American Pharoah: Hail and farewell

November 1, 2015

Maybe now all the naysayers will zip their lips.

Or maybe they will unseal them long enough to say, “All hail, the Pharoah” as he gallops off to retirement, to stud, to immortality.

American Pharoah did it in Hollywood-scripted style – entering and winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the first Triple Crown winner to do so, at Keeneland in Lexington on Halloween, a treat for racing fans. But then, AP has been a treat for all those lovers of history who had a Triple Crown winner on their bucket list and thought they would never live to see the day. ...

American Pharoah, Novak Djokovic: What defines greatness?

October 28, 2015

American Pharoah has arrived at Keeneland in Lexington for the Breeders’ Cup Classic Saturday, the final race of his career. He’s going to face an older woman, Beholder; older guys like Tonalist and Honor Code; and old rivals like Frosted and Keen Ice.

But hey, is that any worse than the naysayers, the ones who remark that he’s good but not great – certainly not as great as the greats of the 1970s, Secretariat, Seattle Slew and my beloved Affirmed; and, that if he doesn’t win the Breeders’ Cup, he really won’t be considered great.

This is the same conversation about Novak Djokovic, who will lead the field at the BNP Paribas Masters Paris, which begins also on Saturday and runs through Nov. 8. If he doesn’t repeat in Paris and at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London the following week, he won’t have had a great season.

Let’s review, shall we? ...

The Mets – New York’s other baseball team

October 26, 2015

As a longtime New York Yankees’ fan, I must admit to a certain pang when the Yanks aren’t in the World Series and the Mets are. (The last time the Mets won the pennant was in 2000, the year the Yanks beat them in the Series. Ouch.)

But as a fan of the Bronx Bombers, I must also admit that there is a part of me that’s just delighted to see the Amazins in it. For one thing, I’m a New Yorker. I always want to see every New York area team do well. (I’ve also probably seen the Mets more than the Yankees as I don’t have cable, and the Mets tend to have more games on regular TV.) ...

American Pharoah, Abstract Expressionist

October 26, 2015

When he’s not busy training for the Breeders’ Cup, which takes place Oct. 31 at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., American Pharoah has quite the artistic side.

He is among those champions, including Kentucky Derby rival Firing Line and the legendary Cigar, who have done artwork – cleverly called Moneighs – to support After the Finish Line and ReRun Thoroughbred Adoption, which help less fortunate retired racehorses to a new life.

In my guise as editor of WAG magazine, an award-winning lifestyle publication, I had the pleasure of interviewing After the Finish Line President Dawn Mellen, who assists artistes like the Pharoah. ...

Djokovic, Murray, Federer and Nadal: Men for all seasons?

October 23, 2015

Novak Djokovic’s dominance of men’s tennis in 2015 reminds Tennis magazine’s Steve Tignor of Roger Federer in his prime (2006), which has brought out all the Federinas, Nadalistas, Djokovicians and – what do we call Andy Murray’s fans ? Murrayans? – in a favorite game of My Guy is Better Than Your Guy. Honestly, some posters even accuse Tennis mag of finding the ugliest pictures of Nole, Rafa and Andy to make the naturally graceful Fed look even more elegant. Hey,some people are more photogenic than others. Doesn’t make them better-looking. (Perfect example – Marilyn Monroe, a genius in front of a camera, particularly a still camera, but not a great beauty.) ...

No deflating Mets, Packs, Djoker

October 21, 2015

Sunday, Oct. 18 was a great sports day as Novak Djokovic, Aaron Rodgers’ Green Bay Packers and the New York Mets all continued to roll and Colin Kaepernick’s San Francisco 49ers continued to improve on the comeback trail.

Nole in particular is having an amazing run as ESPN noted:

“He became one of three men to play in all four Grand Slam finals in a single season in the Open era, joining Roger Federer and Rod Laver. ...

Playboy unplugged

October 20, 2015

Whenever I was asked about my “walls of inspiration” – which have followed me to each new job, albeit with a changing cast of characters – I always responded that they were a feminist gesture, that I would remove them the day Playboy magazine folded.

Well, Hell has frozen over and I’ll have to remove my men. (Yeah, right. More on that in a bit.) ...