1. “I can remember every single game that year. I think the making of that team in 1998 was the three games that we had against Meath the year before in 1997. They instilled a belief in the players that, hold on, we are actually good enough to be able to compete with the best, because Meath at the time were All-Ireland champions. Apart from myself, that was a very settled team that had played in 1997. I broke in as wing forward in 1998 and was able to offer them something, a bit of high fielding around the middle like a third midfielder type and it worked very well for us during the year.”
2. “The French soccer league has grumbled about Monaco’s exceptional situation in the past. But now, alarmed by the team’s sudden winning streak and unnerved by its 120 million-or-so euro (about $157 million) acquisition of three great players — João Moutinho and James Rodríguez from Porto and Radamel Falcao from Atlético Madrid — it finally did something. In March, it decreed that starting next June, any team playing in the French league would have to be based in France and subject to French taxes.”
3. There was a time when the New York Times didn’t have a sports column. A.J. Liebling, who worked as a copyreader in the section in the 1920s, noted that the paper’s owner, Adolph Ochs, seemed intent on making sports “as uninteresting as possible.” But Ochs noticed Grantland Rice and W.O. McGeehan banging fastballs over the fence for the rival New York Herald Tribune. So in 1927, the Times turned to a journeyman named John F. Kieran. Kieran wrote “Sports of the Times” seven times a week for the next 16 years.
4. “The rise of sports radio helped push back on that monopoly, but the Internet finished the job. I don’t believe there is a class of reporter that has seen its value fall in the past 10 years as much as the hack print sports columnist, who (at least in the major pro and college ranks) faces more competition than ever. (Rick Reilly used to be a god.) Grantland’s been running parodies of hacknewspaper sports columns lately, and they’re uncomfortably dead on.”
5. ”Collectively, Spain’s goal was to defend their own prestige, and that meant beating Tahiti by at least as wide a margin as Nigeria had in the last game. Individually, the Spanish attackers knew that here was a chance to pad their international stats. When they count up your goals at the end of your career, nobody will complain that a chunk of them were scored against Tahiti. There was also personal pride at stake—no Spanish forward wants to walk off the field having failed to score against a team of delivery men and PE teachers.”
Writing for Slate, Ken Early assesses the unique spectacle of Spain’s game with Tahiti.
6. “Federer’s loss to Nadal in their epic Wimbledon match earlier in the summer had sparked serious talk of his decline, especially on the heels of his mono-affected struggles to start the year. But feeling good after winning doubles gold at the Olympics and buoyed by a new level of support from a sympathetic public, he quelled the furor by winning a grand slam for the sixth year in a row. His toughest match was a five-setter against Igor Andreev in the quarter-final, which was followed by wins over Djokovic in the semi-final and Murray in the Scot’s first grand slam final.”
7. “Puig, who is listed as six feet three and two hundred and forty-five pounds, looks like the kind of otherworldly baseball player of children’s fantasies and sportswriters’ dreams. His size and speed and general athleticism have drawn comparisons to Bo Jackson, one of those baseball players who swiftly obliterated any notion nurtured by fans that the game played with their buddies after work really has anything in common with the one played in the major leagues. His swing—long and fast and ferocious—evokes the jubilant cuts that Sammy Sosa used to take at the ball. Like Sosa, he bolts around the bases after a home run—and his wide smile, and the smiles that he evokes from his older teammates, are reminders of the essential joy that lives in the game. Most importantly, Puig passes the biggest test of a baseball player, from the fan’s perspective: each of his at-bats are worth seeking out, even in the late hours back on the East Coast. For now, and until he returns to whatever baseline will define the rest of his season, Puig’s four or five trips to the plate each game are appointment viewing.”
Spain’s thrashing of Tahiti and Roger Federer: the week’s best sportswriting
1. “I can remember every single game that year. I think the making of that team in 1998 was the three games that we had against Meath the year before in 1997. They instilled a belief in the players that, hold on, we are actually good enough to be able to compete with the best, because Meath at the time were All-Ireland champions. Apart from myself, that was a very settled team that had played in 1997. I broke in as wing forward in 1998 and was able to offer them something, a bit of high fielding around the middle like a third midfielder type and it worked very well for us during the year.”
Dermot Earley looks back on his career in an engaging interview with Arthur Sullivan of GAA.ie.
2. “The French soccer league has grumbled about Monaco’s exceptional situation in the past. But now, alarmed by the team’s sudden winning streak and unnerved by its 120 million-or-so euro (about $157 million) acquisition of three great players — João Moutinho and James Rodríguez from Porto and Radamel Falcao from Atlético Madrid — it finally did something. In March, it decreed that starting next June, any team playing in the French league would have to be based in France and subject to French taxes.”
This New York Times piece documents the sudden rise of Monaco as a footballing force.
3. There was a time when the New York Times didn’t have a sports column. A.J. Liebling, who worked as a copyreader in the section in the 1920s, noted that the paper’s owner, Adolph Ochs, seemed intent on making sports “as uninteresting as possible.” But Ochs noticed Grantland Rice and W.O. McGeehan banging fastballs over the fence for the rival New York Herald Tribune. So in 1927, the Times turned to a journeyman named John F. Kieran. Kieran wrote “Sports of the Times” seven times a week for the next 16 years.
Bryan Curtis of Grantland writes extensively on the fascinating history of the New York Times sports column and speculates as to why it’s become less prominent of late.
And taking his cue from Curtis’ article, Joshua Benton gives his own take on the decline of the sports column.
5. ”Collectively, Spain’s goal was to defend their own prestige, and that meant beating Tahiti by at least as wide a margin as Nigeria had in the last game. Individually, the Spanish attackers knew that here was a chance to pad their international stats. When they count up your goals at the end of your career, nobody will complain that a chunk of them were scored against Tahiti. There was also personal pride at stake—no Spanish forward wants to walk off the field having failed to score against a team of delivery men and PE teachers.”
Writing for Slate, Ken Early assesses the unique spectacle of Spain’s game with Tahiti.
6. “Federer’s loss to Nadal in their epic Wimbledon match earlier in the summer had sparked serious talk of his decline, especially on the heels of his mono-affected struggles to start the year. But feeling good after winning doubles gold at the Olympics and buoyed by a new level of support from a sympathetic public, he quelled the furor by winning a grand slam for the sixth year in a row. His toughest match was a five-setter against Igor Andreev in the quarter-final, which was followed by wins over Djokovic in the semi-final and Murray in the Scot’s first grand slam final.”
It’s not been a great week for Roger Federer, but that doesn’t detract from his memorable career. And to celebrate his excellence, ESPN have ranked the legendary player’s Grand Slam wins.
7. “Puig, who is listed as six feet three and two hundred and forty-five pounds, looks like the kind of otherworldly baseball player of children’s fantasies and sportswriters’ dreams. His size and speed and general athleticism have drawn comparisons to Bo Jackson, one of those baseball players who swiftly obliterated any notion nurtured by fans that the game played with their buddies after work really has anything in common with the one played in the major leagues. His swing—long and fast and ferocious—evokes the jubilant cuts that Sammy Sosa used to take at the ball. Like Sosa, he bolts around the bases after a home run—and his wide smile, and the smiles that he evokes from his older teammates, are reminders of the essential joy that lives in the game. Most importantly, Puig passes the biggest test of a baseball player, from the fan’s perspective: each of his at-bats are worth seeking out, even in the late hours back on the East Coast. For now, and until he returns to whatever baseline will define the rest of his season, Puig’s four or five trips to the plate each game are appointment viewing.”
The New Yorker provides a detailed account on baseball’s latest folk hero.
18 images that will remind you how amazing the Special Olympics opening ceremony was>
Simon Zebo took us on a tour of his Lions crib… here’s what we learned>
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Best Sportswriting Ken EArly Roger Federer Spain sports column Tahiti Well read