A new acquaintance of ours arrived in Abu Dhabi just ahead of her 30th birthday, tomorrow. She didn’t seem to mind the idea of turning 30. In fact, she said she was tired of being in her 20s. Which set me off on reverie about how “30” was once a far more significant number, […]

[Read more →]

In yesterday’s post, I noted how difficult it is, in the Western world, to have good newspapers in the final week of the year. Parliaments are not in session, stock exchanges take days off, sources are out of town, fewer games are scheduled. At newspapers, one of the bits of enterprise often used to fill […]

[Read more →]

Why the British (and many of their former colonies) celebrate Boxing Day … well, it’s just odd. Apparently, they don’t even know themselves. They have guesses, but … Maybe it was one of the earliest successful pushes to extend a holiday — a notion that has led to so many modern three-day weekends in the […]

[Read more →]

What does a newspaper do when it has a big story on Day 1? It looks for ways to carry forward the narrative on Day 2. While your competitors are scrambling to catch up, or trying to knock down your story, you push it even further along. So, for this morning’s newspaper, we had David […]

[Read more →]

In journalism, some days just turn weird. You think you know how things will go. It seems slow. Routine. Boring. At the 4 p.m. news meeting I all but said “sorry, folks, sports is dull today …” And four hours later I was in a cab in the posh northwest corner of Abu Dhabi island, […]

[Read more →]

In 35-plus years of print journalism, I have worked for perhaps a dozen editors and experienced both ends (and the middle) of the good/competent/awful spectrum. Wayne Sargent, however, was easily the most colorful of those dozen. But also one of the best. I am reminded of Wayne because he died last week at the age […]

[Read more →]

Gather round, kids! The old newspaperman is going to tell you about the bad ol’ days way, way back in time. About 15, 20 years ago. Ancient history, that is. Back when Serious Editors thought this internet thing was never going to amount to much. Back when editors had to carefully consider what story he/she […]

[Read more →]

Insults are a serious matter, here in the UAE. Walter Zenga can vouch for that. His wallet is 2,000 dirhams lighter because he indulged himself in a fit of pique aimed at a local reporter. The UAE is one of the handful of places in the world where a major sports figure can insult a […]

[Read more →]

I love the idea of journalism start-ups. It means another batch of exciting jobs, perhaps good jobs, and exposure for writers both well-known and on the rise. One of those launched today: SportsonEarth.com And a former colleague here in Abu Dhabi, Chuck Culpepper, is one of the main writers for the venture. A first-day verdict?

[Read more →]

Three-plus decades in this business, and I still can be surprised by what can happen when you call someone. I was working on a piece about the future of Mahdi Ali, the capable and popular UAE Olympic soccer coach who led his team to the London Olympics, and I decided to check in with the […]

[Read more →]