The Boston Marathon is today, and hopefully as it has been every year but one, it will be a wonderful day for all who participate, from runners to spectators to volunteers.

Frank Shorter will be on hand to be an analyst for the race with the Universal Sports Network. In a Q/A with Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News, he describes his feeling about what happened last year.

Q: You’ve compared the experience of last year’s Boston Marathon bombings to what you heard and saw during the terrorist attacks at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, days before you were to go out and win your gold. How do you make that connection?

 A: When the second bomb went off across the street behind me in Boston, I was trying to get to the TV truck for our afternoon show and ended up cutting through Lord & Taylor (dress shop on Boylston Street) because there was a people jam. I just went through the first door when I heard the first bomb. I knew what that was — I also heard the shots in the early morning in Munich. I happened to be sleeping outside on the balcony in the Olympic Village while my roommate, Dave Wottle, was inside our room with his new wife, Nan.

So I heard the shots go off at 4 a.m. and I knew. That morning there wasn’t a sound in the Olympic Village. We spent the day with a little black-and-white TV and we could see the terrorist across the courtyard — that classic picture of the man with the sub-machine gun. We went through that whole day, and the next day and the memorial service in that psychosocial process that they now have labels for — shock, depression, the resolution stage.

It’s the same kind of way they’ve been doing things in Boston over the last year, except we did it all in a short time.

Coming back from the memorial service, I turned to my marathon teammate Kenny Moore and said, “The only other place the terrorists could do anything is out on the marathon course. But I’m not going to think about it, because if I do, then they win.” I ran the entire race and never thought about it.

So if you fast-forward 42 years, all of the sudden I’m kind of back, in a way, in that same situation. I’ve already seen such a transformation in how it has been handled by the people around me, but it’s hard to describe. Munich was just confusion.

On why this year’s race will be so important.

A: It’s completing a cycle. Even the elite athletes want to get back here. I think the men’s and women’s winners from the past three years are here, and that doesn’t happen unless they’re making it a point to be here. It’s going to be an incredible athletic event from that standpoint.

There will be 35,000 people out there running, I think like what I experienced in Munich — they’re not going to let any acts of terrorism affect them. That’s sort of their collective statement. It’s kind of like closure, but it’s more like closure of an initial chapter. Then everything will go forward from there.

If you look at this preview for Wrigley 100: A Century Celebration, you might think the Cubs celebrated many World Series titles at the old ballpark.

OK, you’re not going to pump up a film about Wrigley by highlighting Willie Stargell’s homer off Phil Regan that broke the backs of the Cubs in ’69. Even though the Cubs never experienced a World Series victory in the old ballpark, there were plenty of memorable moments provided by Ernie, Ronnie, Billy, and Ryno and more. Sammy Sosa had a few too, but given what we now know, don’t expect an extensive review of his feats at Wrigley.

Actually, there were championships won at Wrigley–by the Bears. Their history in the park is featured in the film.

The two-hour documentary airs Sunday at 7 p.m. (Central) on WGN-Ch. 9 in Chicago and then on Saturday, April 26 at 5 p.m. ET on WGN America.

You might even see a familiar face: Me. Producer Bob Vorwald interviewed me for a segment on Babe Ruth’s Called Shot, the No. 1 moment in the history of Wrigley Field.

Vorwald tried to interview everyone and anyone who had made an impact at Wrigley. Featured are Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, Ron Santo, Andre Dawson, Greg Maddux and Ryne Sandberg; as well as Kerry Wood, Rick Monday, Rick Sutcliffe, and Derrek Lee.  Visiting greats such as Hank Aaron, Vin Scully, Mike Schmidt, Albert Pujols, Bob Uecker and Paul Konerko add their thoughts as well.  Other segments include Mike Ditka and Gale Sayers on playing for the Chicago Bears at Wrigley, fun and crazy moments at the park described by Harry Caray and Jack Brickhouse, and an in-depth look at some of Wrigley’s greatest games.

All in all, it’s a fun trip down memory lane.

A few weeks ago, Jeff Van Gundy remarked during a telecast that Howard Stern was leaving early during a Knicks game. He jokingly said Stern shouldn’t be given tickets if he isn’t going to stay for the entire game.

Stern, who doesn’t like criticism, used the opportunity to go off on Van Gundy during his show. He went off on a 10-minute rant, calling him every name in the book from “douche bag” to “midget” and even “schlub.”

During a teleconference yesterday, Van Gundy had an amusing response when asked about Stern’s comment.

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Van Gundy’s response likely will trigger another barrage from Stern. Funny thing is, Stern actually would like Van Gundy if they ever got together.

The first part of the NBA playoffs got just a lot less colorful. We won’t be seeing Craig Sager’s wild suits.

Sager’s son reported the sad news via twitter.

Obviously, everyone wishes Sager a speedy recovery. Here’s hoping he is back soon.

Dan Patrick on why you haven’t heard much from Jay Glazer lately. He nearly died during a routine procedure.

Mike Florio also had a write-up on Pro Football Talk:

He appeared earlier today on The Dan Patrick Show to discuss the serious health scare that resulted from outpatient surgery.  Glazer separately explained the situation by phone to PFT.

“I went in for a routine back deal,” Glazer said.  “Nothing big.  Dissolving a piece of a disc that broke.  Something that was real easy took a turn.”

After being given anesthesia, Glazer vomited into the face cradle.  The stomach contents ended up in his lungs, and the acid burned the tissue.

Glazer started convulsing, and the doctors revived him.  He was rushed to a local hospital, where he spent four days recovering from aspiration double pneumonia.

He didn’t realize the gravity of the situation at the time.  Once Glazer was out of the woods, doctors explained that the outcome could have been much more dire.

“It could go one of two ways,” Glazer said, “and for a while I was going the wrong way.”

Later, Florio writes:

Even now, Glazer is far from 100 percent.  As his heart works harder to pump oxygenated blood from his lungs, his resting pulse rate has been 115.

Still, he’s going to attempt to work this weekend for FOX, returning to action for UFC coverage.  He has yet to be able to return to his MMA training business, to the disappointment of NFL players like Kyle Long, Chris Long, and Jared Allen — and draft hopefuls like UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr and UCLA defensive end Cassius Marsh.

Last week, Glazer was scheduled to work out with Barr, but Glazer decided he should wait.  Glazer instead tried nine minutes of shadow boxing instead.  His oxygen level dropped, his heart rate went up, and Glazer ended up in his doctor’s office once again.

Glazer hopes to return to his NFL duties soon, making calls and chasing scoops and attending next month’s draft in New York City.

It looks as if the power of the NFL might not extend to Hollywood.

From Joey Morona of Cleveland.com:

‘Draft Day’ pulled in $9.75 million at the box office in its first weekend of release, according to industry estimates.

The movie — starring Kevin Costner as the Cleveland Browns GM juggling his personal and professional life in the hours leading up to the NFL Draft — underperformed by many accounts.

Entertainment Weekly called the film’s weekend take a “fumble,” while Forbes described it as “relatively sad.”

Box Office Mojo said Lionsgate was expecting an opening in the “low teens,” while BoxOffice.com projected an opening weekend of $13.5 million.

This isn’t an apples to apples situation since Tiger Woods played early during the first round of the Masters last year. He went off at 10:45 a.m., meaning ESPN only got to show his last holes when it went on the air.

So why were ratings down considerably yesterday?

You wouldn’t be wrong if you said Woods’ absence has reduced the buzz for the tournament. Perhaps viewers weren’t as geared up to see Bill Haas at the top of the leaderboard.

I can’t think of another reason besides the Tiger factor. There was some compelling golf Thursday, especially with Phil Mickelson’s wild ride.

Will be interesting to see the ratings for Friday. Woods went off late in the second round last year, meaning ESPN’s afternoon coverage was wall-to-wall Tiger.

The release from ESPN:

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ESPN’s live telecast of the first round of the 2014 Masters Tournament on Thursday, April 10, attracted an average audience of 2 million viewers with a 1.5 U.S. household rating, according to Nielsen Media fast national data.

ESPN’s telecast aired from 3-7:30 p.m. ET. Viewership peaked at 2.4 million between 6:30-7 p.m. while the ratings peak was a 1.7 between 6-6:30 p.m.

The ratings and viewership declined from ESPN’s 2013 first round telecast, which earned a 2.0 rating with 2.8 million viewers.

While ESPN’s live Masters coverage ends Friday, SportsCenter and ESPN.com will continue to report from the Masters throughout the weekend.

Cory Collins of the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana has a journalism story definitely worth noting. He talks to Richard Clarkson, who is shooting his 60th Final Four.

Collins writes:

A 19-year-old Richard Clarkson drifted toward the rafters of Hec Edmundson Pavilion at the University of Washington, camera in hand. It was 1952. It was the start of a phenomenon. It was the first Final Four as we know it. And like all the greats in this tournament’s history, he took a shot.

The court was lit directly from above, a rectangle framed by more space than bodies. Sixty-two years later, he counts them. Six photographers. That’s it. He’d join them as one of seven.

And:

In the six decades since, things have changed. But there does exist a through-line, a theme: Clarkson captured moments that would define a sport.

There’s the image that defined crushing defeat –a portrait of Adolph Rupp’s Kentucky Wildcats after losing to an all-black starting five from Texas Western in 1966.

“Kentucky was the odds-on favorite at the start of the season to win the championship,” Clarkson explains. “And there they are, defeated. To me, that was the obvious picture. The funny thing about that is, there were other photographers there, and I’ve not seen any one else that photographed them. They were all busy shooting Texas Western, the winners. To me, the other one is the better storytelling.”

Then there’s the picture that put in perspective an unbelievable body: Wilt Chamberlain sitting in a folding chair, his knees reaching for the sky as he ties his shoes.

“He had a very high waist. His legs were unusually long,” the photographer says.

After trying pictures of him dunking, standing tall, Clarkson dragged that chair beneath his lights. Chamberlain had to tie his shoe. Clarkson snapped the shot, his first to appear in a start-up called Sports Illustrated.

And…

So who is Rich Clarkson?

“Rich is a damn good photographer,” Mackson says. “He is a damn good artist…He was an auto-focus onto himself.”

But he is also a great adapter, a man willing to take a risk.

“Rich was open to try new things,” says Mackson. “He knew to get the picture you needed, because then you were safe, then he’d go off and take the risk, and he’d get something that was just unique or outstanding.”

That willingness also applied to new technologies that might have perturbed other industry veterans. Clarkson was never a man set in his ways, just a man who always wanted to capture the best image.

“He was an early adapter, an early adopter,” Mackson explains. “He wouldn’t necessarily invent the technology, but he was early to recognize its value. And he wasn’t afraid to try it.”

Clarkson talks about the early years, when “you would go to a sports event and everyone did the same thing,” a time when “not too many people were trying to be innovative, and they would stand or sit where someone told them to.” Clarkson was not one of these people. He moved when others sat.

But above all, perhaps, Clarkson is an educator, a man who’s left his mark.

Jeff Jacobsen, a photographer for the Kansas athletic department, worked with Clarkson at the Topeka Capital Journal from 1969 to 1979. He’s seen that education firsthand.

“I believe that Rich was a groundbreaking sports and news photographer,” Jacobsen says. “And I think his photography is often overlooked. Because another part of his legacy is how many photographers he helped to nourish, to help grow.

“He’s not always the easiest person to work for because he demands so much of you,” he adds. “But because of his demands, you’ll become a much better photographer and a much better person.”