Been donkey’s years, as the Brits would say, since I did a list. It’s time. This one is going to be a little apples-and-oranges. My favorite road trips as a professional sports journalist. Some considerations: –What is more important? The travel? Or the event I was there to cover? –Or will we almost certainly get […]

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The United Arab Emirates national team came up big. On the same day I said the Emiratis would lose 3-0. And maybe worse. Needing a victory over Saudi Arabia to keep alive its ultra-slim chances of qualifying for the Russia 2018 World Cup, the UAE got goals from two of the greatest forwards the country […]

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In 1999, a U.S. team led by Landon Donovan got to the semifinals of the Fifa Under 17 Championship, in New Zealand. The young Americans played Australia to a 2-2 draw but lost the shootout 7-6 when Kenny Cutler missed his penalty and Oz’s Joshua Kennedy converted. Brazil won the tournament and the Yanks finished […]

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Only one sport really matters among the citizens of the United Arab Emirates. And, actually, it is a subset of one sport. The men’s national soccer team. Not necessarily the domestic soccer league those guys play in; Emirati fans are far more interested in club soccer in other countries, particularly in England and Spain. No, […]

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Rio 2016 is the first Summer Olympics I will not attend since Moscow 1980. Yes, it was a good run. I made it to eight consecutive Summer Games. Beginning with Los Angeles 1984 and continuing with Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. The first four with […]

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Of great interest to me, anyway. And this may be one of the more bizarre pairings among global soccer fans. Two of the three world countries with “United” in its name, and neither is the United Kingdom. –The United Arab Emirates, home to Saudi Arabia. –The United States, home to Guatemala. Both are tomorrow. The […]

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Much is being made about the brutal cold expected at the NFL playoffs game in Minneapolis on Sunday. The Minnesota Vikings versus the Seattle Seahawks at the University of Minnesota — with a forecast temperature at kickoff of 0 degrees Fahrenheit. That will make it one of the coldest games in NFL history, though the […]

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Here we are at another World Championship of Athletics, the second-biggest event in what Americans call “track and field”. And another round of Usain Bolt setting world records? The 100 meters on Sunday and the 200 on August 29? I still have not come to terms with the records he already has because of the […]

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Omar Abdulrahman is the best soccer player in the UAE. He might be the best soccer player in the Middle East. He is good enough that whenever foreigners see him play, they inevitably ask: “When are you going to Europe?” Now and then, Omar has seemed vaguely interested in that concept. He trained for a […]

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Omar Abdulrahman … the best player nearly no one outside the UAE knows about. He is really good, if he is allowed to play, and he has become the leader of the UAE national team, which plays host Saudi Arabia in the semifinals of the Gulf Cup of Nations tomorrow. He dominated the final Group […]

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