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Entries from August 2009

Usain Bolt and 19.11: What I Said Before

August 21st, 2009 · 2 Comments · Beijing Olympics, Olympics

So, let’s see … Usain Bolt has run the 100 and 200 in the Beijing Olympics last year, and the 100 and 200 in the world championship this month in Berlin … And he has set world records in all four finals. I wrote a few days ago that I remain an Usain Bolt unbeliever. […]

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Crime … and Unduly Harsh Punishment

August 20th, 2009 · 2 Comments · NFL

How did this happen? How did I become the apologist for idiot athletes and their felonious activities? First, Michael Vick. Now,  Plaxico Burress.

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He’s Ba-ack!

August 19th, 2009 · No Comments · NFL

Someone get a wooden stake and a mallet. This Brett Favre creature won’t die! You think it’s gone and buried … and back it comes. Once the sun goes down, and we can see the dark days of winter not all that far from us … back Favre comes to prey on pro football players […]

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ESPN’s Simmons Discovers Soccer

August 18th, 2009 · No Comments · Journalism, soccer, Sports Journalism

Bill Simmons is the most important … well, journalist isn’t quite the right word, because he is a fan first, second and third … Bill Simmons is the most important writer on sports topics (yes, that’s it) in America today. I can’t tell you how many hits he generates for espn.com … but I am […]

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The French Girl and the Giants in the Super Bowl

August 17th, 2009 · 1 Comment · NFL, Paris, Sports Journalism, The Sun

I bet on sports, basically, never. I’ve never placed a bet in Las Vegas. I haven’t spent one minute in/at a sports book. I don’t know a bookie. (Or, at least, I don’t think I know a bookie.) I can’t tell you what the point spread is on any game I’m not covering, and I […]

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Usain Bolt and 9.58: I’m Still an Unbeliever

August 16th, 2009 · 10 Comments · Beijing Olympics, Journalism, Olympics

Let me take you back to 1987. I was in Rome at the track and field World Championships, covering the event for Gannett News Service. A great assignment. No question. Great event, and a great venue. Rome and Italy? Can’t beat it. Anyway, Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis were the great rivals, back then, in […]

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Moving Around Paris in August

August 15th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Basketball, Paris

OK, here is the sports/journalism connection in this post: A bistro on the place just up the street from here was showing a basketball game on a television, inside. We moved out of the Marais yesterday and over to the 17th arrondisement.

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Vick Signing: I Have No Trouble with That

August 14th, 2009 · 3 Comments · NFL

Michael Vick seems to be Topic A today in American sports. The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback has been signed by the Philadelphia Eagles and will be eligible to play in the preseason — and in the regular season, as well, once he serves a six-game NFL suspension. This is a hot-button topic for, basically, two […]

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Breaking Down the Tight Concacaf Race

August 13th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Paris, soccer

I just spent quite a bit of time breaking down the suddenly tight World Cup qualifying race in Concacaf, over on my Countdown to South Africa blog. Feel free to go have a look. Much of it depends on who plays whom and where, and one goal could swing this. As the blog entry notes, […]

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Same Song, Different Verse: Mexico 2, U.S. 1

August 12th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Paris, soccer, World Cup

I’m glad we went to great lengths to find video of the United States-at-Mexico in a World Cup qualifier, tonight here in Paris. There is something warmly comforting about seeing certain life events unfold just as they always do. Mexico 2, U.S. 1, and ’twas ever thus. First, about the logistics of this thing. Not […]

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