And we thought drunken thugs clashing around a soccer match was an sight that had been relegated to history. Not when England is involved, especially overseas. Especially in France. Especially in Marseille. English louts who reportedly had been drinking all day attacked/were attacked/counter-attacked in an atmosphere of beer-fueled chaos near the Old Port of France’s […]

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All these years after soccer made a breakthrough in the United States, and I’m still not sure American fans appreciate the significance of the Uefa European Championship. The World Cup is the planet’s biggest tournament. The Euros are No. 2. I suppose No. 3 would be the Copa America, which is going on in the […]

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It was a teeny bit like the Retired Anglophones French Chateau Languedocienne Woodstock. Music, alcohol, cars parked on every spot not previously occupied by a vine … essentially a farm with no neighbors to complain about the noise … and lots and of gray-white-and-blue hair. It was quite the success as hundreds of people seemed […]

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It took him three tries, but Julio Urias finally looked like he belongs in the major leagues. The 19-year-old left-hander, ranked one of baseball’s top prospects, gave up one run in four innings and racked up seven strikeouts in a game the Dodgers won over the Colorado Rockies 4-3, on Trayce Thompson’s ninth-inning home run. […]

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It is a great job: Recording the highs and lows of a Volvo Ocean Race sailing team during a nine-month circumnavigation of the planet. It is a horrific job: During the 40,000 or so nautical miles of the journey, the onboard VOR reporter will encounter heaving seas, deep cold, blistering heat and the spartan living […]

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In sports, a lot of bad trades become bad trades after the fact. The Dodgers’ nine-player trade with the Boston Red Sox in August of 2012 was a bad trade from Day 1. The Dodgers did the Red Sox a huge favor (and themselves a huge disservice) in the heart of the infamous deal — […]

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Sometimes I feel I’m at the far end of the Jurgen Klinsmann must go spectrum. I believe the German coach of the U.S. national team is an ongoing disaster who is actively making the team worse by denigrating American players and the country’s domestic league … and who continues to bring in faux Yanks, insta-Yanks, […]

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I twice saw Muhammad Ali perform in person. On both occasions he came across as a shattered man. In the ring, in 1980, when Larry Holmes gave him a savage beating in Las Vegas. And again at the Opening Ceremonies for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, when he was already firmly in the grip of Parkinson’s […]

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Despite reading a dozen stories on Game 1 of the NBA Finals, I am still not quite clear on why the Cleveland Cavaliers lost by 15 points — even while limiting Golden State stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to 20 points. Combined. I didn’t see the game because 1) it started at 3 a.m. […]

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It was more of a working vacation, in Southern California, clearing out an apartment for sale, which is always more work than a person anticipates. Some visits with family, with whom we did a sort of relay of bedroom-crashing. Thanks to all of them for their wonderful hospitality. Got a baseball game in, the Angels […]

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