I have noted this during every World Cup since 1990, at least. The first I covered … so of course I would have noticed it. But now, even watching via television, I discover the same emotions. I am oddly bereft when the group stage of a World Cup ends, producing a day or two of […]

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I love this story. And the timing is good, too. The Formula One guys are gathering in Abu Dhabi this weekend for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. So, we were looking for ways to localize the big motors story, and our sports columnist, Ali Khaled, came up with this 5-year-old Emirati kindergartner who races go-karts […]

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Sounds medical, yes? In print journalism, it has always meant how well and how predictably a newspaper is delivered, especially to its home subscribers. In the U.S., the circulation department was always seen as mildly disreputable, slippery characters leading a crew of people you might hope did not get on the same elevator as you […]

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Michel Platini, president of the European football federation, has called for the World Cup to be expanded from 32 to 40 teams. First reaction? More of a good thing can’t be bad. Second reaction? Too much of a good thing can, in fact, be bad. Why 40 teams? Why now? Why would it be a […]

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Ever wonder what the inside of a modern newsroom in the UAE looks like? Feel free to have a look at this brief video done by a multi-media staffer, and you can see the interior of The National newsroom, as well as lay eyes on a couple of people you might know.

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This was a bit of a scandal, here in the UAE: The South African cricketer found tampering with the ball. Yes, they mess with the ball in cricket, too. Meaning it is a story that baseball fans can relate to. First, have a look at television footage showing South Africa’s Faf du Plessis attempting to […]

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I cannot recall if I always loathed all things Boston. Perhaps I did. Being a Lakers fan in the 1960s would have been enough to sour a right-thinking person on Boston. The Celtics: Good, but also really lucky. If I were ambivalent about the Boston Red Sox, the Boston (now New England) Patriots and the […]

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When I was young, which of course is a long time ago, no television program would take to the airwaves without a theme song. At the least, some sort of music. (The whimsical theme for the Dick Van Dyke Show enters my head, with Van Dyke, a champion prat-faller in his prime, neatly eluding an […]

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Living and working in Southern California for three-plus decades, I am sure I did not adequately appreciate the enormous advantage conferred on those living with a few miles of the Pacific Ocean. Pacific Standard Time. Indeed, no time standard is as felicitous when it comes to presenting the day’s sports events as dear old PST […]

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The sports story of the day on this side of the Atlantic, particularly for those who have any interest in the English Premier League (which is most people in the UAE) — was the press conference involving Sir Alex Ferguson, former manager of Manchester United, and his second autobiography. Ferguson is known for having plenty […]

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