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. ...
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Read MoreOne of the goals of the new head of the U.S.T.A. is a renewed emphasis on sportsmanship.
“I think the game has gotten away from its moral aspect,” says Katrina Adams, the first former player and African-American to serve as president, CEO and chairman of the United States Tennis Association.
She has a point ...
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Read MoreThe Supreme Court has upheld a drug used in Oklahoma executions, dismissing the claim of three death-row inmates that it causes excruciating pain.
Basically, the majority of the Supremes said the inmates should’ve come up with an alternative drug – which Justice Sonia Sotomayor thought was nutty.
“Petitioners contend that Oklahoma’s current protocol is a barbarous method of punishment — the chemical equivalent of being burned alive,” Justice Sotomayor wrote. ...
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Read MoreBoy, the Public Editor’s column in the June 28 edition of The New York Times really struck a chord with me. The column by Margaret Sullivan wondered if both The Times and its readers are served by reporters who write books, people like columnist and PBS commentator David Brooks, whose latest work, “The Road to Character,” has been the subject of several columns that linked to his website. Readers complained not only about his shilling for his book but about errors in the book that have since been corrected.
While I haven’t read the book, I thought the premise of related columns – that the individual needs to be subjugated to the good of the community – was essentially illogical and unrealistic. ...
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Read MoreYou know how they always say you have to get back on the horse, back in the saddle?
Well, that’s just what American Pharoah has done, so to speak. After a three-week victory parade, he’s back working out at his home track, Santa Anita, and looking good doing it.
No word on where he’ll be racing next so there’s no point in speculating. What’s clear is that he has a few races left, including the Breeders’ Cup Classic Oct. 30 and 31, before he begins making other little horseys. That’s too bad. Bloodlines are tricky, as I’ll explore in “Criterion,” the third planned book in my series “The Games Men Play,” told in part from the viewpoint of a racehorse trying to win the Triple Crown. ...
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Read MoreWhat’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. ...
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