Advertisement

Thompson on Jordan, Kimmage on Kimmage and more of the week's best sportswriting

Plus, absorbing pieces with Lee Hendrie and tracking Evan Tanner’s last steps.

1. “‘I vaguely remember bits of the ambulance ride. It was very blurred. But one thing that really stood out was waking up. It was horrible. I didn’t like the fact I was still alive. There were lots of worries. ‘Am I going to a psychiatric ward because I’ve done this?’ But, most of all, I was thinking: ‘I’m going to do this again. I want to be free of everything.’

“My wife went through an awful lot…’”

Former Aston Villa favourite Lee Hendrie opens up to Donald McRae in The Guardian.

2. “Gay was a fan, and had often spoken well of my columns in The Sunday Tribune, but he hadn’t become the greatest Irish broadcaster in history by tickling bellies. And the chair was hardly warm when he stopped tickling mine:

“You have spat in the soup, a vulgar French expression meaning you’ve spilled the beans . . . let the cat out of the bag . . . given the game away . . . you’re a turncoat. And you talk about the drugs in the cycling scene.”

Paul Kimmage writes about his move from the saddle to sportswriting  30 years on, in the Sunday Independent.

paul-kimmage-1986 Kimmage on 1986 Tour. ©INPHO ©INPHO

3.

That was due to run on Saturday, May 25, but the Times thought that Kimmage might well give his piece to the Independent’s daily newspaper.“So they ran Keane on the Thursday. The fall-out led to one of the biggest stories in Irish sporting history. And it left Kimmage reeling.“I think the Times had a very poor grasp of our relationship with the daily. We fucking hated the daily,” said Kimmage.”

In The Star, Kieran Cunnigham speaks with Kimmage as he outlines regret over a Roy Keane interview that never quite made the splash it ought to have.

4. “There were woods all around Jordan’s house. That means he knows the wild pleasure of playing beneath their shade, of inventing whole worlds, becoming a cowboy or a cavalryman, his brother the sworn enemy. Mike and his brother Larry had BB guns. They shot them out in the country at their grandparents’ place and in the small patches of trees that pass for wilderness inside the city limits, always feeling bigger than they were, like farm kids who call a nearby ditch something grand like The Canyon.”

Wright Thompson’s Michael Jordan story is set long before The Last Dance, for ESPN.

5. “Over the next eight hours, Tanner headed back toward where he began the day, getting to within a mile of the campsite before shutting down after midnight due to the darkness and the physical toll claimed by the environment.

“Text messages indicate Tanner’s awareness that a dire situation was becoming increasingly dangerous.

“One text he wrote that was not sent: “I need help.”

Josh Gross retraces the last known steps of former UFC champion Evan Tanner, for The Athletic (paywall).

6. “I still don’t know what the free is for. Then he said he’d book me for being cheeky!’ O’Sullivan says.

‘I worked it out afterwards that he didn’t realise I was reared in London and that I was talking in my accent. He thought I was putting on an accent.’”

In The Southern Star, Kieran McCarthy catches up with a former Arsenal trainee who made his mark on the Beara Peninsula.

Close
5 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ray Ridge
    Favourite Ray Ridge
    Report
    May 2nd 2020, 8:59 AM

    We could certainly be doing with a Ferris or two in the green jersey nowadays. One of the best ever to wear the jersey. Pity career ended prematurely. I do enjoy him on the punditry. Very honest.

    167
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute thesaltyurchin
    Favourite thesaltyurchin
    Report
    May 2nd 2020, 1:02 PM

    @Ray Ridge: So powerful, quality player indeed, thought he started his punditry on the bitter side, taken some time for the competitor in him to fade a little, he’s decent enough now tho in fairness.

    22
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Cathal
    Favourite Cathal
    Report
    May 2nd 2020, 5:11 PM

    He would have made any world 15 in his prime, absolutely quality player. Such a shame his career ended so early

    78
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute JackSimpson
    Favourite JackSimpson
    Report
    May 2nd 2020, 8:09 PM

    When on form and injury free he was up there with Kaino as the best no.6 in the world.

    54
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Spailpeen Farrell
    Favourite Spailpeen Farrell
    Report
    May 2nd 2020, 9:11 AM

    Is Impactful code for always injured?

    15
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Barra Mac An Bhaird
    Favourite Barra Mac An Bhaird
    Report
    May 2nd 2020, 12:30 PM

    @Spailpeen Farrell: stupid comment. He was a class player

    129
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute ThatLJD
    Favourite ThatLJD
    Report
    May 2nd 2020, 10:04 PM

    @Spailpeen Farrell: Always injured? Yes injury blighted the last year or so for him, but always injured, that’s a laugh. The reckless way he put himself about was possibly what didn’t help him have a long career but he never went missing in games and without needing to talk about what irishness meant to him he did his bit and more for the game here. Top class 6.

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Pat O'Leary
    Favourite Pat O'Leary
    Report
    May 3rd 2020, 12:58 AM

    What a brilliant player – such a shame he had to retire so early. Always thought he could have managed himself a little better in terms of injuries, but guess that was just the competitor in him / always wanted to be back out in the thick of it.

    15
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Boseph Stalin
    Favourite Boseph Stalin
    Report
    May 3rd 2020, 2:06 PM

    I train at the same gym as him nowadays and hes STILL a beast!

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Conor Pocock
    Favourite Conor Pocock
    Report
    May 4th 2020, 6:08 AM

    Jaysis Ireland really had a glorious chance in 2011 to win the World Cup. Full panel of players to chose from……..Welsh defence was unreal that day though

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jonny Walls
    Favourite Jonny Walls
    Report
    May 5th 2020, 3:12 PM

    Not sure we played New Zealand in Croker in 2010, think it was Aviva Stadium.

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel