Team USA: On a Long, Long Losing Streak

When a sports team falls into a prolonged slump, its most embarrassed fans sometimes resort to wearing paper bags over their heads. Better to hide your identity than be associated with the futility and incompetence on display.

Perhaps it’s time for Team USA to break out the bags.

Consider our current losing streak.

First, the White House. Yesterday, the president’s press secretary made an initial impression that was painful to watch. Teetering on her heels, she projected the stage presence of a third-grader nervously stumbling through a school play. Mercifully, the ordeal was brief—though considerably longer for those of us watching. But is she really worse than many others occupying senior government posts? Or is she simply representative of the talent now being recruited to run the country?

Then there’s Saudi Arabia. A country looking to the United States for help protecting civilian sites finds its expectations unmet. What does it say about American leadership when even those who depend on our military support cannot count on us?

Ukraine is another casualty. Fighting for its very survival, it faces the prospect of American accommodation with Putin’s Russia. A deal involving Russian diesel fuel only deepens the impression that our commitments are negotiable. What American ally can confidently trust our word when our actions so often contradict it?

Poor Kimberly Guilfoyle. Has she done anything that other male Republicans and high level government officials have also been accused of in terms of corruption and trying to make deals to enrich themselves? One has to question the judgment of appointing her as our ambassador to Greece. She might’ve been a better fit as our ambassador to Aruba, if we have an embassy there.

Meanwhile, at home, the president celebrates a strong economy while families struggle with the cost of food, medical care, and borrowing. Inflation remains a burden, interest rates are painful, and a clear strategy for ending the war in Iran remains elusive. Somehow, the president, his defense secretary, and perhaps our military leadership have managed to let themselves be outmaneuvered by a regime whose leaders are supposedly hiding in caves.

And finally, there are the politicians who want to keep their jobs without accepting responsibility for the mess. Republican candidates across the country are ducking, weaving, and distancing themselves from the consequences of the policies they have supported—or the crises they have refused to confront. The candidacies of Ken Paxton in Texas, Darlene Graham in South Carolina, Susan Collins in Maine, and Mike Rogers in Michigan are particularly galling.

For a country accustomed to thinking of itself as the world’s leader, this is one dismal losing streak. Our credibility abroad is eroding, our leadership at home is increasingly difficult to defend, and those who should be held accountable are busy protecting their political futures.

Maybe the most patriotic thing an American sports fan can do right now is pull a paper bag over his head.

At least then, he won’t have to explain the score.

Zibaldone

A zibaldone (plural zibaldoni) is an Italian word that translates to a “heap of things,” “hodgepodge,” or “miscellany.”

Couldn’t care less about Natalie Harp and what she does or doesn’t do for a doddering and feeble 80-year-old man. Just another distraction. I’m much more interested in knowing about the stories of possibly unwilling young women in Trump’s past. The failure to release the entire Epstein files and to conduct a full and transparent investigation will be viewed in history as one of the great moral and ethical failures of this time.

Way too early, but the best Democratic candidates in 2028 appear to be Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia, former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Governor Gavin Newsom of California, and Mark Kelly of Arizona. While I am impressed with Jon Ossoff, I would lean toward Mark Kelly of Arizona as the best Democratic presidential candidate today. Best VP candidate could be Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Way too early, but I don’t think there are any particularly attractive Republican candidates for president. I think J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio are going to sink to the bottom of the Trump Titanic fiasco. I can’t think of a Republican who has shown backbone, integrity, and good judgment during the Trump presidential administrations. Both Vance and Rubio were highly critical of Trump in the past, and now both bow to him on their knees.

Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline, was endorsed by Trump for the South Carolina Republican Senate nomination. She is a deer in the headlights. She confessed during a recent debate that she was not familiar with national security issues, and then I realized that neither was her brother when he was in the Senate.

Is anyone remotely competent in the Trump administration and cabinet? Every day, and in every way, you see a variety of issues and problems being mismanaged. Hard to believe that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. still has his job. Astounding things that he says and believes…

So there could be a perfect storm brewing…

Rising Treasury rates as investors seek higher returns because U.S. credit is not as reliable as it once was. This could further spike inflation and make it harder to buy homes, cars, etc. In addition, I’m concerned about the prospects for AI. So much money is being invested. Could there be a correction just like there was with Internet stocks 25 or more years ago? A huge correction in the stock market would also have cataclysmic effects on retirement portfolios, personal finances, etc. Just as our military assets are being depleted, so may our financial assets in the very near future!

Every year I look forward to summer, and just about every year summer disappoints me. Too damn hot to enjoy being outside. Summer hibernation with air-conditioning.

Favorite Sports to Watch on TV

College football
Men’s college basketball
NFL football
Pickleball
Philadelphia Phillies baseball
NBA basketball
WNBA basketball — only when Caitlin Clark plays
Men’s professional tennis
1970s heavyweight boxing

Sage 5.0 Pickleball Wisdom from a 3.0 Aphorist

The pops of pickleballs at the park sound like a cacophony to some, but to players they’re a symphony.

Pickleball requires planning, hand speed, aggressiveness and anticipation and that’s just to login and register for a meetup.

An 11–0 loss may teach you more than an 11–0 win.

Irony: The player who arrives in a $60,000 car carrying a $250 pickleball bag, a $250 paddle, wearing $200 pickleball shoes and $150 sunglasses… but forgets (?) the $3 ball everyone can use.

Service rules in recreational pickleball are like jaywalking laws—written down, widely not enforced.

A DUPR rating is like an IQ score: useful, but not always an accurate predictor of future performance.

Sometimes the best strategy to improve your pickleball game is to take a day off from playing and rest.

Occasionally the action off the court is often more interesting than the action on the court.

To clear their heads in order to think.  Many pray. Many meditate . Some dink.

Most Memorable Rec Game: The Agony of Victory

Image from AI

In July 2021, I was wrapping up a pickleball meetup at River Road and getting ready to head home. It had been a warm, humid evening, and I was looking forward to sitting down, relaxing, and enjoying a couple of cold drinks.

Just as I was about to leave, Reuven Cohen asked if I wanted to play one more game.

Our opponents would be Rodman and Tony—both younger, faster, and far more athletic than Reuven and me. I figured it would be a quick game before heading home, so I agreed.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The game stretched on for at about an hour. Reuven and I jumped out to a surprising 7-0 lead, but Rodman and Tony quickly fought their way back. From that point on, neither team could gain much separation. Every point felt important, and every rally seemed to last forever.

By the time the score reached the teens, I was running on fumes. My legs were heavy, my shirt was soaked, and I was wondering why I hadn’t simply gone home when I had the chance. Reuven, however, wasn’t about to quit. He kept encouraging me to hang in there.

Against all odds, we pulled out all kinds of crazy winning shots to a 22-20 victory. Keep in mind, this was not rally scoring…

Two older guys had managed to outlast and outplay two younger athletes.

Several players had stayed to watch the match, and judging from the looks on their faces, they were almost as surprised as I was.

The celebration, however, was short-lived.

When I got home, my body staged a full-scale rebellion. My calves cramped. My feet cramped. My thighs cramped. Even my arms cramped. I could barely move without pain. For a while, I seriously considered a trip to the emergency room, except for one problem—I wasn’t sure I could get there.

It took hours, plenty of fluids, and a great deal of care from my wife before I finally recovered.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”

That night, I learned about something else entirely:

The agony of victory.

(This is the first in what I hope are articles, opinions, posts and essays from the perspective of an older pickleball player.)

Book Review: American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback by Seth Wickersham

This is one of the finest sports books I’ve read—less a manual on throwing mechanics than a deep dive into the psychology, privilege, pressure, and mythology of the quarterback position.
Seth Wickersham strings together interesting personal anecedotes and stories, from Bob Waterfield to Arch Manning, showing how the job evolved from leather-helmet grit to NIL-era celebrity. The through line isn’t arm strength—it’s judgment, image management, leadership, and the peculiar loneliness of being the face of a franchise. The challenge of being a quarterback, is not necessarily just on the field, but off the gridiron and at home.

For those of us who grew up in earlier NFL eras, the portraits of Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Y. A. Tittle, Warren Moon, and James Harris are especially resonant—rich with texture and context. Wickersham also delivers sharp, modern profiles of John Elway, Caleb Williams, and even Colin Hurley, who hasn’t yet thrown a college pass but already carries the weight of expectation.

This book pairs nicely, across the decades, with Paper Lion, by George Plimpton which captured the physical reality an author of trying to play the position. American Kings captures the aura.

At nearly 400 pages, it’s substantial but never dull—an absorbing read for any football fan and a revealing study of how America builds (and burdens) its field generals.

Wisdom that Caught My Eye and Brain

900,000 vs 9.

It takes about 900,000 minutes to become a board-certified dermatologist. At that point, you might be very skilled and well-informed.

It takes less than nine minutes to make your patient feel seen, understood and reassured.

If you skip the 9 minutes, you wasted the 900,000.

Seth Godin

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Late Night is Dying Because of the Format Not The Hosts

With the death of vaudeville and variety shows, you can observe how new technologies change the economic landscape of media and narrow viewers’ tastes. With vaudeville, it was motion pictures, and with variety shows, it was cable TV. With late-night, it’s playing out over the internet and social media.

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Gambling Is Killing Sports and Consuming America

Gambling doesn’t just sponsor sports games. It shapes them, deciding which matchups are worth watching and how players are covered. Gambling doesn’t just buy ads. It owns sports networks, producing shows that prod fans to bet ever more.

Today, the gambling companies wield far more power over sports than the leagues or team owners ever did. News media outlets have criticized commissioners, players and executives for decades. But I can’t recall a single major sports broadcast program or publication willing to take gambling companies on directly. My friends in sports journalism tell me this is the one topic they can’t speak up about — not without risking their careers.

Joon Lee

Fickle Finger of Hate

I find it totally fascinating how sports fans demand perfection in games that don’t matter and patience in affairs that do. A coach can fall quickly out a favor with fickle fans and lose their jobs instantly when their teams underperform often unrealistic expectations, while the chief executive of this country, despite a calamity of losses and fumbles with far greater consequences to the public than games over a much longer period of time, keeps his.

EAB 10/12/25

To Lob or Not to Lob

There are five dreaded labels in the pickleball world that no one wants to wear: sandbagger, hooker (that’s a cheater on line calls, for the uninitiated), poacher, banger, and—my personal cross to bear—lobber.

Now, I can’t speak for the first four, but I’ve earned a reputation for being that last one. Yes, I lob. Sometimes more than once. Occasionally more than “socially acceptable.”

One of my partners recently suggested that I might want to cut back. Apparently, I’ve been annoying some of my fellow players. The eye rolls and glares haven’t escaped me, and I’ll admit I’ve even apologized a few times for exceeding the unofficial “lob quota.”

But here’s the thing: the lob is not the weak, outdated, sneaky shot it was once considered. Years ago, pros and commentators sneered at it. You almost never saw it on the big stage. Today? Pros lob often, and they lob well. It’s a legitimate strategy—a way to reset a point or outwit opponents who camp at the kitchen line like they’ve paid rent there.

At 73, I don’t have the hand speed or footwork of a 30-year-old tournament player. Just as a pitcher with a fading fastball learns to mix in more curveballs and off-speed junk, I mix in more lobs. For me, it’s both a survival tool and an offensive weapon.

If I lob you, take it as a compliment: it means I think you’re good enough to deserve it.

That said, I try to be mindful. I don’t lob against beginners, players with mobility challenges, or anyone who tells me they just don’t want to chase them down. I do not use the sun as my secret doubles partner, I do my best not to lob into it deliberately. (Though, if I see a wide-open chance for a clean winner? Sorry, I’m taking it. I’m not that saintly.)

At this point in my pickleball journey, I want opponents to bring their best game against me—lobs, drop shots, body-bag drives, all of it. It’s part of what makes pickleball fun and unpredictable. And when the day comes that I can no longer compete, I’ll gladly hang up my paddle and write about pickleball instead of playing it. Or maybe I’ll take up chess—where, mercifully, no one will complain about a well-timed lob

Review: On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports by Christine Brennan

On Her Game is a compelling homage to Caitlin Clark, the dazzling college basketball star whose impact on women’s sports has transcended the court. In just four years at the University of Iowa, Clark became a national phenomenon: a 3.64 GPA marketing major, multiple-time All-American, record-setting scorer, and the face of a sport in transformation. She led her team to the Final Four, sold out arenas, and inspired young fans—both girls and boys—to wear her jersey.

Clark’s influence extended beyond basketball. With millions in endorsement deals, a sharp media presence, and a spotless off-court reputation, she quickly became a symbol of excellence and marketability in women’s sports. Articulate, humble, and team-oriented, she embraced her role as an ambassador of the game with poise.

So why has Clark—and this book—stirred controversy?

Christine Brennan, a veteran journalist with a well-earned reputation for fairness, explores the complex cultural tensions that have surrounded Clark’s rise. She notes that Clark’s identity as a white, attractive, straight woman in a league where many stars are Black and openly gay has led to resentment in some quarters. A handful of critics—players, coaches, and analysts—dismissed her collegiate dominance and questioned whether her game would translate to the pros. Early in her WNBA career, she faced not only physically intense defenses but also moments that bordered on bullying.

Some veteran players treated her with noticeable coldness. I draw parallels to the experience of Pete Maravich, another flamboyant scorer whose transition from college to the pros in 1970 was also met with skepticism and envy—particularly from Black teammates and established NBA stars who resented the media attention he received.

Interestingly, Brennan herself came under fire from some WNBA figures who accused her of pushing an agenda. Yet her reporting includes attempts to speak with those critical of Clark, many of whom declined to go on record. Brennan does not shy away from addressing racial dynamics, including examples of racism aimed at Clark. She also argues that leaving Clark off the 2024 U.S. Olympic team was a mistake—one that speaks more to league politics than performance.

Brennan’s book is sharp, fair, and timely. It raises important questions about race, gender, power, and the uneasy growing pains of a league adjusting to sudden mainstream attention.

As a fan of Caitlin Clark, I found On Her Game to be both informative and affirming. I hope Clark continues to thrive in the WNBA and that the league’s leadership recognizes the opportunity she represents. Stars like Clark don’t come along often—and when they do, they have the power to elevate not just a team or a league, but an entire sport.

Under the Influence…

Shown below is a short list of journalists, writers and media types, whose opinions I value. I may not agree with all their conclusions or analysis, but I will take the time to consider them.

Late additions to my Political Influencers list: Jon Meacham, Chrystia Freeland, George Will, Jessica Tarlov, Kaitlyn Collins, Garry Trudeau and Jennifer Griffin (sole Fox News journalist).

President Trump is systematically severing America from the globe. This is not simply a shift in foreign policy. It is a divorce so comprehensive that it makes Britain’s exit from the European Union look modest by comparison.

Consider the breadth of this effort. Allies have been treated like adversaries. The United States has withdrawn from international agreements on fundamental issues like health and climate change. A “nation of immigrants” now deports people without due process, bans refugees and is trying to end birthright citizenship. Mr. Trump’s tariffs have upended the system of international trade, throwing up new barriers to doing business with every country on Earth. Foreign assistance has largely been terminated. So has support for democracy abroad. Research cuts have rolled back global scientific research and cooperation. The State Department is downsizing. Exchange programs are on the chopping block. Global research institutions like the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Wilson Center have been effectively shut down. And, of course, the United States is building a wall along its southern border.

100 Days. That’s All It Took to Sever America From the World. Ben Rhodes NYT 4/27/25

In a poll from Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos, Trump’s standing was the lowest of any president in the first 100 days of his term since 1945, with 39% saying they approve of his job performance while 55% disapprove. As much as I am upset about Trump’s poor performance, as president, I am even more angry that 39% of Americans could possibly approve of his job performance. What kind of grading curve are these people on!? However, I am reminded that even in the ruins of Germany in April 1945 that many Germans still supported Adolf Hitler.