1. Andre was seven years old, in 1977, and the dragon was a ball machine his dad, Mike – a former Olympic boxer from Iran – turned into a beast. “Nothing sends my father into a rage like hitting a ball into the net. He foams at the mouth … My arm feels like it’s going to fall off. I want to ask: How much longer, Pops? But I don’t ask. I hit as hard as I can, then slightly harder.”
Forty years on an hour of conversation with Agassi is like little else in sport. The lost boy from Las Vegas is now a venerable educationalist whose eight grand slam titles and happy marriage to Steffi Graf dwarf his previous hatred of tennis and brief brush with crystal meth. But how did his dad, now 86 and described as “loyal” and “passionate” by Agassi, react to his depiction?
2. “It’s absolutely true that you get at least two hours more sleep getting laid on the road today versus 15 years ago,” says one former All-Star, who adds that players actually prefer Instagram to Tinder when away from home. “No schmoozing. No going out to the club. No having to get something to eat after the club but before the hotel.”
The NBA player staring at a 9:30 a.m. team breakfast in a hotel conference room the morning of the game can now log seven or eight hours of z’s and still enjoy a tryst. Thanks to direct messaging and texting, some NBA players even arrange to have keys left at the front desk so dates can be inside the room when a player arrives at the hotel.
3. How do you pay tribute to someone when you can scarcely believe they are gone? I had to proof read this piece a few times as some of the descriptions were written in the present tense.
I was in Berlin for the weekend, and thus was confronted with last night’s shocking news on my return, like a sickening punch in the gut that physically winds you.
4. White and McGregor, Mayweather and his de facto promoter Al Haymon – the central figures behind the Mayweather vs. McGregor superfight – are intimately familiar with the specific demographics that follow their respective sports, and understand the salience of race in a showdown that pits boxing’s longtime kingpin with the UFC’s biggest star.
For the sport of boxing, the superfight would summon the white male fan base and its enormous dollar back. For probably just one megafight, or if McGregor could pull off a near miracle, present boxing with the larger-than-life white fighter it has not had in decades.
Presseye / William Cherry/INPHO
Presseye / William Cherry/INPHO / William Cherry/INPHO
6. Rewind to October 10: the day I had an incident of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) during a game of five-a-side at the hall in my local club, St Oliver Plunkett’s Eoghan Ruadh. After a massive cardiac arrest, I dropped dead on the floor. A defibrillator, some quick thinking, and the chance presence of a fireman, Terry O’Brien, all helped to save my life.
I actually don’t remember anything from that day or the previous one, only a visit to Lough Rynn as a prospective wedding venue. Because my heart stopped for four minutes or so, the blood supply to my brain was cut off which wiped my short term memory. When I woke up the following morning, it was if I had dementia, constantly repeating myself. I kept going over and over the point that I couldn’t believe Ireland had only drawn with Slovakia in a soccer international, and I was constantly accusing one of the lads of ploughing me into the wall — hence the reason why I thought I was in hospital!
The 'Tinderization' of the NBA, the racial implications of Mayweather-McGregor and the week's best sportswriting
1. Andre was seven years old, in 1977, and the dragon was a ball machine his dad, Mike – a former Olympic boxer from Iran – turned into a beast. “Nothing sends my father into a rage like hitting a ball into the net. He foams at the mouth … My arm feels like it’s going to fall off. I want to ask: How much longer, Pops? But I don’t ask. I hit as hard as I can, then slightly harder.”
Forty years on an hour of conversation with Agassi is like little else in sport. The lost boy from Las Vegas is now a venerable educationalist whose eight grand slam titles and happy marriage to Steffi Graf dwarf his previous hatred of tennis and brief brush with crystal meth. But how did his dad, now 86 and described as “loyal” and “passionate” by Agassi, react to his depiction?
In an excellent Guardian interview with Donald McRae, former world No1 Andrew Aggasi reflects on life after tennis and says: ‘If I went back in time I would probably retire sooner’
2. “It’s absolutely true that you get at least two hours more sleep getting laid on the road today versus 15 years ago,” says one former All-Star, who adds that players actually prefer Instagram to Tinder when away from home. “No schmoozing. No going out to the club. No having to get something to eat after the club but before the hotel.”
The NBA player staring at a 9:30 a.m. team breakfast in a hotel conference room the morning of the game can now log seven or eight hours of z’s and still enjoy a tryst. Thanks to direct messaging and texting, some NBA players even arrange to have keys left at the front desk so dates can be inside the room when a player arrives at the hotel.
ESPN The Magazine’s Tom Haberstroh takes an in-depth look into why NBA teams are winning more games on the road than ever before
3. How do you pay tribute to someone when you can scarcely believe they are gone? I had to proof read this piece a few times as some of the descriptions were written in the present tense.
I was in Berlin for the weekend, and thus was confronted with last night’s shocking news on my return, like a sickening punch in the gut that physically winds you.
‘Surely not Ryan? There must be some mistake.’
Kevin McDaid with an fine piece on the late Ryan McBride, the Derry skipper who died earlier this week
4. White and McGregor, Mayweather and his de facto promoter Al Haymon – the central figures behind the Mayweather vs. McGregor superfight – are intimately familiar with the specific demographics that follow their respective sports, and understand the salience of race in a showdown that pits boxing’s longtime kingpin with the UFC’s biggest star.
For the sport of boxing, the superfight would summon the white male fan base and its enormous dollar back. For probably just one megafight, or if McGregor could pull off a near miracle, present boxing with the larger-than-life white fighter it has not had in decades.
For Mayweather, beating McGregor means vanquishing boxing’s last great white hope, writes Khaled Beydoun for The Undefeated
6. Rewind to October 10: the day I had an incident of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) during a game of five-a-side at the hall in my local club, St Oliver Plunkett’s Eoghan Ruadh. After a massive cardiac arrest, I dropped dead on the floor. A defibrillator, some quick thinking, and the chance presence of a fireman, Terry O’Brien, all helped to save my life.
I actually don’t remember anything from that day or the previous one, only a visit to Lough Rynn as a prospective wedding venue. Because my heart stopped for four minutes or so, the blood supply to my brain was cut off which wiped my short term memory. When I woke up the following morning, it was if I had dementia, constantly repeating myself. I kept going over and over the point that I couldn’t believe Ireland had only drawn with Slovakia in a soccer international, and I was constantly accusing one of the lads of ploughing me into the wall — hence the reason why I thought I was in hospital!
Seaghan Kearney writes about his journey from a near-death experience to his key role with Jim Gavin’s all-conquering Dublin side
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