RIP Hal Lebovitz

Hal Lebovitz died today at the age of 89. I was fortunate enough to receive a compilation of his classic articles from a friend of mine last Christmas, and while I've enjoyed reading his Sunday columns in the Lake County News-Herald for several years, I really didn't appreciate how good a sportswriter he was until I read that book.

I'm not originally from Cleveland, so growing up, I only knew him from his "Ask Hal the Referee" column in The Sporting News. When I first started coaching football, I read his famous "Never Cut a Boy" column. It is must reading for any coach.

For years, you couldn't attend a sporting event in this town without seeing Hal Lebovitz. He was about 6'7" tall, so he was hard to miss. He certainly will be missed now.