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 07 June 2012
RUGBY FINDS AN UNLIKELY HOME When M.S. 279, a middle school in the Fordham Heights section of the Bronx, lost its boys' basketball program to budget cuts last year, it should have been a disaster. The juking and howling and running inside the school's cramped gymnasium three afternoons a week would suggest otherwise. 
 01 June 2012
A DIFFERENT KIND OF SAVE One of the perks of being a 20-year NHL veteran like Martin Brodeur is that all of the gear that lands in his locker comes beautifully customized. Every piece of equipment, from his blocker pads to his training sneakers, is crisply emblazoned with his name and number 30.
 18 May 2012
YOU CAN'T GET SEASICK ON A PARK BENCH Andrae Stanley was napping. Really, he was fishing. But sitting on a green bench near Battery Park, with a Hudson River breeze in his face and the chattering of tourists in his ears, he had managed to doze off. And like any experienced fisherman, he napped with one eye half open.
 10 February 2012
86 FLOORS, LITTLE PREPARATION In the two hours before the start of Wednesday night's Empire State Building Run-Up--a 1,576-step, 86-story test of will to the Observation Deck--veterans of the ordeal repeated one piece of advice to me: Don't start too fast.
 04 February 2012
PLANNING A PARADE IN SECRET The New England Patriots may be slight favorites going into the Super Bowl, but Joe Timpone has spent all week acting as if the Giants have already won it. It isn't just forceful optimism--he's actually a Jets fan. It is his job.
 31 December 2011
ARSENAL WELCOMES HENRY, THE LEGEND Not many loan signings show up at a soccer club to find they have already been cast in bronze outside the stadium. But Thierry Henry's temporary move to Arsenal, which unveiled a statue of him earlier this month, is not just any loan signing.
 20 December 2011
WE HAVE A BASKETBALL TEAM? In the moments before tip-off against the Culinary Institute of America last Sunday, the New School's head coach, Michael Moss, reminded his team to have fun. But a player in the huddle insisted it was far more serious than that. "Have some pride," he shouted. "Play for the jersey. Play for yourself. Play for the team."
 11 November 2011
MORE BRITISH THAN BRITAIN Less than 60 miles from Manhattan, Windy Hollow actually keeps things closer to the oh-so-British spirit of the sport than is even possible in Britain anymore. For one, it chases live foxes. British hunters have not been able to do that legally since Parliament banned hunting foxes with dogs in 2004.
 07 November 2011
THE FINE ART OF STAYING HYDRATED Less than 24 hours before the ING New York City Marathon, most of the race's elite runners were busy making a mess in Room 4449 of the midtown Hilton. All afternoon, men and women at the top of their sport trickled in to fiddle with pipe cleaners, pom poms, stickers, glue, leopard-print tape and feathers, all under the supervision of a volunteer who used to teach first grade.
 31 October 2011
RE-ENTERING NEW YORK'S ATMOSPHERE For the elite runners in the field, the week leading up to the New York City Marathon is a frenzy of news conferences and promotional appearances. They tend to arrive early in the week and try to get used to the course and their surroundings in between smiling for the cameras.
 15 October 2011
A TEAM FOR THE AGES (SORT OF) When the National League added the New York Mets and the Houston Colt .45s for the 1962 season, Al Jackson was a 25-year-old pitcher with 11 major-league appearances. And when he heard on television that he had been selected by that new team in New York, he wasn't quite sure what to make of it.
 24 September 2011
100 KILOMETERS OF WHOOSHING The obscure world of competitive inline skating tends to sneak up on the cyclists of New York's parks. The soft whooshing of rubber wheels on asphalt come up behind them, steadily growing louder. They pedal harder and the whooshing speeds up too. It just won't go away.
 14 September 2011
A PLAYER'S BIG DECISION: INTRO MUSIC When the Mets' Willie Harris hunches over the iPod in his locker, as he seems to spend hours doing, he is not just going through the clubhouse motions of killing time before a game. Very deliberately, almost subliminally, he is sending messages to his teammates. This song, he tells them through the music and a cranked up speaker, should accompany one of you to the batter's box. This song is you.
 02 September 2011
PRO SURFING GAMBLES ON LONG ISLAND Since he began producing surfing competitions for Quiksilver five years ago, Luke Watson has had to deal with anything Mother Nature could throw at him. There have been cyclones and floods and 15-foot swells. Last year, the earthquake in New Zealand even sent a tsunami hurtling toward his event site in Australia.
 19 August 2011
AN IRISH GAME ON BRONX SOIL The referee drew the first half of Kerry's match against Cavan to a close and made his way out of the rain. Dripping wet, he took a seat in a small green cabin among the resident experts of the New York Gaelic Athletic Association, men who have watched Gaelic football there for decades. They welcomed him in, staring out at the sprawling field and the unforgiving sky.
11 August 2011 FOR THE METS, 'OUT OF POSITION' IS IN Wednesday was an infielder's glove kind of day for Willie Harris. Tuesday was more of a practice glove day. And Monday definitely called for an outfielder's glove. Which is why, at any given time, Harris keeps seven at his disposal, strewn between his locker and the tunnel--four for the outfield, two for the infield, and one for practice.
 30 Jul 2011
A STUDIO ON THE FAST TRACK The 85th Street Museum, with one of the pre-eminent collections of motor racing memorabilia in the country, exists on the fourth floor of an Upper East Side walkup. Admission is by invitation only. Visitors need to make sure they have plenty of time, since the tour can swell to several hours. And they are kindly asked to remove their shoes. After all, it is also the studio apartment where its curator, Kenny Szymanski, happens to live.
23 July 2011 10 YEARS LATER, 26.2 MILES The toughest part of training for the New York City Marathon usually comes at the end of summer. That's when the long runs start. The endless, hit-the-wall slogs that stretch out for more than 20 miles and let you know just how punishing the race is going to be. But for Christine Homer, a casual runner preparing for the marathon, the long runs will be the easy part of late summer.
21 July 2011 AN INSIDER'S GUIDE TO THE DUGOUT A major-league dugout is much more than a spittoon with a bench, though you might never guess it from watching baseball on television. The casual cuts to players on the bench inevitably show laughing, chatting, scratching and expectorating.
02 July 2011 A METS JINGLE OUTLASTS ITS AUTHOR Even to the most assiduous student of Mets lore, the name Ruth Roberts probably never rang a bell. But when she died Thursday night at the age of 84, she left behind one of the most universally recognizable elements of the franchise: "Meet the Mets,'' the catchy, brassy anthem she wrote in 1961.
 02 July 2011
WHERE GREEN'S THE COLOR OF THE DAY From the sprawling terrace of the clubhouse, tennis director Bob Ingersole can point out where all of the West Side Tennis Club's grass courts used to be. The ones around the perimeter of the grounds were the first to go. Then, starting in the 1970s, most of the remaining 24 were torn up as well, replaced primarily by clay. Even the show court in the stadium went--the last U.S. Open played on grass was held in 1974.
 28 June 2011
SCRAPPY CITY TEAM TO FACE RED BULLS The New York Red Bulls can be forgiven for looking at their schedule and having a few questions. Their next opponent is listed simply as F.C. New York. Most of the Red Bulls have probably never heard of this team. And besides, since when were they not New York's soccer team?
 17 June 2011
MAKING A WIFFLE BALL The complete tour of Wiffle Ball Inc.'s one and only factory takes about 20 minutes. And that is with all the technical details left in.
 13 June 2011
HOCKEY IN MANHATTAN, NO ICE NEEDED Since it was founded in 2007, the MRHL has the only large-scale roller hockey league in Manhattan, with 18 teams, around 300 regular players, and 250 more signed up as free agents waiting for a chance to join. The level is higher than your average beer league, and so is the commitment.
 01 June 2011
A TOUCH OF FRANCE IN BRYANT PARK Martial Raissiguier, a tourist from Marseille, did not feel like shopping anymore when he wandered into Bryant Park. His friends could keep diving in and out of stores if they wanted, but he had found a better option. Three thousand miles from home, he had stumbled across the familiar feel of the south of France in the northwest corner of Bryant Park.
18 May 2011 HOW TO PITCH WITH YOUR EARS The Wall Street Journal Long before the crack of the bat, the smack of the catcher's mitt or the shout of the umpire, many major-league pitchers know whether they've done their job right. Using the feel and sound of the ball as it leaves their hand, they can tell if it will turn into a good pitch, one that has a chance to be a strike, or if that ball will be coming back in the opposite direction.
20 April 2011 SAME GAME, DIFFERENT LANGUAGE The Wall Street Journal Listen to him speak English, and Yankees catcher Russell Martin could be from anywhere. There are no twangs, no flat vowels, no verbal tics that give away his origin. But listen to him in French and he might as well be waving the Canadian flag.
 13 April 2011
GOTHAM BASEBALL ROSE FROM THE ASHES The Wall Street Journal The twisted flames Bugs Raymond had seen from his hotel room were devouring the Polo Grounds. The next morning, April 14, 1911, the New York Tribune called it "one of the most spectacular blazes the city has ever seen." And at a time when baseball was still struggling to establish its place in the city, the fire threatened to consume its future as a viable enterprise.
 March 28, 2011
HOWARD VS. MESSI WAS A SOCCER SHOWDOWN FOR THE AGES The Wall Street Journal During Saturday's friendly at the New Meadowlands, Lionel Messi and his orchestra of Argentine teammates were a cut above the rest. As they danced and darted in front of Tim Howard through the 1-1 draw, they put on a show of hypnotic brilliance.
24 March 2011 UNRAVELING SOCCER'S MYSTERIES The Wall Street Journal The New York Red Bulls hired David Lee last month as the first full-time performance analyst in Major League Soccer. Burning through terabytes of data and video every season, his job is to dissect every game and every opponent to provide as much analysis as possible. He's like an NFL coordinator with a touch of the baseball sabermetrician thrown in.
19 March 2011 HOOP READS The Daily Beast Just in time for March Madness, Josh Robinson picks the 5 best books on college basketball, from John McPhee's profile of Bill Bradley to Mitch Albom's trash-talking classic.
 07 March 2011
FIELD OF UNLIKELY DREAMS IN HANOI The Wall Street Journal There are no baseball fields here. Just places where Tom Treutler lays down bases and rolls out a bucket of balls. It could be a soccer field or a tennis court. Wherever it is, Mr. Treutler's improvised diamond is the one place in Hanoi where Vietnamese 11- and 12-year-olds are playing baseball.
 05 March 2011
ICE FISHING SEASON MELTS AWAY The Wall Street Journal The ice is thinning and, for the 1,000 regulars who chase trout, pike, panfish and other species in the area's glut of reservoirs, this weekend will likely mark the end of ice fishing here until next winter. It will be at least Christmas before they can return to subjecting themselves to entire days on the ice at the mercy of the elements.
25 March 2011 SIX WEEKS OF SPRING TRAINING IN... NEW JERSEY? The Wall Street Journal Ever since the Yankees started traveling out of New York for spring training 110 years ago, they have chased perfect weather across the South and into the Caribbean, all so they could ease back into baseball and wait out the end of winter. Lost in that long history are the team's three springs without sunshine.
 10 February 2011
CARE TO WAGER ON THE DOGS? VEGAS SETS THE ODDS The Wall Street Journal If Johnny Avello did his homework right, then the winner of this year's Wesminster Kennel Club Dog Show should be a Smooth Fox Terrier under the age of three and a half, with a man on the other end of the leash. Although he also feels pretty good about a Pekingese or a Boxer taking Best in Show.
 29 January 2011
THE LACTIC ACID SKYSCRAPER TEST The Wall Street Journal The 34th annual Empire State Building Run-up turns what is normally a less than one-minute elevator ride to the 86th floor into a 1,576-step test of mettle. Even Matt Mezick -- a veteran of countless triathlons, four New York City marathons and an Iron Man -- is a little apprehensive.
 28 December 2010
FIDDLING WITH THEIR STICKS The Wall Street Journal The wide hallway leading away from the Rangers' practice rink toward their locker room here is lined with the tools of their trade. The hockey sticks -- longer ones, shorter ones, painted ones, numbered ones -- stand in the racks, each subtly distinct from its neighbors. They are the product of years of experience and experimentation. Players tailor their sticks to suit every last quirk of their games.
20 December 2010 SURFING IN WINTER A LEAP OF FAITH The Wall Street Journal The sun had barely risen over Rockaway Beach, melting what was left of the overnight snow, when Noah Ward and Manny Huth waded into the Atlantic. The bitter December wind was dragging the temperature into the teens and blowing through their wetsuits. There were small sheets of ice forming on the rocks. But it will be a couple more months before the worst chill descends on the beach, and before they begin asking themselves, "What are we doing out here?"
24 November 2010 A TURKEY DAY OF PREP PIGSKIN The Wall Street Journal Nearly a century after Xavier High School and Fordham Prep began their Turkey Bowl football tradition, no one is quite sure why they chose to play on Thanksgiving in the first place. Perhaps the two Jesuit schools were simply hoping to draw a bigger crowd. What is certain is that after establishing the oldest high-school-football rivalry in New York, neither side has any plans to change a thing about it.
16 November 2010 FINDING HIS WAY IN AN IVY WORLD The Wall Street Journal The Ivy League has always had a reputation as an old boys' club, where school ties and class rings confer instant credibility -- a place where connections matter. So when Columbia handed the reins of its men's basketball program to Kyle Smith last May, it was taking a bold step in a different direction. Of the previous 15 head coaches hired by Ivy schools, dating back to 1999, 10 came with a clear link to the league on their resumes. They were former players, assistants or head coaches. That made Mr. Smith very much an Ivy League outsider.
08 November 2010 WHERE MARATHON IS REALLY A SPRINT The Wall Street Journal For all the time organizers and athletes spend mulling the challenges of the New York City marathon course, it only actually exists for 10 hours a year. Their stage is entirely ephemeral. In the wee hours of race day, the course materializes through the five boroughs, connecting bridges, avenues and Central Park into a 26.2-mile track. Then it disappears for a year.
09 October 2010 FOOTBALL'S ONLY HALF OF IT The Wall Street Journal Like roughly 100 others at Columbia and countless more throughout the Ivy League, Mr. Gross leads the double life of a football player and a student at an elite university -- two sets of commitments that, really, should not be able to share one person's schedule. Yet over the last three years he has made the All-Ivy team, been Ivy League Rookie of the Year and built the highest grade-point average of any senior on the team.
16 September 2010 CENTRAL PARK'S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS The Wall Street Journal Most of the park's daily visitors--the tourists, the dog walkers, the before- and after-work joggers--have long called it a day. Even the early-morning crowd still has a few hours of sleep ahead. But sporadically through the stillness, bouncing silhouettes cross the lamplight, crunching the ground beneath them. They are Central Park's midnight runners, those people who lace up their sneakers when others go to bed. In the heart of the city that never sleeps, they are on the late shift.
14 September 2010 TENNIS' NEXT GREATEST PLAYER WHO EVER LIVED The Daily Beast From underneath the black headband that seems to squeeze his eyes closer together, Rafael Nadal's dark gaze gave nothing away. Three and a half hours into his string-popping match against Novak Djokovic, he was playing harder and better than he had all night. The unforced errors were gone. The U.S. Open title--and history--were in his grasp.
10 September 2010 THE 6 SMARTEST IDEAS FROM STEPHEN HAWKING'S NEW BOOK The Daily Beast This isn't your typical popular science book. It doesn't explain how black holes work. It doesn't discuss the conditions for time travel. And there isn't a single Star Trek reference. The Grand Design, by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow, is far more ambitious than that. They propose a framework for discovering the answer to life, the universe, and everything.
06 September 2010 FEDERER BREAKS HIS SILENCE The Daily Beast Now, as Roger Federer enters a new phase of his career, one in which he has already cemented himself as the most successful man ever to play tennis, he is beginning to open up to the public at large. The model of professional focus, of singular devotion to his art, is finally showing the world a personality.
10 August 2010 THE RIVALRY THAT MADE BASEBALL The Wall Street Journal From his spot behind the plate, Excelsiors catcher Joe Leggett could make out every foul-tempered word being hurled at him from the crowd. The Putnam Grounds, in what is now Bedford-Stuyvesant, were supposed to be a neutral setting for a championship series between two Brooklyn clubs. But only the Atlantic supporters' hooting was ringing in Mr. Leggett's ears--especially from those with money on the game. As the Excelsiors built a lead, the mob grew more unruly.
22 July 2010 HENRY FINDS A HOME AWAY FROM HOME The Wall Street Journal The accent was unmistakably French, full of deep vowels and throaty punctuation. So was the way he wore the tailored suit and his habit of waving his hands while he talked. Even his name, Thierry Henry, is full of those gravelly "R" sounds that vouch for any Frenchman's authenticity. And yet, the kid from the Parisian suburb of Les Ulis, after stops in Monaco, Turin, London and Barcelona, is now an adoptive New Yorker.
15 July 2010 ONE-TIME U.S. PHENOM NGUYEN ENJOYING LIFE IN VIETNAM LEAGUE SportsIllustrated.com When Lee Nguyen moved to Vietnam in 2009 to play for Hoang Anh Gia Lai, he instantly shot to superstardom. Fans mobbed him in shopping centers and tried to grab his clothes outside stadiums. And, within 12 months of moving there, he was on the cover of Dan Ong, Vietnam's answer to GQ. All in all, it made life pretty good for the 23-year-old Nguyen.
10 July 2010 BIKE POLO REGULARS GATHER AT THE PIT The Wall Street Journal On other, calmer days, the yard is just an anonymous expanse within Sara D. Roosevelt Park. But when the regular bicycle polo pickup game rolls in, it is known simply as the Pit. From Paris to Los Angeles, serious players all know the name. Though bicycle polo--which is exactly what it sounds like--was not born here, the Pit is its mecca.
24 June 2010 US FALLS TO GHANA The Daily Beast It was always too close for the U.S. The Americans snatched draws against England and Slovenia to stay alive. They could not have waited longer against Algeria to win their group. And, after a tournament spent living on the edge, their luck ran out against Ghana.
21 June 2010 A MACHINE BEFORE ITS TIME The Wall Street Journal The term pitch count was still a century from being fashionable when Charles Howard Hinton was whiling away afternoons watching the Princeton baseball team. Pitchers just kept pitching until their arms tired or the game ended--whichever came first-- and then started over a day or two later. So he invented the Mechanical Pitcher.
19 June 2010 THE WORLD CUP REF CRISIS The Daily Beast The ball was still in the back of the Slovenian net as blue jerseys flocked to Koman Coulibaly, a financial auditor from Mali who just happens to referee international soccer on the side. The American players, led by Landon Donovan and a livid Michael Bradley, wanted to know why Coulibaly had just disallowed the United States' critical third goal. What had he seen? Who had committed a foul?
14 June 2010 WHEN THE IRISH RULED NEW YORK SPORTS The Wall Street Journal Long before it was a housing development with a narrow courtyard and a deli on the corner, Celtic Park was a sprawling track and field facility, the home of the once-storied, long-gone Irish-American Athletic Club from 1898 to 1930.
12 June 2010 THE 5 MUST-READ BOOKS ON SOCCER The Daily Beast Every four years, there comes a special time when no one will look at you cock-eyed for getting up at 7:30 a.m. to watch Algeria play Slovenia. When the beautiful game is at the top of SportsCenter every night. If ever there was a time to read up on the game that was Albert Camus' first love and gave Leon Trotsky food for thought, it's now.
03 March 2010 HAITIAN SOCCER'S FUTURE UNCERTAIN SportsIllustrated.com The Stade Sylvio Cator, Haiti's national soccer stadium, is a low concrete building with floodlights poking skyward on the Rue Oswald Durand, across the street from a cemetery. Makeshift tents now overrun the artificial turf under the heavy stench of death and garbage. People bathe on the sidelines, they cook in the dugouts.
05 February 2010 DESPERATE TO ESCAPE HAITI The Daily Beast Post-quake Haiti has lines for everything. More often than not, they turn into mad scrums and minor riots, especially when food or water is involved. But one of the more peaceful queues here forms each night under the watchful eyes of U.S. Marines, outside the American Embassy..
31 January 2010 MONEY SLOWLY TRICKLING INTO PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI , AS BANKS AND WIRE TRANSFER OFFICES BEGIN TO REOPEN The New York Daily News A lifeline of cash is finally moving - in fits and starts - from Haitians in New York to family back home.
18 October 2009 AT KNICKS EXHIBITION, RABBI INTERVENES WHEN COACH WON'T LEAVE The New York Times So a basketball coach, an N.B.A. referee and a rabbi walk onto the court at Madison Square Garden locked in an argument. Stop me if you've heard this one.
05 September 2009 A YOUNG FRENCH QUARTET IS ON THE MARCH AT THE OPEN The New York Times Away from the constant commotion of the United States Open, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga likes to spend his evenings at a kitschy French bistro in Midtown Manhattan called Tout Va Bien, French for all is well.
22 August 2009 BACK AT HARVARD WITH A TITLE RING AND ANOTHER YEAR OF WAITING The New York Times Andrew Hatch had a funny feeling as he trudged off the field in front of 92,904 screaming fans inside Louisiana State's Tiger Stadium. And it was more than just the pain burning in his left leg.
13 July 2009 GOING BEYOND THE WAVES TO RESHAPE AN EXPERIENCE The New York Times Somewhere over the course of five years and seven prototypes, Thomas Meyerhoffer found that his experimental surfboards no longer looked like surfboards. The pointed nose had faded away. The wide waist had melted inward. And the back stretched into a long, slender tail.
16 May 2009 SOFTBALL PITCHING STAR PREPARES FOR NEXT STEP The New York Times As the umpire punched the last out into the rainy afternoon, the victorious Masuk High School softball team converged into a scrum of hugs and high-fives around pitcher Rachele Fico.
04 May 2009 SNOOKER LOOKS FOR NEW WAYS TO REVIVE ITS POPULARITY The New York Times The hush that enveloped John Higgins's comeback was momentarily broken as he paced around the table. The loaded silence, sprinkled with self-conscious coughing, suddenly gave way to a buzz of discussion.
MAY 2009 PEREZ RACES TO THE SHOW Columbia College Today Fernando Perez figured he should chew gum. That was what big leaguers did, right? That was how guys handled the ninth inning of the World Series' deciding game, right?
26 April 2009 IN OLYMPIC RERUN, WANJIRU CAPTURES LONDON MARATHON The New York Times The towers of Canary Wharf were just coming into view when Hendrick Ramaala decided he had seen enough. Tired of sitting on the heels of three erratic pacesetters, Ramaala, a South African, broke off to the left and gave them a few cranky arm waves to get them moving.
15 April 2009 RAYS WON'T RUSH DAVID PRICE'S TESTED YOUNG ARM The New York Times Headphones hanging around his neck and iPod in hand, David Price tossed his duffel bag back into the hold of the Tampa Bay Rays' bus here last week. It was still early in the wet afternoon - Price had not even changed out of his street clothes - but the decision had been made: the game against the Baltimore Orioles was rained out.
06 April 2009 WIETERS, ORIOLES' TOP PROSPECT, PROVES TO BE A QUICK STUDY The New York Times At the start of spring training, Orioles Manager Dave Trembley gave a homework assignment to Matt Wieters, a precocious catching prospect. In addition to having Wieters catch bullpen sessions with every pitcher on the staff, Trembley asked him to study every hitter in the American League. It was almost a joke.
04 April 2009 OPENING BASEBALL CARDS FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE The New York Times The little baseball card shop off Route 37 checks off all the boxes a little baseball card shop should. Autographed jerseys line the walls above display cases full of Brooklyn Dodgers and aging Yankees.
24 March 2009 ON SPRING BREAK, CRICKET GETS SERIOUS The New York Times Sandwiched between a soccer game and a barbecue, the Montgomery College cricket team edged closer and closer to victory. And when at last it came, after four days of wickets, overs and sixes, the players were jubilant.
07 March 2009 IN VERO BEACH, DODGER BLUE FADES TO BLACK The New York Times Sixty-one spring trainings after the Dodgers arrived here - and one year since their departure - the sun still glimmers off the heart-shaped lake. The block capitals over the home clubhouse still say, Think Blue.
05 March 2009 ON FRIDAY, IVY LEAGUE IS OFTEN THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN The New York Times On Friday afternoons throughout the basketball season, a longtime sports bettor named Lem Banker sits at his kitchen table with a pair of phones, a large-digit calculator, columns of his wagering calculations and a computer screen flashing live odds.
28 February 2009 LONG DAY IS A TRUE RITE OF PASSAGE FOR SOME METS The New York Times Bobby Parnell was getting ready to leave the Mets' clubhouse on Friday afternoon when he paused at the bulletin board. As he scanned the list of players scheduled to make Saturday's trek here from Port St. Lucie, Fla., a clubhouse attendant lingered next to him. He pointed at Parnell's name, grinned and in no uncertain terms lamented Parnell's bad lot.
18 February 2009 SHEA RESTS IN PIECES AS LAST SECTION IS TORN DOWN The New York Times Shea Stadium, the site of the Mets' two World Series victories, their many seasons of futility and a few historic concerts, met the fate of Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds on Wednesday morning. At 11:21 a.m., a demolition crew pulled down the final section, and what remained of the old blue stadium was gone in a cloud of dust: the final collapse at Shea. It was 45.
14 January 2009 STEELERS SHARED RESOURCES WITH 2 TEAMS DURING WORLD WAR II The New York Times If the Pittsburgh Steelers book a trip to the Super Bowl, where they would face the Arizona Cardinals or the Philadelphia Eagles, there will be the faintest hint of fratricide in the air. After all, the Steelers have shared more than just a common purpose with each team. They have also shared a stadium, a locker room and a jersey.
08 January 2009 FOR A LONE MECHANIC, CUBA IS STILL HOG HEAVEN The New York Times Sergio Morales's friends gently rib him about the dirt under his fingernails and the grease that fills every line in his 58-year-old hands. The grease has been there so long, they tell him, that it must predate Fidel Castro's revolution.
18 December 2008 JETS' MANGOLD LENDS A BARE HAND ON OFFENSE The New York Times Jets center Nick Mangold wears the constellation of scabs and scars on his massive paws like a badge of courage, the occupational hazards of being the first man to touch the ball on every play and the last man to get his hands up to block. Or something like that.
06 December 2008 A MEMPHIS FRESHMAN NEEDS NO ORIENTATION The New York Times In an instant six years ago, Reggie Rose realized his younger brother Derrick was not just another middle school basketball player.
06 October 2008 MEMORIES OF PLAYING ON PAPA HEMINGWAY'S BALL FIELD The New York Times The mango trees are still here, and so is an airy white bungalow, preserved by the careful hands of historians. But the baseball field under those trees in the shadow of the house is gone, lost to circumstance.
05 September 2008 U.S. AND CUBA FIND COMMON GROUND ON FIELD The New York Times Two flags hung limp in the choking, viscous air that enveloped the Estadio Pedro Marrero. Not often seen side by side, the American and Cuban standards sagged in each other's company, while a group of young men huddled on the balcony of a building at the stadium's edge.
03 September 2008 SHAPING THE AMERICAN GAME The New York Times Patrick McEnroe began the day in a yellow polo shirt, flipping through a program and picking at a bagel. As the CBS morning meeting, tucked away deep in Arthur Ashe Stadium, went on around him on Monday, McEnroe occasionally looked up and casually delivered the tidbits that television thrives on, like the name of Gael Monfils's coach or the number of players invited to Mardy Fish's wedding.
26 August 2008 FEDERER, SEEDED AN UNFAMILIAR NO. 2, EASILY ADVANCES The New York Times For the first time since 2004, Roger Federer began a tournament glancing upward at the world rankings. Wrestled into the No. 2 spot over the past season by Rafael Nadal, he began an unfamiliar mission - hauling himself back to No. 1 - with an unfamiliar read.
04 August 2008 TRACK SQUAD TRIES TO UNITE A DIVIDED COUNTRY The New York Times The crane that towers over the half-built stadium in Khartoum rarely does any lifting. Most of the time, it is still, casting long shadows that stretch and turn in the heat, reaching across the pockmarked track, the piles of rubble and the swirling garbage.
28 July 2008 SANTANA GIVES BULLPEN DAY OFF The New York Times When Johan Santana came out to pitch the ninth inning Sunday, there was no music for him. None of the heavy metal chords and none of the flashing displays designed to send fans into a frenzy and hitters into a panic. He did not need anything out of a public-address system.
25 July 2008 IRAQ TAKES A DISPUTE WITH QATAR TO COURT The New York Times This spring, just seven weeks after becoming a citizen of Qatar, a Brazilian-born midfielder helped his adoptive nation defeat, and ultimately eliminate, Iraq in a World Cup qualifying match.
20 June 2008 A PITCHER WITH THE TALENT TO TAKE ON THE WORLD The New York Times When Jim Lefebvre, the manager of the Chinese national baseball squad, checked out the scouting report on Team USA's starting pitcher for an exhibition game here Wednesday night, he made sure not to tell his players.
17 May 2008 OLYMPIC DREAM STAYS ALIVE, ON SYNTHETIC LEGS The New York Times When an international court ruled Friday that a double-amputee sprinter from South Africa was eligible to compete in this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing, the stage was set for disabled athletes to meet their own trailblazer.
13 January 2007 THE CHANGING TIMES TAKE THE FOX OUT OF THE FOX HUNT The New York Times On a quickly souring Hampshire morning in late December, Will Hudson meandered in on a tall, brown horse, shepherding 40 barking hounds. Broad shouldered, straight backed and impeccably dressed in his black boots and red coat, Hudson looked out at the crowded field that had become a cocktail party on horseback. |