A depiction of the murder of St. Thomas Becket by knights of his friend King Henry II of England. From the Carrow Psalter, 1250, ink, gold and parchment. Courtesy Walters Art Museum.
OK, so who had Pope Leo XIV versus President Donald J. Trump on their fight card, let alone bingo card?
Today, many shocked posters on the internet are saying they didn’t. But I did.
Read MorePope Leo XIV waving from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica after being chosen pope on May 8. His choice of the name Leo and his appearance in the short stole known as the mozzetta, harking back to Pope Benedict XVI’s first appearance after becoming pope, suggests this Pope Francis ally will be a bridge builder as well as a counterpoint to conservatives. Photograph by Edgar Beltrán / The Pillar.
So who had Robert Francis Prevost on their bingo card?
No one, right? The election of the cardinal to succeed Pope Francis as Leo XIV came so far out of left field as to be outside the park of the Chicago-born Leo’s beloved White Sox. And yet, it didn’t take long to see that the choice of Leo – calm, centered, bespectacled, math-studying, multilingual, trumpet- and tennis-playing ,Republican primary-voting, Francis-mentored Leo – was the perfect one to countermand the rising American nationalism under President Donald J. Trump.
Read MoreA 2009 Miami Open match between Juan Del Potro and Rafael Nadal. Photograph by Alex Lee.
There is no March Madness for Novak Djokovic.
The un-Covid vaccinated world No. 1 isn’t playing in the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, (otherwise known as the Indian Wells Masters) this week, and he won’t be playing in the Miami Open (March 19 through April 2), this despite appeals from notables like Billie Jean King that went all the way to the White House and from tournament directors, who, faced with the retirement of Roger Federer and Serena Williams and injury to Rafael Nadal, need all the superstars they can get.
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