1.Confusion, fear, anger, desperation, apprehension. These are just a few of the emotions running through your head when you realise that the only job you’ve ever wanted, the only life you’ve ever known, is coming to an end.
That phone call to my wife after the game was emotional. She knew how painful football had become for me and that I wasn’t happy.
2. Here is a nightmare. On Feb. 12, 1992, at 2:34 a.m., a boy was born in a Philadelphia hospital. The mother, 25 years old and with five children already, had been an alcoholic since she was 14; during this pregnancy she had spent most of her welfare checks on crack. Hospital staffers assumed the worst: that the pus oozing from the newborn’s eyes indicated chlamydia, that the tenseness in his body was a sign of withdrawal. It was no shock when tests confirmed his exposure to cocaine.
3. I was scared that first night walking past the homeless people. Like everyone else I had a perception of what homelessness looks like. I’d see this homeless guy coming towards me and I’d think: ‘Bloody hell, I’m scared. He’s mental. He’s crazy.’ I’m walking past people with cans – and even those without cans looked rough. I’m absolutely cacking myself.
4. Playing in MLS for Los Angeles Galaxy, Robbie Keane’s soccer has reached new heights in America as he’s been recognized as the MVP. Americans love everything about him- from his goalshots right the way through to his Mrs Doubtfire accent. But back home, he’s had it pretty tough.
5. The greatest fight in WWE history did not take place on pay-per-view. Despite a wrestling ring sitting only a hundred yards away, the match took place in the visitor’s locker room at the Molson Center in Montreal. Bret Hart defeated Vince McMahon in under a minute, knocking out the WWE’s chairman and CEO with a vicious uppercut.
6. David’s left eye was damaged by shrapnel and he lost his right eye after multiple unsuccessful operations. As he recounts the story, it seems as if he doesn’t have a single bad memory of it.
“It was just something that happened, my life is what it is as a result of becoming blind and I’m not complaining one bit about it.” Playing with the national team is his passion, “trust before you distrust,” his motto.
7. Park has been watching United at that level since the late-1970s and reckons in all that time he has seen only four absolute certainties to make it to the top: Norman Whiteside, Paul Scholes, Giggs (then Wilson) and Doherty.
“One coach commented that of all the lads at the club at the time only Wilson, Scholes and Doherty were certs to make the grade. And while Wilson had a great left foot with pace, and Scholes could use both feet brilliantly but lacked pace, Doherty had it all.”
Blind footballers, Montreal Screwjobs and the rest of the week's best sportswriting
1. Confusion, fear, anger, desperation, apprehension. These are just a few of the emotions running through your head when you realise that the only job you’ve ever wanted, the only life you’ve ever known, is coming to an end.
That phone call to my wife after the game was emotional. She knew how painful football had become for me and that I wasn’t happy.
Writing on the BBC Sport site, former Hull and Blackpool striker Ben Burgess reveals how he left football behind to become a teacher.
2. Here is a nightmare. On Feb. 12, 1992, at 2:34 a.m., a boy was born in a Philadelphia hospital. The mother, 25 years old and with five children already, had been an alcoholic since she was 14; during this pregnancy she had spent most of her welfare checks on crack. Hospital staffers assumed the worst: that the pus oozing from the newborn’s eyes indicated chlamydia, that the tenseness in his body was a sign of withdrawal. It was no shock when tests confirmed his exposure to cocaine.
Two of his brothers would never see 30.
Sport Illustrated’s S. L. Price tells the astonishing story of Max Lenox, who was born to a crack-addicted black mother and raised by two white gay fathers, before becoming captain of Army basketball.
3. I was scared that first night walking past the homeless people. Like everyone else I had a perception of what homelessness looks like. I’d see this homeless guy coming towards me and I’d think: ‘Bloody hell, I’m scared. He’s mental. He’s crazy.’ I’m walking past people with cans – and even those without cans looked rough. I’m absolutely cacking myself.
Donald McRea of the Guardian interviews England’s most-capped female footballer, Fara Williams, who overcame homelessness to achieve such international renown.
4. Playing in MLS for Los Angeles Galaxy, Robbie Keane’s soccer has reached new heights in America as he’s been recognized as the MVP. Americans love everything about him- from his goalshots right the way through to his Mrs Doubtfire accent. But back home, he’s had it pretty tough.
In a change of tone, USA Soccer Guy previews the Ireland v USA clash for Setanta Sports.
5. The greatest fight in WWE history did not take place on pay-per-view. Despite a wrestling ring sitting only a hundred yards away, the match took place in the visitor’s locker room at the Molson Center in Montreal. Bret Hart defeated Vince McMahon in under a minute, knocking out the WWE’s chairman and CEO with a vicious uppercut.
By now you’ve heard about the Montreal Screwjob.
Bret Hart opens up about the infamous ‘Montreal Screwjob’ in interview with Sport Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso.
6. David’s left eye was damaged by shrapnel and he lost his right eye after multiple unsuccessful operations. As he recounts the story, it seems as if he doesn’t have a single bad memory of it.
“It was just something that happened, my life is what it is as a result of becoming blind and I’m not complaining one bit about it.” Playing with the national team is his passion, “trust before you distrust,” his motto.
Luis Cobelo meets ‘The Bats,’ Argentina’s blind soccer team for Vice Sports.
7. Park has been watching United at that level since the late-1970s and reckons in all that time he has seen only four absolute certainties to make it to the top: Norman Whiteside, Paul Scholes, Giggs (then Wilson) and Doherty.
“One coach commented that of all the lads at the club at the time only Wilson, Scholes and Doherty were certs to make the grade. And while Wilson had a great left foot with pace, and Scholes could use both feet brilliantly but lacked pace, Doherty had it all.”
Daniel Taylor of the Guardian recounts the story of Adrian Doherty, the lost star of Manchester United’s famous class of ’92.
Yoga versus pilates, the battle of the stretches
How many of these very annoying gym habits are you guilty of
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
best reads Coffee Time good reads long read picks Sportswriting Sunday Papers