Did you see the pictures of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in Thailand? Didn’t they look lovely in their silk jackets – Rafa in blue for the queen, a bespectacled Nole in yellow for the king? And how respectful were they as they lay wreaths at the Erawan Shrine, site of an Aug. 17 bombing that killed 20 and injured more than 120.
Rafa and Nole, in turn, received gifts, including ceremonial loincloths, enjoyed a little retail therapy and played a one-hour exhibition – which Nole won 6-4, 6-2 and for which they were each paid a little more $2 million, no doubt for their respective charities.
Still, that’s right, one hour, $2 mill. As the Gershwin song says, “Nice work if you can get it, and you can get it if you try.” ...
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Read MoreThere’s something magnificent about watching an athlete in his prime. Witness Novak Djokovic. The same can be said of Aaron Rodgers, arguably the NFL’s finest player. Having won the league’s MVP Award last season, he’s off to a dream start as his team, the Green Bay Packers, has gone 3 and 0, including a decisive 38-28 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. (Next up – the troubled San Francisco 49ers, whose QB, my beloved Colin Kaepernick, isn’t exactly inviting comparisons to Rodgers this year. Did anyone say 4 and 0?)
Rodgers, the NFC’s offensive player of the week, is probably what casual observers think of when they think of a quarterback. (And indeed, he was in part the inspiration for Tam Tarquin, the golden QB and love interest in “The Penalty For Holding,” the forthcoming novel in my series “The Games Men Play.”) ...
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Read MoreWe kid around on this blog about tennis players, their quirks and perks, but they are also men and women of conscience.
For every ace Andy Murray hits from now until the end of the season, he is donating 50 pounds (roughly $78) to UNICEF on behalf of the Syrian refugees. (Good man, Andy. Keep ’em coming.)
For Novak Djokovic, seen here visiting a designated play space for refugee children at the Hotel Bristol in his native Belgrade, this is clearly personal. He’s not only a UNICEF ambassador; he’s a man who was bombed as a child and who once said that war is the worst thing anyone can experience. ...
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Read MoreIt warmed my heart recently to hear that Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will resume the greatest rivalry in tennis next week at an exhibition match in Thailand.
According to Tennis World, Lawn Tennis Association President Suwat Liptapanlop said Djokovic and Nadal will boost Thai tourism:
“Both players will go shopping at the One Tambon One Product (OTOP) hall in the afternoon of Oct. 1 and they will meet (Prime Minister) Prayut Chanocha at Government House at 11 a.m. on Oct. 2.” ...
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Read MorePope Francis’ celebration of Mass at Madison Square Garden tonight prompted my friend, sports publicist and blogger John Cirillo, to email me a post on his favorite Garden moments, which got me thinking about my own.
But first, a little history. The Garden, named for President James Madison, really was once a garden – a rooftop garden that was part of an elaborate Moorish-style complex designed by architect Stanford White, who was shot there in 1906 by a crazed Harry Thaw over Thaw’s wife (and White’s former mistress) chorus girl Evelyn Nesbit. (She figures in both E.L. Doctorow’s novel “Ragtime” and the movie “The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing.”) ...
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Read MoreThe New York Times – the Paper of Record, particularly for the Federinas of the world – just can’t let it go.
The Sunday Times ran an opinion piece by former New York Times Magazine editor Gerald Marzorati – author of the forthcoming tennis memoir “Late to the Ball” – about how the booze-fueled pro-Fed crowd at the US Open final was really expressing its anxiety about Feddy – and themselves – aging. (And here I thought the booze-filled crowd, whose venom was directed toward Fed opponent Novak Djokovic, was really expressing how booze contributes to uninhibited ugliness.) ...
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Read MoreOne week after the US Open, there’s no rest for the weary men as most of the top stars are in action in the semifinals of the Davis Cup.
The big exception is Novak Djokovic, who’s sitting this one out. Can you blame him? No one goes deeper into matches than Nole. Everyone needs a break from time to time, and, frankly, I envy him his.
That said, everyone else seems to have something to prove this weekend. Rafael Nadal, after a dismal year, is seeking redemption for himself and the Spanish team in their defeat of the Danish. Andy Murray is burnishing his Davis Cup legacy in an attempt to earn a berth for the British in the finals against Argentina. ...
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