What to make of sport this week? There’s been no major scandal, no offices raided, no drug busts of note. Instead, it’s back to the drama. Spieth’s collapse and Willett’s win; Leicester dreaming of the most unlikely title since [insert witty historical reference here].
But I don’t want you to be simply entertained. I want you to feel smarter. So here are 12 stories that you should know about, or think about reading when you have the time that clearly you won’t have unless you stop reading this long paragraph and get on with properly procrastinating with some top quality sports writing and I’ll stop there thank you very much.
GOLF
I actually fell asleep as Jordan Spieth went five shots clear at the Masters with the last 9 holes to go. But given that I had written a rather good analysis of the cliche that the back 9 at Augusta is where it is won or lost, I should have known better. As the Cauldron points out, it’s the greatest theatre in sports.
The question now is: what happens to Spieth?
FOOTBALL
I will be 75 in 2050. So I may not even live to see China become a “top-quality soccer power“. The Wall St Journal gulps down the party line.
I hadn’t even heard of Hellas Verona until this week. But in the 80s, they pulled what will hopefully soon be called ‘a Leicester’ and won Serie A.
Here’s how to spoil the party. Did Leicester break the financial fair play rules a few seasons back? The Guardian’s David Conn investigates.
A history of the worst football crime: diving.
EQUALITY
I’d never thought I’d write this sentence: tennis (and Novak Djokovic) could learn a few things on gender equality from pro wrestling. There, I’ve said it.
BASEBALL
Why are Major League Baseball players peaking — and declining — more quickly? FiveThirtyEight crunches the numbers.
BASKETBALL
How the Golden State Warriors have revolutionised basketball: the three-pointer.
ICE HOCKEY
If you’ve heard of one ice hockey player, it’s probably Wayne Gretzky. So when he sounds off to the NY Times about the decline in scoring and creativity in his sport, you should probably listen.
CRICKET
The T20 World Cup has come and gone, taking Ben Stokes with it. But if you missed this amazing chart about Virat Kohli, take a look now. Good, isn’t he?
Right-o Jean that’ll be great. Cheerio.
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