It’s chaos over there in the States, right? Owners and general managers ricocheting around the country chasing LeBron James and the other NBA free agents as of 12:01 EDT Thursday, trying to bundle up enough cash to sign Bron-Bron and all those other guys. We here at The National, in the United Arab Emirates, are […]

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I was driving up Airport Road here in Abu Dhabi at about 11:30 p.m. (more about the driving thing later), and I saw a crowd gathered outside a restaurant across from the ironically named “Happy Yemen” seafood resto. Dozens of men, standing and looking at the restaurant window … and it struck me: They were […]

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So, Project 2010 didn’t quite work out, after all. The plan, back in 1998, that would make the United States a serious contender for the 2010 World Cup championship … well, it’s 2010 and we’re not there yet, as demonstrated by this: Ghana 2, U.S. 1. But we could argue that this U.S. team, flawed […]

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Had it all the way. Sort of a strange way to see the United States national team in its do-or-leave match with Algeria. A day off for us here in Abu Dhabi, so no flat-screen TV in the office, which is just as well. Hard to watch when you’re working. And the Yanks played at […]

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Tomorrow is all about the United States and Algeria and Group C … But today, we are going to look at some continental trends emerging, at South Africa 2010. In particular, the struggles of the European teams instinctively considered the best in the world — along with Brazil and Argentina. Europe is not having a […]

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The story moved at about 2 p.m. UAE time today. A major media breakthrough in the history of a benighted nation. North Korea would televise its national team’s World Cup match vs. Portugal later that day, Pyongyang confirmed. It would be the first time the latter-day Hermit Kingdom had televised any match live from the […]

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This might be my favorite World Cup story so far … because it’s so ridiculous. France’s national soccer team is on strike. This strikes me as tres French. And 21st century Euro. A sort of instinctive opposition to authority, a willingness to take collective action against The Man even when it actually hurts the collective. […]

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I work in a room with perhaps 150 Britons. Some are Welsh. Some are Scottish. Some are Irish. But most seem to be English … and they are in pain. While American soccer fans are understandably nervous (two draws?) and upset (the disallowed goal) … their anxiety is as nothing compared to that of fans […]

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British sports journalists use the word “brave” a lot, cheapening it, in the process. If you are an underdog and don’t get blown out? “Brave.” If you fall behind early but hang around? “Brave.” “Brave,” however, almost always refers to a loser. “Thanks for not going belly up” is the conceptual undertow.  Which isn’t brave […]

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I was up at the crack of dawn to follow Game 7 of the Lakers and Celtics … and as you all know … it was scary for quite some time before Derek Fisher his the three that tied it at 64-64, and after that didn’t most Lakers fans have a sense that Kobe & […]

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