Watching England warm up today, there was a overriding feeling that something was missing. It was an eager Labrador of a player, whose spindly legs invariably protrude from a pair of shorts as he bats, bowls and fields with the sprightliness of someone 10 years younger, encourages players in his Geordie twang and makes the [...]

BOSTON – The fashionable "Beat L.A." chants had all but faded from TD Garden, the oxygen bled from the building by Ray Allen´s misfires, Kobe Bryant´s impossible jumpers and Derek Fisher´s intensity. An anxious air hung over the Boston Celtics on Thursday as they teetered on the edge of a heavy series deficit. Then Glen [...]

South Africa Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira stood outside the auditorium at Soccer City Stadium on Thursday being interviewed by a television crew when word came that Mexico´s coach, Javier Aguirre, was arriving for his session. An innocent enough encounter, one that coaches in the United States negotiate all the time. Their paths accidentally cross, they [...]