The Grantland sports website has a story that pretty much cuts to the heart of the lockerroom “relationship” between athletes and media. Deconstructing a rude comment Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder made to a hometown newspaper columnist. The relationship between jocks and hacks was never good, not when I entered the profession in […]

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The American colt California Chrome has landed in Dubai ahead of his first race on foreign soil — the $10 million Dubai World Cup next weekend. It seems possible the decision by Chrome’s owners to run the winner of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Santa Anita Derby at Dubai’s Meydan Racecourse could translate into […]

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March Madness erupted today, with 16 NCAA tournament games played, including UCLA’s controversial victory over SMU, but this is what I took away from that game: It was played in the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville.

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Bhutan is a small, rarely visited country on the eastern end of the Himalayas. North of India, south of Tibet, middle of nowhere. And it probably is neither unkind nor unfair to suggest that a couple of weeks ago, Bhutan was best known, globally, for being the country ranked 209th — and last — in […]

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Diana Taurasi likely is the best player in the history of women’s basketball. And what does it say about U.S. women’s basketball when that best player, an American, will not play in the States this year? Taurasi is playing in Russia, at the moment, and when the season there is over, she will take time […]

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The 2015 Formula One season began in Australia on Sunday, and it began about as poorly as was possible. Lewis Hamilton won easily. Nico Rosberg, the other Mercedes-GP driver, was 30-plus seconds ahead of the third-place car. a clear second. And Hamilton and Rosberg finished 1-2 last season in the most dominant team performance in […]

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On the whole, I am proud of Americans in the UAE. The thought struck me again over the weekend, while dealing with players and coaches in the Emirates American Football League. The league is justly proud that the majority of its players (57 percent) come from somewhere other than the U.S., and includes participants from […]

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That is the name of the honey store near the offices of The National. I don’t know how long it has been there. Maybe weeks. Maybe years. But I  noticed it on the drive to the newspaper offices. A small sign over a small shop, nearly obscured by construction all around it. “Emirates Flower Honey […]

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  Journalists who work inside the office need to get out once in a while. To see anew how the other half lives. To get reacquainted with the realities of reporting. The untidy and inexact process of going onsite, piecing together what has happened, interviewing people who may not want to talk, making sense of […]

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“Lady” is a gorilla kept at the Al Ain Zoo, the biggest zoo in the UAE. We visited the zoo, for the first time, earlier this year. Her 40th birthday was observed yesterday at the zoo, with birthday cake and press opportunities. How festive Lady felt is not known, of course. One thing that stuck […]

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