Nastia Liukin and Jason Witten Play in New York Times‘ Sunday Magazine

Sarah McDaniel

For those who like to do their Sunday-morning reading on a Thursday, two local items of note in The New York Times‘ sportsy supplement Play. One’s a lengthy, engrossing Mimi Swartz-penned piece on the selling of Parker’s Nastia Liukin — whose name is misspelled throughout much of the story as “Nastasia,” eep. It’s also a profile of the man who’ll be turning her into a multi-million-dollar brand name, agent Evan Morgenstein, described in the story as “a ferocious yenta with meaty lips, worried blue eyes and long, dark, center-parted hair.” There’s the picture to prove it.

Speaking of pictures, Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten’s among the five NFL’ers spotlighted in the piece “Giants in Their Field.” It’s a short, flattering piece — “In truth, a case can be made that Witten is the league’s best tight end” — accompanied by a Levon Biss photo. –Robert Wilonsky