I’m not a big fan of the horses, American-style. It seems a bit industrial and at-a-remove, even when you have a media credential. The tracks in Southern California are big and a bit impersonal and seem mostly about separating customers from their money. The races at Deauville, however, were intimate and accessible — almost boutique-y […]

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A friend of ours who is visiting in Southern California recently attended a Dodgers home game and an Angels home game … for the first time. Both of them. This person is a lifelong baseball fan, a dedicated Cardinals fan who knows the game well and generally knows and prefers the National League — but […]

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I wouldn’t want Chad Ochocinco on my team. But I certainly want him in my league. Ochocinco is the former Chad Johnson, colorful National Football League receiver and a career member of the downtrodden Cincinnati Bengals. Which ought to be enough for the league to cut him a break if he acts a bit goofy. […]

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Aside from a few insensate boors, Paris is almost universally admired. Usually loved. The grand monuments of Paris generally are what is remembered by the visitor.  The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe … the stations of the cross for the first-time Parisian pilgrim. I have found myself appreciating small things, over the […]

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Of all the American sports … the one that really doesn’t translate well outside the country … the one that suffers most, that I miss most in a sort of sneaky, “oh, yeah, I really like that and miss it” sort of way is … College football.

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* Or, the anatomy of a collapse. I’ve been following sports since I was, like, 7 years old, which goes back to the Eisenhower Administration. I’ve watched the entire American suite of sports, and some of the international, too. And my contention that the most painful experience for an American sports fan … Is watching […]

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I’m not a serious jogger, never mind a serious runner.  I don’t jog as much as slog. I have a sister-in-law who says she is a “wogger” — an activity that combines walking and jogging. I’m not far from that. But I try to get out there every other day and move around as briskly […]

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My daughter Drew sent me this link to a site that makes bobblehead dolls … and will do one of … you. Go check it out. I’ll wait. I’m a huge bobblehead enthusiast, as many of you know. I love bobbleheads. But this seems a shade creepy, no? Must be a Twilight Zone episode in […]

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This is the rumor bouncing around the internet: Landon Donovan will go to French club Paris St-Germain, based here in the capital of France. The rumor originated from something called 10sport, a French site that a few days ago reported that PSG is in negotiations with Donovan (or, presumably, his agent, Richard Motzkin) to secure […]

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Not that the Dodgers went about this all wrong, or anything. First, they lowballed the Cleveland Indians to the point that the Indians sent ace left-hander Cliff Lee to the Philadelphia Phillies for not, apparently, not much of anything. I like keeping top prospects around, but it turns out Lee was available for something less […]

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