Steve Krause, Freelance Journalist Profile

Articles

APPRECIATION: ‘Mr. Burt’ was always there for the kids

1 week ago | itemlive.com | Steve Krause

Through his years as a youth sports coach, Robert “Bob” Burt always knew why he was there: the kids. That’s according to anyone who knew him or played for him, including his children and some of the city’s most elite athletes. “Bob’s in with all those guys who kids like me, and my generation, looked up to,” said Dick Newton, athletic director at Lynn English and an early disciple of Burt’s in the East Lynn Pop Warner football program. “Those guys followed us all through high school, supporting us.
KRAUSE: Where do the Red Sox hide the broken mirror?

1 week ago | itemlive.com | Steve Krause

Last Friday night, Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas fell down in a heap after beating out a dribbler to the right side of the pitcher’s mound. The diagnosis: ruptured patella tendon. Out for the season. This will be the second straight season Casas will be hors de combat. Last year, he missed most of the summer due to a rib cage injury. Now comes the knee.
KRAUSE: What Duran had to endure was simply cruel

2 weeks ago | itemlive.com | Steve Krause

I was sitting in Fenway Park a couple of weeks ago, watching the Red Sox clobber the Chicago White Sox, when I began to notice a group of kids riding Jarren Duran pretty intensely. Duran, as you may recall, came clean in a Netflix documentary about his mental health issues, including his failed suicide attempt in 2022. Our seats were in the left-field corner, and Duran was the closest player to us on the field. I listened intently to see if these kids made mention of that in their catcalls.
Gerry LeBrasseur an 'ironman' in every sense of the word

2 weeks ago | itemlive.com | Steve Krause

Not long before he died, Gerry LeBrasseur’s daughter asked him what word best described him. “He said he didn’t know,” said Michelle LeBrasseur Pedro. “Then he said, ‘Wait. Michelle. Say ‘determined.’ That’s it.”’ Pedro spent a lot of time with her father in the last couple of years, getting him to jot down some of his most significant accomplishments and fondest memories. And as one might imagine, the majority of them involved sports.
KRAUSE: Best of luck, all you draftnicks out there

3 weeks ago | itemlive.com | Steve Krause

After the most recent Super Bowl – the one in which Patrick Mahomes found a referee who didn’t genuflect in front of him – I enrolled in “Draftnick U.” I read all the magazines, visited all the websites, watched “Path to the Draft,” tuned in to the NFL Network’s many shows that feature pre-draft “workouts,” pro days and showcases. And what did I learn? Nothing that I didn’t already know. It was a complete waste of time.
KRAUSE: Marathon and the Red Sox: an odd symbiosis

4 weeks ago | itemlive.com | Steve Krause

Did you ever wonder why there’s such a symbiotic relationship between the Boston Marathon and the Red Sox? So have I. The two endeavors (I hesitate to compare them as sports) have nothing in common. Over here, we have finely-tuned runners who torture themselves all winter so they can survive a 26-plus-mile jaunt in and around Boston. And over there, we have… ballplayers – perhaps the worst representatives of the word “athlete” of them all.
KRAUSE: Mazareas well-represented at basketball tourney

1 month ago | itemlive.com | Steve Krause

On the face of it, the Harry Agganis Basketball Tournament, held last weekend at Saint George Greek Orthodox Church, brings to mind much tragedy. We start with the tragic and untimely death of Agganis himself – an unexpected event that had far-reaching repercussions. Agganis became the starting first baseman for the Boston Red Sox after stellar athletic careers at Lynn Classical and Boston University. His star was still rising when it was shot down.
KRAUSE: All fame is indeed fleeting

1 month ago | itemlive.com | Steve Krause

One day, in my early years in the profession, a co-worker was talking about Carl Yastrzemski, who was in a horrible slump. It looked as if the end might be near for the future Hall of Famer. “Oh well,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Sic transit gloria mundi. Know what that means, Steve?” he asked. “Nope,” I answered. So he decided to be wise. “It means ‘Gloria got sick on the subway Monday,'” he smirked, looking to gauge my reaction. Lucky for me, I didn’t bite.
KRAUSE: Baseball carries the weight of its illustrious history

1 month ago | itemlive.com | Steve Krause

If you were to take baseball and put it next to any of the other three major North American sports (four if you want to count soccer), it would, admittedly, come up way short. It doesn’t match fútbol for sustained, consistently dull, pointless action, but even devotees of the game have to admit it’s not thrill-a-minute stuff. But it’s not supposed to be. Baseball is a leisurely game from a different era. Its origins stem from people playing on sandlots and town commons.
34 students vie for 100th national spelling bee

2 months ago | itemlive.com | Steve Krause

Thirty-four students from around the region will compete Tuesday to participate in the 100th Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington in May. The regional spelling bee is co-sponsored by The Daily Item and Joel and Mary Abramson, and will take place at the Lynn Auditorium at 5 p.m. It is open to the public.