Category: newsletter (Page 3 of 10)

FOOTBALL
Where have Leicester been all season? They’ve played badly, got rid of the manager, and then beat Liverpool 3-1. So are the players really snakes? Perhaps not. The Guardian’s Fiver email picks apart the narrative brilliantly .

RUGBY
What the hell was that? Italy have either betrayed the game, or been brilliantly clever. They still lost though.

POP CULTURE REFERENCES
He _____’d him: sometimes one basketball player does something to another that can only be described with an extremely specific pop culture reference. Such as these.

GOLF
Should golfers play with Trump? Most seem not to care too much about him being, you know, a fascist.

RICH
LeBron James is now ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo on Forbes SportsMoney Index.

NFL
Who to blame for the Patriots’ insufferable success?

CRICKET
T20 is playing the data game.

RUGBY LEAGUE
Forget the NFL or Premier League getting an overseas team – rugby League is way ahead of you there.

Ciao.

SUPER BOWL

You might hate the Patriots (with all that winning and cheating) but on the field, they did something quite special. So, where next? First, what must teams do to beat them. Second, think about a few things Atlanta could have done differently, and it’s a Falcons win. Third – let’s just go back and bask in the records set. Amazing. And lastly, this was NOT anything like Trump’s victory. Move on.

CRICKET

So long, Alastair Cook
You were very good at batting
And captaining England
But were quite dull at chatting.

300. In T20. Seriously?

FOOTBALL

Post-match interviews. Enough already?

CHESS

PEDs, chess-style.

Cheers.

This week is divided into three sections. One is looking forward to the Super Bowl. One is looking back at the Australian Open. And the other is on finance / tanking. Happy reading. ps buy the book if you haven’t yet.

SUPER BOWL 51 – A READER

If you’ve not followed this season in the NFL, it breaks down like this. The Atlanta Falcons have a really good offense – ie they score a lot of points, and have the stand-out receiver in the NFL in Julio Jones. Check out his highlight reel – it’s impressive. However, Atlanta are not an experienced team in the playoffs, and they are up against the New England Patriots. The Pats still have Tom Brady as quarterback, are coached by the best of all time, Bill Belichick, and simply put, this is what they do. Brady already has four Super Bowl wins to his name.

There are plenty of guides to the game out there – so here are some other angles. One – the NFL doesn’t want to talk Trump. Two – you might not like Tom Brady, but the Patriots are great because he takes a big pay cut. And three – the Patriots might never have become so good if it wasn’t for the so-called Tuck rule – which changed the course of the snow-game vs the Raiders back in 2002.

Can the Falcons do it? If Matt Ryan doesn’t throw an interception….

TENNIS – AUSTRALIAN OPEN WRAP UP

Federer beat Nadal and Serena beat Venus in the finals. Just think about that for a moment. Now start here – 50 parting shots from Jon Wertheim on SI. Does Federer’s win settle the “greatest of all time” debate? Maybe… Certainly few are arguing against Serena being the GOAT.

But this isn’t just about the greatest – it’s a triumph against age, a battle won vs time’s slowing spiral.  Here’s to the 35-year-olds.

MONEY

Look at net spend – now let’s give Tottenham some credit.

Hinkie, tanking and the 76ers. Trust the process is a great mantra. If it works – and it seems it might.

See ya.

Nothing scientific per se about this, but the current Australian Open is incredible: six of the eight semifinalists are over 30. That may be a first, or it must be very rare. And we are just four results away from a possible Federer-Nadal, Williams-Williams finals weekend. Chew on that.

Meanwhile…

CRICKET

Two pioneers, two very different stories. Tymal Mills: the accidental T20 specialist. And Rachael Heyhoe Flint, the reluctant feminist who did so much for women’s cricket.

TENNIS

Attack attack attaaacckk! Fortune is favouring the bold at the Australian Open.

BASKETBALL

A good read, and a fun game: tanking.

FOOTBALL

Fergie Time still exists!

Valencia is on the brink of collapse.

F1

I’m not so sure about the ‘loved’ bit about Bernie Ecclestone.

That’s it – ciao.

Main thought: I’m loving the NFL this year.

RUGBY

A very statty take on which country is the biggest over-achiever in the 6 Nations.

F1

Don’t listen to the fans! What the hell do they know?

FOOTBALL

Where did it all go wrong, Pep?

NFL

Keep on yelling. It works.

How to lose quarterbacks and alienate people.

Well done Los Angeles: you now have two terrible teams.

Stay classy, San Diego.

BASEBALL

I love this – contract negotiations using backpage metrics.

That’s it. Get reading…

There’s always my book too, if you haven’t already…

Usually, I hate new sports. But the Olympics keeps on trying to sell them to us. Here’s cheerleading – although it’s not quite what you think.

CRICKET

Why aren’t there more specialist coaches in cricket? Can Cook vacate the captaincy on his own terms?And is this cricket’s moneyball in action?

BASKETBALL

The 76ers, and Sam Hinkie. It’s an amazing story.

FAKE NEWS

In sports, it’s not such a problem – because there’s an endgame.

F1

Who’s up, who’s down – money-wise.

NFL

Nobody likes the 49ers stadium. Why? Plus, how to play into your late 30s.

INEQUALITY

The new serfdom: second-tier players.

book Book BOOK!

If you haven’t got a copy of my new book yet, what are you waiting for?

That’s it for this week.

The awfulness of both the football sex abuse story and the Brazil team plane crash are a reminder that what normally passes for ‘serious’ or ‘scandal’ in sport is nothing like. Ball tampering, driving slowly? Get real.

So it is with a heavy heart that I highlight the sports stories of the week. I don’t want to ignore the plane crash and sex abuse story – although both are important and horrifying in completely different ways – but I’m sure you’ve read them elsewhere.

SPOTY

Two items for the agenda. Why no Wiggins or Froome? And can Murray be stopped?

CRICKET

The case for allowing ball tampering.

FOOTBALL

It’s Gareth Southgate for England! Is he really the best person for the job? The answer is yes, if you think England are mediocre therefore need a mediocre manager. Or lets just cut to the chase and say No.

RUGBY

The extraordinary career of Kiwi Sonny Bill Williams.

TENNIS

Don’t ever go changing the Davis Cup. It always delivers. We could change the scoring system though.

plus: How far can a deaf tennis player go?

F1

Should Lewis Hamilton be criticised or even punished for driving slowly in an attempt to scupper Nico Rosberg? In a word – no. It made for a big story, overshadowing Rosberg‘s eventual championship win; but this is hardly deliberate crashing as of years gone by. Hamilton is the better driver, and part of that is the win-at-all-costs mentality. We can’t celebrate his skill and ignore the desire. Plus it was fun.

CHESS

Yes, again. How Magnus Carlsen is making chess cool.

THAT BOOK

By me. You buy.

See you next week.