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Entries from February 2011

The Big One Who Got Away from U.S. Soccer

February 8th, 2011 · No Comments · Abu Dhabi, Landon Donovan, soccer, The National

Read it and weep. Remember how we were discussing, not long ago, the concept of “who is the next great U.S. scorer? From where is he coming?” Well, we have an answer. The next great American scorer was born in (and grew up in) New Jersey … but plays for Villarreal and Italy.  Ugh. Here […]

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A Realization about 20 Years Late …

February 7th, 2011 · No Comments · NFL

If those of you have not been to a Super Bowl as a journalist or a fan … this may not come as a newsflash: It can be pretty dreary. And shockingly expensive. If you’ve done one SB in person, that’s probably enough. It is so much better to watch on TV. I promise you. […]

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The Best Deeply Flawed Super Bowl

February 6th, 2011 · 1 Comment · Abu Dhabi, NFL, soccer, The National, The Sun, UAE

Two events conspired so that I could see most of Super Bowl XLV live. I checked late Saturday night to see what stations were showing the game locally, and “ESPN” was one of them. Turns out, yes, it was the ESPN we now get in the apartment since we got a minimal TV package last […]

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The Dwindling Super Club

February 5th, 2011 · 1 Comment · Abu Dhabi, NFL, Sports Journalism, The National

The Super Bowl isn’t a new idea anymore, though some of us remember when it was. We are becoming fewer. Of course. And those intimately involved with the game … to the point of being at all of them … well, only a handful remain. I knew most of the journalism side of this story. […]

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Egypt’s Day of Departure? Probably Not

February 4th, 2011 · No Comments · Abu Dhabi, The National, UAE

A few people have asked me via e-mail how the situation in Egypt looks from over here in the UAE. I can’t speak for a country or even a city, but I am certain of this generality: Everyone is watching.

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A Taste of the Gifted John Cleese

February 3rd, 2011 · No Comments · Uncategorized

Got this in one of those “have you seen this?” e-mail chains, and the attribution here is to John Cleese. But I got it via e-mail, so he may not take credit/blame for it. Cleese, of course, was a central figure in the British comedy troupe Monty Python. And still quite amusing. This is entitled, […]

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Do They Know It’s Groundhog Day?*

February 2nd, 2011 · 1 Comment · Abu Dhabi, UAE

Yes, you’re officially old but vaguely hip (or were) if you recognize that headline as coming from a song from 25 years ago: “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” One of those “let’s get a bunch of celebrity singers together for a big, star-powered song to raise money for starving people somewhere” recordings. Can’t say I […]

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A Long Road Back

February 1st, 2011 · No Comments · Abu Dhabi, The National, UAE

If you asked young Emirati males to name their five favorite activities, at least two of them would be watching soccer and driving cars. Emiratis, you may have deduced, are the Arabs who live here in the United Arab Emirates. They constitute about 15 percent of the population but about 98 percent of the actual […]

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