Police use a white sphere to remove a pipe bomb mailed to CNN’s headquarterss in Manhattan. Courtesy CNN.

Fear strikes out

October 25, 2018

The attempt to send crude pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and liberal-leaning CNN Wednesday was shocking but hardly surprising. It is the inevitable progression of an American society unhinged by divisiveness and incivility. And, predictably, the aftermath has not brought people together but set them squabbling about whether or not President Donald J. Trump can be blamed; who’s more uncivil, Democrats or Republicans; and the continuing whataboutism that relitigates past grievances.

Rafanole in Saudi Arabia

October 16, 2018

A journalist, a tennis player and the president of the United States walk into a bar….

No, it’s not the setup for a joke. Indeed, it’s no laughing matter.

Tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – the No. 1- and No. 2-ranked players on the men’s tour – find themselves in the midst of an international crisis not of their making….

The Blues Brothers: Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic bow as a doubles team at the Laver Cup. Photograph by Clive Brunskill for Getty Images North America

The Laver Cup and the nature of rivalries

September 25, 2018

“You’re only as good as your opponent makes you play,” Martina Navratilova observes in “Strokes of Genius.” It’s a documentary about Rafael Nadal’s hard-fought triumph over Roger Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final, which Jon Wertheim describes in his book of the same name as the greatest tennis match to date….

Christie’s will be auctioning off an historic Novak Djokovic racket, along with one of his watches, Thursday, Sept. 20.

Novak Djokovic auctions off a bit of personal history

September 19, 2018

Now you can swing a racket like a US Open champion — not to mention tell time like one. On Thursday, Sept. 20, Christie’s will conduct an online-only auction of the Head racket US Open men’s singles champion Novak Djokovic used to defeat Roger Federer in the Open tune-up, Cincinnati's Western & Southern Open.

Does tennis have a gender problem?

September 11, 2018

The US Open, just concluded, was one hot mess, bookended by searing temps at the beginning of the tourney and a searing controversy involving Serena Williams and umpire Carlos Ramos at the end whose ramifications are apt to ripple for some time…..

My photograph of the facade of the new Louis Armstrong Stadium, which has been a big hit with fans.

Telling the stories of the US Open

September 8, 2018

Imagine a room with banks upon banks of cubicles, each of which contains a monitor, a laptop and a headset.

No, it’s not a telemarketing business but part of the Media Center at the US Open, which ends Sunday, Sept. 9 with the men’s final. While fans have been raving about the new “Louie,” as in the Louis Armstrong Stadium, or taking in the action at Arthur Ashe or the Grandstand or one of the other courts, members of the press have been hard at work at their designated cubicles, banging out stories for publications and media websites all over the world….

Will Nike's new Colin Kaepernick ad bring out the fans or the haters?

Colin Kaepernick just does it

September 5, 2018

Nike has made activist-athlete Colin Kaepernick the centerpiece of its 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign. The ad shows a black-and-white close-up of his face and bears the words “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”