Mug shot from O.J. Simpson’s arrest for the murder of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Time magazine would be criticized for darkening the photograph when it ran on the cover, underscoring a trial that proved to be less about domestic violence and more about race in the United States.

O.J.Simpson's 'Appointment in Samarra'

April 11, 2024

When I think of O.J. Simpson, who died Wednesday, April 10 of prostate cancer at age 76 in Las Vegas, I think of the short story '“Appointment in Samarra,” often retold in novels. The protagonist encounters the figure of Death, and to elude the dreaded specter, runs off to Samarra, only to find Death waiting there at the place where they were destined to meet. You cannot escape fate — or the consequences of your actions, no matter what else you do in life. Such is the Hindu and Buddhist principle of karma.

Champions (of a cause)

February 20, 2017

“Should professional athletes be allowed to use their status to talk about things more important than the games they play?”

That is the question that Jay Caspian Kang asks in his most recent “On Sports” column for The New York Times Magazine.

It’s a rich, juicy question, because it goes to the heart of our ambivalence toward outspoken athletes, artists, entertainers and other public figures who are not public servants. ...

Nick Kyrgios and the mystery of temperament

August 28, 2016

So The New York Times Magazine’s US Open Special is basically a cover story on bad boy du jour Nick Kyrgios, pictured biting on the cross he wears around his neck and, oh, you can imagine the posts in response – not just about the cross but on Nick in general.

But the cross is an interesting metaphor here. Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16: 24-36)

What indeed. ...

The closer: Aaron Rodgers

January 13, 2015

So many story lines in this past weekend’s playoff games:

*The Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson and the Indianapolis Colts’ Andrew Luck emerging as the class of their generation. This is not a rap against the Washington Redskins’ Robert Griffin III, the Carolina Panthers’ Cam Newton and, my favorite, the San Francisco 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick. But they seem at this point to lack a poise, a maturity that Luck and Wilson have, which may be why Wilson and his team are moving on to the NFC championship game while Luck and his go on to the AFC game.

*Luck, of course, found himself involved in another storyline as the Colts defeated Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, 24-13. Manning was once the Colts’ man. They let him go when Luck came aboard. So you had the past/present going up against the present/future, and the present/future won. Whither Peyton? He might come back next year. But he and his team looked almost as flat-footed as they did in last year’s disastrous Super Bowl appearance. Meanwhile, the Colts will take on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots next weekend. Though I hate to admit, Brady – Manning’s contemporary – appears to be aging better in the job. Go Colts. ...