Here in France, we have been watching the Rio 2016 Olympics on the British Broadcasting Company. The BBC, that is. Or the Beeb, as some call it. We were pleased that the television system at the three-unit building we live in, here in semi-rural France, has a smattering of British TV — led by the […]

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Gabby Douglas of the U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics team found herself in a spot of bother when some viewers did not like her attitude (as in, posture) on the victory stand during the playing of the national anthem at Rio 2016. This was after the Americans won the women’s team gold medal on Tuesday night. […]

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More than a decade ago, in an attempt to make myself — and perhaps some readers — feel better as Barry Bonds slugged his way into the record books, I suggested that a certain third baseman for the New York Yankees, Alex Rodriguez, would deliver us from evil in a decade or so. I suggested […]

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Nature or nurture? How important is the body you were born with, when it comes to sports excellence? Is it crucial? Or is it just one factor in a big bag of factors? The successes at the Rio 2016 Olympics tonight of American gymnast Simone Biles and American swimmer Michael Phelps, each of whom reinforced […]

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Newspapers have been in decline for more than a decade now and that is bad news for good government and a free flow of information to regular people. Not that everyone is clear on this. John Oliver addressed the topic on Sunday in his HBO show Last Week Tonight. It is funny (in Oliver’s hands) […]

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I love this story. Or collection of stories. It is about swimmers who have served bans for illicit performance-enhancing substances … being called out by their peers at Rio 2016. While the world watches. An Australian has generated the most heat by calling Chinese swim hero Sun Yang a drug cheat — to his face […]

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Anyone who has attended a football game at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum knows you might face a long, steep climb to get to where you want to be. It could be a metaphor for the former St. Louis (and Cleveland) Rams’ return to Los Angeles. Making the decision to return to the stadium where they […]

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I suppose everyone in the States who cares about such things saw the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremonies via tape delay tonight. It appears to have been the usual four hours of mind-numbing singing and dancing and people whirling in bright colors, including two hours of the Parade of Nations (anyone else old enough to remember […]

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Maybe things are different, back in the States, where NBC must be promoting the Rio Olympics like crazy and Comcast is offering a plan to make another 11 channels of Summer Games available. Maybe you are sick to death of all the promos, you’ve seen so many. Maybe you have heard all you need to […]

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Rio 2016 is the first Summer Olympics I will not attend since Moscow 1980. Yes, it was a good run. I made it to eight consecutive Summer Games. Beginning with Los Angeles 1984 and continuing with Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. The first four with […]

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