Rafa, Sharapova, Exaggerator and an unsettling week in sports

June 12, 2016

Am I the only one to feel as if the past week was something of a letdown?

First, we had a Belmont Stakes finish – Creator over Destin by a nose – that would’ve been thrilling had Exaggerator not finished 11th. That’s right, 11th. The horse that challenged Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist and bested him in the Preakness finished 11th. Something crazy about that.

At least Lani – the Nick Kyrgios of racehorses – has been improving. He finished third. No wonder everyone’s still talking about American Pharoah. Last year at this time, we were floating on the miracle of a rare feat. This year with the upset of Nyquist and then Exaggerator – meh.

The tennis news isn’t that much better. ...

Ole, Nole: Novak Djokovic wins the elusive French Open

June 5, 2016

Congratulations to Novak Djokovic, who finally won the French Open on his 12th attempt, defeating Andy Murray 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 Sunday at Roland Garros in Paris.

“It’s a very special day, perhaps the biggest moment of my career,” Djokovic said in French to the Parisian crowd. The win made him the eighth man in tennis history to complete the career Grand Slam and the third man, behind Don Budge and Rod Laver, to hold all four Slam singles titles at once. (Budge and Laver, of course, did it in a calendar year, Laver twice – the last time 47 years ago.)

Murray, who has played his friendly rival since their junior days and is a week older, was classy in defeat. “This is his day today,” the No. 2 seed said. “What he’s achieved in the last 12 months is phenomenal.” ...

In memoriam: Muhammad Ali (1942 -2016)

June 5, 2016

Kings and presidents die, and nobody cares, Muhammad Ali once said. But Joe Louis died, and everybody cried.

Are they crying now for Muhammad Ali, who died Friday in Scottsdale, Ariz. of complications from Parkinson’s disease? No doubt.

Boxers are perhaps the most poignant of athletes, for in a sense, they absorb the blows for the rest of us. Boxing, the novelist Joyce Carol Oates observed in her nonfiction work, “On Boxing,” is “America’s tragic theater.” ...

Nacho Figueras’ ‘High Season’

June 1, 2016

“Criterion” – the third planned book in my series “The Games Men Play” – is a tale of bloodlust and bloodlines set amid rival families in the equestrian world. So I was more than a little excited to see that Nacho Figueras – the polo star and Ralph Lauren spokesmodel – is presenting a series of romances, “The Polo Season,” written by Hudson Valley, N.Y. writer Jessica Whitman.

The first, “High Season” (Forever/Grand Central Publishing, $13.99, 351 pages) follows an upstate New York veterinarian as she threads her way among the 1-percenters of the winter equestrian circuit in Wellington, Fla. Will she find love with the dashing polo star who, too, has his challenges? Is there any doubt? ...

Of Stephen Curry and Stephen Hawking: Sports and destiny

May 30, 2016

There are few more intriguing themes in journalism and literature than that of the brilliant loser – the superb racer who for a variety of reasons fails to meet expectations, be it runners Zola Budd and Mary Decker, speed skater Dan Jansen or Thoroughbreds Spectacular Bid, California Chrome and, most recently, Nyquist; the juggernaut so dominant in the regular season and so vulnerable in the playoffs (the Stephen Curry-led Golden State Warriors battling the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA playoffs); and, most heartbreaking of all, the “perfect” performer who finds that perfection elusive when needed most (Serena Williams against Roberta Vinci in the semifinals of the US Open last year; Novak Djokovic against Stan Wawrinka in the finals of the French Open last year; and, my favorite ...

Nadal exits the French Open

May 29, 2016

Let the death knells start sounding again.

Rafael Nadal is out of the French Open with tendon damage in his left wrist, his serving arm, and the press has reacted with its usual lack of optimism.

As I’ve said before, I think Rafa and Roger Federer are still too competitive and invested in tennis as part of their identities to retire any time soon. Still, it’s a shame that we’ll be deprived of a potential Rafanole semifinal. But Novak Djokovic can’t afford to let down his guard. ...

Hey, Hill: Get a hobby?

May 26, 2016

David Brooks – The New York Times’ columnist who never misses an opportunity to miss a point – wrote recently that the reason Hillary Clinton seems unlikable is that she has no hobbies.

Seriously. The column – which let Brooks in for no end of snark – had two flaws.

First, it presupposed that everyone needs a hobby, that being a workaholic is bad. Some people like to work and find the play in work, like the writer who’s a journalist but also a novelist. (That would be me.) Work isn’t stressful. People are stressful. ...