It’s Tennis, Charlie Brown By Patrick Sauer Feature An obscure character was a stand-in for the creator of Peanuts when he fell in love with tennis during the sport’s boom in the 1970s.
They Call Her La Primera, Jai Alai’s Last Hope By Britni de la Cretaz Feature Three decades ago, Becky Smith wanted to become jai alai’s first woman pro. Now the sport can’t make a comeback without her.
Is It Ever Too Late to Pursue a Dream? By Matt Giles Feature Dan Stoddard believes there is room in the NBA for a 42-year-old rookie.
Make Way for Meera By Michelle Weber Highlight She bounded up a mountain humans can only slog up, and she’s the second-best dog in the world (after your dog, obv).
Choosing Amputation Over Pain By Krista Stevens Highlight Swimmer Morgan Stickney opted to amputate her leg below the knee to get off of opioids and get back in the pool after a seemingly innocuous foot injury and the ensuing complications left her in pain.
‘Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body’ and Other Lies I’ve Been Told: A Reading List on Mental Health and Sport By Jacqueline Alnes Reading List Jacqueline Alnes shares 10 pieces that examine sports and mental health.
‘It was illegal. And it ruined him.’ By Krista Stevens Highlight As a child, Tom Junod was his dad’s tout. He studied the gambling tip sheets for the only acceptable offering he could give his father: a line on a win.
Almost Undefeated: The Forgotten Football Upset of 1976 By Britni de la Cretaz Feature How the Toledo Troopers, the most dominant female football team of all time, met their match.
Benoit Paire, Tennis Solitaire By Longreads Feature Thessaly La Force hangs out with the lonesome, racquet-smashing Frenchman.
The Tale of Boozy Suzy and Her Hammer Fist By hopefiending Feature Inside the Rise and Fall of the Pillow Fight League
‘I Don’t Know What Else to Do. So I Run.’ By Krista Stevens Highlight “You see that you can never go back. And with this knowledge a peculiar grief descends.”
The Need for Distance: Jaclyn Gilbert on Writing and Running By Jacqueline Alnes Feature For author Jaclyn Gilbert, revising her writing is much like doing the same running loops over and over, to the point where she doesn’t have to think about where she’s going anymore.
Home Field Disadvantage By Kelsey McKinney Feature What will it take to get women’s baseball the recognition it deserves?
From the Sidelines: A Reading List on the Need for Female Coaches By Jacqueline Alnes Reading List Nine stories examining the lack of and dire need for more women coaches in sport.
Naomi Osaka Deserves to Have Her Moment By Mike Dang Commentary Much is being written about the contentious U.S. Open women’s final match, but this moment belongs to Naomi Osaka.
Losers’ Lunch By Ben Rothenberg Feature Dining out with courtsiders, a rogue, impish species in the tennis ecosystem.
When Arnold Schwarzenegger Was the Newest Member of the Gym By Ben Huberman Highlight From his earliest days in California, Arnold was a polarizing, impossible-to-ignore figure.
Why Do Men Fight?: An Interview with Thomas Page McBee By Cooper Lee Bombardier Feature “When I started asking myself questions about my own notions of masculinity. I just felt so limited, so suddenly afraid of becoming the kind of man I’d grown up in fear of.”
Ancestor Work In Street Basketball By Onaje X. O. Woodbine Feature The basketball court is a place where young black men feel comfortable mourning death, but are there crucial elements missing from their grieving practices?
She’ll Be Everything He Isn’t By Michelle Weber Highlight An MRI sparked gymnast Selena Brennan’s interest in sports medicine, and Larry Nassar isn’t going to take that away from her.
What should we do this weekend, go to the movies or sail a handmade raft to Polynesia? By Michelle Weber Highlight Don McIntyre is not a man who shies away from a challenge — an understatement if there ever was one.
The Country Where Fútbol Comes First By Candace Rose Rardon Feature Uruguay, a small nation with a deep-seated passion for soccer, is the inspiration for any underdog vying to win a World Cup.
The Wheel, the Woman, and the Human Body By Aaron Gilbreath Feature How the newly evolved bicycle helped liberate women and modernize America’s concept of fitness.
Puma’s Ploy to Become Relevant in Basketball Again By Matt Giles Commentary Deandre Ayton and Marvin Bagley spurned Nike and Adidas to sign with Puma. This isn’t the first time the sneaker company has made basketball history.
A Woman’s Work: Home Economics* (*I Took Woodworking Instead) By Carolita Johnson Feature Carolita Johnson tallies the costs and benefits of love and cohabitation as a woman artist living in a patriarchy.
Endurance: It’s All in Your Head, Apparently By Krista Stevens Highlight “But what if extreme athletes are the worst sources of wisdom, and that is precisely what makes them fascinating?”
When Staying Clean Isn’t an Option By Michelle Weber Highlight Lance Armstrong ran a well-oiled cycling machine, and a well-oiled doping factory. Maybe those are the same thing.
The Olympian Who Believes He’s Always On TV By Longreads Feature An Olympic sailor suffering from Truman Show Disorder attempts to wrest control away from the Director.
