I’ve watched Tiger Woods play in person. Not bunches of times, but at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles a time or three. Back when he used to play the Nissan Open, or whatever it is called these days. It had been a while, however. And the man was playing in the Abu Dhabi Championship, […]

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Seems like time for a list. I’m pretty sure I’ve noted on this blog that I am among a rapidly shrinking fraction of Americans who have seen every Super Bowl. Either in person or on television. Do the math. The first Super Bowl was played on January 15, 1967. Even if we cast a wide […]

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An American named Eldrick Tont Woods, generally referred to as “Tiger” … is in Abu Dhabi this week to play in the local European Tour event. We could tell you he’s here, for the first time, because he likes visiting this part of the world, or heard that the weather here this time of year […]

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The weather is the No. 1 topic of discussion in the United Arab Emirates at the moment, and not for the usual reasons. Instead of this being one of the hottest places in the world … we are struggling to deal with Arctic temps. Arctic, I tell you. Like 56 … 55 … 54 … […]

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As someone who watched NFL games as a professional observer … well, I pretty much took a generation off. The Rams and Raiders left Los Angeles after the 1994 season, and the 18 years I worked in the same media market as at least one NFL team has since been nearly equaled by the 17 […]

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I have witnesses to this. Two days before the New Orleans Saints — and the quarterback who enjoyed the most productive season in NFL history — played in San Francisco, I was warning a couple of NFL fans here in Abu Dhabi about Candlestick Park. I have spent many days in Candlestick, particularly in the […]

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The United Arab Emirates is a distant doppelganger to Southern California, when it comes to cars. They love their wheels here. Love them. Mass transit here is buses. Not a rail line in the country, that I know of, though the government apparently is considering a high-speed rail link between the country’s major coastal cities. […]

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I’ve written fairly often about Diego Maradona. I know that. Almost unavoidable. El Diego coaches the Al Wasl team up in Dubai, and I cover a lot of domestic soccer/football here in the UAE. So Diego comes up a lot. We are trying to find the latest answer to the great sports question: How rare […]

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It was about 5 a.m. at this end of the Arabian Peninsula when Tim Tebow hooked up with Demaryius Thomas on the 80-yard scoring pass on the first play of overtime, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 29-23 in the playoffs. By the time I got to the offices of The National later in the morning, something […]

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Getting old. It isn’t all bad news. Mostly, it is. Sure. But not entirely. Past a certain threshold you get breaks on tickets at museums and concerts, etc., and you can collect Social Security, in the U.S., if the system hasn’t yet gone bankrupt. Another significant advantage pops up on the “literature” side of things. […]

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