TALKING POINTS
Should Serena Williams be seeded at Wimbledon?
I’d say yes. Wimbledon uses your grass court points for the last two years. And Williams won in 2016, so give her a break. While the player who misses out on seeding can feel a bit aggrieved, they should be positive about mothers returning to the game. And also – it’s up to you to get your seeding higher so this doesn’t happen. When did the 32nd seed last win a major?
Is VAR good or bad for football?
I LOVE all the moaning from the old-school pundits. VAR is definitely a good thing, it just needs to be applied with a bit more speed and certainty. The weird thing is that in cricket and tennis teams/players get a set number of challenges where they can refer to video. Why doesn’t football just use that, and if you use up your chances, it’s back to the ref’s eye? That would be better, surely.
READING
WORLD CUP
I like this – How do countries participating in the World Cup compare with clubs? See also – The Ringer argues: Why International Soccer Is More Fun Than the Premier League. I’d agree.
China has more fans at the World Cup than England – and they’re not even playing
NYT readers tackle the puzzle of how to devise a fair tournament with 48 teams
Odd fact: The infamous Sochi drug-testing lab is now a gastro pub
I do love the Economist for answering these kinds of questions: “How much better would Iceland be with Lionel Messi?”
ELSEWHERE
Women and the decathlon.
Great headline: “Eddie Jonestown Massacre“. And good analysis of the state of England Rugby.
How one school has produced 46 South Africa internationals (plus Olympic 400m champion Wayde van Niekerk, Olympic swimming champion Ryk Neethling, and former South Africa cricket captain Hansie Cronje).
Awesome, thanks, bye.
