I know this is not ecumenical. I know it’s retro. But I am a child of the Cold War, and we treasured Olympic medals like … well, gold … back then, and kept close tabs of where they went. And I have never given it up. I am always aware of who leads the medals […]

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You hear this, now and then. And I did the other day on BBC. Or maybe it was Al Jazeera, here in the Gulf. That Usain Bolt, sprinter from Jamaica, “saved” track and field. Perhaps kept it from going extinct? Is that what “saved” means? Which is silly, of course. Track and field now is […]

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A few hours ago, I watched the entirety of the Opening Ceremonies for the London 2012 Olympics. I was more than a bit surprised to last the 3 hours and 50 minutes, running till 12:46 a.m., here in England, considering I was alternately bored and puzzled. It must have been the caffeine in the diet […]

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The city of Manchester bid for the 2000 Olympics, which was a bit crazy, given that Sydney and Beijing also were in the running. Sydney won the bid, and put on a great 2000 Games — still the best Summer Olympics I have seen. And I’ve seen them all since 1984. Beijing finished second in […]

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A vanity among residents of greater Los Angeles is that they breath the world’s worst air. Not even close. It might have been true for a stretch in the 1950s and 1960s, but strict controls on automobile emissions have turned SoCal air from horrible to just bad — and that doesn’t cut it among cities […]

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Rather a strange turn of events, even by UAE standards. Duke University’s men’s basketball team running and dunking at a small, stuffy gym at the Al Wasl Sports Club in Dubai as Mike Krzyzewski conducted an impromptu coaching clinic with about 30 guys sitting in the stands. “Sorry, I’m a little hoarse from yelling at […]

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I’m not sure I’ve ever met a sports journalist who wasn’t something of a numbers freak. Scores, statistics, streaks … it’s as if the entire fraternity (and the much smaller sorority) comes to the profession with digits already dancing in their heads. So it isn’t any stranger than usual for someone who has worked in […]

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I was thinking about the Beijing Olympics, and realized that the U.S. men’s basketball team had zero Clippers on it. But then, neither did the Vancouver Olympics. Have any Clippers on the U.S. team. Though clipper ships presumably sailed to Vancouver, but not Beijing, it being too far from the ocean. Hong Kong? Sure. But […]

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While researching the concept of “great sports venues” in Asia, it was deeply impressed upon me how enormous was the scope of the topic. Daunting, even. How to know about that grand old place in what is now Kazakhstan? Or the charming race track in Mongolia? Or whatever it is that Nepal, Uzbekistan, Georgia or […]

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It was a more eventful decade than my initial thoughts indicated. “Wow. I have to come up with 10 good sports events from the 0-somethings? I’m not sure I can do that.” Turns out, a few minutes of cross-referencing years and sports, and it’s no problem finding 10. The trick is limiting it to that […]

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