1.The word “vergogna” is not one you see or hear often in Italy, but you wouldn’t know it from the last 24 hours.
North Macedonia's Aleksandar Trajkovski celebrates his goal against Italy as Alessandro Bastoni puts his hands to his head. Carmelo Imbesi
Carmelo Imbesi
Directed toward the Italian men’s national team, it was shouted from the crowd in Palermo on Thursday night. It was written with venom on the front pages of Friday’s morning paper. It was spelled out in all caps in WhatsApp group chats and it was discussed over the midmorning cappuccino. Frankly, it means “shame.” More colloquially it means “disgrace.” It is a word loaded with such contempt and pique that you have to think twice before using it in this country.
So to use it twice in five years, and to direct it at an entity that hardly impacts daily life, is a “vergogna” in itself. But in a calcio-crazed country such as Italy, there are few other things that warrant such frequent usage outside of other disturbing abominations like fettuccine Alfredo and the infamous bureaucracy.
But for the second straight World Cup, Italy has failed to qualify, and regardless of the circumstances, that alone is both a shame and a disgrace when you feel entitled to something.
2. Another part of me is asking myself why would I even consider going back? I found this year very challenging from a team performance point of view and trying to juggle all that comes with being so far away from home with a small child.
Bríd Stack in Cork colours. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
I also found out just how institutionalized I am from the GAA and especially from my time with the Cork ladies. I struggle sometimes to fully understand the professional way of thinking, and that this is a business at the end of the day.
I’ve definitely been given a greater appreciation of what we have at home. Our Gaelic games are like nothing anywhere else. That is obviously tinged with bias and love, but I don’t think anyone outside of Ireland would ever fully understand what it means to play GAA and represent your people in the process.
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Maybe I find when you’re losing at home that it’s easier to galvanise and rally people. There’s a real sense of purpose and pride attached to Gaelic games. But when you’re losing over here, it can become very individual orientated. Once the win is going away from you, it’s easier for players to start thinking, ‘Right, what can I get out of this for myself’.
3. “I don’t tend to work with people until I’ve actually spoken to them about what it is they think I do, what they want from training, because there are so many areas untouched that people have never worked on before that can give them massive performance capability. Roy had never done any weights, but he had done boxing, so we introduced both.”
Roy Keane. PA
PA
The period coincided with Keane going from a player with one of the highest body fat percentages in the Premier League to the lowest. It was probably peak Keane, when he was just pure midfield power. This was how he could rampage all around the pitch in Ireland’s decisive 1-0 victory over the Netherlands in September 2001.
“He was absolutely brilliant,” Clegg says. “When you see people change, you also see a change in their mentality. That’s what happened with Roy. You could almost say he reinvented himself as a player. I know his body fat level was 5.5 per cent at its best, which is very, very low, but perfect for a midfield player. He was very power-based, attack, attack, which is why he loved doing the boxing. It all helped hone him, made him more sharp and aggressive. He was really good to work with.”
It also, naturally, made the team work more.
“Roy influenced everybody, because Roy maintained control, and kept people in order. You have to have somebody like that in a changing room, certainly at that time. When the players went into the gym, they knew Roy was very pro what I did.
4. That’s how much Scotland have slipped – the players are being praised for effort. It was like a comment from the bleakest moments of the past 20 years when the boys tried their hearts out, but lost by a cricket score against a team in third gear.
Finn Russell of Scotland. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Some context here. Scotland won three games in each of the Six Nations of 2020 and 2021 but only two this time – and didn’t play particularly well in either of them. In 2020 they conceded just five tries, in 2021 it was 10 and in 2022 it was 15. Scotland’s penalty count across the five games has gone from 45 to 54 to 61 in those years.
They’ve gone from winning away in Wales, winning home and away against France and England, and running Ireland close on two straight occasions to taking solace from trying hard in adversity that they helped create for themselves in the first place.
The progress of the past two seasons got halted in Cardiff and has been shunted backwards ever since. To say otherwise is delusional, which is the word – among others – that sprang to mind when listening to the reaction of the coach and the captain post-Ireland.
5.Saint Peter’s may turn out to be the greatest Cinderella story in men’s NCAA tournament history—but according to Hassan Drame, it’s not the most meaningful tournament run he’s ever gone on. Hassan and his identical twin, Fousseyni, are a pair of 6-foot-7 forwards from Mali who help anchor the Peacocks’ surprisingly stout defense. Mali’s senior-level national basketball team has never qualified for a FIBA World Cup or the Olympics and rarely performs well in African competition. But when Hassan and Fousseyni suited up at the U-19 World Cup, Mali made a surprise run to the championship game. They took down Latvia, Canada, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and France before falling to a United States team filled with future NBA stars. While Saint Peter’s is not the first 15-seed to go on a tourney run, Mali was the first African team ever to medal at any major international basketball event—men’s or women’s, senior or youth level.
Saint Peter's Jaylen Murray, left, and Latrell Reid celebrate after Saint Peter's won a college basketball game against Purdue in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament. Matt Rourke
Matt Rourke
“The no. 1 reason for our success in the World Cup was our mindset. That’s the same mindset we tried to bring here,” said Hassan, standing next to his less talkative brother. “Their school might give them a million dollars, or a billion dollars. But when we step on the court, it’s five vs. five. They don’t have two heads. They don’t have four legs.”
Saint Peter’s is the ultimate underdog story—one of the smallest schools in Division I, with one of the smallest athletic budgets, with a basketball program that has historically been an also-ran in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, whose champions hadn’t won an NCAA tournament game in over a decade. Rodger Sherman of The Ringer profiles March Madness’ great underdog story.
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Italy's shame, Scotland's regression, St Peter's miracle: the week's best sportswriting
1. The word “vergogna” is not one you see or hear often in Italy, but you wouldn’t know it from the last 24 hours.
Directed toward the Italian men’s national team, it was shouted from the crowd in Palermo on Thursday night. It was written with venom on the front pages of Friday’s morning paper. It was spelled out in all caps in WhatsApp group chats and it was discussed over the midmorning cappuccino. Frankly, it means “shame.” More colloquially it means “disgrace.” It is a word loaded with such contempt and pique that you have to think twice before using it in this country.
So to use it twice in five years, and to direct it at an entity that hardly impacts daily life, is a “vergogna” in itself. But in a calcio-crazed country such as Italy, there are few other things that warrant such frequent usage outside of other disturbing abominations like fettuccine Alfredo and the infamous bureaucracy.
But for the second straight World Cup, Italy has failed to qualify, and regardless of the circumstances, that alone is both a shame and a disgrace when you feel entitled to something.
Andrew Gastelum explores Italy’s downfall from “the Heroes of Wembley” to “the Disgraces of Palermo” in Sports Illustrated.
2. Another part of me is asking myself why would I even consider going back? I found this year very challenging from a team performance point of view and trying to juggle all that comes with being so far away from home with a small child.
I also found out just how institutionalized I am from the GAA and especially from my time with the Cork ladies. I struggle sometimes to fully understand the professional way of thinking, and that this is a business at the end of the day.
I’ve definitely been given a greater appreciation of what we have at home. Our Gaelic games are like nothing anywhere else. That is obviously tinged with bias and love, but I don’t think anyone outside of Ireland would ever fully understand what it means to play GAA and represent your people in the process.
Maybe I find when you’re losing at home that it’s easier to galvanise and rally people. There’s a real sense of purpose and pride attached to Gaelic games. But when you’re losing over here, it can become very individual orientated. Once the win is going away from you, it’s easier for players to start thinking, ‘Right, what can I get out of this for myself’.
Cork football legend Bríd Stack writes from OZ about the prospect of giving the AFLW one more go next season.
3. “I don’t tend to work with people until I’ve actually spoken to them about what it is they think I do, what they want from training, because there are so many areas untouched that people have never worked on before that can give them massive performance capability. Roy had never done any weights, but he had done boxing, so we introduced both.”
The period coincided with Keane going from a player with one of the highest body fat percentages in the Premier League to the lowest. It was probably peak Keane, when he was just pure midfield power. This was how he could rampage all around the pitch in Ireland’s decisive 1-0 victory over the Netherlands in September 2001.
“He was absolutely brilliant,” Clegg says. “When you see people change, you also see a change in their mentality. That’s what happened with Roy. You could almost say he reinvented himself as a player. I know his body fat level was 5.5 per cent at its best, which is very, very low, but perfect for a midfield player. He was very power-based, attack, attack, which is why he loved doing the boxing. It all helped hone him, made him more sharp and aggressive. He was really good to work with.”
It also, naturally, made the team work more.
“Roy influenced everybody, because Roy maintained control, and kept people in order. You have to have somebody like that in a changing room, certainly at that time. When the players went into the gym, they knew Roy was very pro what I did.
Former Manchester United trainer Mick Clegg adds a small twist to the Saipan saga in conversation with Miguel Delaney.
4. That’s how much Scotland have slipped – the players are being praised for effort. It was like a comment from the bleakest moments of the past 20 years when the boys tried their hearts out, but lost by a cricket score against a team in third gear.
Some context here. Scotland won three games in each of the Six Nations of 2020 and 2021 but only two this time – and didn’t play particularly well in either of them. In 2020 they conceded just five tries, in 2021 it was 10 and in 2022 it was 15. Scotland’s penalty count across the five games has gone from 45 to 54 to 61 in those years.
They’ve gone from winning away in Wales, winning home and away against France and England, and running Ireland close on two straight occasions to taking solace from trying hard in adversity that they helped create for themselves in the first place.
The progress of the past two seasons got halted in Cardiff and has been shunted backwards ever since. To say otherwise is delusional, which is the word – among others – that sprang to mind when listening to the reaction of the coach and the captain post-Ireland.
Tom English explains why it’s delusional to believe Scotland are going anywhere but backwards after the Six Nations.
5. Saint Peter’s may turn out to be the greatest Cinderella story in men’s NCAA tournament history—but according to Hassan Drame, it’s not the most meaningful tournament run he’s ever gone on. Hassan and his identical twin, Fousseyni, are a pair of 6-foot-7 forwards from Mali who help anchor the Peacocks’ surprisingly stout defense. Mali’s senior-level national basketball team has never qualified for a FIBA World Cup or the Olympics and rarely performs well in African competition. But when Hassan and Fousseyni suited up at the U-19 World Cup, Mali made a surprise run to the championship game. They took down Latvia, Canada, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and France before falling to a United States team filled with future NBA stars. While Saint Peter’s is not the first 15-seed to go on a tourney run, Mali was the first African team ever to medal at any major international basketball event—men’s or women’s, senior or youth level.
“The no. 1 reason for our success in the World Cup was our mindset. That’s the same mindset we tried to bring here,” said Hassan, standing next to his less talkative brother. “Their school might give them a million dollars, or a billion dollars. But when we step on the court, it’s five vs. five. They don’t have two heads. They don’t have four legs.”
Saint Peter’s is the ultimate underdog story—one of the smallest schools in Division I, with one of the smallest athletic budgets, with a basketball program that has historically been an also-ran in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, whose champions hadn’t won an NCAA tournament game in over a decade.
Rodger Sherman of The Ringer profiles March Madness’ great underdog story.
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