summoned to take a phone call at the front desk of a Holiday Inn in Fort Worth, Texas. His older brother, Manuel, had been gunned down in his Tijuana home.

Dazed, Margarito walked the streets of Fort Worth that night. He returned to the hotel at 3 a.m. By then, he had decided to fight. He rested enough to stop Smith with a body punch in the fifth round. Margarito, 30, still doesn’t know how he did it. But he’s sure his brother was there in spirit.

“I always think about him,” Margarito said. “He was there with me in every fight. I don’t know why, but every time a fight nears, I begin to think about him. I always dream he’s alive and he’s there with me cheering me on. It’s weird. It always happens. I just wish he was here to enjoy what I’m enjoying.”

Read the full story on the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Web site.

The Yankees' Mike Mussina throws in the early going. Mussina earned his 260th career win, tying him with Hall of Famer Ted Lyons for 39th on the all-time list. Photo by Karen Warren of the Houston Chronicle.

The first inning was an aberration for New York Yankees veteran Mike Mussina.

After allowing a three-run homer to Carlos Lee, Mussina silenced the sixth sellout crowd (43,409) at Minute Maid Park this season by holding the Astros scoreless in his last five innings.

“He was outstanding tonight,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Mussina (10-4). “He gives up three in the first and just really buckles down. The pitch that he gave up just got a little bit over the plate.”

Mussina earned his 260th career win, tying him with Hall of Famer Ted Lyons for 39th on the all-time list. He is fourth among active pitchers, trailing Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Randy Johnson.

Mistake to Lee
The 1-1 offering to Lee would be the only earned runs Mussina gave up on an evening in which he allowed six hits and struck out four batters.

“The big deal is going out there in the second inning and getting a zero after we scored a couple of runs to get back in it,” Mussina said. “From that point on, I got on a little bit of a roll. It was just a good day for us.”

The Astros had a scoring chance against Mussina in the sixth. After Kaz Matsui grounded out, Mussina allowed a double to Miguel Tejada, but the 17-year veteran got out of the jam by striking out Lance Berkman and getting Lee to pop to end the inning.

Read the full story on the Houston Chronicle’s Web site.

Sometimes, it takes a student to school the teacher.

And this is what happened to sixth-grade teacher Robbie Curry last week.

“[My student] was like, well it’s not that often that you see a black male being a teacher,” Curry recalls of the conversation. “It’s quite often that [black men are] working part-time jobs.”

Curry said he is now even more conscious of his potential impact as a black man on his predominantly black and Latino students at The Bronx School of Science, Inquiry and Investigation in New York.

Nationally, black men comprise 2 percent of the nation’s 4.8 million teachers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan addressed the lack of black male teachers earlier this month.

Duncan has called for the expansion of alternative recruitment programs, such as Teach for America to produce the nation’s next generation of teachers.

“It energizes me, knowing that I am part of a movement to increase [the number of black male teachers],” said Adamah Cole, a Teach for America recruiter.

Read the full story on TheGrio.com.

Niki Popyer sits in her bedroom, with a picture of herself playing basketball on the wall, when she was healthy. Photo by Mahala Gaylord for the Star-Ledger.

As her former teammates huddle around their coach, Niki Popyer stands several arm’s lengths away, just out of earshot. “No matter how close I am,” she says, “I’m on the outside.”

She shields her pain behind a full grin until a haze sets in. She glances past her teammates to the basketball hoop 60 feet away.

Tears seem imminent but never come. Crying hurts too much — it drives more blood to her damaged, 16-year-old brain.

Popyer can’t play basketball, and may never again. She can’t ride on a train or swim in the ocean. Doing her makeup takes more concentration, and she can’t blow-dry her hair. She can’t practice driving a car for too long, watch TV for more than an hour, walk outside without sunglasses, or go to the movies without getting headaches.

With the renewed nationwide attention on concussions sustained by football players at all levels, Popyer is a reminder of the dangers of head injuries in all sports, especially among young female participants.

Popyer has had 11 concussions in four years, according to her parents, including five in the past 10 months.

Each concussion extends her recovery time and makes her more susceptible to another. Every aspect of her life — social, academic, athletic — has been shaken.

Read the full story on NJ.com.

Hollie Vise went from being a world champion to a disappearing act, but she's back -- as a Sooner. Photo provided by Oklahoma media relations.

Hollie Vise and gymnastics are friends again.

Vise, a junior for the 10th-ranked Oklahoma women’s gymnastics team, is enjoying renewed enthusiasm for a sport that once led to the biggest disappointment in her life.

The 21-year-old Dallas native begins the 2009 season Friday at No. 3 Florida as the Big 12’s defending champion on the uneven bars, an event on which she was once a world champion.

Coach K.J. Kindler expects big contributions from Vise on the bars and balance beam as the Sooners try to build on their program-best eighth-place finish at nationals last year.

“It’s nice to see that she loves gymnastics again,” Vise’s mother, LeeAnn, said, “because for two years, I don’t think she did.”

The Hollie Vise Reclamation Project seems to be working.

It began 2½ years ago — “ground zero,” as Vise calls it — when she arrived at Oklahoma still reeling from the disappointment of not making the 2004 U.S. Olympic squad.

She had no motivation, no confidence and was woefully out of shape.

Read the full story on ESPN.com.

Juniors Jared Grover, left, and Jacob Grover came to Helena from Liberia at 12-years-old in search of new opportunities. The brothers now find themselves facing off on opposite sides of the field. Photo by Lisa Kunkel.

They grew up in war-torn Liberia, spending the majority of their days in hiding for fear of becoming child soldiers.

They witnessed things in childhood most Americans never see in a lifetime. Starvation and death before their eyes. Violence so gruesome it robs one’s innocence and forces kids to grow up before their time.

So the fact that Jacob and Jared Grover, identical twins with such an intense past, are now in Helena is nothing short of remarkable. The fact that they’re living the life of an average American teen, texting their friends after classes and prepping for Friday night football games, is difficult for Jared to even put into words.

“Even up to this day I just think everything has been like a dream for me,” said the junior linebacker at Helena High. “I never thought I would be here … the whole experience has just been unbelievable. I just don’t know what to say about it. I’m just thankful every day.”

Read the full story on the Independent Record’s Web site.

The Sports Journalism Institute class of 2009.

The class of 2009

Student/School/Internship
(Pictured above clockwise from the top left)

• Andrew Johnson, Morehouse College, Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer
• Ana Kim, North Carolina, Buffalo News
• Juan Lopez, Nevada-Reno, Colorado Springs Gazette
• Jordan Mason, North Carolina, ESPN
• Larry Young, Southern University, Houston Chronicle
• Anica Wong, Stanford, Denver Post
• David Ubben, Missouri, The Oklahoman
• Ronnie Turner, University of Houston, Salt Lake Tribune
• Nate Taylor, Central Missouri, Star Tribune in Minneapolis

In a year of unprecedented economic turmoil, the Sports Journalism Institute is delighted to announce it has completed the selection and placement of students for the Class of 2009. The result is a strong, rainbow-coalition-worthy class of seven men and two women— six African-Americans, one Hispanic, one Asian-American and one Hispanic/Asian-American — who will be interns at eight APSE newspapers and at ESPN (where 3 former APSE presidents, among others, will be there for support).

“A big thank you should go to APSE and others who have made Class 2009 a reality in these tough economic times,” said Leon Carter, SJI co-director and sports editor of the New York Daily News. “We had a record number of applications. We have a very good class and the interns will be ready for duty once they complete boot camp at Poynter in early June.”

SJI’s mission is—as it was when it was founded in 1992—to add diversity to the nation’s sports media. But in 2009, diversity means not just a diverse staff, but diverse forms of news delivery. As the news industry changes and emphasizes electronic delivery, SJI must become more of a multi-platform institution, so that the interns who graduate from the program are fully trained to serve the needs of a changing sports media, one that relies on internet, video, tape and printed delivery of news.

To that end, SJI is delighted to welcome ESPN to the table. Former APSE presidents Vince Doria, Don Skwar and Sandy Rosenbush (SJI co-founder/co-director) are all at ESPN, where director of production recruitment Fred Brown made the decision to participate in SJI.

“ESPN is always looking to diversify its workforce, and SJI represents a strong possible source to tap those diverse candidates just entering the field,” said Skwar, senior news editor who oversees the news coverage of ESPN games and its bureau reporters and producers.

Once again, SJI thanks its partners at the Asian-American Journalists Association (which selects one member of the class each year), the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (which promotes our program in email newsletters to student members educators nationwide) and the National Association of Black Journalists (whose Sports Task Force chair Greg Lee is an SJI alum, and which faithfully promotes and works with SJI). SJI also thanks APSE for its continued financial and advisory support, and the Chicago Tribune Foundation and New York Daily News for funding through the years.

Thanks also go to Keith Woods, Kenny Irby, Roy Peter Clark and all the staff at the Poynter Institute, where the students will receive training this year (May 29-June 7), as they have for the past three summers. Jack Sheppard’s staff at the St. Petersburg Times will again print the student newspaper, The Bulletin, to be delivered at the APSE convention in Pittsburgh. Having students take classes at and receive instruction from Poynter professionals has saved SJI more than $10,000 a year and, along with APSE, is greatly responsible for the financial viability of the institute in these troubled times.

SJI had aimed for a class of 10 this year and was prepared to accept and place 12 students. But four newspapers that regularly participate had their intern budgets slashed in the brutal economy. Fortunately, other outlets were ready and waiting, and SJI is happy to welcome back The Oklahoman and the Buffalo News to the family this summer. And when it comes to family, the members don’t get any closer than the Houston Chronicle, the only outlet that has been a participant in SJI since Day One in the early 1990s. Dan Cunningham, take a bow!