Tomorrow is all about the United States and Algeria and Group C … But today, we are going to look at some continental trends emerging, at South Africa 2010. In particular, the struggles of the European teams instinctively considered the best in the world — along with Brazil and Argentina. Europe is not having a […]

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The story moved at about 2 p.m. UAE time today. A major media breakthrough in the history of a benighted nation. North Korea would televise its national team’s World Cup match vs. Portugal later that day, Pyongyang confirmed. It would be the first time the latter-day Hermit Kingdom had televised any match live from the […]

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This might be my favorite World Cup story so far … because it’s so ridiculous. France’s national soccer team is on strike. This strikes me as tres French. And 21st century Euro. A sort of instinctive opposition to authority, a willingness to take collective action against The Man even when it actually hurts the collective. […]

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I work in a room with perhaps 150 Britons. Some are Welsh. Some are Scottish. Some are Irish. But most seem to be English … and they are in pain. While American soccer fans are understandably nervous (two draws?) and upset (the disallowed goal) … their anxiety is as nothing compared to that of fans […]

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British sports journalists use the word “brave” a lot, cheapening it, in the process. If you are an underdog and don’t get blown out? “Brave.” If you fall behind early but hang around? “Brave.” “Brave,” however, almost always refers to a loser. “Thanks for not going belly up” is the conceptual undertow.  Which isn’t brave […]

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I was up at the crack of dawn to follow Game 7 of the Lakers and Celtics … and as you all know … it was scary for quite some time before Derek Fisher his the three that tied it at 64-64, and after that didn’t most Lakers fans have a sense that Kobe & […]

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I celebrated, two weeks ago, while traveling in Italy, the fact that I would not be able to see the Lakers and Celtics on live television in the NBA Finals. Because 1) it would agitate me and 2) these things usually end so badly for the Lakers. That does not mean I haven’t kept close […]

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When you live on the other side of the world … it isn’t easy to predict what might make you suddenly nostalgic for “home.” So it was with a little surprise that I noted the death of singer-songwriter Jimmy Dean at age 81 … and found myself listening to his classic, 1961 hit, a grand […]

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Great day … I am back in sports journalism. I have transferred from the news desk at The National, here in Abu Dhabi, to the sports department. And so far it’s been rather like going home again. Even if “home” now includes quite a lot of cricket and rugby for what is, at heart, a […]

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Where did we leave off? We mentioned Vietri, yes? Let’s back up a minute. We left Sicily two days ahead of schedule. Mostly because we were running out of interesting things to do within a reasonable drive … and because our hotel — Feudogrande agriturismo — was supposed to be about sublime, home-cooked Italian food, […]

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