American Pharoah to be a Jersey Boy

July 6, 2015

It’s official: American Pharoah’s next race will be the $1 million William Hill Haskell Invitational Aug. 2 at Monmouth Park on the Jersey Shore.

“We want to do right by him, so he comes first," owner Ahmed Zayat, himself a Jersey Boy (by way of Teaneck), said. "He's told us he's happy. He's gained weight back. He's been paraded, literally, from coast to coast, and Bob (trainer Baffert) said we need to go back to work. I want to maintain my promise to the fans that if he's healthy he will continue to run, and that's what we're doing..."

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Whither Rafael Nadal?

July 5, 2015

Another Wimbledon, another Rafael Nadal loss in the early rounds to a low-ranked serve-and-volleyer who’s destined to be a trivia answer in the Who did Rafa lose to? category. Dustin Brown this year, Nick Kyrgios the year before, Steve Darcis the year before that and Lukas Rosol the year before that. Except for Kyrgios, who has a mouth on him, none of these players is ever going to be a champ.

But Rafa is – was. What has happened to him? Is it age? (He’s 29 but then, Roger Federer’s 33.) His very physical game? A new racket? Loss of confidence and his famous mental toughness? All of the above? ...

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When danger lurks across the net

July 2, 2015

Disturbing story on the front page of The New York Times’ July 1 edition about the stalkers whom female tennis players face, among them a guy after No. 3-ranked Simona Halep – I see no reason to give him publicity here by naming him – who became increasingly hostile after seeing a rumor that she was to marry.

It was interesting to read the accompanying comments, which as usual were all over the place, with some pointing out that male players also have crazy fans, that these women are better protected than the average woman, etc. ...

The New York Times’ Fed love

June 29, 2015

What’s with The New York Times’ love affair with Roger Federer?

“Against the odds, Federer bids for an eighth Wimbledon title,” the paper noted in a headline on the eve of Wimbledon’s opening. The article was accompanied by a photograph of Feddy winning in 2007. For the Grey Lady, time stopped in 2007. Honestly, it’s as if The Times were Anna Wintour.

Unfortunately, for Fed, The Times and Anna, along came Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, who proved to be Fed’s real rivals, not merely his opponents. In a sense, however, they came along too late. ...

Tennis, everyone

June 26, 2015

Just in time for Wimbledon (June 29 through July 12), teNeues offers “The Stylish Life: Tennis,” a new coffee table book that ranges over the art, fashion and personalities of the modern game that began in the late 19th century. It’s a book that had me at the back cover.

The photograph (also reproduced opposite the Table of Contents) depicts the green tennis courts of Italy’s Il San Pietro di Positano resort spilling onto the jagged, pristine blue Amalfi Coast. That photograph and the reproduction of a Roger Broders poster circa 1930, with its clay courts tumbling onto a periwinkle Mediterranean Sea in Monte Carlo, are precisely what I imagined in “Water Music,” my debut novel, when my athlete-heroes vacation on the island of Mykonos. ...

American Pharoah among ESPY nominees

June 25, 2015

Kudos to Novak Djokovic, Aaron Rodgers and American Pharoah, all among the nominees for ESPYS (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly).

AP got the nod in the Best Championship Performance category, along with San Francisco Giants’ ace (and World Series star) Madison Bumgarner, Florida Softball’s Lauren Haeger and LeBron James. No word yet on whether the Pharoah will attend, although his jockey and fellow nominee Victor Espinoza will no doubt be there.

Nole got two noms – Best International Athlete along with Formula One’s Lewis Hamilton, the LPGA’s Lydia Ko and soccer’s Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo; and Best Male Tennis Player, along with Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic. Aaron was also a double nominees as Best NFL Player (along with Tom Brady, Antonio Brown, DeMarco Murray and JJ Watt) and Best Male Athlete, with Watt again, James and Stephen Curry. ...

Black like her

June 18, 2015

There’s more than meets the eye in the Rachel Dolezal story – no pun intended.

Dolezal resigned from her job as president of the Spokane, Wash. chapter of the NAACP upon the discovery that she is actually a white woman who passed herself off as black.

Dolezal – who was married to a black man, had a child with him and has four adopted black siblings, one of whom is under her legal guardianship – says she identifies as black.

Which is not the same as saying she has been truthful with others. ...