Evermore: Taylor Swift continues alchemy and teamwork started with Folklore

Last Friday, music megastar Taylor Swift released her ninth studio album on very short notice, Evermore. It’s the sister record to her eighth studio release from earlier this year, the Grammy-nominated Folklore. 

“To put it plainly,” Swift wrote on her Instagram, “we just couldn’t stop writing songs. To try and put it more poetically, it feels like we were standing on the edge of the folklorian woods and had a choice: to turn and go back or to travel further into the forest of this music. We chose to wander deeper in.

“I’ve never done this before. In the past I’ve always treated albums as one-off eras and moved onto planning the next one after an album was released. There was something different with Folklore.

“In making it, I felt less like I was departing and more like I was returning. I loved the escapism I found in these imaginary/not imaginary tales. I loved the ways you welcomed the dreamscapes and tragedies and epic tales of love lost and found into your lives. So, I just kept writing them.”

What immediately caught my attention – and I’ve never spent much time listening to or exploring the immensely popular music canon of Taylor Swift – is Swift’s collaboration with members of one of my favorite indie rock music groups, The National. In particular, Swift worked closely with the multitalented Aaron Dessner and she shared vocals on “Coney Island,” a song that deals with losing oneself in a relationship, with The National’s melancholy frontman, baritone vocalist Matt Berninger. In listening to both the song and the album, there’s a sense of artistic freedom and a break away from Swift’s conventional pop radio sensibility to create a folk album that’s full of sound and texture.

 Taylor Swift / Evermore

Meanwhile, sitting across the kitchen table, here’s what Aaron Dessner wrote on his Instagram: “It’s only been five months since Folklore was released. But truth be told, Taylor Swift and I never actually stopped exchanging ideas and somehow we’ve finished a sister record called Evermore that I love just as much. 

“These songs are wilder and freer, sometimes in strange time signatures and darker hues, but very much a continuation of what we started with Folklore. 

“I can’t begin to express my gratitude and respect for Taylor – I never cease to wonder at her seemingly boundless talent as a singer and a songwriter and storyteller. It’s been the experience of a lifetime to work so fast and furiously with her. ...

“My band mates in The National – Matt, Bryan and Scott, along with Bryce – are here, too. Hearing Matt sing with Taylor and the entire band perform on “Coney Island” – things have come full circle.”

Perhaps, Berninger put it best. He wrote on Twitter: “Singing a song with Taylor Swift is like dancing with Gene Kelly. She made me look good and didn’t drop me once. ‘Coney Island’ is an incredibly beautiful song she and Aaron Dessner wrote together. It really made me miss Brooklyn. Such a blast being a part of Evermore.”

Hearing the Swift-Berninger duet “Coney Island” for the first time recently was very intriguing and it’s what nudged me into giving the entire Evermore album a good listen on Spotify – and I like what I heard. If you’re someone who has always had an appreciation for the sense and sensibility – and seriousness – of The National, I think you’ll like what you hear from Swift with backing from The National on Evermore.

Cover photos: Beth Garrabrant (@taylorswift13/Twitter). Video: Courtesy YouTube.

Thoughts on TV: ‘Chef’ has been turned into a TV show

Looking for something fun and enjoyable to watch on TV one recent evening, my wife and I came upon The Chef Show, which reunites multi-talented producer/actor/director Jon Favreau with Los Angeles chef Roy Choi. It’s the latest foodie offering from Netflix, which in recent months has very nicely taken over food TV with Chef’s Table, which explores the discipline and culinary talent of world-renowned chefs such as Mashama Bailey and Dario Cecchini; Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, based upon Samin Nosrat’s book of the same name in which she travels the world to explore how these principles fuel good food; David Chang’s Ugly Delicious, in which the James Beard Award-winning chef uses food to break down cultural barriers; and the Great British Baking Show.

The Chef Show is all about bonding over the joy of cooking – in a kitchen – with friends. Each episode takes place around a place to eat or cook without being like a travelogue. Favreau described it for Grub Street as a “dinner party in the back of the house” kind of atmosphere. The series took its name from the 2014 film, Chef, which starred Favreau as Carl Casper, a chef who opens a Cuban food truck with his son in Miami. Choi, of Kogi Korean BBQ food truck fame, was the film’s food consultant and created all of the dishes that were featured – including the deliciously mouth-watering Cubano and grilled cheese sandwiches.

After watching the first three episodes of The Chef Show – there are eight in all and it’s quite easy to binge watch – it becomes evident from the beginning that Favreau and Choi have developed a deep and wonderful rapport in the kitchen – built upon mutual respect for one another – and they share a similar taste in food. Each episode always welcomes banter between hosts – taking with each other without looking directly at the camera – and celebrity guests such as actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Avengers actor Tom Holland and Sin City director Robert Rodriguez.

What viewers get to enjoy in this documentary-style series is the showcasing of Choi’s technique and enthusiasm for the craft of cooking and Favreau’s interest in absorbing this knowledge and wisdom while keeping things light and funny. Choi is the master chef and Favreau is both his student and best buddy.

One of the funniest bits that delivers a big laugh – and, thankfully, it didn’t wind up on the cutting-room floor – shows Favreau attempting to make New Orleans-style beignets made famous at Cafe Du Monde. After making the dough by just adding water, then cutting it into individual squares, deep frying them, and showering them with powdered sugar, Choi bites into one of them. He throws the rest into the garbage. Favreau deadpans, “It’s not quite like there.” Looking for the right response, Choi pauses for a moment, then with a serious look on his face that turns into a big grin, he looks at Favreau and says, “I can tell they were a year old.” Both burst out laughing. Choi adds: “I didn’t want to say it on camera, but f••k it, this whole thing isn’t about lying.”

In a recent story about The Chef Show, Eater’s Greg Morabito wrote: “This new series allows the chef to showcase his obsession with technique and enthusiasm for the craft of cooking in ways that we’ve never seen on TV before. In every kitchen sequence, he drops culinary knowledge like an older brother handing you a mixtape of his favorite jams. Favreau, meanwhile, manages to keep the spirit light, even as he tackles new culinary challenges at the encouragement of his friend. Part of the fun is watching (Favreau) gradually increase his skill level and build more confidence in the kitchen.”

As Favreau told Grubstreet.com in a recent interview, “I’ve watched all these episodes a dozen times in the process of making and defining the show. Every little thing, a lot of care went into it. The animation, the way we talk, there’s recipes in it, the way the food is filmed. It’s just incredibly personal and something we both like a lot. It’s just really nice to share.

“It’s like you cooked a meal you want to eat, and now you’ve invited people. It’s mind-boggling to me that there’ll be someone sitting on the opposite end of the world watching the most personal, specific story. I’m really interested to see who connects to it because if they do, there’s nothing else like it that they’ll find about people in L.A. cooking and talking about Korean food. It’s such a specific thing about what Roy and I geek out about.

“Hopefully, there’s some humanity and personalness. And then people who like to cook and want to just go and show people who cook for real, and not try to present it any other way. And what it’s like to be there by the side of someone who is really great at what they do and learning from them. I wanted to show what that was like.”

Adds Choi: “It’s really honest and tender. It’s really funny, too.”

Indeed, it’s funny – an absolute delight.

Note: The Chef Show (eight episodes) debuted via Netflix on June 7.

Nike: Doing the right thing is never a bad idea

Colin Kaepernick

Colin Kaepernick showed incredible courage and audacity to speak out against police brutality toward African-Americans when he took a knee during the national anthem two years ago while a member of the San Francisco 49ers. Others in the National Football League followed his lead. Sadly, it cost him his job as an NFL quarterback. He’s been blacklisted by league owners thanks to his silent-but-peaceful actions.

As an activist, Kaepernick’s is a respectful dialogue and one that refuses to lower himself to the low level of unrestrained invective shown by President Trump. His is an approach to dissent and public debate that is the antithesis of the president’s persistent bullying of black professional athletes, whom he is determined to punish for their outspokenness. Showing restraint and civility are not a strong suit of this sitting president.

Last week, in a simple, straightforward image of a black and white photograph of Kaepernick, with his mouth set and his eyes staring straight into the camera, the message “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything,” spoke great volumes, as Nike’s 30th anniversary campaign for its iconic “Just Do It” slogan was revealed to much fanfare – and plenty of criticism.

In its first day, according to an MIT Sloan School of Management study, the Kaepernick Nike advertisement generated more than $43 million in media exposure.

“It’s hall-of-fame-level type advertising,” said MIT Sloan senior lecturer and research scientist Renée Gosline, whose research has focused on brand strength and social media storytelling. “Not to mention the signal it sends given the current climate.”

While some have protested the use of Kaepernick as the face of the famous American shoe and athletic apparel company, Nike’s sales have soared. Nike knew what it was doing – and its pockets are deep enough to withstand any short-term fallout.

As part of its “Just Do It” campaign, Nike also debuted a two-minute TV commercial, “Dream Crazy,” narrated by Kaepernick (who makes a cameo appearance), during the premiere of “NFL Thursday Night Football” last week. Within 24 hours, it had more than 5 million views on YouTube.

I applaud Kaepernick’s convictions. His courage will help move our world forward. I hope others will follow his lead and do the right thing.

One thing’s certain, doing the right thing – and to dream crazy – is never a bad idea.

Photo: Courtesy of Nike.com
Video: Courtesy of YouTube
Learn more about the MIT Sloan Management study: http://mitsloan.mit.edu/newsroom/articles/in-kaepernick-ads-nike-further-develops-its-brand-point-of-view/

UNIQLO For the Win – New Apparel, Same Federer

Roger Federer/UNIQLO Global Brand Ambassador

When the eight-time Wimbledon champion and No. 1 seed Roger Federer walked out on Centre Court to christen the start of this year's Wimbledon Championship and begin his title defense on Monday afternoon, he wore a new brand, Tokyo-based UNIQLO - not Nike, his long-time apparel partner. The decades-long Federer-Nike era was over. It was a stunning sight to the start of this year's fortnight.

The 36-year-old Federer's nearly all-white attire – collarless shirt with a two-button front and a red pinstripe accent, shorts, bandana-style headband, socks and warm-up jacket – had the minimal and slim-cut red and white UNIQLO logo. His white shoes, which are custom made, were still Nike and bore the familiar swoosh logo. Federer's new UNIQLO kit bore the design of the Japanese brand's artistic director Christophe Lemaire.

Within minutes after the 20-time Grand Slam winner took Centre Court for his first-round match against 57th-ranked Dusan Lajovic of Serbia, UNIQLO UK tweeted:

"UNIQLO is honoured to welcome Roger Federer as our new Global Brand Ambassador!"

In a statement released by UNIQLO, Tadashi Yanai, UNIQLO's founder and chairman, said, "Mr. Federer is one of the greatest champions in history – my respect for him goes beyond sport.

"Our partnership will be about innovation on and off the court. We share a goal of making positive change in the world, and I hope together we can bring the highest quality of life to the greatest number of people. UNIQLO will help Mr. Federer continue taking tennis to new places while exploring innovations in a number of areas including technology and design with him."

Federer said, "I am deeply committed to tennis and to winning championships. But like UNIQLO, I also have great love for life, culture and humanity. We share a strong passion to have a positive impact on the world around us and look forward to combining our creative endeavors."

Soon after the announcement, Sports Illustrated executive editor and senior writer Jon Wertheim tweeted:

Roger Federer debuts his new Uniqlo kit
at Wimbledon on Monday.

"Uniqlo for the win. #Wimbledon"

Wertheim added, "As we see a global athlete wearing Uniqlo, a reminder: Tokyo will host the 2020 Olympics. $30 million per year, sources tell us. Do they get into performance footwear now?"

According to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com, the deal "is worth more than $300 million guaranteed over 10 years and has an unprecedented clause that says that Federer will still collect the money even if he doesn't play." He can also sell patches on his shirt, which he couldn't do with Nike.

When you take a look at Federer's $300 million UNIQLO deal, consider this: his career on-court earnings over the past two decades are a mere $116.6 million.

Federer's deal with Nike expired on March 1. He continued to wear Nike without a deal during recent grass-court tournaments in Stuttgart and Halle, Germany, last month. He appeared for his Wimbledon pre-tournament press conference on Sunday wearing an open-collar dress shirt and sports jacket. By all appearances, Federer looked like he was dressed up for a dinner out the Wimbledon village with his family and team instead of coming in from the practice courts.

Christopher Clarey, tennis columnist for The New York Times, said in a tweet that "Federer's Nike deal is done but have been told by industry sources that the RF logo will revert to Federer at some stage in the next few years. Am told they do not own the rights to it in perpetuity so it may well rise again."

As it happened, Federer beat Lajovic in the opening round, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4, in a tidy 1 hour and 19 minutes, then returned on Wednesday afternoon to Centre Court and beat 94th-ranked Lukas Lacko of Slovakia in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1. He is undefeated wearing UNIQLO and has now won 26 consecutive sets at Wimbledon. Although it might take a few matches to get used to seeing Federer in UNIQLO instead of Nike, I think the change is a good one for the Swiss maestro. He's playing inspired, efficient tennis and – still – is the player to beat at Wimbledon this year.

"We're going to have to get adjusted to not seeing the Nike swoosh," said Hall of Famer Jim Courier, who analyzed Federer's opening-day match for Tennis Channel. "It's like Superman without the 'S'. We'll see if it has any impact on him. I doubt it."

While Federer's fashion choices will be debated by the media and his legion of worldwide fans, one thing's certain: the new UNIQLO grand brand ambassador still looks fabulous in white. His new adornments highlight his graceful movement and masterful strokes – and, as Federer has shown so far, he still knows how to play superb tennis.

Photos: Courtesy of Uniqlo Twitter feed and Google images.

This year, the City ruled the Land

With a near-perfect 16-1 postseason, the Golden State Warriors won their
second NBA Championship in three years on Monday night.

If you're a Golden State Warriors fan, like I am, you're probably in a pretty good mood today. After all, this is the year that the City ruled the Land.

Congratulations are in order for the Golden State Warriors on the occasion of winning their second NBA Championship in three seasons. On a late, spring Monday night at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., the Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers, 129-120, to win their best-of-7 NBA Final, four games to one.

Indeed, as Warriors fans know, there's strength in numbers.

The much-heralded Kevin Durant, who joined the Warriors family nearly a year ago on July 4, 2016, in search of his first championship, garnered the Finals MVP by pouring in 39 points in the clincher. Teammate Stephen Curry, himself a Finals MVP when the Warriors won it all in 2015, added 34. Together, they were virtually unstoppable. In defeat, LeBron James scored a game-high 41 points for the Cavaliers. After the final buzzer sounded, James found both Durant and Curry on the court and offered props to both. Very classy move.

Looking back, the Warriors won the NBA Championship for a reason – they had the best collection of committed players and a coaching staff who molded this group of highly talented and motivated athletes into a winning team. They played with joy and enthusiasm, beauty and unity. Throughout their historic 16-1 post-season run, there was always a sense of passion on display and their desire to achieve a common goal of winning the title was always in focus. On any given night, in any given game, the Warriors always hustled and more often than not, found a way to win.

Thank you, players: Matt, Ian, Stephen, Kevin, Draymond, Andre, Damian, Shaun, Kevon, James Michael, Patrick, JaVale, Zaza, Klay and David. Thank you coaches: Steve, Mike, Ron, Jarron, Bruce, Chris and Willie.

Long after the game ended but not before the celebration had waned, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, sporting a championship tee to go with his Champagne-soaked-and-spiked coiffure, reflected on the championship moment during a televised interview outside Oracle Arena, among a hearty group of blue and gold-clad Warriors fans. As always, with the right sense of thought and tone of voice – and with graciousness, too –  his words spoke volumes:

"There's so much joy, so much love. It's an incredible group of guys," said Kerr. "We know how talented they are. They are so committed to each other and to the greater good. That's ultimately what puts you over the top. We have the talent – obviously – to compete for a title every year, but what puts you over the top, I think, is when you have that level of respect and commitment to each other."

This year, it was the Warriors turn to win it all.

Opinions that matter: When these coaches speak ...

Gregg Popovich /
"Values are more important to me than
anyone's skill in business ... It tells us who
we are, how we want to live and what kind
of people we are."

It's been a week and counting since Election Day 2016. Dazed and confused, we've been trying to make sense of the new world around us. Many of us have felt sucker punched by Donald Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton. Yet, some who are prominent in our sports culture are taking a stand while demonstrating their political activism. When these coaches speak ... I listen. So should you.

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, a couple of the best and brightest minds in sports, are among the many professional coaches and athletes who have shared blistering critiques following Donald Trump's election as President of the United States last Tuesday. As coaches in the NBA, where 75 percent of the athletes are black, their opinions matter.

In a recently published ESPN interview, Popovich spoke out in frustration of Trump, who will become the 45th President of the United States when he is inaugurated in January.


"I'm a rich, white guy. And I'm sick to my stomach thinking about it," said Popovich, a graduate of the Air Force Academy. "I couldn't imagine being a Muslim right now or a woman or an African-American, a Hispanic, a handicapped person, and how disenfranchised they might feel." He went on to say that for any one in those groups that voted for Trump, "it's just beyond my comprehension how they ignored all that."

On the day after the election, in an interview with The New York Times, Kerr said: "All of a sudden you're faced with the reality that the man who's going to lead you has routinely used racist, misogynist, insulting words. I didn't think this was The Jerry Springer Show." 

Over the past four years, I've had the pleasure of informally meeting Kerr on several occasions. He is a parent of University of California women's volleyball player Maddy Kerr, and my wife and I have season tickets to Cal volleyball. Kerr is warm, friendly and outgoing – and never one to shy away from societal discourse. As the son of an American academic who specialized in the Middle East, Kerr spent much of his childhood in Lebanon and other Middle East countries before returning to the U.S. to study history and sociology and star as a basketball player at the University of Arizona, then embark on a fruitful professional career in the National Basketball Association.

Steve Kerr (right) with Draymond Green /
The Golden State Warriors head coach is not one to shy
away from societal discourse.
"I didn't think this was 'The Jerry Springer Show.'"

"People are getting paid millions of dollars to go on TV and scream at each other, whether it's in sports or politics or entertainment" said Kerr, a five-time NBA champion as a player who coached the Golden State Warriors to a championship in 2015 in his rookie season as a head coach. "I guess it was only a matter of time before it spilled into politics."

Before a recent home game against the Detroit Pistons, whose own head coach Stan Van Gundy also spoke critically about Trump, Popovich admitted he's sick to his stomach, "and not basically because the Republicans won or anything, but the disgusting tenor, tone and all the comments that have been xenophobic, homophobic, racist, misogynistic. And I live in that country where half the people ignored all that to elect someone. That's the scariest part of (the) whole thing to me.

"It's got nothing to do with the environment, Obamacare and all the other stuff. We live in a country that ignored all those values that we would hold our kids accountable for."

Popovich believes that Trump's words and actions cannot be overlooked or forgotten. He went on to say this: "Everybody wants him to be successful. It's our country; we don't want it to go down the drain. Any reasonable person would come to that conclusion, but it does not take away the fact that he used that fear-mongering and all the comments from day one. The race-baiting with trying to make Barack Obama, our first black president, illegitimate. It leaves me to wonder where I've been living and with whom I'm living."

The Spurs head coach also showed empathy for minority groups which might be adversely affected by the President-elect's remarks made during his campaign.

"What gets lost in the process are African-Americans, Hispanics, women and the gay population, not to mention the eight-grade developmental stage exhibited by him when made fun of the handicapped person," Popovich said. "I mean, come on. That's what an eighth-grade bully does, and he was elected president of the United States. We would have scolded our kids. We would have had discussions and talked until we were blue in the face trying to get them to understand these things. And he is in charge of our country. That's disgusting."

Popovich's frustration with the President-elect goes beyond partisan politics.

Gregg Popovich /
A Trump presidency, he said, is on the same path as the
Roman Empire. "My final conclusion is, my big fear is,
we are Rome."

"Values to me are more important than anybody's skill in business or anything else because it tells who we are, how we want to live and what kind of people we are," he said. "That's why I have great respect for people like Lindsey Graham, John McCain, John Kasich, who I disagree with on a lot of political things. But they had enough fiber and respect for humanity and tolerance for all groups to say what they said about (Trump)."

Popovich continued, by saying "One could go on and on. We didn't make this stuff up. He's angry at the media because they reported what he said and how he acted. It's ironic to me. It just makes no sense. So that's my real fear. And that's what gives me so much pause and makes me feel so badly, that the country is willing to be that intolerant and not understand the empathy that's necessary to understand other groups' situations.

Popovich was finished – or was he? As he ended his remarks, he had one final thought. He said he was concerned that the United States under a Trump presidency is on the same path as the Roman Empire. "My final conclusion is, my big fear is, we are Rome."

Photos: Courtesy of Google Images.

Falling in love with the Olympics, again and again

Opening ceremonies at the 2016 Rio Summer Games were full of color.

Every four years, many of us fall in love with the Summer Olympic Games.

Count me among them.

Last Friday, the athletes of the world representing 207 nations gathered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – the country for Carnival – for the Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympic Games. At times, it resembled a giant street party complete with samba, funk, passinho and maracatu. 

Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima lit the
Olympic cauldron on Friday night.

It's time to fall in love, again.

The French educator Pierre de Coubertin, who was most responsible for the revival of the Modern Olympic Games in 1894, once said: "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well."

While there's much focus in my country – the United States of America – on celebrated athletes such as the swimmer Michael Phelps, the basketball player Kevin Durant and the soccer (football to the rest of the Olympic world) player Carli Lloyd, to name just a few, I find just as much joy in rooting for the lesser-known Olympians – especially those from other countries who might have overcome an obstacle or hardship to be able to compete. For instance: 

• Swimmer Yusra Mardini, an 18-year-old Syrian refugee representing the Olympic Refugee Team, had to swim for her life just last summer when – on her journey to safety after fleeing her homeland – the boat she was in started to sink. Along with her sister, both trained swimmers, she jumped out and pushed the boat for three and a half hours until it safely reached the Greek island of Lesbos. "I want to represent all the refugees because I want to show everyone that, after the pain, after the storm, comes calm days." 

Mardini's personal story is remarkable and one we should all spend time learning more about. 

Jamaica's Toni-Ann Williams and her coach Justin Howell
enjoy a happy moment during the gymnastics competition.

• Closer to home, there's Toni-Ann Williams, 20, a young gymnast from the University of California, Berkeley, with dual U.S.-Jamaican citizenship, whom I've watched thrive collegiately the past two seasons. She was born in Maryland of Jamaican parents. Williams is Jamaica's lone representative in the women's gymnastics competition – in fact she is Jamaica's first gymnast in Olympic history – and the reason I woke up at 5:45 a.m. Pacific Time Sunday morning to watch a live video stream of her Olympic competition on my iPad.

I wouldn't have missed it for anything. 

With a score of 50.966 in the all-around qualification, Williams placed 54th, which wasn't high enough to advance to Tuesday's final competition. Still, it didn't diminish her Olympics enthusiasm. "I am very, very excited," she said afterward during an interview with a Jamaican journalist. "I'm happy to represent Jamaica. I gave it my all. Hopefully, my performance today can be a trailblazer for the kids to keep the program going in Jamaica."

Egypt fielded its first women's beach volleyball team in Rio.

• On Sunday, history was also made as Nada Meawad and Noaa Elghobashy became the first women's beach volleyball pair from Egypt to compete in the Olympics. They were easily recognized by their long pants and sleeves – compared to the standard bikini uniforms worn by most countries – and Elghobashy wears a hijab. She never gave it a thought. "I've worn the hijab for 10 years," said Elghobashy after competing on the Copacabana venue against Germany. "It doesn't keep me away from the things I love to do and beach volleyball is one of them." The Egyptian duo lost to Germany 21-12, 21-15.

As Herb Elliott, the Australian middle-distance runner who won a gold medal in the 1,500 meters at the 1960 Rome Olympics, once said: "It is the inspiration of the Olympic Games that drives people not only to compete but to improve, and to bring lasting spiritual and moral benefits to the athlete and inspiration to those lucky enough to witness the athletic dedication."

And that brings us to the story of Sarah Attar.

Sarah Attar marched in the Opening Ceremonies of the
2012 London Games representing Saudi Arabia.

Four years ago, an Olympic milestone was achieved at the 2012 London Games as the first woman track and field (athletics) athlete representing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia competed. Sarah Attar, then 19, born in the United States of a Saudi father and an American mother and who bolds dual citizenship, ran last in her heat of the 800 meters.

A cross-country runner at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, where she studied art, history and graphic design, the 5-foot-5-inch, 115-pound Attar finished her 800-meter heat in 2 minutes 44.95 seconds, about 41 seconds behind the first-place finisher. I remember watching her performance on TV. It brought tears of joy just to see her finish. It didn't matter that her time was the slowest of any 800-meter runner. 

Attar said she wanted to represent Saudi Arabia at the Olympics as a way of inspiring women. "This is such a huge honor and an amazing experience, just to be representing the women," said Attar after the conclusion of her race. "I know that this can make a huge difference."

Sarah Attar competed in London wearing a white hijab and
a black and green track suit that covered her arms and legs.

Attar competed while attired in a white hijab and a black and green track suit that covered her arms and legs. She received a standing ovation from many in the crow at Olympic Stadium as she crossed the finish line alone, well behind the others in her heat.

Fast forward to 2016. "A lot has changed since then," Attar said in an article she wrote for Marie Claire. "Oiselle, an athletic apparel company for women, sponsors me, and I am living and training full-time with an elite group of distance runners in Mammoth Lakes, California."

Now 23, Attar is back at the Olympic Games in Rio, once again representing Saudi Arabia, along with three other Saudi female athletes – all who train outside of the country due to government and religious restrictions placed upon females competing in sports. However, this time, Attar will compete in the Olympic marathon instead of the 800 meters, a distance (42195 kilometers / 26.219 miles) she feels she is better suited to run. Her personal best in the marathon is 3 hours 11 minutes 27 seconds, which she ran at the 2015 Chicago Marathon. The Olympic women's marathon will be run on August 14.

"The marathon is such a beautiful challenge,"
says Sarah Attar.

"The marathon is such a beautiful challenge and I am really diving into marathon training to see what I am capable of at this distance," Attar told Like the Wind magazine.

In a recent Washington Post feature, Attar's coach, Andrew Kastor, credited her with "the right amount of spirit and courage I see in most seasoned and mature marathon racers," and with eagerness as "a student of the sport, learning all she can from her mentors on the team."

In the same article, Attar said: "The Olympics was always what these amazing, elite athletes do, that I just watch on TV, and I observe, and then to be a part of it, where I never would have anticipated that in my life was just, like, so wild."

Sarah Attar will compete in the women's
marathon on Sunday.

More and more, Attar has begun to realize her place in history. 

"There is a whole generation of girls in Saudi Arabia who now have a female Olympic role model to look up to – that didn't exist before. 

"They'll grow up knowing that competing in the Olympics is a possibility, and that's what means the most to me," said Attar, in a recent Firstpost.com story. 

May the next two weeks be filled with friendship, respect, good sportsmanship and fair play. May it be a peaceful gathering of nations. May it be filled with many new stories to share in the years to come. 

After all, every Olympic athlete is a winner in our hearts.


Photos: Courtesy of Google images. 

A tremendous challenge, a tremendous responsibility

Becky Hammon / "There have been so many other women that are doing
really, really great things, and I'm just kind of following in their paths."

Last week, the San Antonio Spurs showed why they're trailblazers in American professional basketball by announcing they've hired six-time WNBA All-Star point guard Becky Hammon as the first full-time, paid female assistant on an NBA coaching staff.

The reigning champion Spurs have been innovative, outside-the-box leaders in bringing in internationally-talented players for the past two decades -- France's Tony Parker, Argentina's Manu Ginobili and Australia's Patty Mills come to mind -- and, earlier this summer, hired European coach Ettore Messina to join head coach Gregg Popovich's staff. So, it was not surprising that fresh off winning their fifth NBA championship, the Spurs would add to their history of forward-thinking moves by hiring Hammon. 

Becky Hammon / She's a trailblazer on court.
Now, she's a joining the San Antonio Spurs as 
the NBA's first full-time female assistant coach.

At age 37, the 5-foot-6 Hammon is retiring this month from a 16-season playing career in the WNBA in which she ranks fourth in career assists and seventh in points scored. The South Dakota native starred collegiately at Colorado State where she was a three-time All-American point guard, then became a naturalized Russian citizen in 2008 and represented the Russian national team in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. She becomes the second woman to serve on an NBA coaching staff -- the first was Lisa Boyer, who was a part-time, non-paid member of the Cleveland Cavaliers staff in the 2001-02 season -- but the first who has been hired to a full-time, paid position.

"It's a tremendous challenge, and it comes with tremendous responsibility," said Hammon. "There have been so many other women that are doing really, really great things, and I'm just kind of following in their paths."

During the 2013-14 season, not only did Hammon attend Spurs practices, coaching meetings and film-review sessions, she also sat behind the bench for the NBA champions during home games while coming off a knee injury.

"I very much look forward to the addition of Becky Hammon to our staff," said Poppovich. "Having observed her working with our team this past season, I'm confident her basketball IQ, work ethic and interpersonal skills will be a great benefit to the Spurs."

Hammon said it was made clear to her by Poppovich that her hiring was strictly related to her qualifications in basketball. "He says, 'It just so happens you're a woman,'" said Hammon during a press conference.

In an interview with Jeré Longman of The New York Times, Hammon "called her role as a pioneer 'a tremendous honor.' But, she added of Popovich: 'Honestly, I don't think he gives two cents that I'm a woman. And I don't want to be hired because I'm a woman.' The important point, Hammon said, was 'I'm getting hired because I'm capable.'"

Another basketball trialblazer, Nancy Lieberman, who is the assistant general manager of the Texas Legends, the NBA Development League affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks, told The New York Times that Hammon's hiring "was a crucial step for the NBA and for women.

"First and foremost, this means respect," said Lieberman. "She did not get hired just because she is a woman. She was hired because she was qualified, because they know her personality, how she interacts with players, how she understands X's and O's."

"I think it's no surprise to anybody that they think a little bit different down here," said Hammon of the Spurs. Indeed, and as espnW columnist Kate Fagan wrote: "A very high, very thick glass wall cracked.

"Realistically, the league had no model in place for hiring a female coach; a team neded to be the first, to prove it could work. And it makes sense that San Antonio, the reigning NBA champs, a franchise that has always marched very effectively to the beat of its own drum, has stepped forward and done just that."

Other media reaction has largely been positive. San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist Ann Killion wrote: "The Spurs are an organization that doesn't need fake publicity or splashy headlines. Hammon wasn't hired for looks or her Nike endorsement or her name; name many people outside hard-core WNBA fans and former Colorado State fans even know who she is.

"She was hired by the best head coach in the league. Gregg Popovich is a man who doesn't suffer fools, media, phoniness or distractions gladly. He hired Hammon because he thought she would do a good job. Period."

Killion's colleague at the San Francisco Chronicle, NBA columnist Bruce Jenkins, said of Hammon: "She could not be more ready to become the first female assistant on an NBA bench."

In his New York Times story, Longman noted that around the NBA, Hammon's hiring "has been met with wide congratulations. 'Very bright basketball mind,' Kobe Bryant posted on Twitter."

Even President Obama took time out to congratulate Hammon. The White House tweeted: "Congrats to @BeckyHammon, @NBA's first full-time female coach. When #WomenSucceed, America succeeds -- and we know the @Spurs will, too. -bo"

While naysayers might think of the Spurs hiring of Hammon as a publicity stunt, I don't. It's obvious that her hiring came after extensive research and interviews, and that the rest of the Spurs' staff would be amenable to what Jenkins labeled as Popovich's "brave new world."

Hopefully, Hammon's hire will open doors for other female coaches and prove there shouldn't be gender barriers anywhere. Kudos to the San Antonio Spurs. After all, they're a team that's ahead of the NBA in a league that's ahead of the game when it comes to racial and gender inclusiveness.

Photos: Courtesy of NBA.com and WNBA.com.

Baseball isn't perfect ... but it feels like it is

The Hall of Fame Class of 2014 / (L-R) Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa,
Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, Greg Maddux, Joe Torre.

"Baseball isn't perfect, but it feels like it is," said Joe Torre, one of six living inductees, whose speech capped a lively and, at times, emotion-filled day packed with wonderful stories and heartfelt memories as the Class of 2014 was honored in ceremonies and welcomed to Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. on Sunday afternoon.

On a day when baseball got it right, the tone of Torre's speech was best described by The New York Times "as if designated to deliver the greatness-of-the-game testimonial." 

And he did.

"We're responsible for giving it the respect it deserves," said Torre, who managed the New York Yankees to six American League pennants (1996, 1998-2001, 2003) and won four World Series (1996, 1998-2000).

During the nationally televised three-hour ceremony, Torre was joined at the podium by fellow managers Bobby Cox and Tony LaRussa, slugger Frank Thomas and pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine. Each living great -- and I saw all of them play or manage -- exemplified the game in the right way. Together, they represented quite an assemblage of accomplishments across the baseball diamond: World Series championships, Cy Young Award winners, Most Valuable Player awards.

Decent men all of them, too.

Roger Angell accepting the J.G. Taylor Spink Award

Baseball also got it right when it enshrined the esteemed Roger Angell, a longtime writer and editor for The New Yorker, who received the J.G. Taylor Spink Award on Saturday, the Baseball Hall of Fame's writing honor. The bespectacled Angell, 93 and thin, is revered for his revealing portraits and essays on baseball, which began appearing in The New Yorker in the early 1960s. Since then, they have been compiled into several books filled full of meditations and observations about our national pastime, most notably The Summer Game, which I first read as a teenager. I still treasure the book's words today like the literary baseball bible it is.

In his debut as a baseball writer for The New Yorker in 1962, Angell wrote a wonderful essay full of humor and insight about attending spring training in Florida. "Big-league ball on the west coast of Florida is a spring sport played by the young for the divertissement of the elderly -- a sun-warmed, sleepy exhibition celebrating the juvenescence of the year and the senescence of the fans."

Many have acclaimed Angell as the greatest baseball writer. "Angell's prose is clear and erudite, elegant and informed; he is a fan with a wicked eye for detail, a sense of humor and a curiosity about the way athletes perform," wrote Richard Sandomir in The New York Times. "He filled his notebooks but did not have to convert his jottings into an article under a tight deadline. He had months to digest his observations and then wrote long -- very long."

Said Angell: "I didn't have to write after a game. That was unforgivable."

Angell's main job for many years at The New Yorker was as a fiction editor, a job once held by his mother, Katherine White. His stepfather was the famous children's author E.B. White, who penned Charlotte's Web. So, it's no surprise that writing became Angell's life-long passion. He was raised in good company.

"When he accepted the award Saturday at Doubleday Field," wrote Sandomir, "Angell said that he collected '.300 lifetime talkers like a billionaire hunting down Cézannes and Matisses' -- loquacious folks like Keith Hernandez, Roger Craig, Bill Rigney and Dan Quisenberry. And he gave his thanks to baseball, 'which has turned out to be so familiar and so startling, so spacious and so exacting, and so easy looking and so heartbreakingly difficult that it filled my notebooks in a rush.'"

Peter Gammons, like Angell, a longtime chronicler of baseball, wrote: "It isn't simply nostalgia, it is a weekend that allows us a sense of where we are. As Angell spoke, one thought about a life of literacy, not tweets, that not only did he wrote so elegantly, but he edited John Updike, he edited John McPhee, which made me recall the sign Angell said McPhee had in his kitchen: 'When everything is going your way, you're probably in the wrong lane.'"

Angell is a "lover of books and words," wrote Maureen Dowd in a wonderful New York Times Sunday Review column that appeared over the weekend. His prose combines his love of language with his passion for baseball. "Who else could use 'venery' in a story and write the world's longest palindrome?" she asked.

"Within the ballpark, time moves differently, marked by no clock except the events of the game," wrote Angell in The Summer Game, the first of his seven books about baseball. "This is the unique, unchangeable feature of baseball, and perhaps explains why this sport, for all the enormous changes it has undergone in the past decade or two, remains somehow rustic, unviolent, and introspective. Baseball's time is seamless and invisible, a bubble within which players move at exactly the same pace and rhythms as all their predecessors. This is the way the game was played in our youth and in our fathers' youth, and even back then -- back in the country days -- there must have been the same feeling that time could be stopped. Since baseball time is measured only in outs, all you have to do is succeed utterly; keep hitting, keep the rally alive, and you have defeated time. You remain forever young."

Indeed, baseball hasn't always been perfect, but this past weekend it felt like it was. It made me feel forever young.

Photographs: Courtesy of MLB.com.

A few thoughts on being a good listener

The greatest gift you can give another
is the purity of your attention.

Every day is a new day blessed with opportunities. As a social medium, Facebook affords us with an ideal an opportunity to exchange our thoughts and feelings with our family, neighbors and friends, both near to us as well as many distant time zones away. 

Part of the art of meaningful conversation, I believe, is in being a good listener -- even when we are socializing via Facebook. One friend of mine once expressed to me that I am tolerant and open minded, and for those reasons, they felt comfortable sharing a conversation with me. Mind you, we have never had the pleasure of meeting each other in person, yet there was a level of comfort and trust between us.

As I have gained the friendship of many different and wonderful people over the past few years, thanks to Facebook, I am very proud to call as dear friends those who come from many different countries around the world besides the U.S., including: several Asia Pacific nations such as the Philippines and Vietnam; India, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Brazil, and also many eastern and western European countries, such as Serbia, Great Britain and Belgium.

My group of dear friends resembles a microcosm of the United Nations. Among them, they also include many different faiths, too: Catholics and Protestants, Western and Eastern Christians, Muslims, Orthodox, Buddhists and Jews, too. I am blessed to be a part of a wonderful circle of cultural and religious diversity.

I consider myself color-blind when it comes to race and nationality, and I show the same love, respect and courtesy to all of my friends regardless of the color of their skin, their gender or their sexual preference. Because of my tolerance and open-mindedness, I have gained the trust of many of my friends, something that makes me very proud. And, as such, many come to me in confidence to share their thoughts, their hopes, their dreams and to seek my opinion, guidance and feedback. It has been a privilege to be thought of as a mentor and tutor, and I thank each and every one of you for the gift of your time.

Whether we realize it or not, each of us is blessed with the ability to be a good listener. 

“Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force," it has been said. "The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.”

Because we validate each other's lives with our attention, I highly encourage each and every one of you to take the time to listen during the conversations you have with your family, your neighbors and your friends. Each of us has the potential to be a difference maker in another person's life. After all, as it's been said: "The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention."

In closing, my dear friends, I would like to leave you with a thought about listening from the 20th century American scholar and author William Arthur Ward, whose books about religion include: Fountains of Faith and Thoughts of a Christian Optimist. 

Ward wrote:

• Before you speak, listen.

• Before you write, think.

• Before you spend, earn.

• Before you invest, investigate.

• Before you criticize, wait.

• Before you pray, forgive.

• Before you quit, try.

• Before you retire, save.

• Before you die, give.