On Oct. 30, 2001 — six weeks after 9/11 — President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch of Game Three of the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Yankee Stadium. Somehow we can’t imagine President Donald J. … — On Oct. 30, 2001 — six weeks after 9/11 — President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch of Game Three of the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Yankee Stadium. Somehow we can’t imagine President Donald J. Trump doing this. Photograph by Eric Draper/White House.

Don't take him out to the ballgame -- Trump and criticism

October 30, 2019

When I was a child, I would avoid watching or hearing and reading about my beloved New York Yankees. Part of it was superstition. If I ignored them, they would win. But mostly this was about my avoiding the pain of their losing. If I didn’t know it happened, it was as if it didn’t happen and they would remain perfect in my mind.

Sudden death on D.C.'s power courts

October 24, 2019

A president in thrall to a foreign power. A disenchanted first lady. A White House moving toward crisis.

No, not that White House. But sometimes life imitates art, as it does in Georgette Gouveia’s new psychological thriller, “Burying the Dead” (JMS Books, Oct. 30). It’s a high stakes game of love and death, set on the power courts of Washington, D.C. and other glittering world capitals, that represents a departure for Gouveia, whose previous novels were in the trending category of male/male romance.

Justify winning the 2018 Belmont Stakes to become the 13th Triple Crown winner. Photograph by Mike Lizzi.

Justifying Justify

September 15, 2019

Let us conduct a thought experiment, shall we? You are a world-class tennis player on the eve of the US Open. The night before it begins, a villainous individual steels into your room and injects you with a powerful, performance-enhancing drug. You, in a deep sleep, barely feel a pinprick. To you, it’s all a dream — but one that is about to become a nightmare.

My novel “The Penalty for Holding” will be reissued by JMS Books Sept. 25.

A new chapter in 'The Games Men Play' series

September 11, 2019

They say when one door shuts another opens. Over the summer, I was saddened to hear that Less Than Three Press, the publisher of my football novel “The Penalty for Holding,” had folded and, for a while, I thought that was the end of the book’s publishing life. So you can imagine my joy that the work – about a gay, biracial quarterback’s search for identity in the NFL – will be reissued by JMS Books Sept. 25. And you can imagine my further delight in hearing that JMS has agreed to publish my new psychological thriller “Burying the Dead” – about a rising Russian tennis star whose career masks his real “day job,” political assassin – Oct. 30.

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Blondie ambition: Then British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson greets President Donald J. Trump at the United Nations General Assembly, Oct. 2 2017. White House photograph by D. Myles Cullen.

Send in the clowns -- Boris and the Donald

July 29, 2019

Graig Nettles, the great New York Yankees’ third baseman of the 1970s, once observed that if you want an entertainer, hire (comedian) George Jessel — meaning that he was paid to hit and vacuum up ground balls from opposing batsmen, something he was quite entertaining at.

But in today’s world, it’s not enough to be good at what you do. You have to be relatable.

Where it all started for him: Novak Djokovic defeats Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2011 to capture the number one ranking for the first time en route to winning his first Wimbledon championship.

Olé, Nole

July 15, 2019

The Wimbledon fortnight ended in bizarrely glorious fashion as Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(4), 4-6, 13-12(3) for the men’s singles championship. Federer, the far-and-away fan favorite, ostensibly took the match on paper, winning more points and games. https://deadspin.com/novak-djokovic-is-a-fortress-1836369554 But, as anyone will tell you, matches aren’t won on paper. They’re won by coming up big in the big moments, which is what Djokovic – the number one-ranked player but always an underdog in these situations – did to conquer both Federer and the pro-Fed crowd.

Lessons from the Bode(xpress)sattva

May 21, 2019

In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is one who has attained enlightenment but continues to struggle on the Earth to help others. The Dalai Lama is considered a bodhisattva.

Bodexpress – the trending racehorse who shucked off his jockey, John A. Velazquez, Saturday in the Preakness Stakes, then ran the race riderless and more before finally being corralled – offered his own brand of enlightenment for viewers: