When Canadians assemble in any numbers, these seem to be among their most important considerations: 1) organizing a Terry Fox Run, 2) displaying some maple leaf flags (so people don’t mistake them for Americans) 3) agitating for the imminent arrival of a Tim Hortons and 4) setting up a hockey league. Far as I can […]

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This is straight out of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. A sort of man-child — but clearly an adult — is searching the country for … his lost bike. This story is so odd that it has generated a lot of ongoing attention on The National’s website. And tell me the guy holding the photo of his […]

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I don’t have a strong opinion about most Premier League coaches. Even after three years of reading about them daily. Sir Alex Ferguson? Negative connotations. A sort of bully. “Fergie time,” all that. And I don’t like calling anyone “sir”. (It’s the republican in me.) But he wins. Roberto Mancini seems a sort of fancy […]

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  We at The National have been writing stories about American football, here in the UAE, almost from the time the newspaper was founded, in April of 2008. Plans were laid by this or that guy who had started an academy, visions outlined, success assured … None of it ever amounted to anything. Until the […]

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We have odd shortages, here in the UAE. A certain item at the largest groceries will suddenly disappear. And may not return for a month. Or two. This cereal. That soup. A brand of tea. It’s hard to predict, other than something will be missing. I have a theory on this … and I am […]

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The biggest sports event in a decade to be held in the UAE begins in 226 days. That would be the Fifa Under 17 World Cup, comprising teams from 24 nations playing 52 games in six cities over 23 days of competition, beginning on October 17. Some big events come through here, but the scale […]

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The world’s top-ranked golfer made news over the weekend when he walked off the course at the PGA’s Honda Classic, in Florida. Rory McIlroy was seven shots over par for the day, after eight holes, and his second shot on his ninth hole found the water … and there went Rory for the parking lot, […]

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In August, I spent most of two days traveling from Abu Dhabi to Southern California, and on my third night there I went to Angel Stadium — specifically to see Mike Trout play baseball. Four of us went to the game. The other three were there because I wanted to see Mike Trout; they would […]

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The Abu Dhabi Triathlon went off today, and it was the usual brutally long swim/bike/run. Well, not quite “the usual”, because the “big kids” version of the event includes a 200km bike ride — which is 20km more than the usual “Ironman” distance. In addition to the 3km swim and 20km run. The winner trotted […]

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Overeating is a young man’s game. What seems like a fine idea when you’re 20 … seems like a really bad idea once you gain some maturity. (Talking age, as well as a dollop of sense.) This was brought home to me again tonight in Abu Dhabi when I witnessed a donut-eating contest at an […]

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