It was a preposterous bit of “news” in the offices of The National newspaper, based in the United Arab Emirates. Diego Maradona had signed a two-season contract to coach the Dubai club Al Wasl FC of the UAE Pro League. (Sure, and Pele was going to come with him as an assistant.) However, as that […]

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Why aren’t more people talking about this? Is it just me? “Stuck” over here in France, getting a limited amount of NFL in my TV diet? The Los Angeles Rams moved heaven and earth (and six high draft picks, to Tennessee) so that they could make Cal quarterback Jared Goff the first pick of the […]

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The new (to me) slogan attached to the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team is kinda cute. “THE FUTURE IS US.” All caps and a period, see? So “US” can be a pronoun as well as the US in the abbreviation for “United States”. It is a temptation to blurt out a rejoinder to that: “AND […]

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Alex Trebek, the soul of television’s regularly scheduled interaction with eggheads, died a few days ago, on November 8. He had been the host of ‘Jeopardy!’ since 1984, when the five-day-a-week version of the show returned from a decade off the air. I love that show, and I was going to revisit my personal experience […]

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It was four years ago that I confessed, on this site, to being an elections wonk. I watch them for fun. For entertainment. For my own edification. For belly laughs. To watch my countrymen at their best, or worst. Probably the main reason I watch them is that a big election — like, say, the […]

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People tend to say that ahead of various big events. Especially the breathless folk who work in media relations or advertising. It also sometimes can be heard, chanted, during a demonstration against the authorities. The whole world is watching. It pretty much is never true. Sober and realistic is the way to approach this. John […]

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